Robert Horry dishes on the Barkley trade and why it didn't make sense for the Rockets

What was the Rockets record in 96-97 when the "big-3" played together?

The Rockets could have gone one of two ways... try to maximize every last big of Hakeem-Clyde (which Barkley in 97 did better than Horry/Cassell would have)... or start rebuilding with a youth movement.

Can't say they made the wrong decision with that WCF trip.... and Seattle had their number for the entire 90's till they got Barkley.

 

Seattle had their number because Rudy and the coaching staff failed to adjust. Every game against Seattle, their defense would basically start from the left block. By the time Hakeem would get to the left block, 2 defenders were waiting on him. Seattle got away with playing a zone and we didn't adjust.

Also, the trade was bad because Hakeem and Barkley basically liked the same spots on the court. The offense became stagnant and it would turn into the Big Three, taking turns shooting the ball.

Finally, I don't care about the Barkley got us past Seattle argument. We got past Seattle, but then Barkley couldn't handle Malone or any great PF in the western conference. The guy was a liability on defense.

 

Have you ever heard of a guy named Elvin Hayes? They traded him for Jack Marin. That is all.

 

it was a good trade in theory. it was supposed to help us against teams that dominated us from the PF position (some things never change i guess).

barkley didn't fit with dream on the court, and didn't get along with clyde (who decided to retire after 1 year with chuck) or pippen (who demanded a trade after 1 year with chuck).

if we would've waited a year would we have had: dream-horry-pippen-clyde-cassell? would pippen have not quit on the team if we played with those humble/hardworking/champions?

 

We lost to Seattle because our second best big was Horry when Horry was more of a 3. We had no one to back up dream and no one strong enough to cover Kemp. I totally agree we Horry. Willis and Johnson would have gotten us over the hump.

 

Damon Stoudemire was well:

This really pissed me off we were this close to having a big 4 until more offers came in

 

You'll be really mad when you hear who the deal-breaker was... Rodrick Rhodes.

 

This is some revisionist history...

The Rockets started losing because Hakeem and Clyde started getting older, simple as that.

Even with them getting older, they were playing .700+ ball when all of the big 3 were healthy.

 

Eddie Johnson was a desperation mid-season signing after the Rockets suffered injury after injury to aging players in 97... he was not part of any "master" plan at any point.

 

Props to getting this far in a Barkley related thread without someone using the word turrible...

 

Perhaps, he was still a pretty good role player on the Jail Blazers.

 

I felt that you don't build you team with one opponent in your mind, no matter how that opponent seems to have your number.

Why would you give up two promising young players just for a chance that you might face that opponent in the playoffs? Besides there were other ways to beef up the PF spot against Seattle. Horry's suggestions aren't too bad.

 

You guys are discrediting Barkley too much because he has a vendetta against us now. We absolutely needed Barkley to get us past Seattle and there's no way Kevin Trex Willis was going to be enough to stop Kemp from dominating us. The dude was scoring on Hakeem at will. Ain't no way Willis was going to stop him. Furthermore, if Malone didn't bear hug Drexler and Allow Stockton to get that shot off we would've advanced to the finals again and it would have been an epic series against the Bulls. Barkley would've kept Rodman in check from running wild on the boards. We would've had another awesome Drexler and Jordan matchup and nobody would've stopped Hakeem. The pieces were perfect... The plan just got derailed all because of a bs none call on Malone.

Also, you can hate on Barkley all you want but he took a rookie Franchise under his wing and embraced him and played his heart out for us when Pippen flamed out, Drexler retired and Hakeem crossed the border. Also, don't forget Barkley took a major paycut for Pippen's b**** ass to to become Rockets public enemy number 1.

 

It's not the trade that bothered and bothers me still, it's the philosophy of Leslie and how you break up a core like that in 2 years time. Horry and Cassell were the future, he got greedy and should've accepted that we might not win a title in a few years. I rather watch a team grow like the former owner did between 91 and 94, adding pieces here and there, but not like this.

 

Seattle wasn't just any opponent. They were THE opponent and we were bound to play them in the Playoffs. They beat us in 93, Clutch City :gasp: may have never happened if it weren't for Deke's miracle and the Nuggets knocking out the Sonics in 94. In 96 they swept us 4-0. A change was inevitable. One of the greatest feelings ever being a Rockets fan was when we finally beat them the next year and it felt like dropping a mother load after being constipated for a week. I still remember how relieved and joyful Hakeem was when we finally eliminated Seattle. His smile and excitement was on par with when he won his rings. That's how much of a thorn Seattle was.

 

dont know what les was thinking. but back then dream and drexler werent exactly young any more. so in a way i could kinda understand.

our problem and downfall started with pippen coming and quitting. and the mishaps of drafting sf3, cato, eddie griffin, etc.
and then its unfortunate that rudy was let go. i have always thought rudy would know a lot better than jvg of how to develop and utilize yao. with rudy coaching yao, houston might've won a couple of more titles.

 

He gambled once with Drexler and it paid off. We got swept the next year with the same roster basically. Seattle was a buzzsaw during that time. We had to do something. The Barkley trade was inevitable.

I love Horry and Cassell but they were just young role players at the time. Cassell could have been our future PG but there's no way Horry was going to be a 1st, 2nd or 3rd option. He was incredibly fortunate to end up in LA and SA. The best thing he ever did for himself was throwing that towel in Ainge's face when he was in Phoenix. Bet most people don't even remember Bob was a Sun.

 

How was drafting Sf3 a mishap? We didn't even draft him but if we did how would it have been a mishap? We totally fleeced the Grizzlies in that TRADE and that's probably one of the reasons why Vancouver no longer has a pro basketball team. Dickerson was a good player but he retired like a couple years after that trade.

 

trading for sf3 with the griz in itself was ok. but to make him #1 and building a system around him was a mishap, no? i think what happened after we had him proved that.

sf3 had heart and passion. but his Q on and off the court left much to be desired. i was never too fond of him as a bball player.

dickerson was one of my favorite rockets back then. but he lost to his injuries.

 

He was as good as anybody else to build around at that time. It's not like there was a plethora of young First options available to build around. This was an era where Kobe and Iverson were the top and Vince Carter the nearest to them on the list of young superstars and then you had guys like Stephon Marbury, Baron Davis, Mcgrady etc. we had to roll with what we had. It could've been much worse. I'm okay with the fun and excitement SF provided in comparison to smart boring ball with likely similar results that Andre Miller for example would have provided.