Man...I couldn't have put posted it better. I remember when there was a post about "If Hakeem left would you still be a Rocket fan". Then I posted yes but hesitantly now its a hell yeah. I'm very disappointed in how this situation dramaticly turned. I always felt Dream was a top notch player on and off the court. Now I'm getting very tired of all the antics going on. The only thing he hasn't done that is left is call out players as pippen did with Sir Charles. I'm not sure the Dream will go that far but I'm not counting it out. I personally thought that he would be gone if we could sway a 3-way deal somewhere but with Cato out, theres no way to trade anyone right now. Maybe for Mutombo(rebounding machine/shotblocker artist), shoot we have the draft picks to give up with others to give (Cato) to Atlanta, Dream to Miami. Us taking Mutombo, Causwell, yada, yada. I don't see how going to the draft every season will make us better. We need some veteran players also. Going to the draft every season hasn't worked for Clippers til now but there still about 3 years from any chance to dominate on a regular basis (sorry started to ramble on). Just my opinion. Dream just play ball, I do understand he's not being used(at all). Neither is Taylor. ------------------
I definitely feel you and i relate to your feelings on the matter. One such example is when the season was starting and we were all excited about Dream teaming up with Cato, and especially Taylor, but it has certainly been a thorn in all of our sides to sit back and lay witness to the utter carnage and inferior inside team precense that we have unfortunately laid our eyes on. I mean how can you honestly say that the season trend would develop into this chaotic turn of events which has terribly led to the culmination of events before us? I want more than anything for the Rockets to get where they want to go (and will eventually go), but i don't think that we need to just sit here as fans or for that matter as a organization and watch the opportunity to make effective changes pass us by. We need to examine what we need to do too get ourselves in a position of fruition of upward trend by first assesing our situation and then understanding what our foundation is. We must realize that we must understand what we want our foundation to be. for example, we can say "yea, let's have Steve Francis and mr. Cuttino mobley be our foundation for the next five years. after that we have to understand what the next layer will be. you see this process is kinda like a pyramid tand to have the right foundation is key to the team becoming a team of acheivers. anyhow, as I was saying we must realize the next level of talent is not necessarily the next best players, but the players that naturally fit in after Steve francis and Cuttino mobley. For example, say that you have your backcourt set and you now decide you need complementary players who can serve off of Steve Francis's and cuttino Mobley's ability to score, penetrate and dish. being that the two players already are scoring 20 points per game, it becomes more prudent to have someone who can be a slashing type player. A player like this could be a Shawn marion type. I realize there is only one marion, but you get this idea. Now to arrive at the concept, you have to either do one of three things. Number one is stay with what you have. (for example, Shandon Anderson staying at the small forward position.) Number two is hoping for a great draft pick in the late lottery range ( such as Marion was.) Number three would be free agency. I don't think there is any good type of free agents out there who fit thiss type so in my humble opinion it comes down to whether or not we will draft a player of this particular ilk or we stay with what we have. I for one do not think that we necessarily have to lay judgement at one particult scenario and to do that it woulds only be short-sighted and not realizing the different paths that are in front of us. Now my proposal is to stay with Anderson for the time being and draft a player of this ilk. In other words, I think we can have our cake and eat it too. By doing so, we have two players in that category who fill our necessity to be a slasher type. My only reservation with Anderson is that he doesn't exactly fill my personal requirement of being a better rebounder who can adequately deal with some of the bigger small forwards in the league. Thereafter, I feel our concentration is to address the front court and pursue from there, all the while examining our role players and understanding exactly what role their role exactly is and so on and so forth.. ------------------ Sometimes you gotta do the next best thing!
Very well put Axe ------------------ May I have another Snowball Clutch? Please may I? Ill be a good little mole.... I promise.
