Hoops: Rockets, Comets, Wildcats, Colonels

Houston Rockets

Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady are only the latest in a long line of outstanding players to don a Rockets jersey: Elvin Hayes, Calvin Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovich (yes, that Rudy T!), Moses Malone, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, and some guy named Hakeem Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon retired November 9, 2002, as the NBA's all-time leader in blocked shots. He is 7th all-time in points, 11th in rebounds (he needed just 21 more to crack the top 10), 9th in minutes played, and, amazingly, 6th in steals! He is the only center in the top 30 in steals, and the only player in the top 25 all time in both blocks and steals (Julius Erving is 26th in blocks). Olajuwon's all-around skills led to the astonishing feat of recording a quadruple double in a game with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, and 11 blocks. Other than Olajuwon, only Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robinson, and David Robinson have accomplished that feat in NBA history. Several times Olajuwon was the only player in the NBA to rank in the top 10 in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals, making him one of the NBA's most versatile players. Appropriately, he was named to the NBA's 50 Greatest list. He was league MVP in 1994, Finals MVP in '94 and '95, and earned several Defensive Player of the Year awards, although he only won it twice. Although he earned the immediate respect of his peers, the league was slow to show Olajuwon respect, so he was assessed more fouls than he deserved and took thousands of free throws fewer than he should have.

The Rockets have played in four NBA Finals, including a memorable 1986 run, beating Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Lakers 4-1 but losing to Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and the Celtics 4-2. Both teams are considered among the greatest teams in history. Olajuwon finally led them to the title in 1994 and 1995. Until the Lakers managed it in 2001, the Rockets were the only team in NBA history to repeat as champions with a sweep and held the all-time record for consecutive Finals wins with six. After a disappointing, injury plagued 1996 season, the Rockets added Charles Barkley, who quickly became a fan favorite, and Scottie Pippen, who proved to be vastly overrated and cost the Rockets two playoff series before being traded for Kelvin Cato in 2000.

Following the failure of the Olajuwon-Barkley-Pippen experiment to win a championship, the Rockets completely rebuilt around a young nucleus of Yao Ming, Cuttino Mobley, Eddie Griffin, and all-star Steve Francis, and became of the league's deepest teams with Cato, Maurice Taylor, Glen Rice, James Posey, and fan favorite Moochie Norris. But when they failed to make the playoffs and beloved coach Rudy T stepped down after learning he had prostate cancer, management went a different direction, hiring coach Jeff van Gundy, and the team finally made the playoffs, losing 4-1 to the defending champion Lakers.

Then in the summer of 2004, the team sent shock waves through the NBA by trading all-star Steve Francis and starters Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to Orlando for all-pro two-time scoring champ Tracy McGrady, Juwon Howard, and others. Thus the Rockets entered the 2004–05 season with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady considered the league's best 1-2 punch in the post-Shaq/Kobe era. With Juwon Howard and Bob Sura, plus midseason acquisitions Dikembe Mutombo, David Wesley, Jon Barry, and Mike James, the Rockets reached the NBA playoffs as the 5th seed before dropping a thrilling seven game series to the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets nearly won the series despite playing without Juwon Howard, their starting power forward, who missed the end of the season with a viral heart infection.

With such an outstanding nucleus in place, the prospect of Howard returning, the addition of a first round draft pick, and a year's experience together, the Rockets should be one of the league's elite teams in 2006.

Hope lives in Houston.

Important Rockets Links

Clutch Fans
The single best source on the net for Rockets news, rumors, and informed discussion. Even a few woofs. Props Clutch! (Formerly Clutch City.)

Important NBA Links

Patricia Bender's NBA Page has FAQs, free agent lists, player salaries, and daily news capsules (sign up to receive these by email for free!). One FAQ is a list of known internet resources, including the NBA Salary Cap FAQ

Inside Hoops recently merged with newspaper veteran Sam Amico's Pro Basketball News and will hopefull benefit from Amico's writing and expertise. The site features news, articles, mock drafts, and rumors.

NBA Rumors & Speculation

College Hoopsnet has mock drafts, but they aren't too reliable -- in 2004, for instance. they had Houston drafting Luke Jackson, which would have been tough since Houston didn't even have a first round pick!

University of Kentucky Wildcats

In over 100 years of basketball history, the University of Kentucky Wildcats have amassed more wins than any team in college hoops, plus 7 NCAA titles — more than anyone except UCLA. (Kentucky would have more, except in the early days, they routinely turned down NCAA invitations to play in the more prestigious NIT!)

In the '90s, the 'Cats played in four Final Fours and three championship games, winning it all twice. They played two high profile tournament games against Duke which are widely regarded as among the best basketball games ever played. The 1996 title team is widely regarded as one of the best teams in college history.

