Cato was averaging a double double the last 5 games. As for Hakeem, I'm glad he's "feeling better," but retire please.
I hope Hakeem gets better soon. I think that both sides are wrong - Freak with his "bitterness" that seems to turn into anger even against those who just neutrally state that this is not unexpected, but also those who make fun of Hakeem and think it is appropriate to ridicule him. The guy has done so much for the Rockets and the city of Houston that everyone who feels any satisfaction from hearing that he got injured should be ashamed of himself. Good luck, Hakeem - I hope he will be back for the Rockets game and will have a great game - but the Rockets should win it .
Though he put the Rockets on the map, Dream left the Rockets on a sour note. He a stubborn and shrewd man whose own arrogance forced him into believing he can still play. I applaud the Rockets officials' decision to not give in to his demands last summer for a three year contract. Everyone knows how injury prone he has been the last few years. Hell, even last year he played what ~45 games? He has had the most bizarre injuries: -toe infection -thigh problems -blood clot -hamstring ....the list goes on As someone pointed out earlier, he gets abused by second tier centers who are a step quicker than him regularly. He no longer has the quickness on his spin moves, nor does he have the lift on his legs to elevate for jumpers and hooks. Now tell me, is this the Dream that you want the world to remember. I don't want the greatest Rocket ever to be remembered like Robert Parish. Oh, and he looks ridiculous in that purple jersey.
As soon as Clutch ads the "Discuss last years Rockets" topic board up I'll use it. Where do you discuss former Rockets? os
I don't. Just giving you a hard time OS. I just thought this thread could also go in the NBA Dish Forum...
Originally posted by Dogbelly I don't think that people are happy to see it happen. I just think that those who are blinded by Hakeem's status as "the best Rocket of all time" have failed to see things from the organization's standpoint. Can you imagine the heat the Rockets would have taken as a result of this happening with him in a Rockets uniform after paying him more money than he was worth just to stay in Houston? They would have taken less heat than they took for letting him go. The "organization's standpoint" is not relevant here. The money was not that far apart in the end. Hakeem simply chose Toronto. This has nothing to do with the "organization making the right choice". It has to do with disparaging Hakeem Olajuwon. The probability of this happening was simply too great for the team to take a chance on. It turns out that they were right. I think that this thread is here to reassure everyone that Rudy and them know what they are doing, and not one to celebrate the ailment of the best Rocket of all time. Again, the Rockets weren't "right" about anything. In the end, they offered him almost as much as Toronto. Hakeem chose Toronto. What exactly were the Rockets "right" about? This is an "I told you so" thread that is designed to humiliate Hakeem. That's all it is.
Originally posted by RocksMillenium Give me a break Freak. The guy is going on 40, and he has been injury prone going on <b>7</b> years what were supposed to think? Other then one year the guy has been injured, and even that one year he wasn't injured he got injured in the playoffs. When he was playing championship ball the guy was prone to injury. Point being? That doesn't change the fact that this is a thread designed to humiliate the greatest Rocket of all-time, and celebrate the fact that he's injured. Because he's been injured before somehow makes it okay? But if we use your logic, you practically predicted a few months ago that the Rockets would never win a championship. If we use your logic then you should be happy the Rockets are stinking it up because it means your prediction of them not winning a championship is correct. Are you happy they aren't going to win a championship any time soon? Do you see how ridiculous that is? You have derailed. First off, if the Rockets never win a championship, "never" would seemingly outlast my lifetime, so how could I ever start a thread saying "I told you so" that the Rockets never won a championship? Second, I wouldn't start that thread anyway, that's the point! Do you see me starting threads saying "Yippee, the Rockets suck, I was right!"? No, you don't. Still, having said all that, starting an "I told you so" thread about a basketball opinion is much different than starting an "I told you so" thread pointing out how the greatest Rockets of all-time is suffering from injury. There's a line of decency that the latter example crosses. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see Dream was going to get injured. I predicted Shaq would get injured, you can see these things coming 500 miles away. First, who cares if there was a good chance of him getting injured? Does that mean people should celebrate it when it happens? Second, this isn't a Laker bulletin board, and Shaq is not the greatest Rocket of all-time. Do you not see the difference?
What I see is one guy in Toronto, and one guy in Los Angeles. "The past is gone, but something might be found to take its place."
