Tag: Mario Elie

‘Make Houston Clutch Again’: Former Rockets back Sam Cassell

Sam Cassell is reported to be a head coaching consideration for the Rockets, and several of his former teammates seem to like the idea.

Several members of the 1994 and 1995 “Clutch City” championship teams appear to be endorsing former teammate Sam Cassell as a candidate to replace outgoing Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni.

Cassell has worked as an NBA assistant for the last 11 seasons, including time with renowned Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers since 2014. “Mutual interest” was reported between Cassell and Houston shortly after D’Antoni informed the team that he wouldn’t return.

In recent days, former teammate Vernon Maxwell — who played in the backcourt alongside Cassell during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons — has used his (often hilarious) Twitter account to promote Cassell’s candidacy. He’s even created his own slogan of sorts, with “Make Houston Clutch Again” as a clear reference to the “Clutch City” era.

On Tuesday morning, Maxwell attempted to draw a humorous distinction between Cassell and fellow Clippers assistant Ty Lue — who is also believed to be a serious candidate for the Houston job opening.

Fellow 1990s teammate Matt Bullard, who now works as a television analyst for Houston’s game broadcasts, posted an archived photo Tuesday with the tagline “Clutch City.” The image from their playing days features Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Mario Elie… and Cassell.

Elie quickly retweeted it, perhaps offering an endorsement of his own. Elie has previously served as an assistant coach for several NBA coaches, which could potentially make him a staff consideration, as well.

Current Houston guard Austin Rivers, who played for Cassell in Los Angeles, has raved about Cassell’s offseason player development work. In particular, Rivers said Cassell helped him with his mid-range game, which Cassell was known for in his own playing days and could represent a philosophical contrast with the recent D’Antoni era.

During the 2020 playoffs, Doc Rivers made an emphatic case for why Cassell deserves to be hired for a lead job. Among his comments:

Sam Cassell should be a head coach, now. He’s got an incredibly high basketball IQ, and I hope he gets a shot. He’s paid every due that is possible and he’s yet to get a job, so I’m hoping that happens.

It isn’t yet clear if the backing of these big names will carry any weight, since GM Daryl Morey will be making the final decision. But it certainly can’t hurt, and if nothing else, it makes for a fun and entertaining trip down memory lane during the early days of Houston’s offseason.

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When the Raptors won the title in 2019, …

When the Raptors won the title in 2019, it was the only time that the NBA champions did not have a lottery pick on their roster since the league changed to a weighted lotto system in 1990. In fact, the 2019 Raptors had the lowest drafted players among NBA champions since the Houston Rockets in 1993-94. (Although those numbers were a bit impacted by the fact that Mario Elie was selected at No. 160 overall, fully one hundred spots later than the final selection eligible in the modern draft).

Today in 1995: Rockets complete historic march to second NBA title

“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion!” Rudy Tomjanovich and Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets clinched a second title on June 14, 1995.

On this day 25 years ago, the 1994-95 Rockets finished off what could be the toughest path to a championship in NBA history.

NBA Finals MVP Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston in Game 4 versus Orlando with 35 points and 15 rebounds, sending “Clutch City” to a 113-101 home victory (box score) on June 14, 1995 and securing a series sweep.

Mario Elie chipped in with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting (81.8%) from the field, including 4-of-6 on 3-pointers (66.7%). All-Stars Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway each scored 25 for the Magic.

HoopsHype has more on the historic journey by the sixth-seeded Rockets to a second consecutive NBA crown.

“According to research in which we looked at every team’s path to their eventual championship wins, the 1994-95 Rockets had the toughest road ever to winning a title,” they write. “The worst team they beat had a 57-25 record, and that was their Finals opponent, the Orlando Magic, who boasted a lineup featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, amongst many valuable role players.” The HoopsHype story adds:

On top of that, the Rockets won four series without having home-court advantage, an almost impossible feat to even fathom, let alone pull off. Houston’s road was made that tough due to the fact that they went 47-35 that regular season, a disappointing campaign prior to the playoffs. The Rockets beat two teams in the Utah Jazz (60-22) and the San Antonio Spurs (62-20) that won at least 60 games, and a third, the Phoenix Suns (59-23) that came within one win of reaching that benchmark.

HoopsHype concludes:

A road that featured the aforementioned Shaq-and-Penny duo, along with Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson, that year’s regular-season MVP in David Robinson, who Olajuwon made look very foolish during their matchup, and John Stockton and Karl Malone, there’s no questioning just how tough the Rockets had it during their second title run, and how well-earned their championship was.

