There were quite a few people in Houston (fans, media, everybody) who were questioning Olajuwon back then. I know it seems ludicrous now, but this was the pre-MVP, pre-muslim faith finding Hakeem, and many were wondering if this team had reached its potential. I'm not going to hate on Patterson because w/ the exception of the OT-Drexler deal, he essentially built our two championship teams. He was leading the draft brigades, before Rudy took over fully in 95. He drafted Robert Horry and Sam Cassell. He also helped lure Mario Elie before he was canned by Les. At the time, his firing was looked at with shock because his team was just coming off a division-winning 55 win season (best ever).. but Les wanted his own guy. And just in case you want any more clarification on him, he was integral in building the Texans organization as a first-class, high-profile team. I think its the Blazers that don't deserve him...
Who were the stiffs that Les ended up hiring to replace Patterson? I believe Tod Liewiki was one of them, and he left less than a year to go to Golden State. There was another guy who was GM for a short time before CD/Rudy....last name started with a W ........hmmmmmmm
I, for one, still question Hakeem's injury to this day. Some of his cryptic statements before the "injury" were very suspicious. The clincher for me was that MRI's don't lie when someone is in the kind of pain Hakeem claimed to be in. It was all about money money money. That said, I'm glad Patterson was let go so Rudy could take over and soothe Hakeem's feelings. Whether he faked or not, Dream got us 2 championships. Steve Patterson isn't a bad person, he was made the fall guy in the Hakeem saga. He was also gracious enough to continue advising the Rockets on salary cap issues for a couple of years after he left. Too bad his name will be tarnished forever.
btw ...even though Patterson was fired before the 1st championship, he did get a ring for his efforts in putting that first team together
And too bad he stopped advising us when Kelvin Cato, Maurice Taylor, and Moochie Norris started coming in the door. I don't think his name was "tarnished"... I just think that because the team won AFTER he was fired, it was made to look like a "good" move. Bob Weinhauer was the GM who brought in Drexler... he left the year after to go to Milwaukee, and then Rudy+CD (mainly Rudy) started running wiiiild. In the end, CD looks like he's doing a better job of emulating Patterson than he Rudy... as he signs/obtains decent vets like Sura, Wesley, and James without being burdened by a bad contract (just like Patterson got Kenny Smith, Otis Thorpe, and Mario Elie). Now, if only we can pull a Cassell out of a deep draft just like Patterson did in 94... I'd be overjoyed.
Actually it was Rudy who wanted Horry, Cassell, and Elie. I don't know if it's possible to pull up Chronicle articles from way back then, but I remember the stories. The story on Elie specifically was that Rudy was watching Portland play in a bar one night and said 'I have to have that guy on my team', or something like that. I think the guys that Patterson can take credit for are Thorpe, Smith, and Maxwell- all of whom did pretty much nothing after they left Houston.
see...who said alcoholism was bad? One of the best acquisitions in franchise history was made by a drunk guy!
Rudy definitely had some input too (he was one of our top scouts for many years... and maybe he took charge on the Elie deal)... but I know for a fact that Patterson liked Horry and Cassell just as much (especially the latter). I guess just having a second set of "eyes" to look at a deal, instead of it being Rudy and a bunch of "yes" men, was something that was missing from this team from 97-2003. Just like we all think JVG has tons of input now, Rudy had lots back then too... but its JVG+CD working together, not just JVG alone. After Patterson and Weinhauer left, Rudy was too big of an influence (and rightly so) on some of the deals where he wanted "his guy", and nobody would dare tell him to re-evaluate... In the end, he unfortunately had that same "bar" revalation when he saw: Brent Price, Kelvin Cato, Mo-T, Moochie, Oscar Torres, Rodrick Rhodes, Mirsad Turkcan, Bryce Drew, Matt Maloney......
Hakeem was faking it. I was working in Sports broadcasting when all this went down...low level intern, and I heard a taped conversation with Hakeem where he was demanding a raise, and Patterson refused, and Hakeem said (and I am paraphrasing here) "Then my knee hurts" and refused to play. Patterson went public, and Hakeem and the union threatened action, ever wonder why that went away? Because they played the tape for Hakeem. As I understand it, Hakeem and Charlie Thomas buried the hatchet on a long flight to Japan for a preseason game, but he was almost traded to Miami that off season. Glad he wasn't. I have met Steve Patterson, and I think he and his dad were great for the Rockets. DD
