From cnnsi.com's Kevin Loughery http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/kevin_loughery/news/2001/03/14/loughery_insider " The loss of Hakeem Olajuwon is a huge blow to a Rockets team that still has playoff hopes. Olajuwon, who will be sidelined three to six months by medication he's taking for a blood condition, was just starting to play well and fit into Houston's new system. Head coach Rudy Tomjanovich had totally changed the team's system -- going small by playing three guards and keeping the middle open. In last year's draft, Houston traded for Georgia Tech center Jason Collier because he could shoot from the outside. But Collier got hurt, and it took a while for Olajuwon to adjust to a system that didn't feature a player in the pivot. Then just when he'd adapted his game to it, he got hurt. But Olajuwon wasn't the only blow the Rockets have suffered of late. Having gone 13-3 since the beginning of February to move within three games of the eighth spot in the West, they lost to Phoenix in a heartbreaker last Sunday. They couldn't afford to lose that game -- it probably put them in the position of being the best team not to make the playoffs this season. They're a good basketball team, a little small but very competitive, and they a great future. But not this year. " ------------------ I voted YES! [This message has been edited by Old School (edited March 14, 2001).]