It also served as the long awaited championship for future Hall of Fame guard Clyde Drexler, who had 15 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the decisive Game 4. Drexler was acquired by the Rockets in a bold move at the February 1995 trade deadline in exchange for power forward Otis Thorpe, who had played a key role in Houston’s 1993-94 title.

In all, the 1995 run can be summed up perfectly by the postgame quote that night from legendary head coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion!”

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Today in 1995: Horry, Elie lead Rockets to brink of second title

Robert Horry and Mario Elie combined for 37 points on 60% shooting in Game 3 versus Orlando, headlined by Horry’s dagger 3-pointer late.

The underrated story of the 1995 NBA Finals between the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets was the difference in role players.

Superstars Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler did their part for the Rockets, while Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway carried the Magic. But Houston often had key role players step up — such as Kenny Smith’s record seven 3-pointers in Game 1, and Sam Cassell’s 31 points off the bench in Game 2 — to supplement the star performances.

Meanwhile, the most noteworthy contribution from Orlando’s supporting cast was the four missed free throws late in Game 1 by Nick Anderson.

All of those trends continued in Houston’s 106-103 victory (box score) on June 11, 1995, which gave the Rockets a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. They went on to win the title three days later.

After the two point guards stole the show in the first two games, it was a pair of young forwards who stepped up in Game 3 at The Summit in Houston. Robert Horry (20) and Mario Elie (17) combined for 37 points on 60% shooting, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range (55.6%).

Those 3-pointers included one of the renowned daggers by “Big Shot Bob,” which extended Houston’s lead from one point to four with just over 10 seconds left and sent the “Clutch City” crowd into a frenzy.

Meanwhile, as Horry and Elie stepped up, their counterparts on the young Magic struggled. Anderson and Dennis Scott combined for 20 points on just 6-of-25 shooting (24.0%) from the field.

Generally speaking, the stars were all brilliant. Olajuwon had 31 points and 14 rebounds while Drexler added 25 points and 13 rebounds. Each had seven assists, headlined by Olajuwon’s pass to Horry for the clinching shot. For the Magic, O’Neal scored 28 points (64.7% FG) and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Hardaway added 19 points and 14 assists.

Yet again, it was the role players who gave the biggest comparative advantage to the Rockets. This time, it put them just one game away from a second consecutive NBA championship.

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Mario Elie on hypothetical series vs. Jordan’s Bulls: ‘Rockets in 7’

“We had a group of guys who weren’t scared,” Elie said of the 1990s Rockets. “A lot of these players were scared of Michael Jordan.”

Of the nine NBA championships awarded from 1991 through 1999, six were won by legendary guard Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

The other three champions of that era — the 1994 and 1995 Houston Rockets, and the 1999 San Antonio Spurs — shared a common thread in the form of defensive minded swingman Mario Elie.

Known as the “Junkyard Dog,” Elie’s combination of perimeter defense, toughness, and clutch shotmaking made him an essential role player for those title teams. While he admires the Bulls for their accomplishments, which have been featured in recent weeks thanks to “The Last Dance” documentary release, he understandably is partial to his own teams.

In an interview with Rockets broadcaster Craig Ackerman, Elie was asked about those Houston teams not being brought up in the film.

“I don’t really care if they didn’t mention us,” said Elie, whose teams never faced Jordan’s Bulls in the playoffs. “We still got those championships, first of all. “Second of all, we’d have matched up great against them.”

“We had Vernon [Maxwell] and myself,” he said. You’re not going to stop Michael Jordan, we all know that know that, but we’re two guys who can make him work. And Jordan really didn’t face a big man at the caliber of Hakeem Olajuwon. If Michael Jordan would have beat me and Vernon, he would’ve had to meet No. 34 at the rim.”

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Elie said the Rockets’ title teams were mentally tough, which he believes was in contrast to many other contenders in that era. He explained:

We had a group of guys who weren’t scared. A lot of these players were scared of Michael Jordan. It was like that Mike Tyson effect. When Mike Tyson was first on the scene and you walked in the ring, he’d have those guys beat by the staredown.

I thought we had guys that weren’t scared. We weren’t scared of nothing. Especially the two years we won, being down [in series]. We had adversity we had to deal with. We just had some tough, gritty guys.

In terms of the Xs and Os of a hypothetical matchup, Elie said he would have been fascinated by the potential of a young Robert Horry going against Scottie Pippen, as well as Otis Thorpe at power forward versus Dennis Rodman. Coaching strategies may also have played a key role.

“Robert would tell me that Phil Jackson didn’t like to double team,” Elie said. Years later, Jackson coached Horry with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I played with Hakeem Olajuwon for five years,” Elie explained. “This man sees double and triple teams on a nightly basis and still gets 30 and 40 points. So imagine if Phil Jackson doesn’t double. He would kill them and get them all in foul trouble, etc.”

