http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=443 Basketball-reference has a great stats blog now, which Neil Paine (frequent poster at the APBRMetrics board) writes for. His latest is on arguably the greatest Rockets team of all time -- the 93-94 Houston Rockets. [rquoter] ... Lessons Learned: Contrary to conventional wisdom (which says you typically need to have at least two stars to win a title), the ‘94 Rockets proved you could build a champion around a single superstar. They were primarily a defense-oriented team, but at the same time they knew that their #1 offensive option could score when he needed to, and they surrounded him with role players who did their jobs well. Even the inefficient scorers like Maxwell and Cassell had distinct value to Houston, for they could create shots off the dribble and were capable of exploding (especially Maxwell) for big games on any given night. Yes, Houston benefited greatly by Michael Jordan’s abrupt retirement before the season (effectively opening the championship window for the rest of the league), but they still created a great template for future contenders — assuming you can find that elusive superstar (which, granted, is anything but a given). [/rquoter] I'd disagree that the Rockets benefited greatly due to Jordan's absence. It's hard to argue that Jordan's absence had much of impact at all on the Rockets getting to the Finals (different conference after all). And I could just as easily argue that the Rockets not getting to face Jordan in the Finals has hurt its legacy.
oh lordy.. this again. If we played the jordan bulls every game then we wouldve had a stellar record. and the blueprint for the championship team was pre-zone defense. that offensive scheme worked best in man on man defense.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=443 The Playoffs: After dispatching the Blazers in 4 games, the Rockets ran into serious trouble against Phoenix in the 2nd round, blowing leads of at least 18 points in both Game 1 and Game 2 en route to an 0-2 series deficit. But back in Phoenix for Game 3, Maxwell went off for 31 second-half points, proving that even inefficient creators can come in handy at the right time. Houston would eventually finish off the Suns in 7 games, and they took care of the Utah Jazz in a 5-game Western Conference Final as Olajuwon really asserted himself (31 pts in Game 1, 41 in Game 2). In the Finals, the Rockets would have to tangle with the physical New York Knicks, who owned the #1 defense in the league. I have bolded something that is extremely important in Rockets history, only like 5% of this board knows that this was the birth of the term "CLUTCH CITY" this was deemed "CHOKE CITY" after the Rockets blew the leads vs the Suns and the fact the Houston Sports teams have choked in the past. the 'inefficient creator' Maxwell started this. He was the chosen one. he still is by far the most clutch player ever in Rockets history. No overhyped Rocket players have come close to the Mad one. FOREVER.
Offseason Moves: At the time, the summer of 1993 was marked by front office turmoil. In August, owner Les Alexander fired GM Steve Patterson after a 55-win ‘92-93 campaign, citing simply that “the organization wasn’t running smoothly.” His replacement was Tod Leiweke — who would eventually resign in January ‘94, after just 4+ months on the job. On the basketball front, though, the Rockets quietly added the final pieces to their championship foundation, selecting Sam Cassell out of Florida State with the 24th pick in the draft and trading a 2nd-round pick to Portland for G Mario Elie. The championship was engineered by Steve Patterson Who helped get Houston the Texans after the Oiler left? pssst it was Steve Patterson (Bob McNair funded, but the workhorse was Steve) Oh, did you know Steve was GM for Blazers for awhile? he was responsible for Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge We remember you Steve!
Keeping on schooling these fools. You need to go post this stuff in the thread where their all over Les's jock.
