I couldn't agree more. The Rockets are to blame for this: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/989191 In the end, it all came down to money By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Rule No. 1: When they say it's not about money, it's always about money. And in the end, the cold cash is all that was left on the table between Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets, the warmth having long since gone out the door like an ex-lover, leaving closets and words that are equally empty. So the greatest player in Houston sports history took just under $17 million from the Toronto Raptors over the roughly $13 million offered by the Rockets because it was the only available yardstick. But Olajuwon ended his Hall of Fame run here because of a perceived lack of respect from the franchise that he carried for the most part of 17 years. It was a prideful, stubborn decision that led Olajuwon to tear up his transplanted Texas roots and take them to not only a different NBA team but to a whole new country. It was a combination of ego, vanity and emotional hurt that allowed him to gamble with his legacy. Rather than finish his career as one of the great athletes to play with one -- and only one -- team from start to finish, he goes to north of the border to play with the still-toddling Raptors. The dinosaurs take a flyer on a 38-year-old dinosaur is how it will be viewed in some corners, and unless he can help Vince Carter and Antonio Davis get get the Raptors to the 2002 NBA Finals, the move will be considered nothing more than a petulant money grab in others. He could be laughed at or, worse yet, ignored if Toronto doesn't make the big run. It is the risk inherent in the move. It is, however, a risk Olajuwon likely would never have taken if the entire affair had been handled differently in Houston. The Rockets did not lose Olajuwon on Wednesday. They lost him six months ago when it took an ugly public spitting match to get him onto the floor and into the games for the kind of minutes that he thought he deserved. They lost him nine months ago on the eve of the 2000-2001 season when Olajuwon said he was reconsidering his decision to retire and the Rockets' collective reaction was something like this: "Uh oh." The Rockets couldn't have butchered the whole thing more thoroughly if they were running a slaughterhouse. From the start, Rudy Tomjanovich and Carroll Dawson, the heads of the basketball operation, never embraced the idea the former MVP could be of use to the Rockets beyond last season and that negative vibration was something Olajuwon picked up on and could never shake. After Olajuwon sat on the bench for all of the fourth quarter and overtime in a home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in February, it took the intervention of club owner Leslie Alexander to get him back as an integral part of the playing rotation and the Rockets went on an 11-2 tear that was their best stretch of the season. Tomjanovich claimed he never knew there was a problem. Which is, of course, a problem. It was quite fitting that a stunned, shocked Rudy T had to cut his comments to the media off short on Wednesday, saying the words were not coming out wrong. Because the failure of the head coach to come up with the right words of encouragement -- OK, ego-massaging -- that was a damaging blow to Olajuwon's relationship with the club. From no handshake after the final game to no personal campaign to keep Olajuwon inclusive with plans for the future, Hakeem interpreted it all as a readiness by the Rockets to move on to a new era with a new cast of characters. Which is their right. But they would never come out and say that, paying what he felt was lip service to keeping him. While Olajuwon fielded a constant barrage of recruiting telephone calls from Carter in Toronto, the Rockets never managed to get one of his young teammates -- Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley -- to reach out to him in Houston. The Rockets, quite simply, did too little too late, and Olajuwon never felt that their heart was in it. Another opportunity the Rockets have missed is to set themselves apart among Houston pro teams as having done gone the extra mile to keep their icon a part of the family to the end. Now their No. 34 joins Nolan Ryan and Earl Campbell on somebody's else's wall. So the money is what's left. Dreams end. ------------------ Protrolls.com! I will always be a fan of Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon. The ZRBucks!
The only thing is that it was the RIGHT move for the Rockets to make. Hakeem has been hurt and when he was playing was not playing with fire or passion. I think he now has something to prove, and he may play pretty well for Toronto. I also think it is good for the future of the Rockets as they are now Franchise's team. Dream thanks for the memories, and dress warmly. DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
It made me want to puke? Blinebury is an idiot!!!!! Hakeem and Feagan made this happen, not the Rockets. ------------------
Kind of sad and pathetic that all 3 superstars wearing #34 will end up playing their last games for another team, especially in the case of Dream, who is the only one that brought titles to Houston. -I guess he wasn't worth Kelvin Cato, Matt Geiger, Todd McCullough, or Calvin Booth type money though (All signed for basically double what Hakeem was offered). For what it's worth, I think they lost Hakeem in 99. The fact that they would even consider trading the best player in franchise history, regardless of how good the offer was, was what truly hurt and insulted Hakeem, and something he never forgot, though he never mentions it. You know it had to hurt him. -Oh well, I've guess we've got our soft, 3 REB per game, defensively inept "POWER" forward to pay $7 M a year to now!!!! ------------------ Get Cato out of there...