There’s certainly reason to question whether Chicago’s nondescript centers like Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley could have held up against Olajuwon’s Rockets, who were 5-1 against Jordan’s Bulls in six regular-season games from 1990-91 through 1992-93.

By comparison, many teams Chicago defeated in the NBA Finals in their title runs — such as Charles Barkley’s Phoenix Suns, Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz, and Shawn Kemp’s Seattle Sonics — lacked the offensive production at center to challenge the Bulls at their weakest position.

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But in the end, Elie believes it’s the role players that would have given the “Clutch City” Rockets an advantage versus Chicago. He said:

I would take us in seven [games]. It would have been a great series. Jordan would have got his for sure, and Olajuwon would get his. … Both guys were on top of their games at the time.

I think it’d have been up to the role players, and I sort of like our role players a little better than theirs, you know. It’d have been interesting, but I would like our chances, especially with that ’94 team. We had size, we had athleticism, and we had toughness.

The 1994 team featured Otis Thorpe starting at power forward. Before the 1995 title run, Houston traded Thorpe in a deal for star shooting guard Clyde Drexler, which led to Horry sliding to power forward.

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Jordan didn’t play in the 1993-94 season after an abrupt mid-career retirement in October 1993, which lasted until March 1995. Stylistically, the 1993-94 Rockets with Thorpe had the most in common with the group that went 5-1 versus Chicago in the previous three seasons. Olajuwon was also regular-season MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in 1993-94.

Jordan returned the next season and played well in the 1995 playoffs, but his Bulls lost in the second round to the Orlando. The Magic were later swept by Elie’s Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals.

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The Bulls regrouped in the subsequent 1995 offseason and signed Rodman as their next power forward, filling Grant’s old role. From there, Chicago took the next three championships from 1996 through 1998, which was when the Olajuwon-era Rockets were aging out of contention.

In the end, Olajuwon’s Rockets and Jordan’s Bulls peaked at different times in the 1990s, and NBA fans never saw the playoff matchup they craved between the two MVPs and Hall of Famers. But even decades later, it’s a debate that still lives on in NBA lore. Understandably, Elie is partial to “The Dream” and his teammates from that golden era in Houston.

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Rockets react to passing of legendary Utah coach Jerry Sloan

Several Houston legends had kind words Friday for the late Jerry Sloan, who coached against the Rockets in several classic playoff series.

Legendary Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, who led the team from 1988 until 2011, passed away Friday due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 78 years old.

Sloan ranks fourth on the NBA’s all-time coaching list with 1,221 regular-season wins, and sixth in the playoff history with 98 wins. He’s one of only two coaches in league history to record 1,000 wins with one club.

Sloan coached for one team longer than anyone in NBA history, and he led the Jazz to 15 straight playoff appearances from 1989 through 2003 (including two Western Conference titles in 1997 and 1998). He’s one of only four coaches in history with 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record, joining Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, and Phil Jackson.

The Jazz and Rockets have long been rivals, and six of Sloan’s postseason trips (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2008) featured playoff series between Utah and Houston. None ended in sweeps, and in five of the six series, the losing team still won at least two games.

Houston defeated Utah on its way to a pair of NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, and the Jazz returned the favor on their way to the first NBA Finals trips in franchise history in 1997 and 1998.

Though the playoff battles were intense, Sloan clearly earned the respect of Houston’s players, as he did throughout the NBA. Here’s a sampling of Friday’s reactions from the Rockets organization, both past and present.

Mario Elie says Hakeem Olajuwon was more skilled than Tim Duncan

“This guy doesn’t get enough credit for how good he was,” Mario Elie says of Hakeem Olajuwon, his former teammate with the Rockets.

Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan will always be linked in history, since both were Hall of Fame big men for Texas teams. Each man more than lived up to his billing as a No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft by leading his franchise to multiple NBA titles, including each team’s first ever.

Olajuwon’s career lasted 18 seasons from 1984 to 2002, and it overlapped slightly at the end with the younger Duncan, who played 19 years for the San Antonio Spurs from 1997 through 2016. Both MVP centers were ranked among the top 12 NBA players of all-time in ESPN’s recent list.

One man who knows them both well is Mario Elie, who played five seasons alongside Olajuwon with the Houston Rockets before finishing his career with two seasons next to Duncan in San Antonio. Elie was a part of Houston’s title teams in 1994 and 1995 and the championship Spurs squad in 1999, so he saw both greats at the peak of their powers.

