Bring Back Novak

Assessing the New Look Rockets

2011-03-23T16:56:00.002-05:00

The Rockets have now played 12 games since the trade deadline deals that sent Shane Battier to Memphis and Aaron Brooks to Phoenix while bringing Goran Dragic, Hasheem Thabeet, and DeMarre Carroll into the fold. We've gone 9-3 during the stretch and very easily could have gone 11-1 if the refs hadn't screwed us in Phoenix and the NBA schedulemakers hadn't scheduled 4 games in 5 days in Houston, New Orleans, Portland, and LA. It's obvious that team has been clicking over the past few weeks, but why? The answer probably doesn't lie in the new acquisitions, since Goran Dragic is the only one to receive any meaningful minutes. It also probably isn't a result of the culmination of the Free T-Will Campaign, since he has only slipped further into the recesses of Rick Adelman's doghouse. So the question is, how is a team that traded two of its best players playing like one of the best teams in the league right now? And, how good are the Rockets actually playing right now?

T-Will hasn't made good use of the PT given

to him when Shane Battier was traded

In the 12 games since the trades, the Rockets' offense has an Offensive efficiency (Points scored per 100 possessions) of 109.43. To put this in context, the Denver Nuggets currently lead the league in Off. efficiency at 109.9, and the Rockets past 12 games would be good enough for second in the league. Unless you were one of the few people that still believed in Aaron Brooks or you hadn't watched Shane Battier since his days at Duke, you probably could have seen a slight offensive improvement coming (the Rockets have a 107.7 Off. efficiency for the season). Chase Budinger is simply a better offensive player than Battier, and Brooks' cold shooting and non-existent passing had turned a bench unit that should have been one of the tops in the league into a mediocre group at best.

But the improvement is more than just addition by subtraction, Patrick Patterson and Courtney Lee have played great in extended minutes since the trade, and, obviously, Kyle Lowry has been playing out of his mind. A promising sign for the continued success of the Rockets' offense is the fact that none of the shot location data shows any fluky percentage increases in the past 12 games. Shots at the rim have increased from 24.5 per game to 25.75, but the percentage made has actually dropped from 63.4% to 60.1%, and the Rockets' percentage on long 2s (the fluke-iest shot location stat) has gone down from 39.3% to 37.3% and they are attempting .75 less per game. The offensive improvement seems sustainable, which makes since when you realize we replaced a player shooting 28% from three in the rotation.

Even this Aaron Brooks could shoot better than 28% from downtown

The most impressive component of the Rocket's resurgence has been the improvement shown on the defensive end of the floor. Most people assumed that the defense would implode after the trades because we lost Saint Battier and his incomparable defense. Its now obvious that 1. Shane's defense wasn't all it was cracked up to be anymore and 2. Aaron Brooks might be the worst defensive player in the history of the league.

Worse than Nash?

The Rockets are now more athletic and energetic on the defensive end, thanks to the play of Courtney Lee and Patrick Patterson, and the results are amazing. During the past 12 games the Rockets have posted a Defensive efficiency of 101.15 points allowed per 100 possessions. This mark would put them 7th in the entire league (ahead of the Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, and Blazers) and is nearly 6 full points better than the rest of the season. Its now clear that Battier had lost much of the lateral quickness that had enabled him to be one of the best defenders in the league, and Chase Budinger and Lee have used their increased minutes to play better defense than Shane did this season. Budinger's improvement is promising because most people (myself included) feared that he had nearly maxed out his potential and needed to be traded. Brooks' defensive shortcomings were well documented, so it isn't as surprising that a 6'4'' point guard who once embarrassed Sasha Vujacic in front of the entire world would be a good addition to our rotation.

Machine is Kobe besty friend

I believe that the new look Rockets will not only pass Memphis and make the playoffs, but could prove to be a tough out for the Spurs in the first round with a chance to shock the world and pull off the 1-8 upset. The collective winning percentage of the rockets past 12 opponents was .499 and they played 9 games against teams in the playoff race. Their average scoring margin during this stretch is +7.83 (the Bulls lead the NBA at +7.4 for the season). This is a team that is getting hot at the right time and has a chance to do something special, as long as Memphis loses a game or two in the next couple of weeks.

Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Hornets Recap

2009-12-30T00:29:00.002-06:00

For a moment tonight, I was slightly confused. I was at the Toyota Center when suddenly the Rockets roster (sans Vince Carter's favorite dunking cousin) trotted out of the tunnel and began to warm up.

What dumbfounded me was the way the players acted as though the had an upcoming game, almost as if they weren't all present to partake in the scheduled group interview about Mcgrady.

Then, I saw the New Orleans Hornets come out of the visitors tunnel, only to began taking jumpers and stretching out.

"Strange," I thought to myself. "I didn't know Tracy had any connection with New Orleans. But I guess if they want to join our sermon on Mcgrady, they're welcome."

I'm really running out of ways to go with this little story, so I'll just stop this convoluted mess and move on to the point I'm trying to get across. In the midst of this seemingly all-encompassing drama that is Tracy Mcgrady's recent tenure as a Rocket, we still had a game to play.

So, for lack of a more eloquent way of phrasing the forthcoming statement, I'm glad that, at least for two hours, we were able to shut the hell up about T-Mac and watch an actual basketball game.

Without boring you with any more misguided attempts at an introductory paragraph or any semblance of proper prose or literary structure, I'd let to get to recapping our 108-100 victory over our fellow Southwest Division members, the New Orleans Hornets.

The Good

-I didn't really know where to throw this in, so I'm just going to mention it right here. Anytime your opponent has Darius "How the Hell Is He Actually Still In The League?" Songaila as a rotation player, you're in pretty good shape. In a related note, Songaila is making about 1.5 times as much money as Carl Landry. So yeah, umm, no regrets there.

-Aaron Brooks was magnificent tonight, netting 27 points on just 12 shots. Brooks had an effective field goal percentage of 87.5 while only turning the ball over once. In other words, he watched Trevor Ariza play and decided to do the exact opposite.

-Shane Battier had his out-of-nowhere offensive explosion, going 5 for 8 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points. It's the second time Battier has topped 20 all season, and on a night when Carl Landry wasn't his usual ultra-efficient self, we need every point we could get.

-The Rockets also played excellent defense on Chris Paul. We "held" him to just 16 points on 47 percent shooting, and although the ever-magnificent Paul still managed a triple-double, it never felt like he was truly dominating the game. When you're going against a once-in-a-generation point guard like Paul, that in itself is a win.

The Bad

-Trevor Ariza was Trevor Ariza once again, going 5 of 15 from the field, 2 for 8 from three and missing one of his two late free throws. Nothing new here, just continued disbelief that the man is playing 37 minutes a night. Ariza's become a paragon for offensive futility. If I see him slowly fake left and then drive right one more time in the next 24 hours, I might just throw an elbow at the head of the first guy near me. Wait, no, that's not right. To be fair, though, this dunk did seal the game for the Rockets.

-David West scored a sneaky 44 points on us. I'm not sure about this, and I'm certainly too lazy to do the research, but I think that's a career high for him. This isn't as bad as it seems, since we got 31 from our power forward rotation and, although he was scoring in droves, it never really seemed like West was controlling the game. We were also able to limit him to just eight in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure if this is merely correlation or actual causation, but the Hornets also scored just 18 in the final period.

-The Rockets offense struggled in the third quarter and the Hornets outscored us by 18 in those twelve minutes, the only period they won. It didn't hurt us today, but 13 point quarters won't get it done against the better teams in the league. And, although at this point saying this has to be like continually flogging a dead and substantially decayed horse, we still need to find a guy who can kick-start the offense when we struggle like we did in the third.

The Ugly

-This is a sorry-ass excuse for a cop-out, but for the ugly tonight I'm going with the weather. How the hell this relates to basketball, I don't know, but it was shitty outside today after the game and somebody needs to hear about it. I'm just sorry it had to be you.

I have just a few more random observations/comments I'd like to point out, so bear with me for a few more paragraphs.

For starters, Landry's numbers weren't as stellar as they usually are tonight. I'd like to point out that it really was no fault of his own, had a few rolls and spins gone the right way he would have easily been 12-16.

Trevor Ariza constantly shows flashes, only they're surrounded by much longer periods of sheer darkness. He had two fantastic drives which he finished with dunks, only every other time he got the ball in the lane he tried to finesse his way into finger-rolls and layups. It truly boggles me how he can find a method of scoring that works for him and then blatantly ignore it the next ten times he shoots the ball.

I know it seems like I constantly criticize him, but, at the risk of sounding like a self-important prick, he keeps doing things that warrant criticizing. He turns the ball over on lazy passes twice a game, refuses to change his shot selection and is starting to sulk on the end of the bench by himself more often, an intriguing if not slightly worrying observation.

David West, as good as he is, can't really influence a game. Even though he put up 44 points it never really seemed like it, except for a brief amount of time in the third quarter in which he appeared to score four or five times in a row.

Down the stretch he failed to find the bottom of the net during key possessions and resorted to turnaround jumpers or fade-aways to score points, never really seeming like he had a reliable go to move or method of creating shots for himself. And if you're wondering why I didn't use "score" instead of "find the bottom of the net," it's because I used score in the previous sentence, and, much like Peja Stojakavic's inherent fear of the space inside the three point line, repetition scares the hell out of me.

If you were wondering why Devin Brown was playing for the Hornets tonight (not because he really brings little/nothing to the table anymore, that's irrelevant for now), it's because he wasn't actually traded to the Timberwolves. So yeah, all you Devin Brown fans, don't worry...screw it, I'm not going to pretend like people care about Devin Brown.

And, to follow up my denouement with a proper conclusion (yeah, that's right, all that stuff earlier about not being able to organize writing was a clever ruse, so there), your Houston Rockets once again came away with a win against a team people expected to be better than us before the season started.

It was a solid win for the heroes of Red Nation, a game that exemplified our grit and perseverance, as it saw the Rockets allow a ten point lead to turn into an eight point deficit in a single quarter, only to regain control of the game and come away with the victory.

We've got 19 wins against 13 losses now, and Dirk and the Mavericks come to town on Thursday. Until then, rest easy, Houston, the Rockets may just yet be able to overcome the crippling loss of Tracy Mcgrady. And that, my friends, was sarcasm.

Insincere statements meant to cause a comedic effect and potentially incite laughter aside, as always, go Rockets.

Tonight's Stats

Houston Rockets: 117.4 points scored per 100 possessions, 108.7 points allowed per 100 possessions, 92 possessions.

New Orleans Hornets: 108.7 point scored per 100 possessions, 117.4 points allowed per 100 possessions, 92 possessions

All statistics courtesy of hoopdata.com

Mcgrady, Rockets Agree to Part Ways

2009-12-28T20:48:00.004-06:00

So it's finally happened. As of earlier today, the Houston Rockets and disgruntled ex-star Tracy Mcgrady have decided that they will no longer attempt to keep up their recent facade of cooperation, with Mcgrady taking an indefinite leave from the team while we look to trade him. I can't really say this was unexpected, as we've been not-so-discreetly shopping T-Mac since last season and his banishment this weekend only made a trade all the more imminent.

I can say that I'm slightly disappointed both in Rockets' management (I know, blasphemy) and in Rick Adelman. First off, I'd like to qualify any forthcoming statements by saying that I think Adelman and Morey should win Coach and Executive of the Year, respectively. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I think we thoroughly mishandled this situation.

I was one of the (vocal) minority who believed that Mcgrady could return to being a productive player and possibly fill in our much-needed "closer" role. Mcgrady became even more potentially useful when Budinger went down with and ankle injuries and with Ariza's continuing futility on the offensive end, but more on that later.

What I loved, and still love, about Morey is how he manages to direct the team without ever actually interfering with it. He provides a roster with his handpicked gems and stays out of the way for the rest, allowing his players to prove time and again what a genius he is when it comes to finding talent.

Yet, in this situation, it was Morey who decided that Mcgrady would not play over the weekend. I'm sure this was exactly what Adelman wanted, so I can't really blame Morey, but I hope that this doesn't set a precedent of him taking too active of a role in actual game-decisions instead of sticking to personnel matters.

Although I run the risk of going overboard, I'm worried that Morey might follow the path set by Portland General Manager Kevin Pritchard. For the past few years Pritchard was lauded as brilliant, making flurries of draft day moves and putting together an extremely promising and young Trailblazers team.

Yet, this past offseason, with his past success and building external pressure slowly getting to him, Pritchard decided to sign Andre Miller, seemingly only to make a proverbial splash in the free agent market. Three months later, Miller still isn't meshing with Brandon Roy and there are already trade rumors swirling around him.

But at the same time, it's nearly impossible to doubt Morey after considering how unbelievable he's been since taking over the Rockets.

He's made moves that I was openly against before and made me look like a dumbass with their results (see Alston, Rafer), so I can't really bring myself to doubt him, seeing as the man, to fill my quota of at least one cliched, overused sports phrase, has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know.

Plus, I think Morey is infinitely smarter than Pritchard and won't allow this to happen to him, I'd just like to point out that perfection for a General Manager is hardly permanent.

So, in spite of my disagreement with Morey on this particular issue, I still feel that if I had to trust one decision that I didn't like it would be one made by Daryl Morey, and I'm confident that he knows what he's doing.

My real issue lies with Rick Adelman. Adelman has been phenomenal this season and, like I said earlier, is my favorite for Coach of the Year, but I really don't think he handled the Mcgrady situation objectively.

I feel that part of Morey's seven-minute limit on Mcgrady's playing time partially had to do with how Mcgrady jerked himself in and out of the season last year and his subsequent announcing of his intention to undergo a micro-fracture surgery without consulting with the team first.

Although I'd hate to sound too lambasting-y, I think Adelman was too quick to discount Mcgrady when he could have provided the Rockets with exactly what we needed, a wing who can score and distribute while creating shots for himself and others at the end of games.

Plus, Mcgrady could have at least provided some respite for Ariza, who's struggles have gotten progressively worse as the season, well, progresses. He's been an offensive liability like no other, stopping ball movement, struggling to create off the dribble, turning the ball over and putting up bad shot after bad shot.

Plus, he seems to be regressing on defense, either as a result of sheer exhaustion or overconfidence, as he's been gambling for steals rather than playing solid, gritty, Battier-defense more and more as of late. But I don't want to turn this post into a flaming of Ariza, since, you know, what the hell else am I going to write about now that this Mcgrady saga is over?

Poor jokes aside, the point is that this article isn't about Ariza's struggles, so with the permission of you, my loyal and most-likely slightly bored reader, I'd like to move on.

What I'm circuitously getting at is despite whatever minor issues I might have with our nearly-flawless management, the fact remains that we're currently 18-13 with no help from Mcgrady and clearly didn't (don't) need him.

The question that begs to be answered now is what to do with what will now be referred to has Tracy Mcgrady's Expiring Contract, or, if you're a fan of less technical phrases, The Way We're Going to Trick Some Poor-As-Hell Team Into Giving Us A Star.

