Comparing the 2010 Saints to the 95 Rockets

interesting article comparing the 95 rockets team and this year's saints team, both defending champions counted out at the beginning of their respective postseasons. good read filled with unique parallels sure to be overlooked by bspn and the mainstream media conglomerate. word to local louisiana newspapers.

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20110106/OPINION01/110109674/1026/news01?Title=Heart-of-a-champion

Heart of a champion
Chris Singleton Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 9:54 a.m.

As the New Orleans Saints prepare to defend their Super Bowl title in the NFL playoffs on Saturday, I couldn’t help but think about a famous quote used by former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion,” Tomjanovich said right after the Rockets won their second straight NBA title during the 1994-95 season.

What stood out the most about Tomjanovich’s famous quote was that the Rockets entered the NBA playoffs as a sixth seed that year, but went on to defeat teams with the four better records in the playoffs to win the championship.

Since then, Tomjanovich’s quote has been used to describe every defending champion’s quest to repeat.

And it’s one Saints fans everywhere hope to proclaim after Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 in Arlington, Texas.

The Saints, who begin their title defense on the road against Seattle on Saturday, have several characteristics with that Rockets team that defended their NBA title in 1995.

Both teams entered the playoffs as lower seeds. The Saints are the No.5 seed in the NFC playoffs, while the Rockets were the sixth seed.

Both teams had intense coaches in Tomjanovich and Saints coach Sean Payton.

Both teams had MVP leaders in Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon. Just like Brees does with the Saints, Olajuwon was the focal point of the Rockets attack and made the players around him better.

Both teams had key contributors to go along with their leaders with guys like Clyde Drexler and Kenny Smith for the Rockets and Jonathan Vilma and Reggie Bush for the Saints.

The similarities are there between the two teams, but in the end, will the Saints repeat their championship like the Rockets did?

That remains to be seen, but as Tomjanovich said, “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”

The thing about a defending champion is that they are used to winning and they know what it takes to get to the top, especially when the odds are against them.

When the Rockets started their playoff run in 1995, no one gave them a chance to defend their title, even with future Hall of Famers like Olajuwon and Drexler on the roster.

The Rockets struggled with injuries and inconsistent play at times during the regular season, but when the playoffs came, they turned it on and knocked off the top three teams in the Western Conference — Utah, Phoenix and San Antonio — and the Eastern Conference’s best team — Orlando — in the NBA Finals to win the championship.

The Saints will have to do the same thing, but this year, they’ll have to go on the road and overcome a lot of adversity to do it.

The Saints have been through ups and downs this year, battling injuries, turnover problems, an inconsistent running game and other things.

The Saints also received tough news this week when running backs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory were placed on the injured reserve list, which will is a major blow to their running attack entering the playoffs.

Despite the obstacles, the Saints are a talented team that has rose to the occasion on many times.

When the pressure and spotlight are on them, as we watched when they played Atlanta on Dec. 27, the Saints know how to show up to play.

They will have to do so again in this year playoffs, as every Saints player will have to step up and contribute in order to defend their title.

The Saints might not be the favorites to win the Super Bowl, and there is a chance they could get knocked off, but I would advise the rest of the NFL to pay attention to Tomjanovich’s quote.

“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”