Well, I am not going to bash a player who has given Houston it's only two major championships. As for how I feel about Dream's comments. They don't bother me one bit. If Hakeem were still one of the best players in the league it would. But if Hakeem could still carry a team, he'd still be in Houston. Hakeem is not even the 2nd best player on his team right now. Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Michael Jordan are the same age as dream, and frankly they are alot better than Dream (nowadays). Hakeem is just an OK player these days. He only had nine points against the Spurs. And you'd think he could average between 16-20 points per game at his age, but he can't even do that. I guess I am bashing Hakeem's current skill level. I mean't not calling him out as a person. Hakeem is my all-time favorite and always will be.
I have league pass and I watch their raptors game all the time because Im a fan of Vince, Hakeem basically their hes what you would call a Raptor getting scraps.Anytime Vince is on the court he barely touches the ball so for him to make these comments he is out of line. Hakeem was already set on leaving period think about it would you rather play Shaq and he lakers 4 times or say a weak conference team like the bulls? Hakeem made his own self sound like a fool because his comments to the media when he signed with the Raptors were the exact opposite. Hes lucky we did not trade his butt to the Chicago Bulls for Elton Brand before the clips got him.
U know, nobody can really know why Hakeem said all these things now instead of when the trade went down. The only thing I can think of is maybe his friends from Houston told him how people in Houston feel about him. That maybe the fans here think he left for more money, and dissed Houston and that his image is tarnished. And if that is the case, then Hakeem making those statements make sense. I mean come on. The dude played for 17 years, got championshiphs and has millions of fans in Houston. So he has a right to tell the fans hey look, I could have been convinced to stay, but the Rocks didnt do a very good of it. Toronto did. So I left. Not because I am an a-hole, but because thats how the Rocks wanted it. He should have a right to address the fans that he feels like it wasnt his fault.
Hakeem thinks the Rocktets made it look in public like they wanted to keep him. They made it look like signing him was the #1 priority. And he is right. The Rockets kept saying how they will hold up on on the other signings until they get dream. And there were articles on the chronicle about how either RT or CD were trying to negotiate with Fegan, but made it sound like Hakeem wanted too much money. And so when Hakeem left, everybody was convinced, including me, that maybe the Rockets did try their best, but Hakeem just wasnt willing to listen. That's exactly how i see it. As for the why did he do this now, common sense says this is his first trip back to Texas since the trade and i'm sure every reporter in the state was looking for some dirt. What's funny is that when Jordan bashes the Bulls everyone agrees Jerry Krause is an A-hole even though most people don't have a clue what really went on. When Glen Rice was whining in LA and NY, he was a whiny b**** and now to justify the ridiculous trade,"At least he's not a whiny b**** like Hakeem." As someone wrote earlier it seems a lot of people here are "What have you done for me lately type fans"
OK people, one more time: your = possesive, as in "your coat." you're = you are, as in "you're as classless jerk." Next class, the difference between "then" and "than." Continue...
I'm still trying to figure out how thinking Hakeem's statements are out of line makes someone a bad fan or fairweather fan. I don't know about you guys, but I am a fan of the ROCKETS and when a former player attacks them, regardless of who he is, my loyalty is to the TEAM, not the player. I am appreciative for his skills and how he played in Houston, but that doesn't mean I like everything he did or does. Sheesh!
TroyBaros, I do not agree with your take on the dream's role on the Raptors. This is a very talented team that is quick and deep upfront. They do not need Dream in December. When someone is averaging 8 rebs in 22 minutes and do what he is doing defensively, you should not refer to it as scraps especially as you cannot get the same on the Rockets right now. When it truly counts, the Raptors will take advantage of his experience, scoring ability, rebounding, passing and defense. At least their coaching staff is not forcing the issue to play him at the expense of the exposure and development of the younger players like the Rockets does a la Rice/Williams.
Anyone else want to take a shot at the teacher? <font size="1">I'm telling ya': The bad karma of correcting grammar/spelling on a rapid-fire communications medium will always backfire. Cross your "t"s and dot your "i"s before hitting submit, and consider giving it to an editor to read, first.</font>
You know , I can expect everyone to call Hakeem every name in the book, but I agree with a lot of what was said by him. I read a post earlier that said Rudy and Cd made under table agreements with Taylor and Anderson. I think this is the truth b/c no teams ever approached Taylor or Anderson knowing they would resign with Houston. Most teams didn't want the two anyway. My point or problem is the lowball offer from the word go and the signing of Glen Rice. Hakeem could have been offered more from the outset and if we are truly rebuilding with younger players, why get the injured Glen Rice and his fat contact? We didn't have to get anything for Anderson especially if it meant taking on a salary like his. The Knicks knew they made a mistake when they signed him, but they jumped at the chance to unload his salary for a content bench player. If we were going to go young, go young. Don't fool yourselves and bring in a whining ,injured old player like Rice thinking he could really help this team into the playoffs. It was bad and will get worse until Dream comes here and destroys Cato and his fat contract. I wish he were here, 8pts 8rebs 2 blks in 22 min looks better than what Taylor and Cato are putting up.
lol! rimbaud, you set yourself up... I stopped worrying about spelling and grammar as I started experiencing senescence. I could start a whole new conversation about a correlation with becoming conservative right about the same time I lost the ability to differentiate between 'affect' and 'effect', but I'm too mature to waste my time on such meaningless conversations now. Go Suns.... er.. I mean, hmmm... mmmm, tax cuts.