In spite of all of his flaws (and they are plentiful in number, I don't think there's much argument on that point), Mcgrady did one thing right: his contract expires at the perfect time. In a downtrodden economy, with teams struggling to break even while anxiously hiding their metaphorical boners for the clusterfuck that is the 2010 free agency period, the time is ripe for Daryl Morey to make a fool out of someone.

Bill Simmons has a few ideas of his own, my favorite being the deal for Chris Paul. They all follow a similar format, which is basically us giving up Tracy Mcgrady (and possibly Scola and/or Brooks depending on the caliber of the player we're getting back, the Paul deal has us giving them both) while taking back a slew of terrible contracts and one potential star/superstar/superduperstar.

So, in a roundabout and unnecessarily painful way, Mcgrady might actually end up giving us that legitimate go-to guy this year, except not by actually playing but from a series of events that started with his micro-fracture surgery in the off-season and culminating in his exile from the team for what can only be properly described as "incessant bitching."

So, thanks for the memories T-Mac, there definitely were some good ones. Namely, this one. And this one. Shit, I meant this one. And, if all goes right, thanks even more for what you're about to net us sometime between now and the February trade deadline. And, as always, go Rockets.

Mcgrady Unhappy With Role

2009-12-24T13:19:00.004-06:00

For just a few games, Mcgrady was actually beginning to look like he bought into what the Rockets were selling. He was saying and doing all the right things, playing hard and sticking with the company line on his playing time. Now, six games later, he gives us this. Unhappy with his "cameo" roles, Mcgrady now wants an increase in his playing time.

I'm not sure how to react to this, because I for one fully agree that it's time to start increasing his minutes. It's been six games of his seven minute runs in the first quarter, and we might as well slowly starting dialing up his playing time to see if he's really ready for some burn.

At the same time I can't believe he actually came out and complained about his minutes publicly. He keeps talking about how we have a young team and an abrupt return would ruin our chemistry, but apparently he's gained some new perspective over the course of this last week.

According to Mcgrady, he feels "fine" and it's "time to start increasing [his] minutes." I'm not sure how Adelman or the Rockets are going to handle the Artist Formerly Known as T-Mac's request, but it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I Win

2009-12-23T01:01:00.003-06:00

Some of you might recall me stating earlier today that my opinion is "utterly worthless." I'd just like to let you know that I was, in fact, grossly incorrect. Shortly after I stated my unhappiness at the Rockets' signing of Von Wafer, we learned that Von failed his physical and that we now instead called up Mike Harris from the D-League. So yeah, I win. Take your Von-hawk elsewhere, Vakeaton, you're not a Rocket.

Sorry Von

2009-12-22T23:49:00.003-06:00

But at the end of the day, I'd take this guy over you ten times out of ten.

Oh, how I missed hearing "T-Mac to the rack."

Recently there's been some speculation that due to certain financial agreements I may in fact be rooting against the Rockets. I'd like to quell these rumors by stating that no, the reason I'm unhappy about signing Von Wafer is that we already have two backup shooting guards who are more than capable of handling the load themselves, three if you count Jermaine Taylor. He also bolted for Greece after being stupid enough to get tossed out of a playoff game against the Lakers. That, not a hidden agenda, is why I'm unhappy about resigning Von.

The Return of Vakeaton Quamar Wafer

2009-12-22T23:14:00.002-06:00

Don't let the nay sayers tell you otherwise (red as it gets, cough, cough) but Von Wafer's triumphant return to Houston is good for the Rockets. Let me tell you a little secret about my co-blogger, he bet me $100 dollars that the Rockets would win less than 41 games this year. You might think to yourself, "Ok, lots of people doubted the Rockets before the season and this bet was perfectly acceptable;" however, he made this bet a little over a week ago! When the Rockets had already gotten off to a torrid start. Although he would say otherwise, he is secretly rooting against these Rockets. The real reason he is pissed about the Wafer signing is the fact that it clearly improves the Rockets.

Von Wafer is the athletic 2 guard the Rockets have been lacking. We hoped Jermaine Taylor could fill that role, but so far he hasn't worked out (although he did play well tonight). T-Mac is no longer the super athlete he once was, and Battier, Ariza, Budinger, and he are all small forwards at heart. Lowry has been gutsy filling in at shooting guard for stretches this season, but he provides nowhere near the possibilities of Wafer. The real casualty in this signing isn't Tracy (as others would have you believe), but Budinger. Chase has been a pleasant surprise to everyone but the biggest Arizona fans, but he is only the 4th best small forward on the roster. He has some skills, but he is not integral to the Rockets success. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy to death, but Wafer gives us a better chance to win. I would be skeptical, but Daryl Morrey has never made a mistake in his entire life so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Also, who doesn't want a good Von-hawk?

Von's Back, Tell A Friend

2009-12-22T19:39:00.005-06:00

Tonight is a night of returns for your Houston Rockets. Not only is (The Great) Steve Novak back in town, we just learned today that the Rockets will resign Von Wafer. So yeah, that's cool. Not like he yelled at our head coach and was sent to the locker room during the playoffs or anything. Oh wait. It's okay, at least we get to add another raw talent with oodles (yeah, I used oodles) of potential but a penchant for careless mistakes, since, you know, Brooks and Ariza weren't enough. Never mind, even comparing him to Brooks and Ariza is an insult to our two leading scorers. Wafer's stupidity on the basketball floor is untouchable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Von, but I really don't like adding a headcase to a team that's worked so well mainly because we haven't had a headcase. He's a phenomenal player and if he ever straightens out the league better be careful, but right now I really don't think we need him.

Plus, this move effectively marginalizes Tracy Mcgrady, meaning that we're most likely leaning towards trading him. Jermaine O'neal, here we come. I had hoped that we'd give T-Mac a shot in the time Budinger was out, but clearly it looks like we have other plans.

Now don't get me wrong, this move could turn out to be an ingenious one, and it wouldn't surprise me if Morey's plan to resign Wafer all along was let him leave to Greece, struggle with his new team and return here for cheaper than ever before, but, as dumb as it sounds to say this about a player who really only made a difference for a few months, I'd gotten over Von. I was excited to see what he would do this year with Mcgrady out for extended time, but after he decided that he'd rather go overseas I'd figured that we were done with him.

In any case, my opinion is, at the end of the day, utterly worthless. I can bitch and moan all I want about the signing, but Wafer is still going to be suiting up for us and getting burn while Mcgrady sits on the bench and watches. So yeah, yay for Von Wafer. I knew he'd be back all along. He's got so much talent, I can't wait to see how he does when he's finally given the opportunity. It's not that he has attitude issues, it's just that he hasn't received proper direction. No, no, he doesn't make stupid mistakes, he's just over-eager. And look, he's so happy he's "about to start crying."

Fuck it. I'm unhappy we signed him and that's that. Hopefully he'll at least have the courtesy to bring the Von-hawk back. Game's going on right now against the Clippers, here's Billy's preview.

The Return of Novak

2009-12-22T10:48:00.002-06:00

Tonight, the Rockets take on the Los Angeles Clippers. This is yet another opportunity for us to measure our team this year. How will we respond after a couple of big wins? How will we handle our 5th game in 8 days? Can we keep from looking ahead to the Orlando game tomorrow? The Clippers are a mediocre team. They are no longer the laughing stock of the West and have a pretty talented roster including Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, and Chris Kaman. Personally, I have a special place in my heart for B-Diddy because of his performance in the 2007 playoffs for the Warriors. If you remember, he led Golden State to a huge upset over the hated, #1 seeded Mavericks. And he had this sick dunk on Kirlenko in the next round.

However, the most intriguing story line in tonight's game is the triumphant return of Steve Novak to the Toyota Center. I was at the game last year vs. the Clips and was treated to a show by Novak and Von Wafer. In the 4th quarter (we were up 20 or so points), Novak and Wafer decided to play an impromptu game of horse. Novak followed each of Von's swishes with perfect shots of his own. We were mesmerized by the performance and waved our Welcome Back Novak signs with pride. I can't make it to tonight's game, but I will be watching Novak closely on TV. He's averaging a respectable 1.5 points per game and is a frequent topic of discussion for ESPN's Bill Simmons.

Tonight is also our best chance to watch the single worst coach in the NBA, Mike Dunleavy. Instead of wasting my time writing about this idiot, just go read anything Simmons has written about him.

And now I leave you with our memories of the Great Steve Novak

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Recap

2009-12-19T23:39:00.002-06:00

"Lord knows you try and I'm glad to have you on our team, but please, for everyone's sake, could you just tone it down a little? Ariza's effective field goal percentage this season is a little under 45 percent. For perspective reasons, that's right above Larry Hughes." - Me calling out Trevor Ariza on his shooting struggles

So, uh, this is awkward. In the two games after I criticized Ariza's shot selection he's gone 16 of 30, good for about 53 percent, capped off by his 31 point explosion tonight on just 20 shots. The way I see it, there are only two rational explanations for this phenomena. One, Ariza reads my articles and values my opinion so greatly that he altered his game according to what I suggested to him. The other is that he found the ball in Space Jam that the Mon-stars used to steal the abilities of NBA players and took Kevin Durant's shooting stroke. Personally, I think it's the latter. His two best games this season have come against the Cavaliers and the Thunder. Who plays on the Cavs and Thunder? None other than two of the best scorers in the NBA, Lebron James and the aforementioned Durant. I think we're onto something here. Sorry for outing you, Trevor.

But in all seriousness, Ariza has been sensational as of late, especially tonight. He took over for the Rockets in the first half when nobody else could by a bucket, scoring 23 points in the 23 minutes that he played. He picked his spots, had a couple of impressive moves and finishes in the lane and was quick with his release on his threes, leading to a 5-8 night from beyond the arc. My only complaint is his 4-10 shooting from the free throw line, coming on the heels of a 3-5 night against the Mavericks. I understand that players have cold streaks from the line, but when the game is hanging in the balance, missing five straight free throws in unacceptable. All in all though, a spectacular effort from Ariza that made the difference between a narrow win and an ugly loss.

A few more random notes on the game before we get to the actual recapping. Firstly, I was in attendance tonight. I broke out the six-year old, throwback Steve Francis jersey and my "Luis Scola the Argentine Machine" sign to trek up to the nosebleeds. I also caught a shirt. Not really sure what the point of mentioning that was, I just thought somebody should know. But yeah, overall it was a very fun game, the Toyota Center crowd was a little underwhelming in size but definitely made up for it in noise when it mattered late in the game.

Secondly, what is wrong with the Thunder's offense? They look extremely stagnant on the offensive side of the ball and their sets are essentially just isolations for Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green or James Harden. Once in a while they bring Durant off screens for jumpers or let him go one-on-one, but it really seems like there's no flow, rhyme or reason to what they're trying to do. I realize this is just one game, but there's no way a team this talented should be 21st in the league in offensive efficiency. Scott Brooks has done a tremendous job with this outfit and turned them into one of the best defensive teams in the league, but please, let's see a little creativity on offensive, shall we? I'm sure the offense will improve as the team grows together and becomes more consistent, but I'd just like to see a little more movement on offense, if that's not too much to ask.

In any case, here's what I liked and disliked about tonight's game in no particular order.

The Good

-Like I mentioned before, Trevor Ariza was amazing tonight. He didn't force anything, worked hard in the post for position and went strong to the basket, hit open threes and also contributed 8 boards and 6 assists to go with his usual 2 steals and block.

-The Chuckwagon was at his best tonight, pouring in 14 points to go with his 15 rebounds. He also had a few nifty moves in the lane, including a jump hook and a no-look layup that he flipped behind his head a la Steve Nash. Yeah, I just compared Chuck Hayes' offensive game to Steve Nash. I'm sorry, Stevie, you know I love you. More than you could ever imagine, in fact. But Chuck Hayes' layup was truly a thing of beauty.

-James Harden. I know usually Rockets players are supposed to go here, but Harden was the one Thunder player who genuinely entertained me tonight. He threw down a monstrous slam on three Rocket defenders and skied for a huge rejection on the next play. The kid's got a bright, bright future ahead of him.

-Our defense on Kevin Durant was also wonderful to watch tonight. Battier was once again Battier, fighting all night, shading Durant and making life difficult in general for the budding superstar. We held Durant to 13 points on 18 shots, not an easy feat for any team.

The Bad

-Aaron Brooks was a no-show tonight, going 2 of 15 from the field en route to 5 points and 4 assists. Yeah, he's young, and yeah, he's a bit of a streaky player. I know, I know, Russell Westbrook is an excellent defender and did a hell of a job guarding Brooks, but for a team with as little room for error as us, we need Brooks to either be scoring or dishing well to win most games.

-The injury bug seems to have stricken (or is it struck?) us again. A day after Landry bit the dust (yeah, you see what I did there), Budinger went down with an apparent ankle/foot injury in the first half. If either player misses significant time that's a big blow to our bench, which has been one of our greatest strengths all season.

-The free throw shooting was also depressing, as we went 11-21 from the line. I don't see anything worrying here, it's just something to note. In a game as close as this one, every point counts, and missing free ones and the line can be disastrous. Brooks missed a key free throw late in the game and Ariza went absolutely cold from the line for a stretch in the fourth, but I'm confident this was more of an anomaly than anything else.

-We couldn't close out the Thunder in the third, which frightens me just a little. We had our collective foot on their throats late in the third quarter and were up 17, only to let them cut the defecit to single digits by the end of the period and get within one in the fourth. This didn't really come back to hurt us tonight, but against better offensive teams? You bet it will. We either need to tighten up on the defensive end or find and effective way to score when everyone goes cold, a recurring problem this season.

The Ugly

-I never, ever thought I would say this, but the ugly tonight was Kevin Durant. Not only did he miss 12 of his 18 shot attempts, he looked sluggish on offense and spent most of the game standing in the corner waiting for the ball. I don't know if this is a product of the offensive system or just an off night (I'm thinking it's the latter), but he has to understand that he can't just disappear or his team simply won't be able to win games. Also, there might be some fans out there who wanted him to somehow score 50 in a valiant but losing effort so they could see a Rockets win and a great performance from him, and he let me down. I mean them. He let them down.

Overall it was a great effort from the Rockets today and a win that could come in handy later in the season if we find ourselves battling with the Thunder for a playoff spot. Also, I didn't get to mention Jeff Green anywhere above, so I'd just to note that he scored 21 on 16 shots on an array of drives, post up moves and jumpers, looking very comfortable the whole time. A good night for Green, it's too bad he had little help. We're now 16-11 and staying at home for the next few days before meeting the Clippers on Tuesday, a potential trap game as we're playing the Magic the very next night. But as for now, sleep well tonight, Houston, your team's a winner. And, as always, go Rockets.

