I would just like to refresh everyone's memory about Hakeem's playing time last year. Dream was having breathing problems, and many in games he would get noticeably tired and ask Rudy to take him out. You cant forget get major details when looking at the broad scope of things. ------------------ "I can honestly say I feel I guarded the man pretty well, but the guy is playing better than anyone I have seen in a long time" David Robinson on The Dream 95
I would just like to refresh everyone's memory about Hakeem's playing time last year. Dream was having breathing problems, and in many games he would get noticeably tired and ask Rudy to take him out. You cant forget get major details when looking at the broad scope of things. ------------------ "I can honestly say I feel I guarded the man pretty well, but the guy is playing better than anyone I have seen in a long time" David Robinson on The Dream 95
<B>I would just like to refresh everyone's memory about Hakeem's playing time last year. Dream was having breathing problems, and many in games he would get noticeably tired and ask Rudy to take him out. You cant forget get major details when looking at the broad scope of things. </B> Don't forget the slam dunks that were blocked by the rim, and the multitude of scrubs who drove around, over, and through Hakeem every game for the first half of the season. Or the walking from defense to offense while the rest of the team ran. Rudy didn't put him in games at the end because he was consistently getting beaten. Then, the idea of a trade surfaced, and Hakeem dominated for a few weeks. Then, those ideas died down, and we started losing again.. hmmm.
He played in 58 games for the Rockets last year. That's close to 60. I think what made us miss the playoffs was the fact that we had no interior defense other than Hakeem. That was our biggest weakness. Now we don't even have Hakeem, so our biggest weakness just got bigger
I was shocked by Fran's editorial. I had expected more insight. Frankly, it was beyond the scope of simply assauging Blinebury's obvious disappointment on the way things have turned out. Grief takes some strange twists I guess. I will take that up with him at first opportunity. But this will be the start of my argument to him, and in a sense to some of you: 1. Hakeem was paid obscene amounts of money with little or no expectation. Just show up. When production fell, as does in all athletic saints, he was given tasks that best siuted his abilities and the needs of the team that employed him. 2. Hakeem was upset by the fact that the coach, whose function is to direct the play on the court, did not play him the way he wanted to be played. Lost in this of course, is that he could NOT play the way that he was needed. When his pouting did not get the desired effect he went to the media. The spoiled child wasn't allowed to get a new bike. His parents must be horrid humans. 3. Hakeem decided to make RT and everyone in the Rockets Organization cowtow to him in a fashion that would, in his way of thinking possibly, make up for this previous seasons personal affrontry. 4. Hakeem ransomed himself to the highest bidder and found his scarlet-lettered reputation possibly did not have the same value as he perceived. If he had some insight beyond the bank account he harbored, he may have been able to recognize the true honesty in the proposal from his benefactors for the last 17 years. 5. Now Hakeem and his loyal, but vision-impaired, die hard, ubiquitous nay-saying followers spitefully sit on their pontificating high horse applauding such drivel as the above column. 6. Now these same followers seem to forget all of the efforts, support, energy and attention excercised by an organization, and by personal friends to placate Hakeem while holding steady and responsible in light of this grown man's latest temper tantrum and public-displayed derision. Yeah Fran and all the rest of you, it was simply a matter of money. That part is true. Somehow I think .... in the end .... all the money in the world would not have bought the type of respect that Hakeem had demanded ... because simply put .... Hakeem may has lost so much respect in a lot of eyes, that a single dollar would have been an overpayment. I will cheer him in attendence for a long list of fond memories. I will read of his northern exploits and I hope they are many. I will cherish my momentos. But I will not forget that Hakeem stopped being a Team Player a long time before any of this transpired. And that simply is the reason he will no longer be allowed to wear a Rocket uniform. Being a Rocket means being a team player. Cheers.