That pretty much sums it up for me, too... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
To start off...I like Hakeem alot. He has played a tremendous role in our two Championships as well as countless playoff seasons. Houston fans have been fortunate and gifted to be able to watch this man play his entire career in Houston, both in college and the pros. But the bottom line is, the Rockets organization doesn't "owe" him anything. Waiving or trading him would be a kind and selfless gesture by the Rockets organization, but it would, IMHO, be a foolish move. Hakeem is getting paid 16 million dollars this year to do whatever he is asked to do by the organization. This can mean playing 48 minutes a game or getting a DNP-CD on the box score. I repeat....Hakeem is getting paid 16 million dollars. If you paid me 16 million dollars, I would shine all the coaching staff's shoes if you asked me to. No one forced him to sign the contract, and both parties signed it with the understanding that he would play it out and that the Rockets would pay up until the end of it. Regardless of all that he has done for our city and our sports, he has absolutely no right to complain or push for a trade or to be waived. I feel that the Rockets organization has bent over backwards to accommodate our veteran superstar. The brass has always made every effort to surround Hakeem with quality players and personnel to keep him and Houston contending for another ring as much as they could. For one, they rewarded him a few years back with a gigantic contract for his efforts (that was well-deserved, might I add). Also, the organization (Rudy specifically) passed up on what, in retrospect, would have been a spectacular trade with Toronto in the Rockets favor. We gave up on having some great young talent (and the rebounder/defender we've talked about needing in Kevin Willis) because we felt we owed it to Dream. We did this out of respect for Hakeem and out of loyalty for him. We didn't theoretically "owe" it to him, but we did it because we wanted to see him retire in a Rockets jersey. In light of all this, it disappoints me greatly that Hakeem would try and push for a trade or to be waived. If Hakeem cares as much about playing for a contender as he lets on, maybe he would be willing to get a lawyer and nullify the remainder of his Rockets contract for the season and play with the Heat for the minimum?........I didn't think so either. In that case, Hakeem should honestly show the same honor and respect for the organization that the organization has shown for him. It is apparent from Hakeem's actions and words that he is a businessman first. He wants to get another ring and still have his 16 million dollars this year. Who can blame him? But, does it make him right? I don't think so. One thing that everyone needs to remember when looking at this situation is that loyalty and "doing the right thing" is not a one-way street. Many posters on this BBS talk about how the Rockets "owe" it to Hakeem to give him another chance at a ring (and pay out the nose for it in the process). I feel that Hakeem owes it to everyone to show respect for his contract and the obligations that come with it until the end of the season. After all, he did sign the dotted line himself. The Rockets have done their part and more. He is, at this stage, essentially getting paid tens of millions to complain about his role in the offense and miss jump shots while averaging 10 PPG and 6 RPG. Hakeem should do his part and do whatever is asked of him for the Rockets until his contract runs out. I don't mind Hakeem benignly asking the Rockets organization for an opportunity to leave and play elsewhere for the rest of the season, but leaking his desires into the press and saying negative things about the offense and Rudy's coaching decisions is going too far. It is simply wrong for him to publicly announce his desire to leave. It puts the Rockets in a bad position and brings unnecessary controversy to the team. Hakeem's recent actions have, to his credit, been very strategic and calculated. Unfortunately, they don't show alot of the class that we always preach about. They are, instead, an embarrassment to the Rockets, the fans, and the Dream himself. ------------------ Do your part in the fight against crime....SHOOT BACK [This message has been edited by AxSomebody (edited February 02, 2001).]
Hey all, I probably should have added to my intial post... What do you all think? ------------------ Do your part in the fight against crime....SHOOT BACK
Guys, let me remind you that Hakeem is being paid 16 million as a reward for past seasons. So, in other words, he should already have been paid this money. Just like when we give Shandon and probably MO a fat-a$$ contract, and ppl 5 years from now will say "we're paying him THIS MUCH to whine?"..No, Shandon will have earned the money early on..Just like Hakeem has earned most of this contract before, and is earning the rest currently. Hakeem is like any other human, he wants his chance, he wants to be competitive. How many teams win Championships? There are so many teams in the NBA who haven't ever won championships...But there are so many superstars...All over the place.....Most of Hakeem's 16 million dollar contract is a belated gift...So what I'm trying to say is, yes, we owe Hakeem.....Malone, R. Miller, Stockton, Barkley, Payton, and Kidd are all elite basketball players yet to bring NBA championships to their teams....Hakeem brought us two single-handedly....Now that I think about it, I wanna give him an extension..... ------------------
Sane, Hakeem did a tremendous amount to bring us our two championships. His performances in the playoffs were legendary...but he also had excellent teams with just the right chemistry around him to put the Rockets over the top twice. That being said, my take on the 16.5 million is that it's a contract and you honor it, whether the money is "owed" to you or not. The Rockets have been nothing but loyal to Hakeem and all he needs to do is honor his contract. That's a very simple and to-the-point concept. I realize that most sports stars don't understand this, but it is very disappointing to see an icon like Hakeem following their suit. It was a bad idea to speak out to the press about his desires to leave and it showed very little class. In any case, the sacrifices that the Rockets have made in the past out of loyalty to Hakeem in addition to the monetary compensation in the form of a great contract should make the Rockets and Hakeem even at the very worst. You want to give him an extension?!? Are you mad? The man either 1) can't play anymore or 2) is tanking it on purpose because he wants to leave. His play has been miserable this season and either he's very delusional about his skills or he's simply not trying. In either case, it's not going to warrant a contract extension. Sadly, the Rockets may eventually get trapped into releasing Hakeem because of the distractions and his woeful lack of production in games (for whichever of the above 2 reasons). The resolution of this situation will show all of us what kind of a person Hakeem really is. The sad thing is that I've always liked to think of Hakeem as a class act. I'll miss those days ------------------ Do your part in the fight against crime....SHOOT BACK