Houston Rockets @ Dallas Mavericks Game Preview

2009-12-18T17:47:00.002-06:00

So, here we are again. Round III of Rockets-Mavs, also known by many as Jason Terry's Third Favorite Day of the Year. In case you were wondering, the first two were the first two times the Mavericks play us. No, not Christmas. Not Thanksgiving. Not Halloween. I know, I know, Jason Terry must be some sort of horrible, sinister man. And guess what? His fourth favorite day of the year? It's the fourth time he plays the Rockets. Yeah, that's right. Out of the Big Three of winter holidays, only one of them makes Terry's list of favorite days of the year. And if you're thoroughly confused by my feeble attempts at a segue/introduction to an article, I'll stop by saying that the joke is that Terry lights up the Rockets. And I mean really, really, lights up the Rockets. I could probably make a joke here about him lighting us up so badly we look like firecrackers, or something of that ilk, but I'll save you the anger and myself the embarrassment by moving on.

The first two games of this series have been blowouts, with the Mavericks beating the Rockets by a combined 49 points. In two games. That's a lot of points. For all you fans of advanced stats, and pardon me if I'm wrong, I'm not exactly a mathematician, that's an average of 24.5 points a game. So what can everyone's favorite overachievers do to stop the bleeding? I'm glad you asked, me from ten seconds ago. In fact, I'm so glad, I think I'll tell you.

We should start by putting Chuck Hayes/Carl Landry on Dirk Nowitzki. I know, I know, the idea that this guy is one of the most feared players in the league maddens me, but the sad truth is that the best way to stop the Mavericks is to slow down Dirk. The way the rosters line up, Scola would be the one guarding Dirk. As great of a defender as Scola is, I like the idea of putting the smaller, quicker Hayes and the more athletic Landry on Dirk. We saw in 2007 that smaller, more athletic players give Dirk troubles, and while the idea of banking on a strategy two years old when so many players have changed, grown or regressed is ludicrous, it's not like people have found any other way to defend Dirk successfully. Plus, what we've been doing against the Mavericks clearly hasn't been working, so there's no harm in switching things up a little, no?

Well, yes, there kind of is. Switching how we guard Dirk is going to be rendered useless if we can't stop Jason Terry. In two games against us, Terry's scored 51 points and missed two shots. He has an effective field goal percentage of 108.3 against us. I don't know if that's so depressing that it's funny yet, but it's still pretty damn depressing. Yes, I know, talented players get hot and there's little you can do to stop them when they do. And yes, Jason Terry is one of the deadliest players in the league when he's stroking the ball, but really? Put a damn hand in his face. Push him around a little. I don't care if Trevor Ariza doesn't take a damn shot (that might actually be a positive on both ends of the floor, but I'll get to that in a minute) he needs to be all over Terry. Yeah, Terry might still get his 25, but I'd rather have it be a hard earned 25 than 25 off of open midrange jumpers and threes.

Remember when I mentioned Ariza up there? Well depending on your reading profiency it may or may not have been a minute, but I'm addressing Ariza now anyways. Before I say anything, Trevor, I want you to know that I love you. I really do. Lord knows you try and I'm glad to have you on our team, but please, for everyone's sake, could you just tone it down a little? Ariza's effective field goal percentage this season is a little under 45 percent. For perspective reasons, that's right above Larry Hughes. Yes, this Larry Hughes. Ariza's futility is only made even more egregious when you realize that he takes nearly 7 threes a game.

"So wait," I bet you're asking me right now. "Ariza's shooting percentage when calculated using a metric that is supposed to favor three point shooters still says he can't shoot?" "Yes," I bet I would answer, "that's exactly right." What does this tell us about Ariza? He needs to take the damn ball to the basket more often. He's starting to look more comfortable driving than he was earlier in the year and he's also began to finish with authority rather than trying to finesse the ball into the hoop like he was at the season's beginning. I'm fine with him taking wide open, spot up threes, but that means three a game at most, no more of these 1-8 nights from range like he put up against Denver two days ago. Ariza has all the tools to be a sensational player, he just needs to use the talents he has and play his game. Please, Trevor, no more channeling your inner Rafer Alston. Drive hard to the basket, finish strong, take your open shots, play tough defense and start turning into the guy we all hoped you'd become.

So where are our points going to come from? Enter, Aaron Brooks. Brooks has been lethal recently, averaging 21 points a game in December while getting into the lane almost at will. Brooks is quietly turning into the player everyone hoped he'd be at the beginning of the season, penetrating into the lane to create shots for himself and others, stopping on a dime for his Calvin Murphy-esque pull-up jumper and dishing the ball better than I'd dare hoped for him to before the season began. He'll need to be extra-dominant tonight, as Jason Kidd will be guarding him and, if you hadn't really heard, Jason Kidd can't stay in front of anyone anymore.

And while the Mavericks have the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in Jason Terry, we have a sub of our own who's not too shabby himself. Carl Landry has been phenomenal this season, and we'll need him to be at his best tonight against the Mavericks. We've struggled to score agains the Mavericks this season, averaging a little over 101 points per 100 possessions against them, which would put us at 9th worst in the league. Landry's going to need to shoulder some of the scoring burden, which hasn't been a problem for him thus far.

Next, threes are the key to our success. In two games against the Mavericks this season we've shot a combined 11 for 43 from beyond the arc, good for about 26 percent. When you take the third most threes in the NBA like we do, you need to hit them to beat good teams like the Mavericks. Like they say, if you live by the three then you'll die by the three, and against the Mavericks the three has been, well, it's been murdering the shit out of us.

And it's not just our threes. The Mavericks have been knocking them down from deep against us, going 16 of 27 from behind the arc in the two games we've played, good for 55 percent. If we can defend the three a little better while hitting them at our usual clip, we should be in a much better position to win tonight than we have been the past two times we've matched up against the Mavericks.

Finally, I think we've just been a little unlucky against the Mavericks this season. Jason Terry is great, but not going 17 of 19 great. We're a good three point shooting team, so we're surely not going to shoot 25 percent from long range for a third game against the same team. Also, it's not like the Mavericks have really killed us in any one aspect in both games, it's been more of them hitting shots at an unsustainable clip and our players missing. If that happens for a third time, then so be it. Sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles. You're going to have nights when you can't seem to hit the side of a barn (Which, when you think about it, is sort of irrelevant. We're playing basketball, not some twisted rural game that involves throwing balls at a barn.) and you're opponent can't seem to miss. That's just basketball. Hopefully, it doesn't happen to us for a third straight game. I honestly can't stand the sight of seeing Jason Terry pretending to fly around like a plane against us one more time. We get it, Jason, your nickname is JET. It's very original, you're a funny guy. Now please stop it.

Expect a hard fought, well-contested matchup tonight folks. I understand, you're probably going to be tempted to go out and you know, have a life tonight, but stay in, for his sake. Oh god I uploaded the wrong picture. That's more like it. And, as always, go Rockets.

Houston Rockets: 14-11, 96.5 possessions per game (9th), 104.2 points scored per 100 possessions (16th), 103.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (15th)

Dallas Mavericks: 19-7, 93.9 possessions per game (23rd), 106.2 points scored per 100 possessions (11th), 99.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (4th)

All stats courtesy of hoopdata.com

Hold On, Kenny Thomas Is In Town: Rockets Beat Kings 113-106

2009-11-22T01:38:00.005-06:00

Three months ago, if someone had told you, and by you I mean me, that watching the Rockets sans Yao and Mcgrady play the Kevin Martin-less Sacramento Kings in late November would be a highly competitive, tightly contested, back and forth affair, you (I) would have chucked a crumpled up Rockets 2009-10 Season Preview at them and kept wallowing in self-pity, dreading a season in which the Rockets would be without their three leading scorers from last year.

Yet, here we are. Those season previews are still crumpled up but we're too happy to throw them at anyone, Mcgrady and Yao and still out and the Rockets are still as exciting to watch as ever. And oh, yeah, those Kings are 4-3 without Martin and actually bearable to watch.

The Rockets, in a manner nearly the exact opposite of what one would expect from a team playing its fifth game in seven nights just 25 hours after losing on a buzzer-beating tip-in, came out and played what I've come to know as "Daryl Morey Presents: Rockets Basketball". The ball movement was crisp, the cuts were sharp, the loose balls were chased and the points were scored. In bunches. Yet, those pesky Kings, despite the absence of Tyreke Evans due to ankle and finger injuries, hung tough and played tougher.

After a back and forth second quarter, the Kings came roaring back in the third thanks to what has been the Rockets' only Achilles Heel this season, their tendency to go through scoring droughts, thanks in no small part to Spencer Hawes and Beno Udrih. 24 and 18 points for each, respectively.

Then came along the fourth quarter, which was all about Kyle Lowry and Carl Landry, or, as Matt Bullard affectionately called them, the "L and L Railroad." And, as if it was even a question, I'm buying. Landry has become our best and most consistent all around scorer, and came through once again with a 13-point effort in the fourth. Lowry was the catalyst that sparked Landry's offensive explosion, running the offense so well that Adelman actually called Aaron Brooks back to the bench with two minutes left in the fourth as the former Oregon Duck was about to reenter the game. (On a side note, why has nobody started calling Aaron Brooks the Mighty Duck yet? This need to happen. Like now.)

Scola was my pick for MVP of the night with a typically Scola-ian effort, tallying 22 and 12 with at least four "Plays That Every NBA Player Can Make But Only A Few Do." My favorite came halfway through the first quarter when, after scoring on a layup, Scola abruptly deciding to stop running down the court and deflect the inbounds pass, nearly coming up with the steal. Yes, the ball harmlessly rolled out of bounds and the Kings still advanced up the court without any real difficulty, but I still loved the play. It was completely unnecessary and utterly useless in the grander scheme of things, but that's what made it so special, it was a microcosm of what the Rockets have been this season.

Scola, and the Rockets as a whole this year, keep doing the little things that nobody pays attention to, and, as stated in nearly every relationship-related conflict by the member of the couple that belongs to the fairer sex, it's the little things that matter.

Ariza continued to simultaneously frustrate and woo Rockets fans everywhere, taking his share of bad shots but more than canceling out his 7-19 shooting with 19 points, his usual active, disruptive defense and a gorgeous, athletic layup in the waning minutes that all but iced the game. Oh, and he didn't turn the ball over once. In 43 minutes. Coming from a guy who uses just one less possession per game than Steve Nash even though he's had about nine less years to get used to being a high-volume player. That's the definition of helping your team.

The Rockets as a whole were stingy with the ball, only coughing it up 8 times to the Kings' 14. That, coupled with a plus-three advantage on the offensive glass means the Rockets had nine more opportunities to score than their opponents. In a seven point game, nine extra possessions is just huge.The Kings shot better than the Rockets both from the field and beyond the arc, but the Rockets were just able to put up more shots, and on a night like this, quantity overcame quality. And of course, that 24-26 mark from the free throw line didn't hurt any.

The Rockets out-rebounded the Kings tonight by seven, and while that isn't a huge margin of victory it's still significant, especially when you consider the massacre that was the rebounding battle the last time these two teams met. Credit here goes first to Scola, who snagged 12 caroms while helping to keep Jason Thompson off the boards.

The Rockets bench was also a huge factor tonight, which shouldn't be a surprise when your bench has Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry, Chase Budinger and David Andersen. 42 points off the pine for the Rockets against 24 for the Kings, and while that stat is telling, it still doesn't convey how important the Rockets bench was, and has been all year, for this team. The Rockets' crunch time lineup included both Lowry and Landry, who, if you've been reading carefully, don't start. Yes, in the fourth quarter of a close game, two fifths of our lineup were guys who were sitting down at tip-off. Or doing this. But hopefully they were just sitting. In case you're wondering, one of those Kings bench points was scored by Kenny Thomas. Yes, ex-Rocket Kenny Thomas. Oh Kenny, how I've missed you.

And for those of you wondering exactly when the hell those Kings became so, for lack of a better phrase, annoying, ponder no further. Just know that if it wasn't for the Rockets and Morey, I would call the way the Rockets have been playing this year "Sacramento Kings Without Kevin Martin Basketball," if that makes any sense. Yet, unfortunately for the Kings, we exist, so it's still "Dary Morey Presents: Rockets Basketball" in my heart.

All in all, a stellar effort from both sides, and, to channel my inner rec-league soccer coach, it's a pity only one team could win. But I'm still glad it wasn't us. Keep those season previews out of the air, my friends, all's well in Houston. We're 8-6 and have three days off before Dirk and the Mavericks come to town. And, as always, go Rockets.

We're slightly surprised that there was no standing ovation for Kenny, who, in our opinion, was always one of the good ones

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

2009-11-20T09:51:00.005-06:00

It never fails. It really, truly, never fails. Tracy "You Better Still Call Me T-Mac" Mcgrady is at it again. This happens every time we show the slightest hint of optimism about him, every time a sliver of hope peaks through the shroud of darkness that is Tracy Mcgrady's tenure as a Rocket: he squashes it. To stay recent, after a phenomenal 2008 Playoffs he announced he needed shoulder and knee surgery, quelling any ideas that he was for once fully healthy. Last season he distracted and restricted the team, trying to play through an injury while making sure everybody knew that he was, in fact, injured by looking absolutely miserable on the floor, shooting like it was 2002 and then destroying any shot we had at trading him by announcing the day before the trade deadline that he would be getting microfracture surgery. Now, after weeks of stories about how motivated he is and how well he is progressing, apparently Mcgrady and Adelman had a heated exchange before Wednesday night's Timberwolves game about when he would return. Mcgrady was frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of communication between him and the organization, and continued his passive-aggressive assault on the Rockets by suiting up for the game and shooting around before actually approaching Adelman. The confrontation was icy at best and sources even said that shouting could be heard coming from the coach's office.

This is not a new story, rather just the resurgence of an old one. Mcgrady and the Rockets, and Adelman to be more specific, do not get along. What Mcgrady doesn't understand, though, is that the Rockets do not need him this season. The team is more than happy to continue the way it has been, fighting hard every night and winning enough to make it worthwhile. Yes, we probably need Mcgrady to truly contend for the title, but not if he's going to act like a prima donna. We need the Mcgrady that played for us from January to April of 2008, the selfless leader who led a defense, rebounded hard, distributed when he needed to and cold-bloodedly took over games when he had to. I know, I've romanticized what Mcgrady was during those three months, but compared to what he is now that's hardly an exaggeration. Mcgrady is still scheduled to undergo an MRI before the team clears him to return, and I'm guessing that the organization will choose a course of action based on the results of the scan. If Mcgrady is in fact fully healthy and ready to return, he and Adelman need to work out whatever the hell is bothering them if we're going to get anywhere this year. Otherwise, things like this will continue to happen.

Now, in spite of all this, I just want to establish that I'm still very, very excited for Mcgrady's return. This teams potential with an invested, motivated T-Mac is off the charts. If he understands how great he can be without shooting contested, step-back 20 footers every time he touches the ball we can truly be a special team. If he realizes how talented of a passer he is and how badly we need him to run the offense, we can be dominant. If he puts the Rockets as a whole before himself, and disproves his doubters with his teammates rather than in spite of them, we're a title contender. Damn, that's a lot of if's.

