Double Trouble, Houston Style

There they were, together on the same team, the young millionaires who have greatly altered the Houston skyline—and may someday do the same to the NBA's. Coin flips brought them both to the Rockets—the 7'4" Ralph Sampson in 1983 and the 6'11" Akeem (The Dream) Olajuwon last spring. As they made their debut as a duo last Saturday afternoon in Dallas, there was confusion for a moment as to who would jump center against Maverick rookie Sam Perkins. Sampson ended that by gesturing Olajuwon to the circle. Once the game began—Akeem lost the tip, by the way—they were by no means the odd couple some had expected them to be.

In a 121-111 Houston victory, Olajuwon, who played center, scored 24 points (22 in the second half when he controlled the lane as if he were back in the Southwest Conference playing for the University of Houston against Rice) and had nine rebounds. Sampson, who was a power forward, had 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. "Well, I guess the court was big enough for them," said Rocket coach Bill Fitch.

It's a little early to reserve places for Sampson and Olajuwon in the Hall of Fame or, for that matter, to expect the Rockets to run over the rest of the NBA as easily as they did the Mavs. After all, Dallas is primarily a finesse team, and Perkins, promising though he is, has some learning to do.

There will be games when Akeem will be lost on defense, as he was Saturday when he had to decide whether to stay close to the basket or step out to harass a jump-shooter like Perkins. There will be nights when Olajuwon, in a halfcourt offense, will blast up from the low post without noticing that there might be a 7'4" fellow in a better spot. "Sometimes Akeem runs the Houston offense better than anyone," says Fitch. "Unfortunately, it's the Houston Cougar offense." And there will be nights when Sampson and Olajuwon spend more time on the pine than on the floor. Last year Ralph fouled out of 16 games, while this season Akeem was disqualified on fouls twice in seven Rocket exhibition games.

But the Rockets' billboard message in Houston—THE FUTURE is NOW—may not be a wild exaggeration. The most satisfying feature of Saturday's victory was the way Olajuwon responded in the second half after playing only five unspectacular minutes in the first. Ten seconds into the game, Olajuwon fouled Perkins. He later let Perkins get loose for a backdoor layup. But Olajuwon's first pro basket, four minutes into the game, gave a hint of his raw, still-developing talent—he rimmed his own one-hand dunk but got the rebound and put in a soft four-foot jumper. Akeem picked up his second foul at 6:53, and Fitch sat him down, partly because Olajuwon wasn't playing well and partly because of Fitch's theory that young players can learn a lot by watching.

"I didn't learn anything," said the Dream. "I was mad at myself." He could have learned a lot by watching Sampson, who moved to the low post and, with the help of newly acquired guard John Lucas, shot Houston to a 63-51 halftime lead. "We voted 7-5 in the locker room to let Akeem start the second half," said Fitch, laughing in victory.

When the game was over, some preliminary answers to the persistent questions about the Rockets' Alpine offense could be offered:

1) Won't they get in each other's way on offense?

Not too often. "At first, in the preseason, they'd post up on the same side sometimes," Lucas said, "but gradually that went away." It went away because, at this point at least, the separation of power is clear. Akeem sets up in the low post and Ralph sets up high. Olajuwon knows that he doesn't possess Sampson's ball-handling skills, his faceup jumper from 18 feet or his knowledge of the game. "Ralph can play all five positions," says Fitch, "and he'd love to try."

2) Shouldn't a team have just one big man, one epi-center as it were?