7. Hakeem screwed the Rockets in the Chris Webber sweepstakes giving us this crap about not pursuing Webber so the team can stay together then stabbing everyone in this city in the back to go up north. Screw you DUDE! Hakeem is no Micheal Jordan, in fact he's no Karl Malone (who can still play) and therefore he shouldn't be treated like a Jordan. Good Riddance!!!
I don't think it's fair the way that people are blaming Rudy for benching Hakeem. He looked absolutely horrible before Rudy started using him less. Remember him being absolutely destroyed by such stalwarts as Michael frickin' Doleac? I do. Hakeem came around towards the end of the year. But he was never able to sustain a stretch of good play for more than a few games. All of this retro-analysis about how "Rudy screwed him" is a garbage. Why... do you think Rudy had it in for the dream? If you taped any games in the first half of the season, go watch them.
hear hear oily.. ZRB..I'm damn relieved that at last I am not agreeing with you any more..thank god!! I thought somethin was wrong with me... I will always remember the good times...but it is about the future,the future of this team and by default the future of us(the fans) I would have been sooo pissed if CD had cost us one or more of our FAs just to massage Dream's ego.. Goodbye Hakeem, good luck Ok Cato-tonic..time to put up or shut up
This is the first time I would have to disagree with oilpere. I'm mad at the rockets more than Dream. Dream's level of play last year justifies more than we offered him initially. I think our final offer was decent but it was too late. We should have offer him this in the first place instead of that stupid 4 mill for one year. We might end up paying moochie almost that much. Needless to say we are a worse team now than we would be with Dream in the lineup. Honestly we will be lucky if we make the playoffs this year, if we don't get someone to play some defense in the middle and Marc Jackson is not the answer.
addressing number 2- The fact is that Hakeem and the whole team did play better when he was put into the game with a bigger role. And it was the Media, not Hakeem's crying to the media that made the mess. The media has the saying 'if it bleeds it leads' for a reason. They wanted it to be a huge deal. This is evident by the fact that Hakeem called Rudy while he was on the radio, to make sure that that Rudy knew he meant no insult, and wanted things to be well between them. That was a calss act by a class person. I think Hakeem was a team player because he wanted what was best for the team. That meant him playing more, and using him against teams that no legit center at all, or one that even at his advanced age was still inferior to him. I think it was clear that Hakeem was underused by the Rockets. The one thing very few people mention is that Hakeem said at the start of last year, that he didn't feel that he had to be the go-to guy anymore, just that he should be used when he had the advantage in matchup. He stated that he had no problem playing the running game to take advantage of their guards. The latter part of the season showed that he was correct. When Hakeem was in for more minutes, he and Francis developed a nice chemistry. I do think that Hakeem has a huge share in this, because he was unreasonable, and in the end he stopped negotiations. But before people write Hakeem off as not a team player, and greedy, just remember: When Hakeem won his MVP trophy he was first and possibly only player to insist that the WHOLE TEAM accept it with him, because he felt his accomplishments were only what they were because of the team. That's the ultimate team player. Also Money was the issue, perhaps because it equalled pride. But that he wasn't greedy. Hakeem turned down the Nike deal because of moral objection. That cost him big bucks.
couldn't agree with you more on this one, pops. blinebury's piece was an oversimplification of the strained relationship between Hakeem and the Rocket organization. the "respect" much discussed on this board was a one way street. Hakeem did not show the rocket organization the kind of respect he felt he deserved. I can start with his delays in making a decision and leaving the teams' other free agents hanging and end with the fact that he signed with Toronto for only 3 Million more than the rockets last offer on the table.........sickening I love Hakeem and will follow the remainder of his career up north, but this certainly tarnishes his legacy in Houston......