Sloth Is A Sin

2009-11-18T22:57:00.013-06:00

If you're one of our loyal fans who regularly checks and reads Bring Back Novak, I'd first off like to thank you for your support. All two of you. And I guess I can't really count myself, so thanks for reading my articles, Billy. It means a lot. In any case, you've probably realized that we haven't been doing much posting. But I promise you, that's a thing of the past. And if you're thinking that I made this exact same promise about three weeks ago and spectacularly failed to come through on it, you're exactly right. Broken promises and shoddy articles, that's the stuff we're made of here at Bring Back Novak. But in any case, a lot of stuff's been going on in Red Nation (an apology to all our Cherokee readers, that link was in jest) and it's our job to give you our two cents on them. And, I guess it's our job to also let you know that two cents is way, way too much to pay to hear what we have to say.

Houston Rockets 101, Los Angeles Lakers 91

A redemptive (I don't think that's a word) victory of sorts for the good guys. After a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Kobe's, we (read: Aaron Brooks and our bench) were able to steal a game in Los Angeles. I'll admit that I was only able to watch the first half and the last 8 minutes of the fourth quarter thanks to Peyton Manning's heroics and my inability to change the channel, but I really, really liked what I saw. Especially the part when the Lakers fans started to boo them. Quality fans, Los Angeles, quality fans. Ariza looked a little skittish playing against his old team, but then again it might just have been that the weight of that ring was throwing off his shot. Damnit, not that ring. This ring. Brooks played like a man possessed, dropping 33 on 23 shots, Andersen saw Pau Gasol hurt and realized that one soft European had to step up his game, Carl Landry was as efficient as ever and Kyle Lowry was, for lack of a better phrase, an absolute bulldog. The hands down best moment of the game was Lowry, by far the smallest guy on the floor at 6'0, grabbing two offensive rebounds on the same possession late in the fourth. You're not quite there yet, Andrew. Oh, and this happened. So yeah, thanks for that Ron. You're a real swell guy.

Houston Rockets 105, Phoenix Suns 111

Just as a disclaimer, I know I'm supposed to be mad at the Suns, but I really can't help but fawn over Steve Nash. So if you notice me starting to ramble feel free to gloss over a few sentences. This was a hard, hard fought loss and I can't really blame the Rockets for not being able to beat a very talented, more experienced Suns team, who, by the way, seems to also be overachieving just a little. I had high expectations going into this game for the Nash vs. Brooks matchup, and the guys did not disappoint. Brooks had a career high 13 assists and while Nash's shot wasn't falling, he still was able to get 16 of his own. Which, well, was not a career high for him. Not even close. Watching Steve Nash play basketball is one of the few, pure, unadulterated joys man has left. Looking at his stats, impressive as they are, does not do the man justice. He's so smooth, so in control, so poised, he executes the pick-and-roll like no other and that pull-up jumper is one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. And believe me, I've seen some pretty things. Yes, that was necessary. And then of course there's Goran Dragic, once commonly known as "The Other White Guy Who Kind of Looks Like Nash from a Distance but is Nowhere Near as Good," but now more frequently referred to as "The Guy Who Goes in to Make Sure People Realize How Good Nash is by Comparison." A career night for Carl Landry, who I'm convinced is our best, or at least most consistent, scorer. 27 points on 18 shots for The Toothless One. But to briefly sum up the game, we came out hot, as usual, and were looking like we would take a double digit lead into halftime before the Suns utilized a 12-0 run to cut our lead to three at the break. Amare sort of had his way inside (I say sort of because until he realizes that to truly control the paint he has to do so on the defensive end of the floor as well as the offensive one he'll never really dominate the inside) and Jason Richardson had a couple of hot streaks, and the second half, especially the fourth quarter, was made up of us struggling to create quality shots against a surprisingly resilient Suns defense. All in all, a tough loss against a tough team, nothing to get too down about.

Houston Rockets 97, Minnesota Timberwolves 84

So, uh, looks like Ricky Rubio might have made the right decision after all. There really is nothing like playing the Timberwolves to get you back on track. Except, maybe, playing the Nets. Or the Warriors. Or the Grizzlies. Or the Clippers. Oh, those Clippers. Those poor, poor Clippers. In any case, this is why I wasn't too broken up about losing to the Suns. We had the Timberwolves next. But in all seriousness, this was actually a great win for the Rockets. I don't think there's anything harder in the NBA than the end of a back-to-back that makes you leave home for the second game, as both the Suns and then Lakers have just shown us. Ariza once again struggled to prove that he can handle using 23 possessions a game, a usage rate that puts him just under Steve Nash. Ariza is a great player and is filled to the brim with talent, but that doesn't mean he needs to be a high volume player. He can dominate a game without having to hang on to the ball, and we need to more actively find ways for him to do that. Still, a solid outing for Trevor, nothing that really deserves those last few sentences. Scola was the standout with 20 and 16. Landry came back down to Earth pretty hard, with a 5-0-0 line that looks like something Derek Fisher would boast. The game was a lot closer than the final score might indicate, with the 'Wolves hanging around for 3 and a half quarters before we finally put them away. Al Jefferson was 20-10 on 9 shots and is starting to round back into last season's form, but was held down for the last eight minutes of the game after a Carl Landry kick to the head, which, not coincidentally, coincided with us pulling away and the Timberwolves struggling to score. I take back that Derek Fisher joke, Carl, you might have just won the game for us. A much needed break in a tough game against an opponent desperate, and I truly mean desperate, for a win. 2010 and the long, flowing, Spanish hair it will bring can't come soon enough for the T-Wolves.

Houston Rockets @ Atlanta Hawks, Thursday (6:30 Central)

We've got the Hawks in Atlanta on Thursday in what's sure to be a great game. Josh Smith is reborn and re-topping my list of favorite non-Rockets, trailing only Steve Nash for the number one spot. Joe Johnson is Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford has been a revelation and Mike Bibby is, well, he's really damn old and showing signs of decline. The key Thursday is containing Horford, who's truly been a man amongst boys so far this season. Like our own Carl Landry and Chuck Hayes, Horford is slightly undersized, even if it is to a lesser extent, and still manages to dominate the paint, even if it is to a greater extent. Our bench output will need to be as strong as ever to counteract the combustible Jamar Crawford, because if he gets hot we'll need Landry, Lowry and Budinger to all produce, which is hardly unlikely. Andersen can help too. Defense will be essential tomorrow, as the Hawks are third in offensive efficiency in the NBA with a phenomenal 110.1 points per 100 possessions. To put that in perspective, we only score about 105 per 100. Ariza, Hayes and company will also need to have hands as active as ever, as the Hawks are the second stingiest team with possession in the NBA as they turn the ball over just a shade under 21 percent of the time. If you're wondering whether there's a correlation between the Hawks' turnover rate and their offensive efficiency, there is, and if we can create turnovers and easy opportunities in transition it'll go a long way to helping us return home with the win. In any case, it's going to be a fun one at Philips Arena, and hopefully we can leave the A-Town after handing the Hawks their first home loss of this young season. And, as always, go Rockets.

He's Baaaaack

2009-11-09T19:26:00.005-06:00

Tracy Mcgrady has announced that he plans to play on November 18. As excited as I am to see a motivated, hopefully healthy T-Mac back on the floor, I can't help but wonder what it's going to do to our chemistry. Hopefully he'll play within the offense, pick his spots, focus on distributing and take over in crunch time, but that's all in a perfect world. There's just as real of a chance that he'll be selfish, disrupt ball movement and ruin the flow of the offense, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. This Rockets team has been spectacular so far and adding a versatile player like Mcgrady who could potentially play unselfish, involved basketball is just deadly. If he can find a way to still let Ariza, Scola and Brooks get their touches while maintaining control of the game, we're in pretty shape. I think that in an offense as up-tempo as ours there will always be points to go around, so I can easily see the aforementioned three still averaging their 15-17 a game with Mcgrady getting his 20. I think the key to everything meshing is running the offense through Mcgrady, as he's still our best passer. Ariza will still score on his open threes and jumpers off of drive-and-kicks, Brooks will still be able to attack the basket when he wants or work the pick and roll, Scola will get his post touches and easy baskets off Mcgrady's drives and Mcgrady will find a way to score, just as he has for his whole career. I fully understand how risky it is to add a partially past his prime superstar with an ego and a personal agenda, but I also have to stress how dangerous this Rockets team can be with Tracy Mcgrady. Adding T-Mac doubles the potential this group has, and that's in no way an exaggeration. He is good enough of a passer that he'll make up for the shots he takes by creating more open looks for guys, meaning that the well-balanced offense that's become the Rockets' trademark this year will not just disappear, and he'll also provide us with a go-to guy, something we've been sorely lacking.

So, here's hoping that the Mcgrady we get is the Mcgrady we grew to worship during the 22-game winning streak. The guy that made his teammates better, passed when he could and scored when he had to, dominated the game without overpowering his teammates and brought the most out of a team that many left for dead. And, just as a little reminder of who Mcgrady is, I'll leave you with a little video. Hopefully you'll find it slightly more than familiar.

On a side note, Mcgrady's November 18 return is not a concrete date. There's conflicting information coming from the Rockets, who say it's after November 23, and Mcgrady, who said the 18th. But we think the story is much more exciting if it's the 18th, so yeah, Mcgrady is back on the 18th!!!

Raise Your Hand If You Called 3-1...

2009-11-04T20:14:00.005-06:00

I'm going to go ahead and guess that nobody has their hands up. That includes me. I want to be entirely frank and say that I did not see us winning 3 of 4 games to start the season. I didn't think we would make the playoffs, I thought we would struggle to score and I sure as hell didn't have us sitting at first in the Southwest Division, regardless of how many games have been played. Granted, it's only been four. There's plenty of time remaining for all three of the aforementioned problems to arise, but that's currently irrelevant. What matters right now is that the Rockets are 3-1, which, to be honest, we should have expected if only because none of us expected it. Yeah, low expectations, lots of doubters, an undermanned team comes out and proves everyone wrong. If that story sounds familiar, it's because it's the same damn story we have every year with these guys. I'm going to be the first to say that I need to learn to stop doubting this team, hope for the best and just roll with the wheels. Of the wagon. Of the Chuck-wagon. You saw what I did there, I don't even need to explain it. Aaron Brooks is averaging his 20 a game, which was to be expected, but he's also doing it within the offense and getting 8 assists a night, which I didn't believe him to be capable of doing. Ariza is scoring 20 points an outing after never averaging more than 9 a game. Because that's just how the NBA works? Because he's just tapping into his vast talent? Because basketball is more dependent on the situation than the player? Anyone? I didn't think so. Trying to make sense of what is going on is futile, just like trying to make sense of taking the Lakers to 7 games was futile, just like trying to make sense of winning 12 games in a row after losing our best player was futile.

Anyways, credit for all of this must once again go to Daryl Morey. You know your GM is good when late in the second round he picks a stringy white guy whose claim to fame is how good of a volleyball player he was and you find yourself buying into the pick. You know your GM is great when the pick actually pans out four games in to the year. Thank you, Daryl Morey, for being you. And, if you're wondering whether or not "stringy" is actually an adjective, I am too.

In other news, the Rockets play the Lakers tonight. Everyone's been making a big deal of how the Lakers have been struggling, but they're fans have been chalking it up to the absence of Pau. I'd like to point out to our friends in Hollywood that we're without Yao and Mcgrady. Oh, and the guy with the tight shorts starting at small forward for you? He's actually our second best player from last year. And you still have Vanessa Bryant. So I don't think missing out on Pau is really good enough of an excuse.

Also, just as a heads up, Budinger is out with an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day. Ankle injuries are fickle, so here's hoping it's not to serious.

Back to talk about the game again, tonight is going to be a hell of a fight, so let's hope the good guys can keep the magic rolling. Speaking of Magic rolling, Orlando fans should probably get used to this image. There's going to be a lot of Vince Carter rolling around on the floor over the course of the next year. But to get back on topic, tonight also doubles as Ron Artest's homecoming and Ariza's first game against his old team, so let's hope their ex-guy who's now our guy destroys their guy who used to be our guy. And Kobe too. Not because he used to be on our team, but because Kobe sucks.

Pictured: The heart of the Lakers team. And Kobe.

I'd make a prediction for tonight's game, but I've pretty much given up on making predictions with this team. We've reached a point where I'm actually considering taking the most logical prediction and just going the entirely opposite way with it when it comes to the Rockets, because they clearly just don't understand the concept of not having enough talent. They don't get that you can't win games with grit, hard work and heart, that teams are never more than the sum of their parts. They don't understand that they're not supposed to be a playoff team, that second round picks who've built careers as role players don't just transform into 18-a-game guys. And, quite honestly, I'm glad they don't. Let's hear it for ignorance, let's hear it for overcoming odds and let's hear it for the Red Nation. And, as always, go Rockets.

Let's Get It On

2009-10-27T12:22:00.006-05:00

Our season starts tonight in Portland, at 9 p.m. Central. For those of you wondering at home, that's 10 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Mountain. And I believe around 2 in the afternoon for our fans in Vanuatu. Tomorrow. In any case, this is going to be one hell of a game. There's the obvious reasons: it's the first game of a new season, this is the most unpredictable Rockets team in recent memory and because it's the 155th anniversary of the day Swedish writer/pacifist Klas Pontus Arnoldson was born. (In a semi-related note, while searching on Wikipedia for that last event I noticed that today is Andrew Bynum's birthday. I also noticed that today is also Yi Jianlin's birthday, except nobody is sure because his birth date is "disputed." So there's that.) In any case, tonight's game is more than just a season opener. It's a season opener against a team we ousted in the playoffs last season, only we've gotten a lot worse and they've gotten better. So it's safe to say they're going to want to come out and destroy us. So my only request for the Rockets tonight is to attack. To play with no mercy, to play like this game decides whether or not we win a championship. I know it's just a single game, but there's a real possibility that we're not going to have many meaningful games come March and April. So that's why we need to take advantage of the ones we do have. And tonight, with everyone already counting out the Rockets, would be a great time to prove them wrong once again. Even if it's just for a day, beating the Blazers on the road without our three leading scorers from last season would be something. So if nothing else, I want the Rockets to fight today. I want us to come out swinging and let the Blazers, and the rest of the NBA, know that nothing is going to come easy against this team. We're going to be scrappy, we're going to be impossible to keep down and we're going to give nothing away. And Portland, just know that it all starts with you. Tonight we're coming for you. You were probably expecting a nice, vindictive blowout to announce to the NBA world that you're ready for the big time, but that's not happening today. Today we're going to look like the team that's supposed to contend for the title, today we're going to be the only ones enjoying a blowout. And, as Ice Cube would say, "You run up with that bullshit I'll [mess] your ass up." It really doesn't relate to this exact situation, but those are some fighting words and I thought they went with the general mood of the post. I should stop. In any case, go Rockets.

