Rocket booster
Houston activates Olajuwon, hopes for positive impact
Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 9:31 PM ET
HOUSTON (CNN/SI) -- The struggling Houston Rockets got a tremendous boost Tuesday night
when center Hakeem Olajuwon, who missed the last 33 games while
recovering from knee surgery, was activated from the injured
list.
Olajuwon will be in uniform for Tuesday's home game against the
Vancouver Grizzlies, but is not expected to start. He had been
sidelined since late November and the Rockets were just 16-18 in
his absence.
The 1994 NBA Most Valuable Player, Olajuwon was averaging 14.8
points and 9.2 rebounds in the first 11 games, both well below
his career numbers. Following a 90-84 win over Golden State on
November 22, Olajuwon was diagnosed with a folding of tissue
in the joint capsule known as a medial plica, caused by normal
wear and tear.
Olajuwon expects to come off the bench for the first few games, easing his way back into the starting lineup and gauging how his knee responds.
"We've obviously taken this very slow," Rockets' spokesman Tim Frank said. "We didn't want to rush this. We wanted him to come back in Hakeem form. And, obviously, we've been able to do that."
The return of the 12-time All-Star doesn't come soon enough for the Rockets, who have been playing in a funk for the past two weeks. Trade rumors coincided with eight losses in nine games as Houston slid into the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings, fourth in the Midwest Division.
With Olajuwon out of the lineup, the Rockets have a 15-18 record.
"Realistically, we're looking for him to play the same type of role that Kevin Willis played last year, [playing] maybe 20 minutes a game, filling those same minutes Kevin did last year," Frank said. "Then, after the All-Star Game, we can build him back to some Hakeem minutes."
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