Rockets

Dewayne Bowden
Informative Speech

Houston Rockets.

The Houston Rockets are a basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the NBA. The Rockets were established in 1967, in San Diego, California, for four years, before moving to Houston. The head coach is now Kevin Mchale and the best players are James Harden and Dwight Howard. From 1993 to 1998, the mascot was Turbo, a costumed man that performed acrobatic dunks and other maneuvers. In 1995, the Rockets debuted Clutch the Bear as a second mascot, a large teddy bear-like mascot that performs a variety of acts during the games. After eight years of serving as dual mascots, the performer playing Turbo retired, making Clutch the sole mascot for the team.

In the Rockets' debut season, they won only 15 games. Things changed when In 1984, the Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon who, paired with Ralph Sampson and both collectively known as the "Twin Towers", led them to the 1986 Finals where they lost. They didn't make it again till, they went in 1994, where Olajuwon led them to the franchise's first championship against his rival Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. The team repeated as champions in 1995 against the Orlando magic. After winning two championships, the Rockets traded away most of the championship team for Charles Barkley, changed their championship uniforms, and, to date, have not advanced to the finals again. With a complete dismantling of the team entering the 2012 season, the Rockets have proclaimed "a new age" and their period of rebuilding over, capped by their first playoffs clinch on April 9, 2013.