NBA Being Remembered Weekly

If There is No NBA There will Always be Memories


At this point things do not look good for anything even remotely close to a full NBA season being played this year. Actually, things look more likely no season at all may take place as a result of the current labor scene.

This would have been the time when Fox Sports Houston would be in the early weeks of a 2011-2012 new season with Kevin McHale calling the shots on the court for a team filled with hope. How good they would have turned out to be is only conjecture now.

But Rocket fans can remember the best of the good old days each week during this time of no live action by joining recent Emmy winner Bill Worrell and his telecast co-horts Matt Bullard and Clyde Drexler along with special guests as they relive some of the big games in the Rocket past.

Wednesday night they will be sitting around the screen chatting as we see the replay of game one from the 1995 NBA Western Conference Finals from the Alamodome in San Antonio. That was the series which pitted the newly crowned NBA MVP, David Robinson—who received his award prior the the action—against the previous MVP, Hakeem Olajuwon, who felt he was still the better player.

Robinson won the award rightly, though. His Spurs had a far better regular season than the defending NBA Champion Rockets. Houston had finished third in the same division as the Spurs and had only the sixth best record (47-35) in the Western Conference heading into the playoffs. There were few who thought the Rockets had much of a chance in the series with the Spurs. Not only did the Spurs seem to have a better all around team they had not been extended as much as the Rockets had in their previous series when they had to rally from near death to put down the Phoenix Suns.

In game one the Rockets got full advantage from their mid season trade with Portland in which they acquired Clyde Drexler. Drexler not only started the Rocket scoring after they fell behind 6-0 in the opening seconds, but assisted on the second basket on a feed to Pete Chilcutt.

For old times sake remember the Rockets lineup that game? Pete Chilcutt and Robert Horry were the forwards. They were matched against Dennis Rodman and Sean Elliot. The Rocket guards were Kenny Smith and Drexler. San Antonio had Avery Johnson and Vinnie DelNegro. Robinson and Olajuwon were matched up in the middle.

Before a crowd of nearly 46,000 the game was tense. It was the Rockets combo of the former University of Houston duo, Olajuwon and Drexler, that turned the tide. But it was Rocket defense in the third quarter than turned the game. Olajuwon in addition to his game high 27 points blocked five shots and added six assists to go with 8 rebounds. He more than neutralized Robinson who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, but turned ball over 7 times. Meanwhile Drexler popped in 25 points and added 12 rebounds.

Don’t read this next paragraph if you want to watch the game Wednesday night and do not wish to find out what happened till to see it. But the Rockets won 94-93. The Spurs trailed by seven entering the final quarter and closed the gap. But the Rockets took a big game one on the road.

They were not finished. Two days later they won in San Antonio again. This time Olajuwon really was in the forefront. He scored 41 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. While Robinson had a very credible 32 points himself, he had been outscored by Hakeem by 15 points in the first two games and that was too much for the Spurs.

They did ultimately win two games in the six game series, but it was the 6th seeded Rockets that moved on to face the Orlando Magic featuring Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA Finals. Hakeem won that battle as well as the Rockets swept the Magic to win their second straight NBA crown.

It may have really been won in game one of the Western Finals when the Rockets won in San Antonio. . Olajuwon may not have won the regular season league MVP, but he won the NBA Finals honor after averaging 32.8ppg and 11.5 rpg in the post season. See for yourself Wednesday night on Fox Sports Houston at 9pm.

Have fun listening to the comments of those that played and were part of the Rockets in 1995. Check your listings, but most of the “conversational replays” will be aired on Wednesdays. Check http://www.foxsportshouston.com daily to find out all about the Rockets but the other teams of interest in the Houston region including television schedules.