Rudy Gay? More Like Rudy Not-Gay!

2009-10-23T23:31:00.011-05:00

That was in poor taste. Rudy's sexuality has nothing to do with his basketball ability and he'd be a great asset to the team regardless of what kind of ass he's chasing. Get it? Asset. But to be entirely serious, his sexual orientation couldn't matter any less, I just really couldn't think of a title.

If anyone remembers the 2006 NBA Draft, they remember the Rockets explicitly saying that we would trade the number 8 pick if we didn't get Brandon Roy. They also remember us not getting Brandon Roy and trading away Rudy Gay. They also remember the frustration they felt when Rudy Gay was having a fantastic sophomore year and we were wondering how much he would have helped when after the inevitable Mcgrady injury. They also remember feeling slightly vindicated last year when he regressed. If they remember all of this, asides from being more than a little too invested in the Rockets, they remember that Rudy Gay was already unhappy sharing the ball with O.J. Mayo last year and that will be made worse this season by adding this guy and this guy. (For those of you scoring at home, that's two times I've used Allen Iverson's mug shot. My goal for this season is 48.) As Bill Simmons says in his latest article:

"You will be able to get Gay for the right price. Just save the Grizzlies $3 million, give them someone half as good, take one of their bad contracts as window dressing and throw in a No. 1 pick so the deal looks better than it is, and Chris Wallace is going to say, 'I should probably shop this around, but screw it, I'll just panic and say yes.'"

That team getting Gay could be us. We'd probably have to give up Ariza in the deal but I say it'd definitely be worth it. Gay is a guy who can score 25 a game and lead a team, and once Mcgrady gets hurt (I know, the theme this year is believing in T-Mac, but doubting him has a purpose here so bear with me) he will be our undisputed number one guy. Then next year we come back with a bonafide superstar in Rudy Gay, the best center in the NBA with Yao, what will still be the perfect supporting cast and cap space from letting Mcgrady go. I'm not saying this is going to happen, I just think that Rudy Gay would be a great guy to buy low on and invest in. If it doesn't work out, he can still fill whatever role Trevor Ariza was going to fill this year pretty well. If it does, we would have just managed to get a guy we all thought would be the next Tracy Mcgrady while still keeping the original Tracy Mcgrady happy. It's like when you go to a fast food chain and make sure to ask for ketchup, only they've already put ketchup in your bag, so you get twice the amount of ketchup, except it's a lot less pathetic and that the two things aren't actually all that related.

In an entirely unrelated note, I cannot believe that Josh McRoberts isn't not white. I used the double negative there because when you first hear his name, you're sure that he has to be a white guy. Then you get so sure that you start to wonder if there isn't something strange at work, if a name like Josh McRoberts might just be too obvious. Then, if you're like me, you convince yourself that he's actually a black guy masquerading around in a white guy's name. And, if you're also like me, you feel like an idiot when you Google him and get a thousand photos like this (hint: he's not the black guy), none of them making him look even the slighest bit anything-other-than-white.

But yeah, I really want Rudy Gay. And there's nothing gay about that.

Damnit, I did it again.

What Can Trevor Ariza Do For You?

2009-10-21T22:09:00.003-05:00

Two posts in one day? After an extended hiatus? At Bring Back Novak, we are still red and rowdy, no matter what ESPN says about our team.

I've been hearing a lot of people in the media say that Trevor Ariza's only success in LA came off wide open corner threes that Kobe assisted on. These haters claim that Ariza will be a flop in Houston because he won't benefit from Kobe's undeniable, unobtainable greatness. There are two problems with this thought process. First, everyone knows Kobe is a blatant ball hog that hates his teammates and never passes. (He averages two passes per fourth quarter in the playoffs). Second, according to 82games.com, Ariza was assisted on 64% of his total field goals. This is lower than every non-point guard on the Rockets last year (except Yao, because he's the franchise). This proves that Ariza is adept at getting his own shot off and creating off the dribble. If the Rockets hope to stay in the playoff race with a lineup that lacks a traditional number one scoring option, they will need to utilize Ariza's ability to manufacture points.

Trevor Ariza's 82games.com profile:
http://www.82games.com/0809/08LAL7.HTM

Bringing Back Novak

2009-10-08T19:44:00.009-05:00

After a slightly extended off-season summer of heartbreak-recovery after the Lakers series, we're finally ready to resume posting. And if you're thinking that it didn't take this long for us to get emotionally ready to post again instead we just got lazy and realized that we should probably starting writing again since our season's started, you're damn right. And, per the usual, when I say "we" I really mean "me," so just try and keep that in mind. I had a lengthy season preview planned out in which I would reference the lyrics to Beatles songs and talk about how they related to our season, but, again, that's a lot of work. I had actually gotten about halfway through when I realized it was much more effort than Billy or I were capabale of putting in, so instead of an articulate, well-prepared preview you're going to get whatever I can think of in the next 15 minutes.

I guess it actually is kind of fitting that I'm not writing a researched preview of the Rockets this year because, as every sportswriter who talks about the Rockets will be quick to point out, all bets are off for this season. And if you manage to overlook my flismy justification for not writing a worthwhile article, you'll see that what I just said actually makes sense. On one hand you have nearly everyone writing us off before the year starts, (get it, writing is a pun because they're writers) but on the other hand, you and I and anyone else who's watched this team knows to never, ever, ever count us out, regardless of the situation, regardless of how stacked against us the odds might seem, and, most importantly, regardless of how overmatched the twelve guys we're putting on the floor every night might look on paper. If there's one thing about this team that we know, it's that we will fight. We'll also be undersized, undermanned and under-talented most of the nights that we're doing the aforementioned fighting, but we'll be fighting nonetheless.

We still have Luis Scola, a double-double machine when he's the third option on a team and 20-10 threat since he's now our go-to guy. We still have Aaron Brooks, who, despite his limitations as a pure point guard, can beat anyone off the dribble and score with the best of them (Pictured:them). We've still got Battier, we've still got Landry and we've still got Hayes. Deke is still with us in spirit, and, the man that makes this team the slightly dangerous and even more interesting, Tracy Mcgrady, is reportedly coming along as planned and will hopefully be ready to resume practicing by Sunday. In case anyone's forotten, Mcgrady is one of the best players in the NBA when healthy and is entirely capable of putting a team on his back for a year. Granted, his back will probably spasm on and off over the course of that year and he'll probably require some sort of offseason surgery afterwards, but that's irrevelant. [In an entirely unrelated note, while I was looking for that Top Ten article I saw something about the WNBA Finals currently going on. I don't know what it says about you when people find out about your league's championships while searching through blog archives, but I'm sure it says something.] Anyways, we also have an NBA-ready rookie in Chase Budinger who's only going to improve as the season goes along. And, lest anyone forget, we are still blessed with Joey "Tarzan" Dorsey, who I've become quite the fan of after he autographed my shirt. So I guess that brings the Joey "Tarzan" Dorsey Fan Count up to one.

I'm not saying we're going to win our division and I'm not saying we're going to the playoffs, I'm just saying we're not going to roll over this year and wish May would hurry up and arrive. I've watched the Grizzlies and Clippers play last year and I can promise you that will not be the Houston Rockets. There will never be nights when we look like we don't want to play basketball, there will never be games in which we don't pour our collective hearts out for 48 minutes, there will never be moments in which as fans we aren't proud-as-hell of this team. I've seen the Rockets overcome adversity before, and I'm sure I'll see them do it again. I know better than to count this team out, and while I'm not getting my hopes up, I'm definitely not hopeless. All I ask of you is to give this team a chance. Cheer for them like you would if Yao and T-Mac were healthy to start the year, follow them like you think we're winning it all, if nothing else just because you damn well know that we deserve it. I'm looking forward to another year of writing and following the Rockets and I hope that you guys are too.

And if you're feeling a little more than slightly unsatisfied by this poor excuse for a preview, we are going to be doing a "Meet Your Rockets" series after the final roster comes out. I'm not promising that it'll be any good, I'm just promising that it'll be there.

Finally, as always, go Rockets.

Rockets Sign David Andersen

2009-08-14T20:12:00.003-05:00

The Rockets have officially signed center David Andersen of FC Barcelona to help fill in for Yao this season . We're refraining from any definitive statements until further review, but at the moment it's pretty safe to say that Andersen has no relation to this guy. He might not have a standout low post game (11 points a game in Europe), but he does have one of of the most forgettable names for a center in recent Rockets history. And that, my friends, makes him memorable. We've got about two and a half months before the season starts, so sit tight until then.

Speechless

2009-06-29T13:31:00.004-05:00

I know, the idea is writing a post when you have nothing to say is counter-intuitive at best and downright stupid at worst, but something needs to be said. I just don't know what. We found out this morning that Yao is going to miss most if not all of next season and maybe even more after that. And this comes on the tail end of what has to be one of the most depressing weeks man has had to withstand in recent memory. I'm not comparing Yao's injured foot to the death of Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Billy Mays. Screw it, that's exactly what I'm doing. It may seem disrespectful or unsentimental or whatever else you want to say about it, but Yao's career ending means just as much to me as any of the other events that have transpired this week. And yes, there are some problems that need to be talked about, some ailments that can be cured by discussion, but this isn't one of them. This isn't something that's going to be changing anytime soon. We now know for sure what we've feared for the past five years: Yao's feet can't take his lifestyle. They can't take his size. They can't take the pounding he gets every year, ever day. Sooner or later, this was bound to happen. We're just unlucky enough that it was sooner. We can sit here and complain about why one of the most talented 7 footers ever can't get on the floor while someone like Dwight Howard, with no real discernible offensive skills other thank dunking the ball, has missed less than 20 games his whole career. We can spend all day wondering, like we have so many times before, how good we could have been if Yao and Mcgrady had just been healthy together once. But, at the end of the day, none of that is going to change the reality that we're going to have to eventually face. The reality that the face of our organization, maybe even of the entire city, is most likely very, very close to being finished with the game of basketball. So at some point, we'll have a real post up, explaining what this means to us andthanking Yao if his career is actually over, but now's not the time for that. Right now we hope that by some miracle the news is wrong and that Yao's going to be back next year, hobbling around and fading to the baseline like he always has, as unlikely as it may be. Right now, this is all we have to say. Get well soon Yao.

Hedo 2.0

2009-06-26T02:49:00.007-05:00

Since the Magic have just traded for Vince Carter, I feel obliged to revisit the idea of trying to sign Hedo Turkoglu. And if you think I'm just using this Carter deal as an excuse to talk about Hedo, you know me too well. The Magic's total salary, with Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson included, is at about 68 million dollars for the 2009-10 season, with the luxury tax line being about 69 million dollars next year. In other words, they're going to be paying Hedo virtually twice as much as his actual contract, as every dollar over the luxury tax means another dollar spent. For example, if Hedo signed a deal for 8 million dollars, it would put the Magic roughly 7 million dollars over the luxury tax, which means they'd have to pay 7 million extra dollars. So essentially, Hedo's contract would cost them 15 million dollars next season. And as much as I love Hedo, he is by no means a 15 million dollar player. Not at this age. Not in this economy. Which is why I believe the Magic are going to let him walk. They're going to try and resign Gortat, fill out the rest of their roster with minimum salaries and hope that they'll be able to compete in the Eastern Conference. And they will be.

Since we're on the topic, I'd like to quickly touch on the Carter trade. Of course it's an upgrade for the Magic. It's tough to lose Courtney Lee, but Ryan Anderson is no slouch. He's a power forward who can shoot the three, which mean's he'll thrive in the Magic's offensive system. And as for basically replacing Turkoglu with Carter, as much as I love Turkoglu, he's no Vince Carter. Turkoglu averaged 17-5-5 this year on 40 percent shooting while handling the ball on nearly every possession he was in the game for the Magic. Carter averaged 20-5-5 on 44 percent shooting even though Devin Harris had the ball in his hands for most of the game. Put Carter in Hedo's position with Hedo's role and he'll get you 23-6-6 with better percentages. And as for Hedo being a better shooter, that might have been true earlier on in their careers, but it's certainly not anymore. Over the last two years Carter's three point shooting has either been comparable or better than Hedo's, as last year he shot 40 percent from beyond the arc while Hedo only shot 35. Part of that is Carter's shot getting better as his athleticism slowly leaves him, but the main reason is the kind of threes that each takes. Carter has never had the luxury of waiting around at the three point line for a star to get him a wide open three, like Hedo had early in his career, Carter has always had to beat his man off the dribble and pull up for the three himself, which is significantly harder. Now, since teams are more aware of Hedo Turkoglu as a threat, he's not getting wide open threes anymore, thus the drop in shooting percentage. Carter, on the other hand, hasn't been the focus of an offense for quite some time now, as that burden belonged to Devin Harris and now to Dwight Howard. That means he'll get cleaner, better looks at the basket and it'll be reflected in his three point percentage. As good and as unique of a player as Hedo Turkoglu is, Vince Carter makes this team better. Losing Courtney Lee is probably the worst part of this deal, as he showed a lot of promise his rookie season, but Carter over Turkoglu is a no-brainer.

But back on point. If the Magic follow the path I just outlined for them, that would leave Hedo Turkoglu unsigned and up for grabs, which is where we step in. We have 55 million dollars on the books for next season, which gives is about 14 million dollars to spend before we have to pay the luxury tax. Assuming we give both Chase Budinger and Jermaine Taylor roster spots, it's safe to add on another million to our payroll. That still leaves us with 13 million dollars to spend on free agency, and that's where things get tricky. Von Wafer's going to get a bit of that money, something like 4 million dollars a year. He's probably worth a lot more, but there aren't too many buyers out there who are willing to spend a lot more. Thus, Von, too be perfectly blunt, is stuck with us. Which would leave us with 9 million dollars to spend. Our easiest option would be to resign Artest and move on with trying to trade Mcgrady. A more difficult and more potentially beneficial option would be to go after Turkoglu and offer him a contract comparable to any other offer that he's going to get along with giving him the chance to stay on a team contending for the championship.

As much as I love Ron and as much as I appreciate what he did for us this year, I think that if we have the chance to acquire Turkoglu we should take it. He gives us the fourth quarter scorer we've needed so badly and is an excellent three point shooter, which is essential to our offense. He's also a deft playmaker, which is an added bonus that's value isn't to be taken lightly when you consider Aaron Brooks' passing limitations. All in all I think that the Magic have inadvertently but consciously given other teams the option to make a run at Turkoglu, and I think we need to take advantage of that. When I suggested this before, it was a long-shot and really more of a daydream than an actual, viable option. Now, we have the opportunity to add a power forward with the passing ability of a point guard as well as a smooth outside shot and a knack for coming up big in the clutch, and we need make the most of it.

Draft Day

2009-06-25T22:18:00.020-05:00

After an unpredictable and oddly entertaining NBA Draft, I've got a few thoughts I'd like to talk about. None of them involving Darko Milicic's trade to the New York Knicks.

