People love these guys cause they were original Rockets and we watched them develop into good NBA players. Finding out that Cuttino knew about his heart problem as a Rocket only makes him more beloved as a Rocket hero. I've criticized Steve, but never about his love of his teammates and organization. A sense of family was lost when Rudy, Steve, and Cuttino left.
I didn't realize that Cuttino played so well in the game before he retired. He had a very solid career,he was so fortunate to have played for so long but it still seems that his career was cut short. Both he and Steve were very big hearted players. True Houston Rockets.
People never questioned Steve's or Cat's desire and love for the game. That unmeasurable asset that some call heart. I think Cat maximized his abilities as a NBA player, but Steve could have been so much more. He was a three-time all-star, but he had the physical tools to be tier one player. When talking about these two, many people criticized their basketball IQ but never their effort.
Yeah, I appreciate and respect both of these dudes so much. I was a fan of these guys when they were Rockets and even after they were Rockets.
Loved both of these guys, especially Cat. You know when a guys given their heart for a team when even after they have gone to another team you find yourself rooting for them.
Exactly At the end of the Day . . . Tracy got us no closer to a Championship than Steve and Cat did THE FIRST ROUND Also Steve and Cat played the BEST TEAM in the 1st round 4 Hall of Famer Lakers vs. Spazz [no stockton and malone] twice, IRK and ALLAS, Rocket River
he made it out of the first round.. with the CLIPPERS no less he had some other help, that CASSELL dude
I really miss them guys, they had a great love of the game, city and Rockets organization. It was great watching them grow and sad too see them leave. I still wonder if they would have been around a little longer if our drought of not getting out of the 1st round have ended sooner? I still remember when Cat was a rookie he was our PG for the big 3(Hakeem,Cylde and Barkley), It was a playoff game and Cat had so much confidence in himself that he put up several air balls at the end of a game, at the buzzer. We lost, but he still believed that he would make them. Apparently the big 3 believed in him too. I felt JVG and Les gave up on them too soon. JVG BTW wanted Steve to play like a robot and Stevie's stats went down that year.
'00-'01 was my favorite season since the 90s, until this last one. Winning 45 games with that team was amazing, and Hakeem turning back the clock that year was what started it off and made it a special year. Doing so well that year really inflated peoples' expectations of what the team two years later was capable of. Then the majority of posters here wanted to re-sign Moochie, Bullard, and Mo Taylor more than give Hakeem a little cash to make sure he retired a Rocket, which kind of sucked.
Steve will always be a Houston Rocket. He loved this team and organization so much. I wish he could have experienced more post-season sucess, but no Rocket has in the past 12 years untill this... Chilcutt
Good post. That is what made them a joy to watch... Even though we did not have much talent around these guys, it was always fun to watch...
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Favorite moment: Steve Francis took it strong to the hole and got fouled by Shaq for an AND1 to seal the deal in the only playoff victory against Karl Malone's Lakers.
tinman, ur my man hundred grand, but stop being 2 faced. If someone post something about tracy, you go into a tirade and start posting pics and blow the thread up solo, yet u want a appreciation thread for someone like francis who wanted to stay back and kick it in the middle of a playoff push because it was super bowl weekend in houston. Not to mention, they guy doesn't even play here anymore. Start a rafer or novak appreciation thread while your at it.
LOL of course, it wouldn't be a trip down memory lane without Rocket River insisting that that was somehow a bad trade. LOL. ...with of course no mention that despite being the best team, the Lakers were the tailor made matchup as preferenced by 99% of this board at the time.
You have it wrong. Re-signing Moochie and Mo Taylor were part of the route of circumstances that included re-signing Hakeem. The other option, that 99% of this board favored, was chasing Chris Webber. Re-signing both Taylor and Hakeem were never conflicting options, as evidenced by Hakeem's quote that the Rockets should re-sign the former because he was "just as good as Webber." The fact that they ended up trading Hakeem had little to do with Mo Taylor.
thecabbage, I am a all or nothing type of guy myself, but rocket river makes it seem like it was a bad trade and that the team is is the same shape. I don't think the rockets even make the playoffs with francis and mobley for that span. Francis sulked when van gundy emphasized defense, but its not like the rox were scoring a lot of points anyway. They actually scored more ppg with thr trade because they went from a high t/o team to a low t/o squad. Remember how many games we used to lose by 3 pts or less? Its was crazy and that was becaused francis and mobley were to machines and mad poor decision late in the game. Francis played hard, but he was never a good pg.
