Vernon Maxwell..nuf said Calvin Murphy as an announcer. Not that Clyde is a good announcer, I just found Murph annoying. I've never really hated Pippen like most Rocket fans. Shandon Anderson. I just never really got why he was so liked. My hatred for him was based on wanting to see Mobley play more minutes who I thought was a better player and would help the Rockets more. His being an ex-Jazz player helped.
Matt Maloney, Scottie Pippen, and Eddie Griffon. I know most of you will disagree with me on this one but I never liked Moochie. I liked him as a personality, but hated him as a player. Ryan Bowen tops them all though, the guy has no business being in this league. On the other hand I'd like to mention some of the non-superstars that are never mentioned in this forum but were some of my personal favorites. Eddie Johnson (Fast Eddie), Chucky Brown (Chuck Hayes of the championship years), and Sleepy Floyd.
Matt Maloney's contract set us back YEARS! Alan Levell use to jack up some fonky ass shots in very critical times. He also came on to my wife once when we visited Gallery Furniture...yup he works there.
Thomas Hamilton, right? my high school Latin teacher used to joke around that, when we were cycling through big men like Thomas Hamilton and Stanley Roberts, we should've just had them stand in a line in front of the basket and not let anyone through.
The obvious guys have all been covered. One Rocket "star" who was disliked by a significant minority of the fans was Ralph (kind of like Franchise being disliked by many). Many fans wanted him to be a traditional low post scorer, and his habit of disappearing on the floor for long stretches fueled questions about his heart. His aloof nature off the court didn't help. FWIW, I was a Ralph fan.
Pippen was never really on board...For me personally it has to be Barkley. He disrupted the Hakeem and Clyde chemistry and lessened the effectiveness of both as both gave up some aspects of their game in order to intergrate Barkley into the over-all flow.
You don't think their advancing age had anything to do with their reduced effectiveness? Did Barkley cause Olajuwon to get injured? Please.
I'll put my vote in for Eddie Griffin, Vernon Maxwell, and Scottie Pippen.... Scottie had the type of body language that made you want to put him out of his misery(or us). He had this attitude that made me not want to care and I can only imagine the wonders it worked on the rest of the team - actually, I don't have to image - we sucked that year compared to coming from a championship caliber team the years immediately before. As for Vernon, there is nothing more frustrating than watching a guy go to battle point for point against Jordan in one game and go 1-30 in the next four. He was like an even more inconsistent John Starks....and lets not even get into the loose cannon aspect of his a career. Maxwell was like the NBA's answer to Bobby Brown. Eddie Griffin's career is only sad now. He was downright infuriating as a Rocket. How many of you threw your hands up for the tenth time when you heard he fired a shot at his girlfriend? I know I was like, "in the police blotter again?" Every year was suppose to be his "breakout year" and he always gave us at least one monster game right when we were about to give up on him. I hated that guy. I loved Stevie Franchise. A lot of people hated him but I don't fault him for playing with his heart and going balls out every game. Ya, he tended to get the Rockets in more trouble than help them but for a younger player I expect a certain bit of recklesness/carelesness. I would take him back now even - only at a discount since his career has went down the tubes since he left Houston. I do feel bad for Stevie. He went from being the leader of a team on the rise to playing in two of the worst run franchises in recent memory(Knicks & Magic). Considering he is one of the few players who plays from the heart and loves the game, he didn't deserve that. There I said it.
Pippen is the only hate. Everyone else I've liked. I wanted Francis gone, but I liked the guy still.. didn't like his game here, but he was a good guy, no reason to hate.. same with most of the others mentioned