First things first, I was at the Rockets Draft Party at the House of Blues. Joey Dorsey was there and I got him to sign my shirt, I caught a Rockets towel from the Power Dancers and I was interviewed by chron.com, which was probably the highlight of my night. Check for the video sometime tomorrow morning, there's some expert analysis in there from yours truly. Apparently Daryl Morey actually watches these videos so I got to throw my Pistons trade idea at him as well as beg him to somehow pull off the Amare trade. Now onto the actual draft.

What the hell were the Timberwolves doing? Apparently they've already sent Lawson to the Nuggets and are working on a deal with the Knicks for Rubio, but how necessary was it to take three point guards with your three picks in the first round? Were they just trying to screw with their fans? Are the Nuggets and Knicks really that desperate for Lawson and Rubio? Does anyone actually want any players on the Knicks roster anyways? What did the Timberwolves gain from drafting and trading Lawson and most likely Rubio instead of just drafting two other good players?

Since we're on the topic of Ty Lawson, Billy and I were discussing how we thought he'd be a good player if he was put on a good team. Well, he's on a good team. Now all that's left is the first half of that sentence, which is being a good player. I like him as an understudy to Chauncey and think he'll be ready to run the team in 2-3 years when Billups' deterioration really starts to pick up.

A little more on Ty Lawson. It's a little saddening to know that Lawson and UNC teammate Wayne Ellington won't stay together in the NBA. For the Timberwolves to reunite North Carolina's backcourt through the draft only to break it up again a few hours later was just cruel.

We just had three paragraphs centered around Ty Lawson. That should tell you all you need to know about this year's draft.

I called Indiana picking Tyler Hansbrough. I said that they would take the best available white guy to go along with Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster, and they took Hansbrough. I just love it when my thoroughly un-researched, unfounded and downright unintelligent guesses happen to be right by some random stroke of luck.

I was disappointed that the Rockets didn't trade up for a draft pick. After spending a week convincing myself we were going to get James Harden, I was actually a little surprised when we didn't. I knew we really had little to no shot of getting him, but I was still somehow expecting it to happen, if that makes any sense.

When the news that the Suns and Warriors were working on a deal that included Amare Stoudemire was announced at least half of the people in attendance booed. Now I'm just guessing here, but I think we really wanted Amare.

The Red Rowdies were present and had a full table to themselves, doing all sorts of rowdy, red activities. They look at lot more subdued in person. Go figure.

Brandon Jennings being brought in after he was originally not allowed inside the green room was one of the more entertaining moments of the night. The awkward introduction by Stern, the interview that was about four picks too late, Brandon Jennings not being there in the first place when he was almost an assured top-15 pick, all of it really meshed together into a high comedy moment.

We've gotten two second round draft picks so far: Jermaine Taylor and Sergio Llull. I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about either of them, but Taylor averaged 26 a game last year. And for some reason, Llull gives me Vasileios Spanoulis flashbacks. Which means I'm going to spend the next week and a half watching highlights of him and talking myself into him, only to have him never, you know, actually come and play for us for an extended amount of time.

A little side note here, if we get Amare, or Amar'e, he's going to have to remove that apostrophe from his name. It's a little ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as taking three point guards in the first round.

And so it begins. Welcome to Houston, "Spanish Jordan." And let's not forget our other draft pick.

And we just bought Chase Budinger. Normally, I'd be doubtful that any championship building plan would be centered around buying three second round draft picks, but with Morey, anything's possible. And here are your Budinger highlights.

I'm starting to realize that in order for Budinger to become a regular contributor, he's going to need a roster spot. James White's roster spot. I'm torn. I love "Flight," but Budinger has a lot of potential and is already a more well-rounded player. Sorry James, Chase gets the rotation spot and the minutes. I'm going to go cry in a corner now.

How the hell did the Heat wind up with the last pick in the NBA Draft? They've had nothing remotely close to the best record in the NBA. It's the little things like this that confuse me. And the big things. Like the Timberwolves drafting three point guards in the first round. Whoops, I think I might have used that one a few times already. To hell with it, it needs to be said more than once.

Blake Griffin's brother, Taylor Griffin, was also in this draft. Too bad nobody said a word about him. In the irony of ironies, the Suns selected Griffin. In case you forgot, the Suns also have Robin Lopez. Or, as I like to call him, Not Brook Lopez. That's the second year in a row in which they've gotten the wrong brother. One has to sympathize.

And congratulations to Robert Dozier, the last pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. In three years you will either be averaging 35 a game for a D-League team, working at a local 7/11 or actually playing an important role on an NBA team. But probably not that last one. Good luck to you. And to all the other 59 draft picks. But mostly just our three. And to you, Dozier, always to you.

I'm ordering a Robert Horry jersey t-shirt. Just because. Anyone know where I can get one?

My favorite part of the draft has to be Adam Silver relieving David Stern somewhere around the start of the second round. Does Stern get tired? Does he get bored? How hard can it be to walk up to a podium and say fourteen words 60 times? How necessary is Silver coming in to replace Stern? It baffles me almost as much as the Timberwolves taking three point guards in the first round. Alright I'm done. I really am.

Before we finish off, I'd like to point out that someone actually stepped on Chase Budinger's face. Whoever this Aubrey Coleman fellow is, I don't like him. That's our Chase, you can't do that to him.

And with that, it looks like we're done. The 2009 NBA Draft was certainly an eventful one, even though it will probably be better remembered for the huge deals that were made in the days preceding it. I was looking forward to the Rockets grabbing a mid-first round pick, but I'll settle for Llull and Taylor. And Budinger, of course. Well not really, but I'm too busy hoping/praying for Amare (Amar'e) that it doesn't really matter to me.

Amare Stoudamire?

2009-06-25T10:05:00.002-05:00

According to the same source that disclosed Terry Porter was about to be fired as Suns coach, the Rockets are leaning toward swapping Tracy McGrady's expiring $22M contract, Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks for Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire, who owns an escape clause after next season and is demanding an extension this summer to waive it.
(New York Post)

Not to boast or anything, but we predicted this trade here.

I would pretty much be happy with any trade that involves TMAC, but this is great because we get a dominant player that is still young. Amare could contribute for 7-8 more years if we resign him. He also has the ability to play center and could shift their when Yao suffers his next inevitable injury or misses time for his current injury.

More About Yao's Feet

2009-06-25T00:45:00.001-05:00

Evidently someone up there isn't done tormenting us. Yao's foot isn't healing the way it should be. I was hoping this would be, like so many of Yao's other season-ending or season-ruining injuries, something that would be over and done with by the start of the new season. But apparently, that might not be the case. He's out "indefinitely" right now and they don't even have a timetable for him to return to basketball activities, let alone be able to play in NBA basketball games. So, if you couldn't guess, this is bad. Very, very, very bad. As in possibly career-ruining bad. As in if that happens, franchise-crippling bad. As in, all of those ideas we've been pitching around are utterly worthless if Great Wall isn't dominating the paint for us next year. There's no point in having the best supporting cast in the NBA if we're without the best center in the NBA. But I'm (hopefully) getting ahead of myself. All we know as of now is that Yao's foot is going to take a little longer to heal. Nothing more, nothing less. The rest is all just speculation on my part. Frightening, disconcerting and downright depressing speculation. Get well soon, Yao.

Spurs Get Jefferson, Panic Ensues (And Other Draft Week Chaos)

2009-06-23T13:21:00.013-05:00

Early today on Sportscenter, I saw that the Spurs had acquired Richard Jefferson from the Bucks for the expiring contracts of Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas. And, if I'm not mistaken, I think they also threw in a 25 dollar gift card to Best Buy. You know, just to sweeten the deal. This was clearly a financial move by the Bucks, as it gives them cap space for the free agent apocolypse that is the summer of 2010 as well as to resign players this year. This deal affects us in two ways. The obvious one is that our hopes for a wide-open Southwest Division next year were just shot. The second, more sneaky way it affects us is that now the Bucks have enough cap space to resign Ramon Sessions. Who, if you didn't know, is very, very, very good. So good that if we could somehow swap Brooks for Sessions straight up I'd do it in less time than it takes for Mcgrady to hurt something.

In other news, Chad Ford says that we've offered Mcgrady and Landry to the Wizards for their 5th pick. As you can see, I'm grabbing onto anything that gets us a chance at landing James Harden. Anything. And that includes eight word sentences in 3,000 words of rumors that will most likely never happen.

And since we're tossing out situations that'd never happen, I have a few guys I'd like to get this offseason. I'd love Zaza Pachulia as a backup center. I want a point guard, and if Sessions is unavailable, I wouldn't mind making a run at Bibby. Or, as unlikely as it may be, Rajon Rondo, since the Celtics seem to be shopping him. Why not throw Mcgrady and Brooks at them and see if we can land Rondo? I also wouldn't mind Mike Miller. After suffering through a year in Minnesota, also known as "Basketball Hell" and "The Place That Slowly Sucked Away Kevin Garnett's Will To Live," people have seemingly forgotten how good Miller is. If we could get him relatively cheap I'd take him over Wafer and probably even Artest. And, lastly, at least for now, Chris Bosh. I know it's highly unlikely, but we do know he hates it in Toronto. Instead of risking losing him for nothing, why wouldn't Toronto take Mcgrady's expiring contract, which would still give them money to throw around in 2010 and an actual building block for Bosh?

I'd also like Paul Millsap. If we can get him for the mid-level exception there's no need to chase after someone like Pachulia. I know, he deserves and is going to want a lot more than the (around) 5.8 million that is the mid-level, so we don't have much of a shot at getting him unless we choose not to resign Ron, but if he doesn't know how much he's worth, there's no reason we should tell him.

And there goes my hopes for getting Mike Miller. The Wizards are sending off their 5th pick along with a group of bad contracts for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. I love this deal for both teams. The Wizards get Mike Miller, who, in case you haven't heard from me already, is very, very, very good. They also get Randy Foye, and even though I don't know how he's going to coexist with Arenas, he's still a talented player that you don't want to pass up on. The Timberwolves now have the 5th and 6th pick in the draft as well as the 18th pick, which means they could be bringing in two difference makers and another solid rotation player to build around Kevin Love and Al Jefferson. Merits for everyone. Except us. I really, really wanted Mike Miller. Damn.

(Trading for the fifth pick was the most plausible way we could get into the top of the draft. Now, the T'wolves have ruined that possibility. -Billy)

So in one move the Timberwolves took away two of our best and options for find a wing player to replace Mcgrady: James Harden through the draft and Mike Miller. Damn you, David Kahn, damn you. But in other news the Hawks have just traded for Jamal Crawford and his huge contract, meaning that they won't have as much money to resign Bibby. Which means we could throw the midlevel at him just for the hell of it and hope he signs with us. And since we're sort of on the topic of Golden State, apparently Anthony Randolph just grew an inch and added 20 pounds over the offseason. We're all screwed.

Also, as promised, here's the immediate needs for the Rockets, courtesy of Hoops World. And come to the Rockets NBA Draft Party Thursday night at the House of Blues, we should be there.

Or we could trade Mcgrady's expiring contract for Rip Hamilton and sign Rasheed Wallace to the mid-level exception. Or trade Mcgrady and whatever other semi-expendable pieces the Pistons want for Hamilton and Rasheed in a sign and trade. Whatever it takes to get Rip and 'Sheed here and T-Mac all the way over there.

Billy posted about this, but we might get Amare and Barbosa for Mcgrady, Brooks and Landry. We could bring Barbosa off the bench and use him as a Manu Ginobili type player, allowing him to make the plays at the ends of games and have a starting five of Lowry (a better pure point guard than Brooks), Von Wafer, Artest, Amare and Yao. With Battier, Scola, Barbosa and White coming off the bench. That's a very, very solid rotation.

The Orlando Magic have agreed on a trade with the New Jersey Nets that will send Vince Carter to the Magic. The kicker is that Rafer Alston is the centerpiece of the trade. So we indirectly helped the Magic get a starting five of Nelson, Carter, Turkoglu, Lewis and Howard. That's the whole damned Eastern Conference All-Star Team. Looks like Cleveland still isn't going to be winning the East anytime soon.

That's all for now, but I'll keep adding paragraphs and thoughts to this as the days progress and more rumors/random ideas I think of start popping up.

Lottery Bound!

2009-06-22T21:12:00.003-05:00

Thanks to a reliable source (a friend of mine with an ample amount of interest, and an even more ample amount of time) I was able to find this little tidbit. Search for the Rockets. If you're too lazy or aren't as blessed with your leisure time as we are, it says that the Rockets are shopping Carl Landry for a lottery pick. I'm all for it if it gives us a shot at landing James Harden. Or even DeMar DeRozan. And that's not just because he has four capital letters in his name. Or, as unlikely as it is, Ricky Rubio. A top 6 pick and I'm saying goodbye to Landry, anything less and I'll pass. Of course, the decision doesn't lie with me, so this paragraph was essentially pointless.

Ron's Adventure

2009-06-22T20:52:00.004-05:00

According to various, semi-reliable sources, Ron Artest crashed a Transformers party in order to meet Megan Fox. Not that that's weird, I'd do far, far worse things to meet Mrs. Fox. What bothers me is his hat. If I'm not mistaken, that's a Detroit Tigers hat. There are talks about Ron-Ron signing with the Pistons. I can put two and two together. Or, in this case, one and one. Am I overreacting? Maybe. But there's still the chance Artest leaves for Detroit. Which means we would lose a proven, talented player. Which is, if you were wondering, actually the exact opposite of what we're trying to do. So that would be bad.

No

2009-06-20T22:24:00.002-05:00

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Hell no. No.

A Few Links

2009-06-18T22:01:00.003-05:00

Just to keep you going during the offseason

-Billy said we need to trade T-Mac. I said we need to trade T-Mac. The Rockets are trying to trade T-Mac. I'm glad we're all on the same page.

-We're still in win now mode. Fortunately for us, there are some less-than-intelligent GM's in the NBA. Possibly even more fortunately for us, Daryl Morey isn't one of them. Good things happen when your management is smarter than everyone else's.

-James White, inspired by Trevor Ariza's stellar play in the postseason, is hard at work trying to become a contributor on the Rockets next year.

-More talk about trading Mcgrady.

-Hoops World is doing an immediate needs series for each team. We're not on there yet, but we should be by either Monday or Tuesday. Keep checking. I'll probably post a link to our actual article when it comes out, this is just a heads up.

-It's good to know Yao's enjoying his summer.

-Nothing to do with the Rockets, especially since we don't have a draft pick, but still a beautiful, beautiful thing.

-Hopefully not.

-Another Mcgrady rumor, but one that I don't like. Why the hell would we do this again?

-We're nearing the NBA Draft so there's probably somewher around 4,327 mock drafts available for you to read if you want to find them, but if you're really, really lazy, this one's just a click away. And the first five picks of this one. And this one. Let's try to maintain a hold on things until next Thursday.

