55: Making numbers work in your favor

55. I consider this to be a magic number for the Houston Rockets franchise. Why "55," you might ask?? Well... in the limited history of the team, "55" has always been a good indication of future success. And by 55, I mean regular season wins.

You see, last year the Rockets finished 55-27 in the regular season. It was good enough to get to the playoffs, but not very far beyond that. It was also only the 2nd time in franchise history the team won exactly 55 games.

Maybe you see where I am going with this now...

Today, ESPN put out their pre-season power rankings. The Rockets are currently ranked 4th, behind Boston, L.A. (Lakers, of course) and the New Orleans CP3s. I care not about arbitrary power rankings and yet I always find myself reading them. Just for fun. But something struck me this time. When I saw the regular season record and Marc Stein's plea for "cautious optimism" for our team - I remembered something from the team's glory days.

You see, the last time the Rockets won exactly 55 games was the 1992-1993 season. That just so happened to be Robert Horry's rookie year. Yes, this is important. Keep reading.

Anyway, in 1993, Kenny Smith couldn't make a freakin' open jumpshot so the Rockets lost to Seattle in overtime in Game 7 of the Western semis. That sucked. And I'm still mad about it. Just like I am still mad about Tracy McGrady being an Initech employee during last year's playoffs. And yet... this is a good sign for the future.

Why?

Well - in the entire history of the franchise, EVERY time the Rockets won 55 games in a regular season, the team ended up winning the NBA Championship the very next year. It's true. Go look it up for yourself. So, maybe playing the "Robert Horry role" for this team is Luis Scola... and in his 2nd year, the Rockets will shock the world and win the ring! Again.

Ahh, a story with a happy ending. I like that.

Robert Horry for the HOF (plea #3)

... and I didn't even have to write the article this time.

JA Adande wrote today's plea. I'm just linking to it here.

Though I think he might have lifted my "Robert Horry is the greatest winner of the modern era" tagline to finish his own column...

Robert Horry for the HOF (plea #2)

Last night, Robert Horry set a new milestone: Most playoff games ever (238). He surpassed the record previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I guess it helps to be a Laker for part of your career if you want to play in a lot of playoff games (?)

This is just another playoff-related record for Mr. Horry. His name is all over the record book for various things accomplished in the months of April through June. Particularly in June... or did everyone forget the dude has seven rings. Seven! (More than MJ!)

Yes, it still hurts to see Horry in a Spurs jersey. It hurts a lot. But anyway...

Sadly, because the Spurs cannot win in even-numbered years and now trail the New Orleans Hornets 3 games to 2 after losing last night, I realized that the next game the Spurs play just might be the last time we see Robert Horry in an NBA uniform. Think about that for a second.

Thursday night could possibly be the last game of Robert Horry's career.

Horry was part of the loaded draft of 1992 (Shaq, Alonzo, Laettner, Harold Miner, etc. etc.).

1992!??!?!

Horry has won championship rings in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007. Because the Spurs fear even numbers, I think it's safe to say Horry will not get ring #8 this year. And that's okay. (Just so long as Utah doesn't win a ring, I'll be fine.)

What kills me though is seeing this on ESPN this morning:

"won't get into the Hall of Fame..." Why the hell not? Why is Horry already precluded from even being considered a Hall of Famer? No, he has not been an All Star before. No, Horry does not average 20 points a game or grab 15 rebounds or some other hollow statistical marker you might deem notable. All the guy has done for 17 years is win. Win! That's what the game is about.

Put another way... every season Robert Horry has been in the NBA - his team has made the playoffs. Every. Single. Year. His bio is quite fantastic. So maybe Horry hasn't been named an All Star before... but whose career would you rather have? Robert Horry's? ... or Vince Carter's? (or even Tracy McGrady's?) Vince Carter may have been half-amazing at one time in his life, but he'd trade places with Horry immediately. So would McGrady.

So I readily acknowledge that Thursday might be the end of the career of my favorite player. All good things must come to an end sometime (like 22 game winning streaks...). Consequently, The Robert Horry for the Hall of Fame Campaign will shift into overdrive here whenever he officially hangs up the sneakers for good. Horry will forever be a Houston Rocket to me.


... nice hair, dude.

The answer is Robert Horry - there is no debate

... nonetheless, I figured I'd pump up this story as much as I can. It's a good debate if you like obvious choices:

"Big Shot Bob" v. "Mr. Big Shot"


I think it's quite obvious that Chauncey Billups isn't even in the same ballpark as Robert Horry. Hell, he's not even in the same league. They are not even playing the same sport when it comes to who is more "clutch".

No offense to Pistons fans, but 7 rings is greater than 1 ring. Always.



Besides, Chauncey might have 2 clutch shots... Horry has 5 minutes worth of YouTube highlights:



Yet we traded him for an aging Charles Barkley. Excuse me, I have to go cry again.

An ode to Chuck Hayes

My dear Chuck...

I must congratulate you for continuing in the tradition of "Chuck"s to play crucial roles for the Rockets.

Before you there was Charles Barkley.

Okay, in actuality, there was the artist formerly known as Charles Barkley who we had to trade Robert Horry and E.T. to acquire. But I digress momentarily...

before the Round Mound of Rebound, there was Chucky Brown, the everlasting good luck charm. And yes, this was the best (okay, *only*) picture of Chucky Brown I could find. Which is shameful, for he helped get us a ring. And Barkley hated him for it.

Meanwhile, Chuck Hayes, you contribute in ways few would have ever imagined. You went to school at Kentucky, a college basketball Mecca of sorts. Yet you were not even drafted. The NBA scouts thought you to be too small at 6'6" to play your position. They were only sort of right. Of course, fans in Houston took to you immediately. Probably because we can somewhat relate to you.

Chuck, your skills are profound. You are short by NBA standards. You cannot run very fast. You cannot jump very high. You have problems catching or holding a basketball. You appear to have a mental block in making a basic chest pass. You cannot make a jumpshot to save your life. You have issues with layups, too. Your free throw form is abysmal (but you were not responsible for the 6-for-22 game). And yet........... you are everything the Rockets need at the position right now.

You don't have the typical NBA ego. You don't need the ball in your hands to be effective (Thank God!). Even with your physical faults and shortcomings, you are still the best rebounder on the team. You relentlessly hustle (unlike others, *cough*Rafer!*cough*). You know your role on the team. Okay, so you aren't Robert Horry, but no one can meet that standard.

Hell, John Hollinger loves you and your PER. This cannot be overstated. Hollinger expects us to win the Championship, so we like Hollinger here.

Apparently you are beloved in China, too. (How the hell do you have a shoe contract with a Chinese manufacturer? Wow.) The time has clearly come for you to be recognized.

Chuck Hayes, we salute you!