The Greatest Team That Never Was

[Findog]

Dunks, drugs, and disappointment: an oral history of the 1980s Houston Rockets

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8600657/an-oral-history-hakeem-olajuwon-ralph-sampson-1980s-houston-rockets

Pretty interesting oral history of the 86 Rockets. Couldn't cut n paste it because it was too long.

[lefty]

Didnt click on the link, but IIRC, injuries to key players led to bad trades

Too bad, that 86 Rockets team was up there with the showtime Lakers and the white Celtics

[Findog]

Mainly Ralph Sampson. Because of his injuries he never lived up to the hype and expectations.

[lefty]

Mainly Ralph Sampson. Because of his injuries he never lived up to the hype and expectations.

Yup that really sucked



Robert Reid was really the glue of that team, great all-around player and leader

[pass1st]

Lol, NBA would be ruled by Houston for a decade of Ralph stayed healthy and fulfilled his potential. Bigger what if would be if Houston had gotten the #2 pick in 84 and had MJ + Hakeem together. Not sure which team is scarier

[ambchang]

Just Stern making sure he could milk the Lakers and the Celtics rivalry as long as possible.

No surprises here.

[tlongII]

I think Houston should have picked Drexler over McCray.

[Latarian Milton]

they missed the basketball god on the 84' draft which was the biggest blunder in the team's history until 02. dream was a legend too n he also got his rings, but both of his rings were won while the god was playing baseball

[pass1st]

they missed the basketball god on the 84' draft which was the biggest blunder in the team's history until 02. dream was a legend too n he also got his rings, but both of his rings were won while the god was playing baseball

If you were makin the pick in 84 without knowing how great Jordan would become, would you pick him over an extremely talented big?

[Latarian Milton]

tbh there's no prophet and a talented big was obviously more appealing than a guard w/o knowing their potential abilities. the rockets were lucky enough to pick an all-time top10 player at least, as opposed to what it would've been had they made a mistake similar to the blazers in 07

[z0sa]

tbh there's no prophet and a talented big was obviously more appealing than a guard w/o knowing their potential abilities. the rockets were lucky enough to pick an all-time top10 player at least, as opposed to what it would've been had they made a mistake similar to the blazers in 07

:lol the Blazers monumentally fucked up that very year.

[Richie]

:lol the Blazers monumentally fucked up that very year.

Can't blame the Blazers. If the Sonics had the #1 pick they would have taken Oden over Durant, just as all teams would have done. In hindsight, it was an incredibly good draft lottery to lose for Seattle.

Gotta feel for the Blazers. A healthy trio of Aldridge, Roy and Oden would have been incredible

[JoeTait75]

they missed the basketball god on the 84' draft which was the biggest blunder in the team's history until 02. dream was a legend too n he also got his rings, but both of his rings were won while the god was playing baseball

Can't assume MJ would have won six rings in Houston.

[jacobdrj]

2000 Blazers.
2002 Kings.
2005 Pacers.
1988 Pistons.
1993 Suns.
1994 Knicks.

Just off the top of my head...

[ambchang]

The Kings should probably have topped the list after the Rockets. The Rockets were the best not because of the possibility that they really could have been the best (they were weak at PG and outside shooting, comparatively), but because of what Hakeem accomplished later in his career.

People saw what Hakeem did in 94 and 95, and assumed that he always played that way, but the fact was that he wasn't that great in the late 80s. He was running neck to neck with Ewing as the best center in the league back in the late 80s, and then was one of 3 after Robinson came into the league. He changed the way he played, trusted his teammates, and got the right teammates around him to just explode in 94/95.

On the other hand, the Kings were complete, they should have won the 02 if not for another round of highly questionable calls in the history of professional sports.

[Findog]

2000 Blazers.
2002 Kings.
2005 Pacers.
1988 Pistons.
1993 Suns.
1994 Knicks.

Just off the top of my head...

Those are all teams that could've won a single title if a few more breaks had gone their way. I think this article is making the case that the Rockets had a core that should have been able to contend for multiple titles if Sampson's knees hadn't given out on him and so many of their key players weren't cokeheads. And as such the Pistons don't really belong in this discussion because they did go on to win back to back titles and have a mini-dynasty.

[ezau]

98 Jazz, 98 Pacers, 94 Knicks

[Clipper Nation]

As crazy as it sounds, Michael Jordan was thisclose to being traded to the Clippers back in 1988.... Gary Grant, Jordan, and Danny Manning could have been a really good core...

[Amaso]

As crazy as it sounds, Michael Jordan was thisclose to being traded to the Clippers back in 1988.... Gary Grant, Jordan, and Danny Manning could have been a really good core...

I seriously doubt there was any real possibility of Jordan being traded to the Clippers, but I wouldn't know I wasn't alive back then. Do you have any articles or quotes from back then? Jordan was averaging 30+ points and was already a superstar not to mention the face of the franchise, who the hell could have the Clippers given the Bulls to even make it close to a fair trade?

[Clipper Nation]

I seriously doubt there was any real possibility of Jordan being traded to the Clippers, but I wouldn't know I wasn't alive back then. Do you have any articles or quotes from back then? Jordan was averaging 30+ points and was already a superstar not to mention the face of the franchise, who the hell could have the Clippers given the Bulls to even make it close to a fair trade?http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/2011/06/michael-jordans-near-trade-to-the-los-angeles-clippers-in-1988