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Rockets, CD and Rudy and the verge of NBA History?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by crash5179, Aug 28, 2002.

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  1. crash5179

    crash5179 Member

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    Or at least greatness,

    Has there ever been a team that won an NBA championship with all five of its starters never having played on another team? I can only remember as far back as when the Bullets won the championship and I know for a fact that every team except the Supersonics had at least one starter that logged minutes on another team. Does anyone know if any of the Supersonic starters on their championship team started their career somewhere else? ZRB your from Seattle aren’t you?

    How special of an accomplishment would that be for the franchise and for Rudy T and CD if they won a championship with:

    Ming
    Griffin
    Boki
    Cat
    Franchise

    All as the starters.

    Where would that place CD and Rudy among other NBA great gm’s and head coaches. I don’t care if the Rochester Royals or the Minneapolis Lakers did it. I am talking about the modern NBA.

    It would give Rudy a couple of championships with teams he did not build (Riley and Jackson) plus it would give him rings with one he did build from scratch and all players he hand picked at the start of their careers. To me that is special. I would think that it would place Rudy and CD up there with Red Aurbach.

    Anyway what do you guys think and has any other gm / coaching duo won championships with two compleatly different teams with at least one of them they built from scratch?
     
    #1 crash5179, Aug 28, 2002
  2. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    Wow, that's a cool question, crash. I'm not sure if that's been done in the modern era, but if it has, someone will be along shortly "trimming the verge". ;)
     
    #2 Deckard, Aug 28, 2002
  3. CoPilot

    CoPilot Member

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    :D ...Another good reason we dont need Lewis on this team..:D
     
    #3 CoPilot, Aug 28, 2002
  4. Aruba77

    Aruba77 Member

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    Very insightful. It's that kind of deep thinking that make all the Steve and Cuttino Hate posts bearable.
     
    #4 Aruba77, Aug 28, 2002
  5. xiki

    xiki Member

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    Gus Williams, the original 'wizard', may have started elsewhere. Silas was their '4'? He played lotsa places, Phoenox and Boston, at least. Did he start out in Seattle?
     
    #5 xiki, Aug 28, 2002
  6. crash5179

    crash5179 Member

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    I don't know about Williams but I found out that Lonnie Shelton spent two years in NY. So we know that for sure no team has done it since 76.
     
    #6 crash5179, Aug 28, 2002
  7. MysticRyder

    MysticRyder Member

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    Sorry Crash but Steve was on another team.

    :D :D :D :D :D
     
    #7 MysticRyder, Aug 28, 2002
  8. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    So, let's tell CD Ming, Eddie, Boki, Cat, and Stevie are untouchable. Don't trade for any starter material that can possibly beat out these guys.

    And tell Rudy to start them or he'll be fired.:)

    Oh, wait, we can't fire Rudy. We need to have the Head Coach to be a career Rocket to make the history complete!
     
    #8 Easy, Aug 28, 2002
  9. The Summit

    The Summit Member

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    Steve got drafted by Vancouver, but he has never played an NBA game where he wasnt in a Rockets uni.
     
    #9 The Summit, Aug 28, 2002
  10. SwiftRocket

    SwiftRocket Member

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    What an insightful question? I dont know the answer but i hope les keeps Rudy as coach and CD as gm forever and ever!!
     
    #10 SwiftRocket, Aug 28, 2002
  11. LeGrouper

    LeGrouper Member

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    Great insight crash! And you can't count Steve as being on another team because then you would have to count any draft picks acquired from other teams as being on other teams and that would just get ridiculous. Like Summit said, he never played in a vancouver uniform.

    I really like that lineup too. First we got lucky with Cat developing from the second round. Then we got lucky because Steve didn't want to stay in Vancouver. Then we got lucky because we had the balls to trade three mid-round draft picks for someone we knew would be a superfreak. Then we had a lot of injuries and a great draft lotto to get the number 1 and luckily the draft was so deep that year that we got a great pick up at 15 too. A lot of luck tied in with the courage to make the trade. That is why I really like CD.
     
    #11 LeGrouper, Aug 28, 2002
  12. ZRB

    ZRB Member

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    No, I'm from Australia. I just live here, and certainly not since 1979. I know virtually nothing about the Sonics before 1997.