Lol, crispee and achebe, In my defense, though, I must state that there is a difference between careless typos and grammatical patterns that continue over multiple posts by the same people. It is no big deal and I am not trying to be mean, just trying to help. Too bad DoD wasn't here to point out my mistake, he needs things like that.
why now? why kick the rockets when they are down? well in all likelihood the reason he was probably asked to comment was due to the fact that the raptors were in texas and the fact that the rocks are on this losing streak. Of course this is when reporters are going to go after him for a comment. i agree he went too far in his comments but i suspect the timing was probably due more to reporters pushing him, than his doing. secondly, look at this strictly as a basketball issue. the rocks need a better big man (love willis' heart but he aint 25 anymore). because of the dirth of big men out there, i don't think dream's salary is too far out of line. hell - i can't even think of 10 big men i would want more than dream in terms of basketball ability. (current ability not potential). someone mentioned dream needed to go, so stevie wouldn't defer to him. well i think stevie defering to dream is a problem that needed to be corrected more in francis than anyone else. i mean if we get a great big man (through free agency or draft), steve still will need to adjust. and finally, injuries are part of basketball. i think for people to say that hakeem is a jerk for commenting on the losing streak lose sight of the fact that in one sense he's right. the rocks should have had a better plan for an injury to francis. i don't think the rocks were wrong to let hakeem go since in his then current state of mind, it wasn't going to work. but by the same token i think that he truly was/is a better player than the role the rockets had for him, and maybe that role could've have been altered to make better use of him.
Crisp, Sure there was no offical line/press releases etc to say the Rockets had made what they saw as 'Solid' offers to Dream and he rejected them but all the 'Talk' was that the Rockets organisation made offers, Dream/Fegan knocked them back and they revised it several times and then "HE Dream" knocked them back for more cash (I don't want to get into a searching pissing match but this was posted several time on this site (frontpage) and the bbs and Chron, i know you will start one anyway). Please don't tell me you think the Rockets didn't very much try to convince the public Dream pulled the pin, best case scenario for your argument is that they tried to portray it as a mutual parting, as Dream felt he could play/contribute for several years more and the Rockets didn't think he could, so they agreed to diagree. For me i don't buy, they wanted him out to complete the so-called transition to the new Steve led Iso/PnR team and didn't want egg on their face and let this effect crowd numbers (although it's hard to see how crowd numbers could drop any further). Heb, just about completely agree Shandon for nothing would have been better (although optimist in me says i will give Rice one more chance) Loyalists, esp Jeff, I can completely understand your views to take the teams side of things in this cause you support the Houston Rockets and Dream is no longer and in part I agree, I certainly think Dream shouldn't be opening his trap with bag an organisation/city that has given him so much over the year. The only thing that i find positive about this article is i find it hard to dispute is this comment "I think they have made poor decisions in the past, and they still continue to make them," As pooh said the truth hurts and for me Dream saying this just further emphasises the mistakes that have been made, sure everyone can say Mobes is great second round find, Kenny is another, Steve was a sensational pick up and Oscar is amazing find, but the acquisitions/contracts of just about the rest of the team are completely dismal. 50 million for a 6-10 SG with achilles Tendonitis 42 Million for 7ft Centre waste of space 20 odd million for a playground dribbler back-up PG (ask around the league what teams think of Mooch, he is nothing more than any other back-up PG Rice, although maybe if he keeps up the injuries retirement and medical exemption could be a saviour Anyhoo anther fine article from Fran and for first for him actually contains quotes and don't give me that he was "fishing" for them crap, cause that is what reporters do. Smeg
heh...i couldn't see dream's lips speaking those words. they were hurtful and wrong. i guess he forgot that he is superficial to the media, too. okay, and why does dream blast the Rockets, saying they were disrespectful and that he really wanted to play, then eventually coming to the conclusion that all he wanted was to play on a championship team? where are his grapes coming from? personally, I'm a fan of the Rockets more than I'm a fan of dream. yeah, dream won us the titles. for that i'm forever greatful. but that was then. this is now. i'm in shock to see him publicly blast the rockets when they have never said anything that negative of him. dream..oh, dream. why kick a team when they're down?
dream is playing for a good raps team. be happy, dude. Why is he suddenly trashing rockets management? probably because he knows he's in toronto and he will only have to face rudy 2 X after he said all this. :sigh:
What the hell? Why? I mean, not directly discussing his comments(and they're wrong), but I don't see the reason why he would even say them? Spite? Was he just bored that day? Did he have a bad reaction to the food in San Antonio? Damn, can't say as I understand this. Can't even say as I like this. As far as the bad decisions - all organizations make mistakes, some are bigger than others - Cato was a bad signing, but on the scale of bad signings, it really doesn't register. His contract is bad, but it doesn't even compare to albatross' like Larry Johnson's old contract, or Big Country, or a number of other ludicrous signings. Maurice Taylor is a very good offensive player, and a big part of our offense. Watching the games, I can clearly see where we miss his presence. Glen Rice hasn't worked out, but he's not as bad as y'all make him out to be - perhaps he'll turn it around, perhaps not. Moochie has stunk. He vacilitates with the ball too much - sometimes its the reult of players not getting to the spot on the floor in concert with what the play was supposed to be - but mostly its just hesitation. When he doesn't hesitate, he's played well, but that hasn't been often this year. Oh, and we got two potential franchise players in absolute steals of trades(Francis, Griffin). Got Mobley and Thomas in the draft, when neither was considered to be a good chance to make much of an impact and Mobley is a legitimate stud, and plucked "La Respuesta"(Torres) out of literally nowhere, and he looks like he could be something special. Bad decisions? Yeah, they make a few, but to suggest that they come close to outweighing the good decisions - I think thats just flat out lunacy. So stick that in your contrived pessimism pipes and smoke it.
Trying to point out your ineptitude at spelling is a full-time job. One that I don't get paid for... I'll let the rest of the BBS take care of your deficiencies. How does that saying go? "It takes a village to teach the village idiot?" .... err... or something like that. ... this one was about as embarrassing a mistake as you've ever made, though. DAMN!
