ok, so i see everyone is freaking out: EXPECTEDLY. so i offer this, my condolences, and understanding. I was raised a Knicks fan and became a rockets fan when cuttino was drafted. my support of the rockets became secure when Cuttino re-signed. however i know the pain of loosing the franchize. loosing the symbol of a city, and infact loosing a family member whom youve talked to, or at least yelled at through the TV screen for most of your life. Hakeem is gone, much like Ewing. sure the team is gonna have a tough time finding a basketball identity, but its a healthy change. i know i was deffinately dissapointed in Pat, the knicks, and even myself(the fans) in the way ewing left. i belive hakeems departure was quite simular, but it was all done for the good of the franchise. no matter how you paint it there is a superstar not playing up to anyones expectations and not getting the respect even he wants. there is the need, and love of competition, there is the love of money. there is the good of the team to think about. I applaude the rockets for letting go. for keeping the future to relive the past. hakeem will never get a quad dubble in the finals like we all want him to. patty ewing wont nail that turn around jumper i want him to. ewing wont win a ring(ever) with the knicks like he should, and hakeem will never win another ring(with the rockets) like we want him to. but the rockets will win rings, and maybe many a whole hand full. well are living in the present, so embrace it. but dont forget the past, and always respect the man. i am so psyched for the rockets future, so i am excited that now that hakeem is in Toronto, i know that the future of the rockets is now. the run and gun rockets are here, and the rings are in the mail. ahh yes the future is now.... PEACE
Excellent Post VOR! My sentiments exactly! I would hazard to say that all the people dogging Dream for leaving is suffering from separation anxiety. The only way to separate yourself from someone or something you love is to find fault and hate. I will not do that! Dream gave me so many memories. I love you Dream and always will! But its time to look to the future and its going to be fun watching the next Rocket Championship team come together! The future so bright!
Thanks man, yeah it hurt alot to see Ewing go, and Barkley, and now Hakeem. but the Lakers are champions again after loosing Kareem, and Magic. it is natural that players move on and retire. this is a good time to be a rocket fan. well thats my story and im sticking to it. peace
I'm a homer through and through...but I can't follow the logic that the future for this franchise is as bright as you guys seem to think it is. This is a team that last year had the worst duo of forwards in the league. This is a team that gives Walt Williams regular minutes. This is a team that may very well give Kelvin Cato a starting job. This is a team that has a very talented, but extremely small backcourt. This is one of the worst rebounding teams in the league....and our answer to that is in the hope of a rookie named Griffin. This is a team who will likely not win as many games this coming season as they did last season...and last season wasn't enough to make the playoffs. This is a team that plays in an incredibly tough division and conference...against teams they don't particularly match up with very well because they're so undersized. I'm not down or trying to be negative. I love this team and I see them making improvements. But they need a significant free agent addition to be able to say, "the rings are in the mail!" I just don't see that happening anytime soon. Eddie Griffin better be a superstar, because there's a very short list of teams that win championships without a significant frontcourt or without a player named Michael Jordan. A long series against any one of the better teams in this conference would not be pretty right now. I guess, ultimately, I don't know yet if the future is bright. There are some pieces in place...but it's yet to be seen if they'll put together the other pieces necessary to become a championship contender.