When asked Thursday by SiriusXM NBA Radio to pick between the two, Elie was diplomatic about it and acknowledged Duncan’s higher total of five team titles, as compared to two for Olajuwon. However, Elie ultimately said he would go with “The Dream” as the more skilled player.

I played with him, I played with [David] Robinson, and I played with Duncan. I know numbers do matter, and championships and all that. But if you’re telling me skill-wise between Duncan and Olajuwon, you have to give the edge to Olajuwon.

Olajuwon’s footwork, fadeaway jumper, jump hook… he can face you up, can put it on the floor. He shot 85 (percent) from the line and was an outstanding defensive player. He was always in top of the league in steals. [He’s] the package. This guy doesn’t get enough credit for how good he was. I know Michael Jordan did rule in the 90s, but I think the guy sort of second to him, 1B, was Olajuwon.

Olajuwon averaged 21.8 points (51.2% shooting), 11.1 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game over his career with the Rockets, while Duncan tallied 19.0 points (50.6% FG), 10.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game.

Elie was more diplomatic than fellow Houston teammate Robert Horry, who played with Duncan later in his Spurs career. In comments from June 2017, Horry said Olajuwon was “20 times better” than Duncan.

While Duncan ultimately won more titles, he was always flanked by a combination of current or probable Hall of Famers such as Robinson, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard. By contrast, Olajuwon played most of his first decade in the NBA as the lone star in Houston.

It could also be argued that Olajuwon played in the era of Michael Jordan, which made it tougher for any other team to win titles.

In any event, both Olajuwon and Duncan are regarded as class acts and among the greatest big men to ever play the sport of basketball. But if Elie had to choose — and as someone that played with both, he’s in a position to know best — it sounds as if he would go with “The Dream.”

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Today in 1995: Rockets sink Suns with ‘Kiss of Death’ by Mario Elie

It was 25 years ago today when Mario Elie sank the most iconic shot in Houston Rockets history to clinch Game 7 at Phoenix.

Known best as the “Kiss of Death,” this Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the most famous shot in Houston Rockets franchise history, courtesy of three-time NBA champion Mario Elie.

On May 20, 1995, Elie hit a corner 3-pointer with under 10 seconds left in Game 7 at Phoenix. The legendary shot broke a tie and lifted the Rockets to victory in the game (box score) and the Western Conference semifinal series, which they had previously trailed by a 3-1 margin.

Led by Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson, the Suns (59-23) were much better than Houston (47-35) in the 1994-95 regular season. But true to their nickname, “Clutch City” was a different beast in the playoffs. And just a few weeks later, those Rockets secured their second straight NBA championship. (Elie captured his third title in 1999 with San Antonio.)

The Phoenix shot is perhaps best remembered for what occurred right after it, with Elie blowing a kiss in the direction of the home bench. The Suns never had a realistic shot to tie the game after Elie’s make, with head coach Rudy Tomjanovich opting to foul the Suns with a 3-point lead.

In a story on the shot’s 20th anniversary, Elie told the Houston Chronicle that the kiss was gestured at backup Suns center Joe Kleine. Elie said:

He started that in Game 5. It started as fun, but I got the last kiss. It was just emotion, friendly competition, and us going at each other for the second year in a row.

It was a somewhat risky play by Elie on multiple levels. With the shot clock off, Tomjanovich ideally wanted the Rockets to take the game’s last shot, so that the worst-case scenario was overtime. Because Elie shot early, a miss would likely have allowed the Suns a shot to win in regulation.

Those Rockets also had two future Hall of Famers on the court in Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. On paper, one of those two would seem be the preferred option in a late-game scenario. But Elie was open after a cross-court pass by Robert Horry, and he fired without hesitation.

“Robert threw a high pass, and I had to jump to get it,” Elie said. “But I had time to gather myself and get a great look at the basket.”

Olajuwon and Drexler each had 29 points in the victory, which was just the fifth time in NBA history that a road team had won a Game 7. But it was the final shot of an 8-point outing by a veteran role player — known best for his defense and toughness — that the game is best remembered for.

“My kids don’t think the old man could play,” Elie told the Houston Chronicle in 2015. “I can show them on video that I was pretty good.”

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There are touchstones collected on the …

There are touchstones collected on the way to championships that resonate even decades later. The Rockets’ consecutive championship years brought the birth of “Clutch City.” They culminated with the “Heart of a Champion.” Mario Elie produced the “Kiss of Death,” a triumph that still has him stopped around Houston “all the time.” “It’s pretty cool,” Elie said. “People remember that. They tell me where they were. They don’t call me Mario. They say, ‘Hey, ‘Kiss of Death.’ That’s my new name.”