The 1990-91 Rockets and How They Relate to Today…My Column: lol

We need some TOUGH GUYS
I am not saying our guys are soft
but
They are not Tough

Rocket River

 

Like Dillon Brooks? Rockets didn't need KD...

 

thanks for this, youngun'.

i think there's more heart in this team than we imagine. Ime's attitude and rotations are a contributing factor to the confusion we sometimes see, and I agree, it's time for him to go. His treatment of Sheppard is not unlike Silas' of Sengun.

i don't know what will happen, but i want this core four back (Alpi, Amen, Jabari, Reed). if you need to trade of a "superstar" fine, but don't trade those four.

and I'm all in on becoming the first team to come back from 0-3, especially against the Labronny Lakers.

 

love this, thank you for sharing

 

reported

 

Can someone write up a dossier for every tough guy available in free agency. Need # of no layups fouls, technicals, groin kicks, double for groin punches, charges drawn, bleeds, assist screens, deflections, offensive rebounds, deceptive Thespian skills. Thanks in advanced .

 

Sengun for Jalen Duren. Modern OtisThorpe.

 

i saw a new one last night: DFS.

i was surprised as you might be.

 

Yep . . . .I wanted to keep him

Rocket River

 

It’s an entirely different feeling rooting for a team when you know they have a once in a lifetime future HOF top 10 all time player. I had high hopes for the TMac and Yao teams because I felt at full health they could reach at least top 30-50 heights and 2x of that should e equal to one top 10 player I supposed. Harden was doing historic things, but by then the nba changed so much I don’t feel it was anything special and didn’t have the confidence in his playing style to succeed in the playoffs.

Such a young team with an old top 25 player has been frustrating especially after years of tanking and seeing other franchises get their stand out obvious future HOFer. I don’t see that guy on this roster. I admit time changes your fandom. I’m ready for another fast rebuild vs thinking about another 5 years hoping this nucleus can figure it out and even at that, you’re praying for just 1 championship out of this group realistically at best. While others have multiple championship aspirations and possibilities because of that one franchise guy we lack.


I’ll be honest. It hasn’t felt like the Rockets except in name and the color red in years. Even as I rooted for tmac and Yao and harden years. It doesn’t feel right. It’s not the same franchise. I’ve been begging for a rebrand to bring back that feeling. I want to feel that prestige and history the way lakers and Celtics and pistons and spurs etc all feel. It’s the same team. Even the ones that rebranded and changed it up still have many similarities to their brand across the decades. Ours is so radically different from our championships that it just doesn’t feel like the Rockets. Then I realize to so many that this IS their rockets. The only version they’ve known. And it further makes me detach from this team. The NBA itself having changed so drastically into something I don’t really find entertaining anymore pushes me even further away.

I hope they pull through. I’ll clap and fist pump when they do well. My heart just isn’t in it anymore.

 

Adding to enhance the callback. I've posted about this period a couple times

-- Rockets went 12-3 the stretch before Olajuwon returned. After losing his return game to warm him back up, Rockets had a 13 game winning streak, 17-1 record next 18 games. Take out Olajuwon's warm-up return game, that's a combined stretch going 29-4. A 72 win pace!
(Total wins in '91: 52. hmmm)

-- Vibes were so good, 'Akeem' then came out saying "Hey you're all wrong, I am actually HAKEEM. Got it? GOOD". This period is when that happened lol

-- With Hakeem out, Vernon Maxwell put up 51 blistering points vs Cavs. That's truly when "Mad Max" was cemented.

*Fun note: The next game was against top seed team Spurs, Mad Max's old team. His 50-piece follow up "revenge" game, was lousy ass 2-16 shooting... Hakeem replacement Larry Smith, 2 points, against The Admiral David Robinson... the Rockets WON

That's exactly what's meant by "whats efficiency". The experience was Mad fukn Max and fukn Mr MEAN got it THE F**K DONE against our rival. And that was that

-- There was superstar drama still to follow. The next season, was the notorious Hakeem trade demands and "Dream is faking injury" claims. Coach Chaney, FIRED in season. Replacement coach, Rudy Tomjanovich. His record, same as Chaney. No improvement. Rockets MISS the playoffs entirely. Time to blow it all up, these vet players have peaked.

The point? Through all the drama and struggle, they didn't blow it up. We know what happened 2-3 years later.. Big Shot Bob and Sam I Am was drafted to fix it into Clutch City . (Or, if making a today comparison, maybe a new coaching approach and complimentary players to the core is needed. Quant data then woulda been arguing with a bunch of sweaty neckbeards, saying to tear it all down)

 

Hakeem didn't finger waggle after he got called for a foul?

 

That’s the thing. Nobody would have guessed at the end of the 92 season that was about to be a back-to-back championship team.

Life is funny. Sometimes you just gotta stick with it. Look at Dirk’s Mavs. Crushing Finals loss to an inferior team in ‘06. Kept plugging away and finally broke through in 2011. That’s why I’m not in the blow it up camp. Gotta keep building around your strengths and see what happens.

 

A great read, Max! We’ve been knocked down a few times in this series, but now we’ve started dealing hard knocks to the other guys. If our Rockets can uncork a similar effort in LA, the Lakers are going down. One game at a time.

 

Interesting team the 90-91 team. After dream went out everyone thought the rockets were toast but mr mean larry smith became a rebounding machine, otis thorpe was the # 1 option and avg 20 and 11, max avg 18 kenny gave u 17. i remember the 1st game dream came back and they lost and the media lost it saying it was his fault, sounds like todays fans. Anyway I thought Hou got robbed in gm 1 vs the lakers in the 91 playoffs and were swept after that. Thats when i witnessed the nba cheating for the lakers and it continues today.

 

Happy early birthday.

I was talking with my oldest son about the chances of winning, and I said we are likely not going to but the beauty of sports is every so often something happens that we have never seen before and that is marvelous.

Here is to the Rockets being marvelous.

DD

 

you were talking to ur son about the 90-91 season? interesting I hope you you taught im about the legend dave feitl