Which former Rocket do you want back with the team the most?

Come on??!!!!! It has to be Calvin Murphy!

I can't take listening to VanChancellor anymore, time to bring back the Murph!

 

If the goal is to win a championship next year (so that age isn't a consideration), Horry has got to be the man. He didn't get his 6th ring with his 3rd team by being lucky - he's had major roles in getting all of them, especially our two. The guy is a gamer in the playoffs. Remember the Phoenix series when we got our Clutch City label? Horry's imprint was all over that series.

As a role player tonight, he did the following:

8 mins left in the 4th, nails a key 3-pointer to widen the Spurs lead to 5.

5 mins left, gets a key offensive rebound

less than 2 mins left, draws a charge

then finishes by hitting 2 free throws in crunch time.

Quiet, but still collecting rings. We coulda used him this year.

This link tells only half the story, because he contributes more than just 3 pointers, but it's still a good link:

http://www.nba.com/finals2005/legends_horry_shots.html

 

I believe the hero of that Phoenix Series was:


Horry was the hero vs San Antonio and Orlando. I think every Horry non-champsionship is a big TAKE THAT LES ALEXANDER FOR TRADING ME.

I bow to you Robert, please come back to Houston.

 

Was that the game that Maxwell scored 20-something points in the 4th? Ah, fond memories of Mr. Vernon. But that's the beauty of Robert Horry - he had a big role throughout the Phoenix series, but a big "quiet" role. Not the scoring outbursts of Maxwell, but little plays here and there, particularly in the 4th quarter, that changed the momentum. Loose balls, key rebounds, and key defensive plays. The kind of stuff that doesn't show up in the box score, but wins ball games, just like Game 7 of this year's Finals. Elie's kiss of death is perhaps the most memorable moment from that series, but I have a fond memory of a fired up Horry waving his hands around in competitive fire in front of the Phoenix bench after grabbing a hard fought rebound and the foul to boot. He really took his game to another level whenever the playoffs came around.

I'm glad to see Horry is finally getting better recognition for his winner intangibles. We traded him away for Barkley, and after that he got 3 more rings to Barkley's none. The Lakers let him go so they could sign Malone, and after that he got his 6th ring to Malone's none. Tim Duncan was the MVP of this year's Finals, deservedly so, but guess who basically carried the team offensively in the first half of Game 7, and guess who turned a 2-point loss into a 1-point win in Game 5! He's still doin' it.

My favorite Maxwell moment is, of course, his hitting the 3 pointer against the Knicks that put the Rockets up by 8 in the 4th quarter of Game 7. (Unless my memory is fading in my old age, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.) That's the point that I thought, oh wow, we're really going to win this.

If we were building for a dynasty, I'd take Posey. But for a championship next season, a guy with six rings is hard to pass up. Horry really understands how to win playoff games. Last night's interview, they asked him how they were able to turn things around in Game 7 - the first thing he commented on was on how they didn't turn the ball over. Previously, in an interview in a NY Times article, he was asked how he'd rank Olajuwon, O'Neal, or Duncan, all of whom he's played with. He kind of avoided answering, but then when pressed about whom he'd take if he could only take 1 guy to face the best in the world, he said, basically, all those guys can score and dominate, but he'd take Dream, because Dream makes his free throws.

Turnovers and free throws. Now THAT is a guy who understands the little things, and how that makes the difference between a loss and a win in the playoffs.