Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 15, 1995 TAG: 9507110107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HAL BOCK ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Last year, there was some logical explanation for the Rockets' NBA championship. They had the second-best regular-season record in the league. They won the Midwest Division. They had the MVP.
This year?
``When you look at them on paper, you don't see how they could win,'' Anfernee Hardaway of Orlando said.
A penny for Hardaway's thoughts. He's right, though. On paper, the Rockets -after Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler - seem extremely ordinary.
Consider the roster.
There's Robert Horry, whom they once tried to trade away, and Sam Cassell, a 24th pick in the draft. There's Mario Elie, cast off by three other teams, and Kenny Smith, whose best NBA days seem behind him.
There's Chucky Brown, dismissed by the woebegone New Jersey Nets, hardly much of a recommendation, and Charles Jones, who had 38 candles on his last birthday cake. There's Pete Chilcutt, used sparingly, and Zan Tabak, used not at all.
Missing in action are injured Carl Herrera and Vernon Maxwell, discharged because of a terminal attack of Rodmanitis.
Together they don't exactly remind you of the great NBA championship teams, and yet there they are, back on top of David Stern's little world, following Wednesday's 113-101 victory and sweep of the Magic in the finals.
Even Olajuwon, always insightful, always perceptive, seemed stumped by what he and the Rockets have wrought. ``This,'' he said, ``is beyond human explanation.''
Indeed.
Coach Rudy Tomjanovich offered an answer. ``We try to do everything right,'' he said, ``and if our guys do the things we believe in, then I expect us to win.''
So far, so good.
Let's hear it for role players, for doing just what needs to be done and not trying to do more.
Let's hear it for Olajuwon, who could demand an MVP vote recount after finishing fifth in this year's balloting.
And let's hear it for Drexler, who made a trade everybody wondered about pay off big time.
The Rockets took a big risk when they shipped Otis Thorpe to Portland for Drexler last February. Without Thorpe's rebounding, they seemed vulnerable under the boards.
``Nobody liked the trade,'' Elie said. ``We needed a four [power forward] and we struggled a little. `Four' men are tough in the West, and I just didn't know where we would get rebounds.''
Not to worry. The trade reunited Drexler with Olajuwon, his old University of Houston teammate, creating a happy Hakeem. This was Phi Slama Jama all over again, a decade after the fact. And most importantly, the deal gave the Rockets two premier scorers, pumping points night after night.
Still, Houston's 47-35 regular-season record gave no clue to the mayhem the Rockets were about to create in the playoffs. Nine teams finished with better records, including all four - Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando - they would play in the postseason.
In every series, the other team had the homecourt advantage. Making the Rockets play on the road, though, is like Uncle Remus tossing that rascally Br'er Rabbit in the brier patch. They love it. Houston found amazing strength in room-service menus and set an NBA playoff record with nine road victories, seven of them in a row, another record.
The Rockets beat Utah in the first series, winning Game 5 on the road. They beat Phoenix after trailing the fancy Suns 3-1, winning the last three games, including two on the road.
They beat San Antonio in six games, with three of the wins coming on the road. And they put the squeeze on Orlando by winning the first two away from home.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB