Sam Cassell thinks the 94 and 95 Rockets would be the best in today's NBA.

I have to post on this thread just for memories sake...

To start off, i have to say I hold no grudges against anyone in my life, other than the one against the Rox organization for making that boneheaded, team-wrecking Barkley trade.

There were at least 3-4 good years left and Championship runs if we had left our core of Dream, Drexler, Cassell, Horry, Elie, Smith et all in place.

Cassell was the boy, i mean the man. I mean come on, ROokie comes in and runs point and hits 3 game winning 3 pointers in the playoffs!?! Sam is/was amazing. Only Magic did something like that.

Oh the glory days...

 

I think Garnett is just as good as dream. He probably works too hard right now. The sweat is pouring off him after about 5 minutes of play. Once he gets into a zone like Hakeem the game will slow down for him. Then he could win a championship. Who is going to stop him. I would have to say KG is definately MVP material and could win a championship. Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin McHale had the best post moves ever, but KG has unbelievable talent and is Dreamlike.

 

PSJ... Man, there's no way. Both guys are/were incredibly athletic, both are intense competitions, both great defensively, both had range on their shot, both unselfish superstars, all this is true. But Hakeem had incredible footwork and great post moves, and was a better scorer than Garnett has ever been. Hakeem was also an undersized 6'10" center who dominated larger big men like Ewing and Robinson. Garnett, on the other hand, is an oversized 7'0" forward (didn't want to play center) who is very good against smaller, less athletic competition (but has never been the best at his position). And, in the crucible of the playoffs, Hakeem's carried 3 teams to the finals and 2 to championships, while KG has yet to carry a team beyond the first round of the playoffs. No, I don't think they're anywhere close to equal.

 

His drafts were terrible. Rudy had control over the picks starting with Horry. Horry and Cassell were Rudy picks. If you want to give him credit, give him credit for turning it over to Rudy after many John Turners and Dave Jamersons.

 

I can't agree with this. I take nothing at all away from The Dream. He is the reason I got into basketball. But to sit here and try and make him into something he wasnt isnt right. Every bit of reading I've done not to mention comparing him in photos and watchin him play other centers there is nothing that says he was undersized. He has constantly been recorded at 7'0" and 250 to 255 pounds. What made him spectacular was that he could pull off moves like guards. He, in fact, studied the moves of guards to better his game.

Saying Garnett is an oversized forward is also a bit far fetched. True he's hovering around 7'0" but he weighs in at the same level as alot of 2 guards. Drexler weighed as much as he does. Tmac has just as much weight and I think Lebron is heavier than Garnett. Theres no reason for him to play center. At all.

 

it was a sad day when we traded cassell & horry away. while we were stuck behind seattle in the playoffs & needed some help against a (then) good kemp, it was a very costly trade. we might've got another championship with horry & cassell (& jones, or was it brown???), we equally might've been beaten by seattle again.

it does sound like he still misses the rox, but when you're that successful you always want to stay in the glory days. i believe he still has a house in houston & it's his offseason base. i remember an article a couple of years ago how he was calling for help from the roof of his car after a flood in houston

 

look it up. hakeem was undersized. he was like 6-10 or 6-11 at most. he was never 7 feet tall. if you can rewatch the rockets finals, you will hear walton say it a few times. it was just like how ppl listed charles barkley at 6'6. he was more like 6'4

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/may_peter/1444406.html

"And don't for a minute believe the nonsense in the NBA Register that he was 7-feet tall. He did this all at 6-10, max"

 

Sam Cassell will always be a Rocket in my book. He had a lot of guts to put up crucial shots at the end of a playoff game, but he constanstly took them and made majority of them.

By the way, he's getting up there in age.... man I'm getting old

 

Yeah, and I have seen some articles before Yao's NBA debut that listed him at 7'4". Now everyone says he's 7'6". I guess more of what my point is is the fact that even if Hakeem only was 6'10" and they just wanted to boost it for looks he was not undersized. The largest talented center he would take on was what? Maybe 7'2"? Barkley? Sure he was short for his position. Ben Wallace is short for a center but he has unbelievable strength. The difference? They dont PLAY undersized and neither did Hakeem. I can look at players like Wallace and Antonio Davis and plainly see they are undersized compared to other centers. I can't say the same thing from watching The Dream play, plain and simple.