And while it's not best known for it, UK has produced numerous pros, including current NBA players Tayshaun Prince, Ron Mercer, Jamaal Mashburn, Derek Anderson, Tony Delk, Jamaal Magloire, Nazr Mohammed, Eric Daniels, and Walter McCarty, as well as former players Dan Issel, Rex Chapman, and the infamous Sam Bowie, who is now the answer to a trivia question after being chosen ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft.

Important UK Wildcats & College Basketball Links

The Louisville Courier-Journal also covers the Wildcats, although they are really the home town paper of the Louisville Cardinals.

Houston Comets

The Houston Comets won the first four WNBA championships behind all-around stars Tina Thompson and Sheryl Swoopes and tough-as-nails MVP Cynthia Cooper. The Sparks nave replaced the Comets as the WNBA's dominant team, but the Comets believe that with young center Michelle Snow and Brazilian guard Janeth Arcain, all they need to do is avoid the injuries that have ended their last two seasons to return to championship form.

Important Comets & WNBA Links

American Basketball Association

I remember the ABA — the crazy players, the red, white, and blue ball, the three pointers, and the thrill of never knowing what team would move or fold. To really get a feel for what the ABA was like, you must read Loose Balls by Terry Pluto. It is the ultimate ABA experience.

My favorite team when I was growing up — even more than the Bucks, Celtics and Lakers — was the Kentucky Colonels, and one of my fondest basketball memories was attending an exhibition game in Louisville's Freedom Hall between the Colonels and the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. I was a big fan of both Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Artis Gilmore, and I couldn't wait to see the match-up. The highlight of the evening, even more than the final score (we won), was seeing Gilmore block Jabbar's "unblockable" sky hook. The best ABA teams were clearly a match for the best NBA teams of the day.

That 1975 Colonels team, coached by the legendary Hubie Brown and featuring Gilmore, Dan Issel, Louie Dampier, Bird Averitt, Wil Jones, Gene Littles, Ted McClain, Marv Roberts, Ron Thomas, and the late Jim Bradley, won the ABA championship and were inducted into the Kentucky sports hall of fame.

The ABA was an upstart that breathed new life into a stagnating giant. With innovations like the three-point shot and gimmicks like the red, white, and blue ball, the ABA became popular in a dozen cities across the country. While the NBA was a passing and shooting league, the ABA became a running, jumping, rim rattling league.

Unfortunately, because most of its markets were small cities, it was never on stable financial footing. This was made worse by the bidding war for talent between the leagues. Neither league respected the other's draft, and both wanted the same players, who usually went to the highest bidder. This reached absurd heights with Ernie DiGregorio, a ballhandling wizard and the Jason Williams of his day, who signed one of the biggest contracts in basketball but never really panned out.

When the bidding war for talent had all but bankrupted the ABA, it agreed to merge with the NBA, the more established league but also hurting financially. The Colonels were slated to go in the NBA, but owner John Y. Brown saw that he could make a quick buck by selling out instead of paying the fee, and folded them. Anchored by future NBA all-star Artis Gilmore, the Colonels would have been competitive in the NBA, especially in the 70s.

Brown was reputedly the only owner with enough money to pay the fee in cash, but instead the Colonels were disbanded and they never played again. Among basketball fans, Brown was a much hated scrooge who only cared about money -- he had even traded fan favorite and University of Kentucky alum Dan Issel, another future NBA star -- to avoid paying him what he was worth. He sold out the Colonels fans and then bought the Buffalo Braves, sold off players, then sold them out in the deal that gave rise the Clippers. (A popular bumper sticker at the time in Buffalo read "Y John Brown?") Brown was the Donald Sterling of his day, a basketball team owner who knew nothing about basketball and cared less.

The ABA may be gone, but it lives on in players like Shaq, whose game can be traced back to Artis Gilmore and Moses Malone, and Kobe Bryant, whose game goes back to high flyers like Julius Erving and Connie Hawkins. In addition, the NBA adopted the three point shot from the ABA, and it is so popular that there is a three-point shooting contest at the all-star break.

The Remember the ABA web site is a collaborative work — all of the photos, uniforms, and memories on this page have been contributed by various ABA fans across the country. Learn about the exciting players and above the rim style of this innovative league, and if you already know about it, share your memories with other fans!

Inside Hoops' ABA History page has the basics: overview of the league's place in history, why it was special, list of champions, MVPs, all-stars, etc. How many people remember that Pistons coach Larry Brown was the ABA's first All-Star Game MVP?

H O O P S !

My Take on Basketball

Essays & Other Features