Hey CF fam - I wanted to ask a question regarding the Rockets past, as opposed to the nonstop discussion of the present and future. I started watching the Rockets during the 22 game win streak and I've been hooked ever since 2008 (to give a frame of reference of my fandom). I asked my older brother who he thought was the biggest rival of the Rockets all-time. The choices were Utah, Seattle/OKC, Lakers, or 'Other'. My opinion was Utah - I got to witness the '08, '18 and '19 matchups. I've seen the clip of the Karl Malone bear hug, heard the FTJ mantra. However, his opinion was the Sonics - he basically said they kicked our a** routinely and if not for them losing in the first round in 94 and 95, he wasn't sure if the Rockets would have even won! They were our kryptonite - as he put it. Can someone explain why they were such a tough matchup for Olajuwon and the Rockets? Or if there's any video breakdown I could watch - I'd appreciate it!
I wish I could help you, but unfortunately I'm too young. @B-Bob is extremely old maybe he can assist.
I heard he has amnesia from that period due to an unfortunate encounter with an overzealous booth game attendant while at Hanna Barbera Land.
Back in the day, before the 2 championships, we had a hell of a time getting past Seattle (we didn't). Then Denver pulled off David V Goliath and ousted #1 Seattle in the first round. That is when I knew it was our year. My pick is Seattle strictly for this reason. I still hate Stockton and Malone Era Jazz, though.
Before my time I'd say it could have been Boston. I'd say that NOBODY was stopping the B2B teams (including MJs Bulls) even though Seattle was a pain in our ass those years. We've had some good beef with Utah no doubt. I'd say SA and Dallas are up there due to their proximity and each team having won Championships as well. Our latest nemesis is undoubtedly Golden State as the mountain we could never scale.
The Sonics rivalry goes back to the 86 season .... that being the first time they beat the Rockets in the playoffs & was a totally different team from the one who they would face in future years, Dale Ellis, Xavier McDaniel & Tom Chambers shooting the lights out from outside along with Nate McMillan at PG & JB Bickerstaff as their head coach. The 89 team that beat the Rockets in the first round had Rockets Legends John Lucas and Avery Johnson playing for the Sonics. Chambers was probably the original stretch big shooting an unheard of ~.370 from three his last year in Seattle before going to PHX. Utah was a shorter lived rivalry .... just more recent. I don't think either one is the wrong answer.
I started watching during the 92-93 season. Seattle was tough but Utah was absolutely HATED!!! They were the absolute nastiest, sneakiest, dirtiest team and it was all orchestrated by Sloane. How Stockton, Malone, Hornacek, etc didn't get ejected and suspended each game was beyond me. Playing the Jazz was literally like going into a free for all. The refs rarely punished them for anything they did and they did stuff that today would have you completely out of the league. I know Seattle was intense and very tough but nothing got the blood boiling like the Utah Jazz. Their fans were even horrible to watch, couldn't believe they considered themselves Christians the way they behaved and the team they supported. It was truly disgusting.
To answer the question about how Seattle really pestered dream, it was all about length. And playing zone. They played an obvious illegal defense (zone where dream was surrounded whether he had the ball or not). And they were long enough to get back and contest our shooters on the outside when got the ball from dream out of the double (or triple team). On offense, Kemp, Peyton, Shrempf and Perkins were tough matchups.
The mid 90s Sonics had The Glove, freak show Kemp, the original stretch 4 Big Smooth and D.Shrempf. They had a good team and they were very athletic. Their defense was uniquely tough, partially because they skirted the illegal defense rules in place at the time (no zone defense) and there was no defensive 3 second rule. I remember reading articles in SI about how George Karl basically found a loophole in the illegal defense rule allowing for a form of zone defense. This is why a lot of us old timers refer to pre 2000s NBA as a different game. The rules were significantly different and the refereeing was amazingly forgiving compared to today.
I'm glad I'm not alone in remembering the "legal" illegal zone Seattle used to run. Annoying as hell. They did have some great players on that squad though.
Hated Utah the most, Seattle was the scariest but to me San Antonio was the biggest rivalry bc instate and you had the hakeem vs Robinson dynamic. Also i think if the rockets played the sonics in the playoffs 93-94 season, they would have won bc they had the home court advantage. Year before that, seatle won for the same reason with the home team winning all games. Ofcourse they got the home court bc ref missed David Robinson stepping out of blinds and tipping the ball in to beat the rockets.
I have been a fan for 50 years. I recall when we were in the Eastern Conference and John Lucas was called for an offensive foul when the player was moving I believe in the ECF.... So, the rivalry has changed over the years. Sonics was a big one with Payton and Kemp and Karl and that illegal defense. Jazz have always been hated, but we b**** slapped them regularly until Barlkey's elbow ligament popped - they are hated, but not like public enemy ish. The Spurs - now here we go......our most hated and heated rivalry for a long time, it may have waned some but to me they are still public enemy number 1........they are hard to hate because Pop is such a classy guy, but screw it....the Spurs are our number 1 rivalry. DD
Put it this way... the Rockets traded for Charles Barkley JUST because of the fact that the Sonics had the Rockets number with that Kemp/Payton/Schrempf/Perkins/Hawkins lineup. The Sonics I think were a team that matched up the best and had the best talent to stack against the Rockets and really the NBA. You really had to respect that team, and I'll admit I even owned a Kemp jersey. (met Calvin Murphy one day at my school when he came to speak, and had that jersey on LIKE AN IDIOT. How did my parents let me do that, and why did Calvin still give me an autograph???.... true pro) BUT... as far as hatred goes, nothing tops the disdain for the Jazz. I absolutely HATED Stockton, Hornacek, and Malone. The most dirty basketball players I've ever seen play the game. Their fans also suck. Fck the Jazz
I'm not old enough for the Sonics rivalry from the 80's, it's been the Jazz for the majority of my fandom. Though I really hated Golden State during the Harden years, but I think they're more just the bad guy for everyone at the time because they were so OP.
