[chron] 90s Rockets all-decade team: Won for all and all for one

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90s Rockets all-decade team: Won for all and all for one
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 8:36 pm by Chron Sports in Game recaps,

By DAVID BARRON

The images of Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Horry, Kenny Smith, Mario Elie and Clyde Drexler, selected by fans as the Rockets’ all-decade team of the 1990s, were unveiled Thursday afternoon for all to see on the walls of Toyota Center.

But what remains invisible to the naked eye, and emblazoned in the memories of devoted Rockets fans, are the elements that formed those five men and their counterparts into two-time NBA champions and must be harnessed if the 21st-century Rockets are to follow suit some day.

“The thing about great teams is the great degree of selflessness. I thought that was our best quality,” said Smith, the only one of the five not present for Thursday’s celebration during halftime of the Rockets-Warriors game as he worked on the CBS/Turner Sports presentation of the NCAA Tournament.

“People ask me my favorite Rockets memory, and it’s not the shot against Orlando (to send Game 1 of the 1995 Finals against Orlando into overtime). It’s when Hakeem won the MVP award (in 1994), and he wouldn’t accept it unless we all came out with him. That was indicative of what our team was all about. You look at the picture, and Otis Thorpe is holding the MVP trophy more than Dream is. So a lot of success has to do with personality. The personality is what blends the skills.”

And blending the personalities, Olajuwon said, starts at the top, as it did in the 1990s with coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

“To get individual guys to understand that winning is what it is all about, that is the coach’s job – to have chemistry, players understanding and pulling together to see the big picture,” Olajuwon said. “It’s sacrificing for the team goal.”

And, as Smith noted, it’s about sharing rewards as well as responsibilities.

“I could not have won that MVP trophy without my teammates,” Olajuwon said. “They – my teammates – gave me the MVP trophy. So when I accepted it, I wanted them there.”

Elie said the two-time champion Rockets demonstrated thir team concept by the manner in that he, Smith, Horry, Sam Cassell or Vernon Maxwell supported Olajuwon and Otis Thorpe in 1993-94 and Olajuwon and Drexler in 1994-95.

“We knew those guys would get their shots, but guys like myself or Robert or Kenny or Sam would come through,” Elie said. “The third guy was different every night.”

Elie said he sees similar chemistry from the Heat and the Thunder this season, which brings to mind the question for current fans: When will the Rockets of this decade develop a similar mindset?

Drexler, who as the television analyst for Rockets home games is in the best position of the five all-stars to judge the current team, said attitude is important – but talent plays a significant role as well.

“They (the current Rockets) can get it,” Drexler said. “I don’t know if they have enough talent, first of all. And then there’s the basketball IQ. These guys are young. They have to get some more experience. But they have some great pieces. You get one or two pieces, and the sky is the limit. The ability to compete and see what is needed – guys like Luis Scola, Chandler Parsons, Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin – they’ve got it.”

But to get their place on the wall, one thing remains to be done.

But to get their place on the wall with the likes of the Dream, who flew in from Jordan for the occasion, one thing remains to be done.

“The championships are what brought us here today to be recognized,” Olajuwon said. “If we had a great team but didn’t win, we wouldn’t be here.”

 

Last I heard, he was living in Round Rock, Texas. I saw him at the McDonald's drive thru once, I yelled at him "OOOOO TTTT!!!" and he gave me a thumbs up !