That's all for now, keep checking back when you're bored. And I mean really, really bored.

Yao Demands Freedom

2009-06-18T15:53:00.002-05:00

Well not quite. But he took the first step. Yao suggested that the Chinese national team should focus on finding and developing younger players, or, in other words, leave him the hell alone. We all know that Yao cares too much about China and means too much to the country to demand a break from his national team duties, but this is a good start for the Great Wall. For years we've complained that playing for China in the summers has been wearing down on Yao, and, most importantly, those precious feet, but nobody's been able to do anything about it. Not Yao, because he's too loyal, and not anyone else, because we don't want to be taken from our homes at 2 A.M. by seven men in black masks.

But in all seriousness, I'm glad that Yao is finally starting to find ways to avoid or at least cut back on his playing for China. My favorite quote of the article is when he says "I've seen many players still playing in the national team at the age of 30. But it was different that they did not play in a league as intense as the one I do," or in other words, "If I keep playing for you there's a good chance my left foot is going to fall off."

I know, it's not like Yao is going to be refusing to play for China anytime soon. He means too much to the country to do so, and we understood the circumstances when we drafted him. That doesn't mean it's any less painful to wonder if rest in the offseason would have helped every time he goes down with an injury. But as of now, I'm happy that Yao's going to have a full summer of rest to get ready for next year, and hopefully this is the first step towards many more summers of recuperation for him.

Rockets Offseason Wishlist

2009-06-18T10:41:00.004-05:00

With the NBA Finals now complete and the hated Lakers reigning as champions (don't worry, I still hate all the Lakers), the NBA has entered into the purgatory known as the Offseason. The Rockets came close to beating the Lakers in Round 2, but we now need to improve the roster so we can make a deeper run in the 2010 post-season. The Rockets are at the salary cap and have almost no flexibility because of T-MAC's gargantuan contract, but we can use several NBA rules to resign our own players and sign free agents.

Here is a quick overview of the Rockets offseason issues. We have four players who will be unrestricted free-agents: Ron Artest, Von Wafer, Dikembe Mutombo, and Brian Cook. We don't have a first or second round draft pick because of the Ron Artest and Steve Francis trades. We have 54.878 million dollars already committed for next year's salaries. While the official NBA salary cap has yet to be announced, it is expected to decrease from this year's cap of 58.68 million to a number closer to 55 million. This would leave the Rockets with a negligible amount of cap space. However, only 5 teams are expected to have cap room to spend: Portland, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Indiana, and Miami, so there shouldn't be much competition in free agency.

With all of this in mind, here is the Rockets Offseason Wishlist:

1.) Resign Ron Artest: Ron-Ron added the toughness we needed to make it out of the first round and his defense was invaluable. Sure, he jacks up a lot of awful shots, but he makes enough to be a good offensive player. Ron Artest's "Bird Rights" (a player who plays for one team for three or more seasons, in this case Sacramento, has Bird Rights and his team can go over the salary cap to resign him) were traded with him, so we can sign him to a deal up to the max and for as long as 6 years. He won't get a contract that long, but we should reward him with 10-12 million a year for 3-4 years. No other NBA team will be willing to make an offer like this, so Ron-Ron should be a Rocket if he stays in America.

2.) Resign Von Wafer: Von was a surprise contributor to the team and showed an amazing ability to score in bunches. Unless you think Brent Barry and James "Flight" White are ready to be our only back up wings, we need to resign Von. He has a great haircut, a sweet shooting stroke, and gives our bench a potent scorer. We can resign him to an approximately 1 million dollar a year deal or use the mid-level exception to sign him for up to 5.59 million. It is more likely that he accepts the later.

Ron and Von developed great chemistry last year and we need them back

3.) Buy a Late First Round Pick or Trade into the Draft: With the economy in the toilet, a lot of teams will probably be willing to sell late first round picks/early second round picks to get a little extra cash. Les Alexander is dedicated to winning, so I predict he will be willing to spend a little money to improve the team. Its always good to add promising young players that can contribute for years to come, so we should try our hardest to get into the draft.

4.) Trade TMAC: You can read the article on possible T-Mac trades here.

5.) Bring Back Novak: We need to rescue Steve from basketball hell and bring him back to Houston where he can contribute. He proved this year that he can be a legitimate NBA rotation member and is vastly superior to "Former Slam Dunk Champion" Brent Barry. I might be a little biased, but I think the Rockets would have won the title if Novak was still on the team. He is a free agent and we should do whatever it takes to get him back to his rightful team.

Sharpshootin' Steve Novak can lead an NBA team to a Championship

If we get these five things done, you can pencil the Rockets in as 2010 NBA Champs.

So It Ends

2009-06-16T22:11:00.007-05:00

So, here we are. The NBA season has come to an end. A new champion has been crowned. The slew of awkward interactions and hugs between people who most likely have never spoken with one another has come and gone. Phil Jackson's bizarre "X" hat with Chinese characters on it was unveiled for the world's enjoyment/horror. (I understand the "X" is for 10 championships, but I'm just wondering how long ago they made the hat. Is it from 2004? Have they just been holding it until he finally won his 10th championship? Or was it made this year? How much of a role did he have in designing the hat? Did he know that it existed before they won? Wouldn't that have just put even more pressure on him to win? What would they have done with it if the Lakers had lost? Two months from now would some poor Nigerian be wearing a Phil Jackson celebratory hat? I need answers.) Questions about Phil Jackson's headgear aside, we've got some recapping to do.

First things first, I'd like to (admittedly begrudgingly) congratulate the Lakers. You know, giving credit where credit is due, not being a sore loser, things like that. They won an NBA Championship. Something only 14 teams have done before, something they've done for the 15th time. That's a hell of an accomplishment, no matter how hated they might be for it. As much as I've berated and ridiculed the Lakers this season, seeing the pure emotion coming from team as the clock hit the triple zeroes was special. The unbridled joy that comes from working through the ups, downs and turbulence of everything in between of an NBA season only to end up on top reminded of why I watch basketball, even if it was coming from some of my least favorite living creatures on the planet. And I know, the same reaction comes from every team in every sport after they win, and it's usually even more fevered and excited than the Lakers' celebration, but it's still always a spectacle to see. So without any more smoke-blowing, I'll run through a few personalized congratulatory paragraphs before getting to my conciliatory (what a word) speech for the Magic.

Kobe Bryant-Go to hell. Take your trophy, under-bite-face and inhuman shots and go to hell. Leave Vanessa here though. But in all seriousness, Kobe Bryant deserves this. He is probably one of the five most hated people in the world, endlessly yells at and belittles his teammates and is most likely impossible to play with, but he deserves it. Not just the hate, but the championship as well. I know how every single media member has written about how much he wanted this title, but there's a reason for that. It's true. From his newly created angry wolf-man face to his performances on the court, everything about Kobe this postseason has screamed desperation. Desperation to finally get that 330 pound apostrophe-named monkey off of his back. Desperation to cement his legacy as one of the best players ever. Desperation to take a team that is actually his own to the top of the mountain. And it was never more evident than the end of Game 5, when he started jumping up and down with his hands in the air with a few seconds left and then started doing the Jordan Fist Pump While Jumping Extremely High over and over again. And of course when he nearly cried when being interviewed after receiving the Finals MVP trophy. Kobe Bryant wanted this championship. More than that, he needed it. He needed to validate himself. He needed to prove to himself that he could do it. He needed to be able to tell Shaq just exactly how his ass tastes. And he did it. Congratulations Kobe. Now get the hell out of my life for the next four months. Please. Don't ask questions, just do it. Disappear to some island and enjoy this, but more importantly, don't force me to see you until training camp.

Pau Gasol-One of the few Lakers that I'm actually happy for. After taking nonstop criticism since last summer for being "soft" when he never really deserved it, Pau showed us why he's the second best center in the NBA. Sorry Dwight, but this Finals demonstrated to us that you're not quite there yet. Pau's willingness to guard virtually anyone, his tenacious, relentless covering of Dwight Howard and his typically brilliant offense in the final five games of the season cemented his status as anything but "soft". He's versatile, extremely talented and a whole hell of a lot more fiery than anyone could have guessed, and he deserves this championship as much as anyone on the Lakers.

Lamar Odom-A man whose play was inconsistent enough that a doctor wrote an article theorizing that his affection for candy was the reason why he seemingly randomly disappeared in games. A man whose infa nt son died a few years ago. A man who for so long had physical gifts that in no way matched his desire or focus to play basketball. A man who, after Pau and Kobe, took the most criticism for the Lakers' loss to the Celtics last year. And deservedly so. But he, like nearly every other Laker, redeemed himself this year. In the Finals he was involved, interested, and, probably most importantly, effective. He showed us that somewhere in that immensely talented 6-11 frame is an actual beating heart pumping blood through a living, breathing human being. A shocking revelation, if you ask me, but a well deserved championship for the "Candyman."

Phil Jackson-Yes, he had Michael and Scottie, Shaq and Kobe, and Kobe and Pau/Lamar/injuries to Yao, Mcgrady, Ginobili, Nelson and Garnett. You know what else he has? 10 NBA Championships. As a coach. That's 10 more than me and good enough for the most in NBA history. Greatest coach of all time? Luckiest coach of all time? Does anyone really give a damn?

Derek Fisher-For all my jokes about you being half-dead, utterly useless and a disgrace to the good people of Little Rock, Arkansas (that last one's new), you came through when it mattered the most. After sleepwalking through nearly the entire length of the playoffs, you were brought back to life in Game 4 and hit the two biggest shots of the NBA season. Now you'll get to slack through another full year without being benched or called out by your teammates. Congratulations. Not just on the championship, but on buying yourself an extension on your career. Have fun getting burned by Aaron Brooks, Chris Paul and Deron Williams next season.

Sasha Vujacic-Cheer up Machine. I know you didn't have the ideal series. I know you didn't score in the NBA Finals. I know you probably hurt the Lakers more than you helped them. But you're still my favorite Laker. Keep your head up, one day you'll be a star. In hindsight, probably not. You lack a variety of fundamental basketball skills necessary to be a successful NBA player. But at least you're a winner. And not Sun Yue.

And finally, to the Lakers team as a whole. You took shots all year for not being focused, for being too soft, for not showing up every night and for being a bunch of arrogant pricks who were hated by nearly every one outside of Los Angeles, but you still ended up winners. It probably didn't happen the exact way you wanted it to, but, it usually never does. And, like they say, the ends justify the means. And your means have been justified. You went from the peak of peaks in 2000-2002 down to the bottom of the league and eventually and into basketball hell for a few years by making the playoffs consistently but never contending, and lost last season in the Finals. And now, you're here again. The top of the mountain, the end of the road, whatever you want to call it. You're NBA Champions.

But here's where the real work begins. Now you have to go and do it again. Teams will come at you harder, contenders will be healthier and you'll still have to find the fire and will to compete every night. Do that, and you make the leap from champion to dynasty, from great to legendary. So enjoy these next few months, because come November, the grind starts all over again.

And if you think I'm being nicer than usual to the Lakers, you're right. As much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to respect this team. Because no matter how hard it is to like them, you can't deny that they have been through a lot. And before you pounce on me, remember the struggle that is Lamar Odom's life, Derek Fisher's daughter and of course, Kobe's rape-trial that still (understandably and deservedly so) haunts him to this day. I'm not supporting Kobe, but even the most stubborn Laker-hater will admit that he's been through hell, even if he brought it on himself.

So yes, in a twisted, mind-boggling way that even I don't fully understand, I'm happy for the Lakers. Yes, I'd rather be saying this about 29 other NBA teams, but I'm not sure those 29 other NBA teams merit having this said about them. Well, at least 28 of them. If anyone's been through more than the Lakers, it's the Rockets. But the middle of a paragraph in the middle of an article is no place for that. That deserves it's own, very, very lengthy post. And if you think I'm saying all of this about the Lakers so that I can generate some good karma for the Rockets next year, you're spot on. Partially, at least. But to make a long, tedious story short, be proud, Los Angeles. You're champions.

Kobe made some questionable facial expressions during the Finals

And, to be cliché, for every winner, we must have a loser. Unfortunately, the loser this year was the Orlando Magic. A very good team. A great team actually. A few inches either way and they would have been up 3-1 in this series instead of down. If Courtney Lee had hit a difficult layup (something he does frequently) and Fisher hadn't made a 3 (hardly a stretch, he had missed 5 times in 5 tries up to that point) this would have been a very different series. But he didn't, he did, and it wasn't. Still, there's nothing to be ashamed of there.

Orlando, you went at least a round farther than most people had you going. You lost to an extremely talented, hungry and more experienced team. You beat the team with the best record and best player in basketball during the regular season. And you did all of this without your All-Star point guard. (And on the bright side, you won a game this time. That's one more than you did against us. At this rate, you'll win a championship in your third Finals appearance after this. So if you get to one every 15 years, you'll be champions in 45 years. Congratulations to the Orlando Magic, your 2054 NBA Champions. Book it.)

But I'll stop being an ass for a few sentences. If may ask one thing of you, it's this: remember this feeling. Especially you, Dwight. Remember how it feels to be a loser after getting this far. Remember the pain, spend nights staying up thinking about it, let it eat away at you. You're 23, you'll get a title soon enough. But not without the right amount of desire. And if this doesn't give you the fire needed to win the last game of the NBA season, then nothing will. So, if you've learned nothing else from this series (And you should have learned a lot. Mainly, Dwight, that you need to developed at least three more reliable moves in the paint. Which would bring your total to three. But that's a topic for another day.) learn how it feels to be a loser. It happened to the guys you just lost to last year, and as you can see, things worked out pretty well for them. So keep all of these emotions with you. Not just for next year or until you win a championship, but for your whole career. Let it push you to get better. Remember that a little passion goes a long way in this league. Keep at it, and soon you'll be on the other side of this result, celebrating with Bill Russell and popping champagne the way Kobe and company are right now.

Remember that to get to the top, you have to start from the bottom. You have to stumble along the way. You have to be knocked down in order to be able to get back up. You've got the falling down part mastered, now it's time to see if you can rise up after it. Have a restless, sleepless, frustrating four months. Some day, it'll all be worth it.

And finally, congratulations to the Houston Rockets. Not only did we take the Lakers to more games than any other team did, we also were, in my opinion, the main reason for their victory. Without our series, they never would have realized that they had to bring their best effort every single game in order to win. You're welcome, L.A. Send us a few of those championship rings and we'll call it even.

Which brings us to the end. 30 teams, 82 games and then 16 more teams each trying to win 16 more games. A lot of basketball, a lot of moments to remember. There was Wade's resurgence (Yes Dwyane, it's your house), Lebron's dominance, Kobe's elbows and some great commercials. We had a spirited run and won 1-3 more games against the Lakers than most people expected us to and were their toughest out in the postseason. And, most importantly, we made it past the first round. Suck it, Tracy.

