in 1995, we had last year's Finals MVP, Defensive Player of Year and MVP. plus we got another hall of fame player in a trade. so we were the 'underdogs' cause of our record. but if anyone saw that season, it was plagued with injuries, mainly Hakeem. that was one reason why our record wasn't so good. plus that year, there were so many good teams. Spurs, Suns, Jazz, they were all NBA contenders. Suns made the finals 2 years ago, the Jazz later on, the Spurs had the best record in the NBA
If they did win it, which is 110% highly unlikely; It would be one of the greatest in NBA history. But alas all is nothing but a pipe dream. They'd be lucky to make it out of the 2nd round let alone making it to the play offs.
I remember well and understand that. Sure, we were the 'underdogs' to an extent but we still were the defending champions too. People knew that in the back of their minds despite the mediocre-at-times product they saw on the court. People still knew Dream was the best player in the world, they knew the Clyde trade was a steal, they knew we had the killer instinct and M.O. of pulling out close games and doing the little things when it counts that garnered the nickname 'Clutch City' in the first place. This current team is totally different. It's been 13 years since we even won a playoff series. T-Mac is the joke of the NBA, Yao still gets scoffed at and called overrated, Artest is still a cancer, blah blah.....we've heard it all. Nobody expects this group to do anything. Now we're carrying a $21 million dollar disadvantage and again are listening to all the critics withdraw their support day-by-day. This is a team most are saying is doomed for another first round exit, and quite frankly, we don't have the track record to make them think otherwise. IF, huge 'IF', we were able to go from where we are right now to a championship team that's truly remarkable. Probably not as good as the infamous '95 run but this would definitely be special in it's own right. Agreed?
That's a massive IF dude. We need to get a favorable matchup in the playoffs. I don't want the 8 or 7 seed.
Agreed totally. We're toast if we draw the Lakers or Spurs in the first round. Fortunately, Portland is a much more likely scenario which is yet another reason why tonight's game will be huge. Nevermind the tiebreaker, I just want to get a feel for how serious we are and tonight will be a great test.
I would rather him win a ring for doing nothing at all than him playing for a few PPG to make it look like he was instrumental.
The 95 was one hell of championship. Will never be repeated again. One thing Rockets fans should stick out every time they mention their team.
i don't think it's necessarily so. and why are the spurs, in their current mold, a bad matchup for us at all?
Because the Spurs are genetically designed to beat teams like us that can't close out games and don't have enough big game experience. That's been their M.O. for years. They would systematically break us down and leave us shaking our heads. It gives me no pleasure to admit that but we would need Ginobili to be out or some major injury in order to beat them in a playoff series.
they play better defense than we do. for a first round matchup, i would prefer to avoid them. 2nd round, WCF, sure. Winning the first round will take that mental monkey off the team's back. then the sky's the limit.
If the Rockets win it all this year it will be great and depending on how they get there it might be the greatest championship but everything being the same as this moment in the season I don't think it compares to either the '94 or '95 championships. The '94 championship was the first major championship of any Houston team and even though we were favored it was huge for a city starving for a championship. For a city that outside of the Rockets and Cougars had never even been to the championship. Dikembe Mutumbo before one game 7 of '94 described Hakeem and Ewing desire to win a championship as two men searching in the desert for water. That was the way all of Houston felt. After seeing so many of our dreams die in Pittsburgh, Albequerque, Boston, and even in our own Astrodome to finally see a Houston team hoisting a championship trophy was a moment that brought tears of joy to this city. While we are facing adversity now we were faced with greater adversity in '95. We were written off from the get go our last championship called an "an accidental championship. We were coming in as he 6th seed facing an array of teams that not only had the greatest players at arguably the height of the NBA but also were very motivated to take us out. ." We humiliated the Jazz the year before and they were out to get us. We had fought tooth and nail against the Suns the year before and faced both of them in the first round and both teams almost got their revenge. After that we still had to face the team with the best record in the league and MVP and then a great up young and upcoming Magic team that had dispatched the Bulls even with Jordan back and we dominated both. No one believed in us. Even coming into the finals we were an afterthought to the Shaq and Penny show. It was only until we took 2 that we got some respect and we didn't get our full props until we won it all. Finally even Bob Costas apologized for doubting us and calling us "accidental champions." Few things will be ever as sweet as that as a Rockets' fan and hearing Rudy T declare, "Never underestimate the heart of a CHAMPION!"
So we win 5 in a row, 3 good wins over the dregs of the league and 2 eeked out against 2nd tier teams and people come up with this thread? Hey, I'm happy as anyone else we are playing well...but this is laughable. We're the same ole Rockets - blow the lead in the 4th qtr and we nearly lost this game. It wasn't pretty...particularly at home. Same problem we've had all season. Since the first time we played Portland. No - I'm unconvinced. Wait, I'm sure we're not a championship caliber team. We don't have it yet. No one who can deliver in the 4th qtr. That's the achilles heel of this team. I love our guys. But there's no closer on this team. You can't win without clutch players - we don't have anyone who is clutch yet. Brooks? Maybe, but he wasn't tonight. Takes more than one game to get that title.
True that we're not championship material yet. However, I think teams only start developing clutchness when they have the right chemistry (think last year's 22 game streak). I believe once this team develops its own identity, we will start seeing better fourth quarters.