ZRB: Weren't you the one that said "I give up. The Rockets did everything they could."? ------------------ its not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours - alaskansnowman
It's funny how people want to tear the team apart to make Hakeem happy. Why not let some of our key FAs walk, and trade away sveral guys just to fit Dream in and give him a few more bucks! The Rockets are thin enough up front, and people want to let our starting PF walk, and trade several guys off the roster because Dream want's a few more bucks. So I'm curious, do you guys want to have a successful rebuilding program for the Rockets, or did you want to slow it down and possibly set it back just to make Dream happy? People don't get it, that "soft" PF was a key part of our team winning 45 games. If we let him walk, let Shandon walk, and trade away a guy or two off the bench to re-sign Dream what makes people think this team would have won 40 games let alone 45 games. How do we improve? ------------------ What if I say to you that the universe is a three-legged horse, eh? What then? - Russell Hoban [This message has been edited by RocksMillenium (edited August 01, 2001).]
We do not want to overlook the fact that later in the season that for the fourth season in a row he went on the IR which cost the Rockets a chance to make the play-offs. Before we judge the outcome of this we will need to see how next season works out, if he plays 60-80 games and reports in shape from day one then the Rockets might have messed up. Then we might see what the Rocket fans have over looked for the last four years and see if the Toronto fans overlook, or see if the coaching staff overlook when he goes to the media to complain. Lets not judge yet, lets give it a little time to see who was right. ------------------
I guess he wasn't worth Kelvin Cato, Matt Geiger, Todd McCullough, or Calvin Booth type money though (All signed for basically double what Hakeem was offered). Cato: You cannot use Cato adn Geiger to justify the Rockets actions with Hakeem. Those were bad contracts. They shouldn't have been given that high, therefore you cannot use them as a proper scale. Also all the guys you mentioned are young and can grow with the team, something that Hakeem is not. ------------------ its not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours - alaskansnowman
Cato=Bum Hakeem is far from being a saint here either, he DEMANDED to be traded no less then 2 times during his career in Houston. Honestly, the Rockets got a little worse with this move, but it is the BEST move for the franchise. I hope Dream recaptures his passion and plays like a man possessed. I think he will be VERY effective in the Eastern conference. It was time for Dream to move on, I for one thank him, but still support my team as they made the RIGHT choice here. DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
Blinebury has got nothin' down. That article is a bunch of hot air that was written for shock value. There are about 10 other events that Blinebury failed to mention that ended up with Hakeem moving to Toronto.
I felt that way last night, but I have since read some very interesting articles that have changed my mind. ------------------ Protrolls.com! I will always be a fan of Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon. The ZRBucks!
Articles that upport your former way of thinking will do that. Make no mistake, this is the best thing that could have happened for both parties ------------------ "If you don't understand it, don't try to understand it." -Carl Everett
I agree with ZRB. Give the man his money,tell Taylor and Anderson to kiss our ss. I don't think 6 yrs from now people will be saying taylor and anderson helped houston return to glory ------------------ everett
What is hakeem going to do for 3 years? Win us another ring? ------------------ "The girls danced, started fondling me, I got aroused, they performed oral sex," Ewing said. "I hung around a little bit and talked to them, then I left."
Bah. Blinebury doesn't know basketball. At all. He's just melodramatic. If you read an article by him, and find it agreeing with your position, perhaps you need to re-examine your position. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
If Dream can stay off the injured list and produce the way he did at the end of last season he might make his 15th all star appearence. ------------------ Life quotes:-Statistics are like a bikini;what they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. -You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. -Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work. -Budget:A method for going broke methodically. -We've sent a man to the moon,and thats 29000 miles away. The center of the Earth is only 4000 miles away. You could drive that in a week but for some reason nobodys ever done it. -I either want less corruption or more chance to participate in it. -People will accept your idea much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first. -As long as people will accept crap it will be financially profitable to dispense it. -Laugh at your problems,everyone else does. -Sex is not the answer.Sex is the question.Yes is the answer. -If at first you don't succeed,redefine success.
I don't thinkits a matter of whether he'll be on the injured list, but when, and for how long. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
Blinbury may be melodramatic and full of hot air, but.........he's right. I've been saying this for awhile now, but I just can't understand why RudyT refused to use him last year. Not make it all revolve around him, not make him "the man," but to just f*cking use the man. They put him out to pasture without regard for what Dream still had left. If I was Hakeem, my ego would have been hurt. My feelings would be hurt. I would want them to kiss my ass a little bit. I still think and I will always think that if they had only done a little ego stroking, none of this would have ever happened, and Dream would have taken less money and retired where he was supposed to retire. ------------------ "I have no regrets except that I wasn't up to keep Randy from getting on that plane." --Ozzy Osbourne on guitarist Randy Rhodes [This message has been edited by Lynus302 (edited August 02, 2001).]
RudyT didn't use him because he wasn't playing well. On offense he was out of sync, and seemed like he did not know what was going on, and on defense he wasn't altering shots or rebounding well. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
Dream and Fegan are to blame on this one not the Rockets Dream will always have a special place with me and I appreciate what he did for the franchise. But you can't compare the Ryan and Campbell situation to this one. Leslie Alexander himself said he regrets giving in to Olajuwon's request to be traded. But when the man made his mind up, the Rockets had to move on. IT IS NOT THE ROCKETS FAULT ON THIS ONE!! And to think otherwise is just not right. ------------------ TheMugg [This message has been edited by themugg (edited August 02, 2001).] [This message has been edited by themugg (edited August 02, 2001).]
