Houston Rockets Tickets - NBA Basketball

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Houston Rockets

Conference	Western Conference
Division	Southwest Division
Founded	1967
History	San Diego Rockets 1967-1970 Houston Rockets 1970-present
Arena	Toyota Center
City	Houston, Texas
Team Colors	Red, White, and Silver
Owner	Leslie Alexander
General Manager	{{{General Manager}}}
Head Coach	Rick Adelman
NBA D-League Affiliate	Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Championships	2 (1994, 1995)
Conference Titles	4 (1981, 1986, 1994, 1995)
Division Titles	4 (1977, 1986, 1993, 1994)

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Move to Houston

In 1971, real estate broker Wayne Duddleston and banker Billy Goldberg bought the franchise for $5.6 million and relocated the team from San Diego, where fans were more disposed to the Los Angeles Lakers than the Rockets. The Rockets originally had been named for San Diego slogan, "A City in Motion," but with the move to Houston their name took on even greater relevance. Houston is home to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, which received national attention during Project Apollo. Houston's major league baseball team, the Astros,were similarly named, and their stadium was the Astrodome, all with a futuristic theme. Furthermore, Houston's WNBA team would be named the Houston Comets, in part tribute and association with the Rockets. They would go on to win four straight championships.

Clutch City

Between 1987 and 1992, the Rockets had winning records, but they never got past the 2nd round of the playoffs. With new coach Rudy Tomjanovich leading the way, the Rockets won 55 games in 1992-93, but the Seattle SuperSonics knocked them off in the Conference Semifinals.

On July 30, 1993, Leslie Alexander purchased the Rockets. In Tomjanovich's second full year as head coach, the Rockets began the 1993-94 season with an NBA record start of 15-0. With Hakeem Olajuwon as their center, the Rockets defeated the New York Knicks in seven games to win the championship. After being down three games to two in the 1994 NBA Finals, the Rockets won the last two games on their home court, thanks to a clutch play by Olajuwon. In the waning seconds of the fourth quarter of game 6 the Rockets clung to a 2 point lead when hot shooting guard John Starks, who had scored 27 points up until then, pulled up for a game winning shot.Olajuwon had slipped coming around a screen but recovered to block the shot and preserve the lead as time expired. This is often considered one of the greatest clutch defensive plays in NBA History.

The Rockets struggled in the first half of the 1994-95 season. In a midseason trade with Portland, the Rockets obtained star guard Clyde Drexler, who had played alongside Olajuwon at the University of Houston, in exchange for Otis Thorpe. Houston entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference and were underdogs against the 60-22 Utah Jazz in the first round, the 59-23 Phoenix Suns in the second round (who led the Rockets 3-1 before losing three straight), and the 62-20 San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals. In the second game of the San Antonio series,Olajuwon gave a career performance. After a pregame MVP award ceremony honoring David Robinson,Olajuwon dominated the game, outscoring Robinson 42-22 in a Rockets win. Houston won all three series to reach the Finals against the Orlando Magic, whose headline players were Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. Houston swept the series in four straight games. The Rockets became the first team in NBA history to win the championship as a sixth seed. They also became only the second team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit without homecourt advantage. In addition, the team became the first in NBA history to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason en route to the championship.

Post-championship

Rockets logo from 1996-2003.

After an injury riddled 1995-96 campaign, the Rockets beat the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs but were swept by the Seattle Supersonics in the second round. Houston's aging roster and the emergence of the Chicago Bulls drove the Rockets to make a dramatic trade with the Phoenix Suns that swapped Sam Cassell, Chucky Brown, Mark Bryant and Robert Horry for Charles Barkley. The resulting "Big Three" of Olajuwon, Drexler, and Barkley led the Rockets to a 57-25 record, with a franchise-best 27 road wins. Houston swept Minnesota in the first round and, in a heated 7 game battle, defeated Seattle. The Rockets then fell in the Western Conference Finals to the Utah Jazz, a team they had beaten on their way to championships in '94 and '95.

The 1997-98 season was also marked by injuries, and the team finished 41-41 with the 8th seed in the Western Conference. Houston once again faced the Jazz and lost the series 3-2. Drexler retired after the season and the Rockets made another bold trade to bring in Scottie Pippen to take his place in the Big Three. While Pippen continued to play good defense, he struggled to fit into Houston's offensive system, which was dominated by Barkley and Olajuwon. As a result, the Rockets often struggled. The Rockets lost to the Lakers in the first round 3-1 of the 1999 NBA Playoffs, and during the summer Barkley and Pippen publicly displayed their dislike for each other.

Throughout the post-championship years one of the Rockets main weaknesses was the point guard position. The Rockets had signed Brent Price as the answer at the 1, but he had been severely limited by injuries. That summer the Rockets attempted to address their point guard situation by trading Price, Antoine Carr, Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, and a future first round pick to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Steve Francis and Tony Massenburg. Two months later the Rockets dealt the disgruntled Pippen to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for Walt Williams, Stacey Augmon, Ed Gray, Carlos Rogers, Brian Shaw, and Kelvin Cato. The trade replenished the depth given up to obtain Francis from Vancouver.

Early in the 2000 season Barkley ruptured the quadriceps tendon in his left knee in a game against Philadelphia. When considering his career-ending injury, Barkley displayed his trademark wit by observing, "I'm just what America needs - another unemployed black man." Barkley would go on to rehab and make a token appearance towards the end of the season. With injuries to Barkley and Olajuwon, the rebuilt Rockets went 34-48 and missed the playoffs.

