It's not supposed to be easy, justtxyank. It never was for Hakeem, either. I still remember reading all of the newspaper articles when we were down 0-2 to the Suns in 94, and how the Hakeem era was never going to be a success, people doubted it, and if social media/Clutchfans had existed at the time I reckon this place would be on defcon 1 and calling for everyones head to roll, probably long before it ever reached that point. There was also the time where we almost traded Hakeem and people in this town were perfectly fine with it, too. Yet, here we are and now we have two championships, and we defeated all odds -- especially in 1995 when we had to go through the toughest playoff run in the history of basketball in order to win, and why did we do this? Because we are Clutch City. Enormous tasks is what we're all about, if there was ever a year we should feel confident about winning it should be this year. The dude loves you. Believe!
Correct, and in fact that was a big omission on my part because the Jazz were arguably the best team out of those that year.
Rockets in '95 beat a 60 win team, 59, 62, & 57 win teams to the title. Thats an average of just around 60 wins, with the last team beating the unstoppable Jordan's Bulls. And one team had the league "MVP" on it. That Rockets team even gave up a core player in a midseason trade for an All-Star which did disrupt chemistry, but clicked just at the right time. Its HIGHLY UNLIKELY, dont bet on it. NBA is more predictable than other sports. Though a run through great teams CAN be done. All you can do is prepare for opportunity to spoil and upset teams
I honestly don't see what people see in KJ... Sure, Brewer is a bad player, but he is at least giving us SOME production. KJ can't shoot, create, defend (chase-down blocks ain't good defense)... I would be happy to glue Corey Brewer to the bench, just not for KJ. Morey should really trade him before teams figure out he sucks.
Currently on pace to need to beat (in order barring upsets) a 50 win Utah, 65 win Spurs, 70 win warriors and 62 wins cavalier team. An average of 62 with two of those teams being essentially the caliber of the Jordan bulls.
No they are not. You are paying way too much homage to the Cavs/GSW of today. The 94-95 Rockets had to go through a far tougher gauntlet. The pantheon of super powers they had to go through en route to an eventual back to back championship will remain in history as amongst the toughest of any championship run.
There was a point in time when the Yao/McGrady/Artest team probably had the higher ceiling. Especially in a playoff setting. But... injuries.
Great post brother. They gave up a lot (semi-gutted in my opinion) to acquire Durant. Durant is a great player no doubt, but the pieces they gutted to get him, they were the parts with defined roles that left virtually no hole (weakness) in their squad over the past couple of years. This is not to say by any means that new Durant Warriors won't win a ring, but I will go on record to say that I fear them less now than I did the past couple of years. GSW had earned (rightfully so) the glamour and household recognition through their accolades the past few seasons. This season, I feel that they are more so getting favor due to their past hype status than the actual "greatness" of their squad. They won't be an easy out for sure, but neither will the Rockets, Spurs or Grizzlies for that matter. A lot of luck comes into play during a championship run and the Rockets need shots (3 balls) to fall in the playoffs as much as the Warriors do to achieve success. Hopefully the ball bounces the Rockets way this year.
Yep, that's the truth. Yao and Deke were great together on that team. Just extremely unfortunate both got hurt in Rounds 1 and 2. Lakers were VERY fortunate to win the ring that year.
While I like the optimism I don't think this team is champ material just yet. The problem is Harden as good as he is is still just 1 star against multiple stars in Cleveland GSW and SaS. The Rox look great but thats because we are running a system, when that breaks down we lose games like in Memphis because we don't have enough star talent. I personally think LBJ will get his 4rth ring but we'll see. An amazing deadline trade can change everything.
Brother I appreciate your love and enthusiasm for the Rockets, but I don't know if I would go that far. I would say the Warriors/Cavs respect the Rockets this year more and will not be taking them lightly. In regards to the Spurs, in all fairness they are in the WEST. Judging their success on the criteria of recent Finals appearances is not fair. As long as Pop is still there, they will always be a well-oiled machine; and no one should take them lightly under any circumstance.
That Lakers team also avoided the Celtics in the Finals thanks to KG's knee injury. If he's healthy, Boston probably repeats.
im just bs'ing on the last line. warriors and cavs aren't scared and spurs aren't either. i actually think rockets should be a little concerend making harden do everything on offense as usual and giving eg a bigger load than expected. i know i am
