houston rockets

houston rockets

Number Head line Page
1. The history of the team 2-22
2. The head coach 23-26
3. Hakeem Olajuwon 27
4. Charles Barkley 28
5. Scottie Pippen 29
6. Rockets Acquire Pippen 30-31
7. Turbo 32
8. glossary 33-34








Houston Has Been Home Of The Big Man-From Moses To Ralph
To Hakeem

The Houston Rockets were introduced to the NBA as the San Diego Rockets in 1967, the same year that the American Basketball Association launched itself as a rival league. Despite boasting the great Elvin Hayes through the early years, the Rockets never caught on in San Diego and moved to Houston after only four seasons. The franchise stumbled through its first five years in Houston before acquiring Moses
Malone early in the 1976-77 campaign. Malone put the club on his hulking shoulders and carried the Rockets to respectability. Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon bore the big-man banner in the 1980s and into the 1990s, posting impressive seasons.
Eventually Olajuwon would lead the Rockets to back-to-back championship banners in 1994 and 1995.



1967-68: A Disappointing Debut

That the Rockets were lost amid professional basketball teams in the late 1960s is not surprising. San Diego entered the NBA in 1967-68 along with the Seattle SuperSonics.
The ABA introduced 11 new teams that year, and the NBA would add two clubs the following season. Furthermore, the Rockets' debut season resulted in a 15-67 record, the most losses ever recorded by an NBA team at the time.

A starting lineup of Don Kojis and Johnny Green at forward, John Block at center, and Jon McGlocklin and John Barnhill at guard played the team's first game on October 14, 1967, before a crowd of 7,476 in the San Diego Sports Arena. Coached by General Manager Jack McMahon, the Rockets lost to the St. Louis Hawks, 99-98. The team limped to a 2-14 start and didn't earn its 10th victory until Christmas Day. As the Rockets staggered to a league-worst record, they could take consolation in...