Freak: Relax...I'm not going to antagonize you too much on this. We've already been through that before. All I want to say is don't you think that Olajuwon is "humiliating" himself? I can't even remember the last season that he played in which he didn't miss more than 10 games due to some kind of injury. Personally, I think he lost a little bit after he had the knee surgery during the '98 season. He was so dominant up to that season. But after '98, he just seemed to have lost the "spring" in his step. He was still capable of being dominant, but it just didn't happen as frequently as before. Then, the injuries would come about and that would set him back even further (at least that is what it appeared to me). You are probably right in that the Rockets mgmt dissed him or lowballed him initially, but all sentimental stuff aside, re-signing Hakeem for what he wanted money-wise and year-wise was just a risky proposition and a bad business decision. I know that the Rockets mgmt has made some bad business decisions in the past like signing Maloney, Cato, and re-signing Moochie, but this was a deal in which I think they used good judgment. Olajuwon getting hurt is such a sure thing, that it is comparable to seeing the sun rise in the morning. You know that it is going to happen. The only thing that upsets me is that for 15 to 17 years, Hakeem was one of the elite, if not elite, centers in the NBA. However, instead of going out on top, he had to end it by spending the last 2 to 4 seasons (or however many more he's going to play) as a mediocre center. This may surprise you...but that is painful for me to watch and stomach. I agree with Old School...I just wished he had retired as a Rocket last season.
I agree with TheFreak. In fact, if you read the writing on the wall when Barkley was signed, Hakeem was out the minute that happened. Suddenly the cry was that it was "Barkley's team". Hakeem became the bad guy and the guy in the way basically. Hakeem didn't "Pippen" the Rockets, so I don't know where all of the callousness is coming from by Rockets fans. Both the Rockets and Hakeem went different directions and I respect that. I'll reiterate, I hope that you are reading this Stevie. This could [will] be you!!!!!
Manny -- I wanted pretty badly for Hakeem to retire after the Laker series in '99. But for whatever reason, he chose to continue to play. That's good enough for me. He's earned the right to do it on his terms, even if I don't agree (I have the same opinion on Rudy). That seems to be a pretty reasonable point of view, however many supposed Rocket fans jump at the chance to drag his name through the mud. I just don't get it. Is he "humiliating" himself? I doubt he feels humiliated. Is he what he once was? No. Does he get injured often? Yes. Do I feel the need to harp on that? No. Manny -- again, it wasn't a decision they made. Quit talking about it like the Rockets made the right decision. They made the decision to offer what they did initially. They also made the decision to make a final offer that was comparable to Toronto's. Hakeem rejected it. It was Hakeem's decision, not the Rockets. The Rockets are not the smart ones here. Hakeem rejected their offer. Business decision by Hakeem, not the Rockets.
TheFreak is right in that the Rockets certainly didn't make the "right" call on Dream in the offseason. I can't tell you how pissed I was at them for making that final 3 year offer, or how relieved I was that Dream rejected it. The Rockets were willing to take just as big a chance as Toronto. And while I wouldn't go as far to say that I am "happy", or "gleeful" over Dream's recent injury, I can say that I feel somewhat vindicated for being glad that Dream left. If that makes me a non-Rockets fan, or an *******, or an ungrateful fan by someone else's definition, fine. Screw that definition. I loved Hakeem. I loved what he did for the Rockets. But I think he did plenty in his last few years with the Rockets to warrant me being glad he is gone. I would like to think that most of the posters who are posting in kind to me in this thread feel the same way, but I can't speak for them. Maybe you are right, Freak, and maybe some are glad he is injured, but I don't think the majority of the posters here feel that way, and I think it is far too assuming of you to label this thread a dedication to Dream's bashing.
I honestly don't think many people are 'gleefully' enjoying the news. Many of them were just tired of being insulted and having their love of the team questioned when they realized Hakeem wasn't going to make an impact for much longer. This is just more reinforcement for the whole point. Realizing the guy wasn't going to really give anything more to the franchise isn't 'bashing', but lots of people don't seem to realize that.
He should be. He deludes himself about his value to a team. He is no longer a superstar, he shouldn't have the ego of one (I could argue that superstars shoudln't have a suberstar ego either, but that's beside the point). Hell, Keon Clark puts up better numbers in less minutes. How about this from the Toronto Star on 1/19 (BEFORE his most recent injury): http://waymoresports.thestar.com/NA...agepath=Home/Home&c=Article&cid=1011395268440 The decision to reward Hakeem Olajuwon with a long-term contract seems a bad one right now as he grabbles with conditioning and the ravages of age.
It also doesn't change that fact that the former greatest Rocket is now an often injured Raptor. I will be the first one to buy a ticket when his jersey is retired in the new arena. os
TheFreak: My dad is a big Celtics fan. I remember how much he hated seeing Robert Parrish struggle into his 40's for different teams. I feel the same way about Hakeem. It hurts watching him get used by players who he used to routinely abuse. Now, anybody who's glad Hakeem is injured sucks. But I'm just wondering where you draw the line? Are you glad he kept playing?
All I want is that that Toronto gets into the playoffs with the 8th spot in the east then we get pick #14 of the 1st round. We need Hakeem out there because they will have a higher seed if Clark is playing instead of Hakeem.