    Still, this is an interesting topic. The Rockets are building a contender entirely from the draft. Does this team have amazing management, or what?
     
    #12 ZRB, Aug 28, 2002
  13. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    Amazing management and some luck.

    The only team that could have built a contender entirely from the draft is the Clippers (and the Warriors maybe). But their management is less than desirable, to put it mildly. And they haven't get it by luck but by being a perenial cellar dweller.
     
    #13 Easy, Aug 28, 2002
  14. crash5179

    crash5179 Member

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    MysticRyder,
    I think you were just having a little fun with me :) and I know TheSummit and LeGrouper have already responded but I want to add something.

    Although Steve was drafted by the Grizzlies he was never a member of that team in any way. Vancouver owned the draft rights to Steve and nothing else. Steve signed his first contract with the Rockets and Houston is the only NBA team that Francis has ever been a member of.

    Easy,
    I am in know way implying that CD and Rudy should not trade any of the five for an upgrade. All I am saying is that CD and Rudy clearly think that they have all of the starting pieces to the puzzle although it is likely that all five will not start this year.

    Unless one of the five Francis, Cat, Boki, Griff or Yao just does not produce I find it very unlikely that the Rockets will go out looking for trade.

    Really this thread is all about what if the players assembled turn out the way we think they will. If that happens then we will be yearly contenders.

    If we win a championship with this group as our starting five then Rudy T. and CD will have done two things that are just not done in the NBA.

    1. Rudy and CD would have championships with two entirely different teams. Only Phil Jackson can say that now and he did not put either of his teams together.
    Dick Motta
    Lenny Wilkens
    Bill Fitch
    Pat Riley
    KC Jones
    All great coaches that won a championships but could not duplicate it with a different set of players.

    2. I've gone back as far as the 77 Washington Bullets and none of those previous championship teams had won a championship with 5 starters that had played their entire careers with that team. This would be a tremendous accomplishment for Rudy T and CD. It would set them apart IMO from all of the others as talent evaluators. It is much easier to identify talent once it has spent time playing in the NBA than to identify talent before it ever plays in the NBA or in some cases the U.S. How many times have we heard...Rudy screwed up this draft or Rudy screwed up that draft or Rudy should have drafted Rashard! If Rudy could win it all with this five it would validate his knowledge of NBA talent above all others.

    I am certainly not against trading for better talent if we can get it but I do think we have all of the pieces if we decide to stand pat. In a few years I think this team will be considered one of the elite if not NBA Champions.

    Rudy T. and CD would be on a level all to themselves. Both IMO would be hall of famers with no equall...especially not Phil Jachson.
     
    #14 crash5179, Aug 28, 2002
  15. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    Hey crash, I am with you all the way. I was just having some fun with your idea. And in the process, two things occurred to me:

    1. Some trade might happen if somebody offer a great player for one of those five starters before they win it all. That would ruin it.:(

    2. If it all works out like you said, Rudy should be counted in the "starting" lineup as the "starting coach." That is even more fantastic. A guy who has never played for another team coaches a team of five starters who have never played for another team to win a championship!:cool:
     
    #15 Easy, Aug 28, 2002
  16. crash5179

    crash5179 Member

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    Easy,
    Not a problem at all, I liked your post since it gave me an opertunity to expand a little. Adding Rudy to the list makes it even more unbaleivable if it happens.

    Rudy T.
    Francis
    Cat
    Boki
    Griff
    Ming

    All career Rockets! :cool:
     
    #16 crash5179, Aug 28, 2002
  17. cato13

    cato13 Member

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    I don't think any NBA coach has won a championship with the same team in different eras. I would love to see Rudy do that because that would be something special and unique. It would put him in a different light especially he wins one now since this is HIS team. Other coaches have won but with different teams or with teams that were "GIVEN" to them with everything in place ie, Phil Jackson.
     
    #17 cato13, Aug 28, 2002
  18. aznlincolnpark

    aznlincolnpark Member

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    yeah!!!!
    Does college uniform counts??? :D
     
    #18 aznlincolnpark, Aug 28, 2002
  19. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    I agree that it would be an incredible thing, but GMs usually make a gamble when the team is on the verge of contending. It's like an unwritten rule to tweak a good thing during the off season...
     
    #19 Invisible Fan, Aug 29, 2002
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