There are 3 side to every store in this case we have the Rockets side, Hakeem and Fegan's and then theirs the truth. The fact of the matter is, we will never really know what caused the Relationship between the Rockets and Hakeem to go bad. That's if the relationship has really gone bad. We as fans want to blame somebody or something for this situation. If you want to blame something, blame "Business". This was all about business... nothing else period. Let's look at it this way.. First Scenaro (Hakeem or other Athelets) 1) Hakeem wanted to be paid for the things he has done to help the Franchise. 2) Fegan was hired to help his client get all that he could. 3) The Rockets were ready to move on in a different direction. Another Scenario (for all of the working people) 1) I'm a Programmer I want to be paid for all of the applications that I have created to help my company grow. 2) I get a Recruiter to help me get the best offer I can. 3) My Employeer wants to move in a different direction with a smaller payroll. Both scenarios deal with the same thing "BUSINESS". maybe not on the same scale as an athelete; but it's still BUSINESS. I'm not mad at anybody Hakeem, Fegan or the Rockets. Everybody had a job to do in this situation and they did it. Like I said we will never know what goes on behind the scenes and a lot of the things that you hear or read are not even close to what really happens. I wish Hakeem the best and I hope he reaches his goals. I have no hard feelings for the man and I guarantee you this whole situation has not been easy for him to deal with... Good Luck Hakeem and Good Luck Rockets...
I watched many of the games last year, and what I saw was an old man playing for much of the year. Unfortunately, I was not much of a rockets fan or even a basketball fan when Hakeem was in his prime, so I missed the priviledge of having him win championships for me. However, this does give me the ability to watch Hakeem without bias. Some members of this board truly love Hakeem and the rockets, and thus are blind to his faults. The truth, as I see it: Hakeem was the most graceful center ever to play the game. With legendary footwork and the speed of a guard, he dominated the center position. However, much like an Isaiah Thomas or other extremely athletic players, once you lose a step and lose your hops, the ability to dominate consistently is gone. Not only did I see Hakeem getting blocked by the rim, I even saw Hakeem getting blocked on a Dream Shake last year. Without decent hops, do you see Dream being a defensive force? He doesn't have the bulk to back it up. The best we could have hoped for was for him to play 15 quality minutes this year, and that was only if he managed to stay healthy.
Does anyone remember the game against the Lakers at the Compaq Center in December last year? Have you ever seen someone trying to do something that they simply can't do? You kind of get embarassed for them. I never thought I'd say this, but I was embarassed for Hakeem that game. Not because he couldn't contain Shaq -- welcome to the club. I was embarassed for him when he tried to make some move on Shaq and fell down instead. It looked like it was in slow motion. He looked like a wounded horse laying down. I wish we could have seen Hakeem retire as a Rocket -- at the end of this last season. I don't doubt that he's capable of playing well in spurts, but that's all -- in spurts. Yes, he is still better than some of the 7-foot stiffs in the league, but that's not the Hakeem I want to see. I suspect Clyde could still outplay some two-guards in the league, but I certainly hope the Rockets aren't sending him an offer. The glory years are past. Hakeem didn't want a contract offer based on past accomplishments. Well, that's about the only reason I can think of for offering him a contract at this point (and also the fact that our current prospects ain't much better). One more thing: Where did Hakeem get the reputation for being a class act? As I look back on his career, he went from being a hot-head who always tried to get his way to trying to get his way in a little more diplomatic fashion -- although the old Hakeem still came shining through on occasion. If you ask me, the Rockets have shown much more class in their dealings with Hakeem than Hakeem has in his dealings with the Rockets. Hakeem has always looked out for himself. He can do that if he so chooses, but let's not mistake that for class. The fake humility (or perhaps a better way of saying it is the displayed humility in select circumstances) gets old after awhile. Which is the real Hakeem: The one you see interviewed on TV or the one who behind the scenes who demands that everyone's world revolve around him? Hakeem has gotten a reputation for being a class act, but I'm afraid he's really nothing more than an egomaniac who speaks softly with an accent and, more often than not, diplomatically -- hiding his true feelings.
Again like many Hakeem detractors you only mention offense. Hakeem could get blocked by the rim every time he touched the ball on offense, and still be worth more than any of the other center options we have open to us, because of his defense.