2006-2007

The Rockets drafted Rudy Gay of the University of Connecticut with the 8th pick of the first round in the 2006 NBA Draft. Gay was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies along with Stromile Swift in exchange for Shane Battier. Many fans were upset at losing the young prospect in Gay. The Rockets also acquired Kirk Snyder from the New Orleans Hornets for cash consideration, and an exchange of 2nd round draft picks. They also signed Vassilis Spanoulis, a 2004 draft pick from Greece; Steve Novak a 2006 second-round draft pick from Marquette University; and summer league stand-out John Lucas III. Near the end of the offseason, the Rockets made their biggest offseason acquisition and signed Bonzi Wells for a 2-year, $5 million deal with the second year being a player option.

In the 2006-07 NBA season, the Rockets suffered familiar injuries to both superstars: an injured back for McGrady and a fractured right tibia bone for Yao. Fortunately for the Rockets though, McGrady returned just after Yao was injured and had six consecutive games of at least 30 points. Yao missed 32 games but returned to action March 6 with the Rockets in solid playoff position. On March 26, the Rockets officially qualified for the first round of the NBA playoffs with a win against the Milwaukee Bucks. On April 16th, The Rockets defeated the Phoenix Suns 120-117 and clinched homecourt advantage for their first-round series with the Utah Jazz. The tandem of Yao and McGrady one-upped its previous regular season best, finishing 52-30 on the year. However, once again, the Houston Rockets were unable to pull out of the first round, losing in Game 7 to Utah 103-99. Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy was fired on May 18th, 2007^[1].

Houston will begin the 2007-08 season with recently hired Rick Adelman as the team's 11th head coach.^[2].

On June 14, the Rockets traded Juwan Howard to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Mike James and Justin Reed.^[3].

In the 2007 NBA Draft, with the 26th pick, the Houston Rockets selected PG Aaron Brooks (basketball), from Oregon, traded with the SuperSonics and selected PF Carl Landry from Purdue with the 31st pick, and with the 54th overall pick selected SG Brad Newley from Australia.

On July 12 guard Vassilis Spanoulis was traded to the San Antonio Spurs along with the rights for the 2009 second-round draft pick, for center Jackie Butler and the rights to Luis Scola a 2002 second-round draft pick, yet to play in the NBA. 24 Hours after this deal was made, Scola came to a "Basic Agreement" which could see him playing for the Rockets next season.^[4] Less than a week later, Scola signed with the Rockets.^[5] On July 20 guard Steve Francis signed a 2 year deal with the Rockets, after he accepted a buyout of the last two seasons of his contract, worth roughly $30 million from the Portland Trail Blazers . He is expected to compete for a starting job with Mike James and Rafer Alston ^[6]

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers

For a list of all-time Rockets players, see Houston Rockets all-time roster.

Retired numbers

22 Clyde Drexler, G, 1995-98; also Houston native and University of Houston star and former head coach, currently Houston Rockets broadcaster
23 Calvin Murphy, G, 1970-83 (including last season in San Diego); also Broadcaster
24 Moses Malone, C, 1976-82
34 Hakeem Olajuwon, C, 1984-2001
45 Rudy Tomjanovich, F, 1970-81; Head Coach, 1991-2003
CD Carroll Dawson Assistant coach, General Manager 1979-2007. As Dawson did not play for the Rockets, the team used his initials in memoriam.

Current roster

Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	From
1.0 PG	12	USA	Alston, Rafer	74 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Cal State-Fresno
3.0 SF	31	USA	Battier, Shane	80 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Duke
1.0 PG	0	USA	Brooks, Aaron	72 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	Oregon
5.0 C		USA	Butler, Jackie	82 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	Coastal Christian Academy
1.0 PG	3	USA	Francis, Steve	75 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Maryland, College Park*
3.0 SF		USA	Harris, Mike	78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Rice
4.0 PF	44	USA	Hayes, Chuck	78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	242 lb (110 kg)	Kentucky
2.0 SG	2	USA	Head, Luther	75 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Illinois
1.0 PG	7	USA	James, Mike	74 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Duquesne
4.0 PF	14	USA	Landry, Carl (DP)	81 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Purdue
1.0 PG	15	USA	Lucas, John III	71 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Oklahoma State
2.0 SG	1	USA	McGrady, Tracy	80 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	223 lb (101 kg)	Mt. Zion Christian Academy
5.0 C	55	COD	Mutumbo, Dikembe (FA)	86 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Georgetown
2.0 SG	21	AUS	Newley, Brad (DP)	79 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	Australia
3.0 SF	20	USA	Novak, Steve	82 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	234 lb (106 kg)	Marquette
3.0 SF	9	USA	Reed, Justin	81 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Mississippi
4.0 PF	4	ARG	Scola, Luis	81 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Argentina
2.0 SG	13	USA	Snyder, Kirk	78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	228 lb (103 kg)	Nevada
1.0 PG		USA	Sura, Bob	77 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Florida State
5.0 C	25	Greece	Tsakalidis, Jake (FA)	86 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	290 lb (132 kg)	Greece
3.0 SF	6	USA	Wells, Bonzi	77 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Ball State
5.0 C	11	CHN	Yao Ming	90 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)	310 lb (141 kg)	China