I'm tired of hearing Hakeem had 'role players'. Well Jordan had way more 'role players' than Dream. The Rockets had the most HEROES in NBA history. Hero=player you can count on to win games Role player = plays role on team The Bulls had ONE HERO: Jordan BJ Armstrong, Rodman, Grant, Wennington? No No, Kukoc? Maybe, Pippen, nope (proved himself not a hero in Houston) Consistency counts also. Paxon and Kerr don't win games all the time. The Rockets have MANY HEROES: Maxwell- yes - many many game winning shots and clutch 4quarter performances Kenny Smith -yes - besides the Orlando game 1 record setter, Kenny comes clutch against Utah, Phoenix, etc in 4th quarter 3 pointers Mario Elie - yes- also proved his clutchness with the Spurs Cassell - Clutch as a rookie and beyond - look at what he's done with the worst teams in the league, turned them into playoff teams Drexler - yes, he's a clutch player, people always forget Dream had Clyde in year 2 Robert Horry - uh, yeah. how's 15 years straight making to the 2nd round? how's 7 rings? how's key steals, rebounds, blocks, and game winners Dream - of course Rockets= 6 heroes Bulls= 1 hero Rockets > Bulls for the HATERS, give me examples of Bulls HEROISM without Jordan being the hero.
I agree with you when you say that Rockets had many heroes... even though you speak about consistensy, I still think Paxson's shot against Phoenix would make him a hero in my book.
well let me put it this way, if bulls play without Jordan and rox play without Hakeem, who in your opinion would win the game in a head to head fight? who in your opinion would win more games in a season. tell me straight and tell me now
Uhhh...not a HATER (in red ) at all. But off the top of my head, I can think of a huge Paxson shot, a huge Kerr moment and a huge Armstrong moment. I think the Bulls probably had as many big moments (outside of MJ shots), but we don't pay as much attention to them b/c we follow the Rox Also, Jordan always had Pippen. Hak had no one the first time around. (By "no one" I mean no all stars...would never slight the 94 group...love them)
Kerr against Utah. This might be the most mind-numbing thread I've seen in a while and that says something. Kukoc has hit plenty of big shots a well.
And I do want to state that I think the 94 and 95 teams would still have won it all if Jordan had never retired. Mad Max owned him
Rockets Don Chaney won coach of the year when Dream was out most of that season. The Otis thorpe/Kenny Smith pick and roll was unstoppable. The Rockets have LEADERS. Cassell has proved he can drop 20pts 10 dimes a night. It would be Sam's team.
This is the bulls line-up at the year they won the 72 games. Harper, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman,Longley, Kerr, Kukoc, Wennington, Buechler, Randy Brown Take out jordan. This is the rox line-up at 95. Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell,Clyde Drexler,Pete Chilcutt,Robert Horry,Chuckie Vrown,Hakeem Olajuwon,Charles Jones take out hakeem. Look at the team again, and now tell me, who you think would win?
Pippen proves that he cannot be a leader on a team. Any who saw him in Portland or Houston knows that. Also, Pippen vs Robert Horry. It always seems Horry ends up the hero. in the end, we only care about heroes. that's why Jordan was popular, not his stats. he was a hero. that's why we love the old Rockets championships.
kukoc after bulls = nothing pippen after bulls = getting beat by robert horry, showing no leadership and class Cassell after Rockets = taking teams to ECF and WCF and being the jesus to the clippers Horry =7 rings, 3 different teams
i like to see how many heros occasion you can get, with that 95 team without hakeem. And during that 95 year, rox get the season rolling after they got clyde. I do not see them that good at that time. Talking about rebounds, blocks from horry, rodman control the paint, by guarding elite PFs like karl malone. horry got 7 rings playing with guys like shaq, duncan and of course hakeem. cassel got his second wind when he joins elton brand. about his ECF and WCF, can you please enlighten me about which team he joins then? pippen is a hall of fame, rodman as 1 of the best rebounders ever, steve kerr winning another ring along with horry, kukoc average 20 points in a season, something cassel never have done.
please rookie.. Cassell avg 9 assists a game in one season, he's a leader. Something Pippen has NEVER BEEN. Pippen is the greatest role player in NBA history. A leader? no. A hero? no. And when Horry leaves? How many championships has the Rockets and Lakers won? HEROES= CHAMPIONSHIPS thank you.
Jordan won 6 championships and Hakeem only won 2. Jordan was also the ONLY hero on the team while Hakeem had many (according to you). Are you saying that role players > "heroes", thats why Jordan won more championships? No seriously, WTF are you talking about?
The Bulls always had a perfectly engineered machine around Jordan. Hakeem's championship teams were a group of rag tag HEROES. The former is geared toward regular season dominance, but the latter shines in playoff basketball. Take out Jordan and Hakeem and the Bulls still rack up 50 wins, but I'd have to give a playoff series between the two teams to the ROCKET HEROES. That is not to say that the Rockets have superior talent, far from it. They just had superior heart. Clutch City!
Great thread, tinman. Don't forget, Jordan could have had his shot at the Rockets in 1995, but because baseball/gambling/old age/whatever hurt his defense so much, Penny Hardaway lit him up like no one had to that point.
no. I'm saying that Jordan was the ONLY HERO for his team, while Houston produced many HEROES. People say its just Hakeem who won those championships, but his squad was better than Jordans. look at what happens after Dream/Jordan. Pippen couldn't win a thing, was a terrible leader. while Robert Horry, shows leadership and poise with other teams. And ANYONE who watches basketball knows that he contributes as HERO. Cassell, you know his story too. Pippen, Kukoc, BJ Armstrong, Rodman didn't do crap post Jordan. HEROs are people who show LEADERSHIP and WIN GAMES.