But now we enter the long dark that is the NBA offseason. Sure, we'll have the draft, and yes, hopefully there will be some blockbuster trades or free agent signings, but for the most part, we're on our own now. Completely on our own, trying to keep it together for four months before basketball starts once again. Check back here for updates on the Rockets, ideas and propositions from two of the finest basketball minds you'll ever come across (Yes, I'm talking about myself and Billy. Try not to laugh) and if some groundbreaking, earth-shattering, other-adjective-that-describes-our-planet being-torn-apart event happens in the NBA. It's been a fun postseason, and we'll be back stronger than ever next year. Which really isn't saying much, but still. Enjoy the summer. And, just for the hell of it, go Rockets.

Turkish Delight

2009-06-15T15:28:00.003-05:00

A friend suggested this to me and I like the idea: we should trade for Hedo. Over the last two years he's shown us how special of a talent he is, and our fourth quarter problems would be solved. Because, like I've said so many times before on this forum, Hedo has no problem taking big shots. It would most likely have to be sign-and-trade, as Hedo wants to opt out of his contract this summer. So the Magic resign him and we trade for him. Or we move like hell to clear cap space for him. But the main problem with all of this is that if the Magic can resign Hedo, there's no real reason as to why they would trade him when they just went to the Finals without their starting point guard. Unless they have some unexplainable desire for a Tracy Mcgrady comeback in Orlando. And speaking of the Finals, we'll have a recap up soon. After that, it's on to the NBA Draft and the usually pointless jumble of trade ideas that accompany the NBA season ending.

Rockets to Trade for a Top 5 Draft Pick?

2009-06-11T10:40:00.002-05:00

Rumors have been circulating about the Rockets exploring the possibility of trading for the 2nd overall pick. The Grizzlies currently own the pick, and their biggest weaknesses are at power forward and point guard. A deal will most likely include a future first round pick (or two), a point guard, and a power forward. Because they just traded Kyle Lowry to us, I doubt they will want to get him back and any deal will need to include Aaron Brooks. I'm fine with this because his trade value is at its peak because of his excellent playoffs performance. As I've written before, Brooks had a 1.9 assist to turnover ratio with only 3 assists per game while Lowry had a 2.5 assist to turnover ratio. Brooks's playoff performance may have been an anomaly, so if we have the chance to trade him I think we should. Darryl Morrey found Scola and Landry, so he should be able to replace either one. Here is a possible trade I worked out on Trade Machine.

We would most likely be targeting Ricky Rubio, the 18 year-old, Spanish sensation, with the pick, so I will leave you with a highlight tape from youtube.

A Finals Preview For The Ages

2009-06-03T02:53:00.017-05:00

It's been a while since we've posted something worth your while on here, and since there were some, you know, minor developments in the NBA recently (The Finals were set and start Thursday) we feel obligated to give you an idea of what to expect in this series, what each team has to do to win, a few side plots with links to keep you updated and any worthless opinions we might have. And by we, I mean I.

So I guess I'll start with what each team needs to do in order to win this series and in turn an NBA Championship, along with the eternal pride it will bring their city. And in the case of the Lakers, prevent Kobe Bryant from kidnapping Sasha Vujacic and holding him hostage until people start acting like they like him. Then I'll talk about each team's strengths and weaknesses what the other team needs to do to counteract/exploit them. Then I'll give you some links and other stories to keep an eye on. And finally, I'll give you my prediction. In other words, this is going to be one hell of a post. If you don't have time to spare, I'd stop reading.

Los Angeles Lakers

-Lamar Odom has to step up. Not just for the Lakers to win, but because I've actually started to like Lamar. What got me was the special ran at halftime of Game 5 of the Nuggets-Lakers series that focused on his obsession with candy. If you're wondering, for lunch yesterday I had a pack of Sour Skittles, a pack of Shockers, a bag of normal Skittles, a Three Musketeers bar, two Jolly Ranchers and a A&W Root Beer. So yes, I can identify with Lamar.

-Get the ball to Pau Gasol. I'm not sure what the exact stats are and I'm too lazy to look them up, but Gasol shot somewhere around 60 percent during the Conference Finals. That means 3 out every 5 times he shoots, he scores. And of course there's the chance he might get fouled. Or pass the ball to a teammate for an easy bucket, which he also does exceptionally well. In other words, when he has the ball, good things happen.

-The role players need to continue to step up. The Lakers aren't going to have the same players come up big every night, they're bench just isn't good enough. Instead, if they can have different guys each having nights when they contribute to a win, that can be just as helpful. For example, in Game 5 against the Nuggets, Shannon Brown was what tilted the game in the Lakers' favor. He came into the game in the second half and provided energy and some timely baskets, including this dunk over Chris Andersen that broke my heart. Now, Shannon Brown isn't going to do this every game for the Lakers, but if Brown, Ariza, Walton and Bynum can each have one strong game, that might be all the Lakers need.

-Derek Fisher needs to. Hold on. I can't believe I'm actually about to say this. Derek Fisher needs to play well. Normally, I would assume that Fisher is going to play terribly for the Lakers and be done with it. But after he showed us some signs of life in Games 5 and 6 of the Nuggets series, I feel the need to include that he might actually be productive for the Lakers and not the other team in the Finals.

-The Lakers need to continue to defend with intensity. As hard as it is to admit, the Lakers have been the best team in the NBA when they play hard for a full 48 minutes. If they can manage to play their hardest every single game of the Finals, there's a very, very good chance that they'll be raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy. So, to keep it simple, the world's best chance to stop Kobe Bryant from winning another NBA Championship is boredom. I know, I know. 2012 can't come soon enough.

Orlando Magic

-Hedo Turkoglu has to play better than he ever has before. He needs to be at his slashing, driving, dishing, shooting best if the Magic want to win this series. If he is able to control the game for the Magic and do something resembling counteracting Kobe Bryant, the Magic will beat the Lakers. And if you're wondering, my Hedo Turkoglu jersey shirt did arrive. I'll be wearing it for all 4-7 games of the Finals.

-Dwight Howard needs to continue to get the ball. In Games 4 and 6 of the Magic-Cavaliers series, Dwight Howard carried the Magic to victory. In Game 4 he scored 10 points in overtime and in Game 6 he scored 40 in the game. If Dwight continues to be a dominant scorer in the paint as well as the great defender that he usually is, the Magic have a great shot at winning the title.

-Related to the previous post, the Magic need to get the ball to Howard. He can't score if he doesn't have the ball, and they need to make sure they get him touches frequently and early in the shot clock. That hasn't been a problem recently for them, and it hopefully won't be in the Finals.

-Don't foul. That means you, Dwight. But it also applies to the rest of the Magic. They need to stay out of foul trouble and keep the Lakers out of the penalty. They have one of the best defense in the NBA, but that's useless when every foul puts your opponent on the line for two free throws. They still need to be aggressive on defense, just not stupidly-aggressive.

-Run the pick and roll to death. This goes with Hedo Turkoglu playing well. Phil Jackson teams can't guard the pick and roll. It's a well known fact. If Hedo attacks off of every screen he gets and is able to get into the lane and create havoc, the Magic are one of the best teams in the NBA. If he's also dishing out to their shooters and they are making their threes, they're the best. It's that simple.

Now I'll run through what each team does well, and how the other team can stop that. It goes without saying, stopping the other team from doing what they do best means you have a great shot at winning the title.

Los Angeles Lakers

Strength: Kobe Bryant. Real expert analysis, I know.
What the Magic have to do: Mickael Pietrus needs to play the best defense he's ever played. He did a fantastic job on Lebron (It's funny because Lebron still averaged 39, 8 and 8 against them, but it's true) and needs to continue to do so on Kobe. Nothing fancy, just make life difficult for him. Maybe borrow Shane's book. Maybe trip him. No that was a joke. But more importantly, Dwight needs to cut off Kobe's access to the basket. If Kobe isn't driving, he's not the same player. And Kobe isn't driving if Dwight is swatting everything he's putting up at Jack Nicholson.

Strength: The Lakers boast one of the most efficient, versatile offenses in the NBA.
What the Magic have to do: Defend hard, move their feet and contest everything. Rashard Lewis needs to battle Pau Gasol down low. No excuses about him not being a post player, he has to find a way to stop the Lakers from running the offense through Pau, which is when they are deadliest. Dwight Howard needs to stay out of foul trouble. Pietrus needs to stay in front of Kobe. Someone needs to stop letting Trevor Ariza cut to the basket for easy layups after passing it to Pau. Most importantly, the Magic need to get back on defense. The Lakers are unstoppable when they are running, and easy baskets also fuel their defense. It's messed up, but it's how they work. Cutting off their fast break points is essential for the Magic.

Weakness: Defending the pick and roll. For some reason, the Lakers, and Phil Jackson teams as a whole, struggle to guard the pick and roll.
What the Magic have to do: Run the pick and roll. A lot. A hell of a lot. So much that we get tired of seeing it. Hedo can handle the ball and is actually an excellent passer, so if they give him room to operate, he will either create for himself or for others. Dwight Howard moving towards the basket is scary for any team to defend, and his quickness will allow him to get easy baskets off passes from his teammates.

Weakness: Point guard play. There's nothing more to say here, we all know the Lakers point guards suck.
What the Magic have to do: Rafer Alston, Rafer "Why The Hell Did He Shoot That"/"How The Hell Did He Miss That" Alston, is a key to the Magic's victory. If you thought it was scary that his team was in the Finals, think about this. His team is depending on him so that they can win an NBA Championship. As much as I like to rag on Rafer Alston, I like to make fun of Derek Fisher even more. And Rafer is capable of giving Derek Fisher fits. I'm fully confident that Alston and Anthony Johnson can substantially outplay Derek Farma-Brown, and if they do, the Magic are in good shape. On the other hand, my sister and I could outplay Fisher, Farmar and Brown, so that's not saying too much.

Orlando Magic

Strength: They shoot the ball. Extremely well.
What the Lakers have to do: Stay home on the shooters. They need to ignore the instinct to help on Hedo, and let him try to beat them. Because of they collapse when he drives, Rashard, Rafer and Pietrus will be more than happy to fire up threes all day long. The same goes for Dwight. The Lakers can't double team him. Even if he's making Andrew Bynum look like, well, Andrew Bynum.

Strength: One of the most versatile, tricky offenses in the league belongs to the Magic. Their offense revolves around a 6-11 freak of nature and two 6-10 guys shooting threes, with one of them also happening to dribble the ball.
What the Lakers have to do: Use their own versatility. They have Lamar Odom, who's more than capable of shutting down Rashard Lewis. They also have Trevor Ariza, who'll do a much better job on Turkoglu than Delonte West and Wally Whatever-the-hell-his-last-name-is (Szczerbiak). The Lakers need to stop the Magic shooters from getting open looks and, in Ariza's case, stay in front of Turkoglu and generally make things difficult for him.

Weakness: Their offense revolves around three point shooting and Dwight Howard.
What the Lakers have to do: Make Dwight Howard beat them. They need to guard him with one man and not let him kick out to the shooters for open looks. Dwight's offensive arsenal is still limited, and I don't think he's ready to carry a team offensively and defensively for four games out of seven just yet.

Weakness: Rashard Lewis tends to disappear. Even though he's one of the most talented players in the NBA, he sometimes plays passively, choosing to let the game come to him. The only problem is that it often never comes.
What the Lakers have to do: Guard him aggressively. The Lakers need to find a way to take him out of the game. If that means not playing Bynum a single second so that Pau can play center, allowing Odom to guard Lewis, then so be it. Whatever it takes to make Rashard feel more like a spot up shooter and less like the lethal, offensive-killer he is.

Stories and Links

Just to get you into the spirit of things, I've compiled a list of side plots for you to take a look at while killing time before Thursday night's Game 1.

-Lamar Odom likes candy. A lot. A whole hell of a lot. I use the phrase "a whole hell of a lot" a whole hell of a lot. Not much of a story, but here it is anyways. If my opinion is worth anything to you, I saw it during halftime of Game 5 and loved it, but I've already said that in this post.

-Jameer Nelson might be returning for the NBA Finals. This isn't really a subplot, but it's not assured yet so I'm sticking it in here for now. There's so much to discuss here, like what would happen to their rotations should he return, how much he'd be able to help and if they should actually bring him back at all. But for now, I'll leave you with this and this and let you decide for yourself. If he does return, the dynamics of this entire series change, as he averaged 27.5 points in the two games in which the Magic beat the Lakers in during the regular season. But we'll have more on that if he actually does return or as soon as we get a definite answer either way.

-Both of these franchises have been completely changed by Shaquille O'Neal. He left one to suffer through it's own incompetence for 13 years and carried the other to three championships. Here's someone else talking about it.

-The Orlando Magic used to have Trevor Ariza. Not only is he now on the Lakers, he's also an important part of the their team and is arguably their best role player since Lamar Odom seems to pick and choose which games he's going to show up in.

-President Obama is picking the Lakers. I'm a pretty big fan of the man, but doesn't he have a few slightly more pressing issues to be worrying about. You know, maybe like this one? Just saying.

-Dwight Howard says that as long as the fans want him, he's going to stay in Orlando. Someone should probably tell him that he also has four years left on his contract, so leaving isn't really an option for him.

-The Magic have a good center, the Lakers don't. At the moment, at least. Bynum needs to step up if the Lakers want to win.

-A fun little true and false about the NBA Finals. Just because you can never get too much hype.

-Kobe's old. Dwight isn't. That's enough for a story. It's actually a good read if you've got a few minutes to kill.

-The Cavaliers are sad that they lost. Also, Lebron had something growing in his mouth. Yes, he averaged 39, 8 and 8 with something unnatural inside of his mouth. I'm moving on before I start to regret rooting against a Kobe-Lebron Finals.

-Jeff Van Gundy wants his brother's team to win. So do I, but that's besides the point. How he's going to juggle cheering on big brother while maintaining his objectivity is going to be interesting to watch over the course of the next 1-2 weeks.

-An actual Magic blog. And one for the Lakers.

-And one for the Thunder. Just because.

-Lebron averaged 39 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists a game against the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. Here's why Kobe's Western Conference Finals performance was even better. If you aren't reading any of these articles, at least read this one. It's well researched, passionate and convincing. In other words, it's everything this blog isn't.

-This is why you don't make a bunch of puppet commercials when the puppets might not actually make the Finals. "Sorry, I'm allergic to losers."

-Five keys for the Lakers to win the championship. Five more for the Magic.

-Just in case you missed anything along the way, this should bring you up to speed. If you're pressed for time and haven't been able to catch everything that happened during the playoffs, which probably should apply to most normal people, this video is the easiest way to get caught up and ready for the Finals.

-A Bill Simmons Mailbag to preview the NBA Finals. Excellent work as always. Good writing, good article, good for another 10-15 minutes.

NBA Finals Prediction

And now it's time for the good stuff. Well, I like to think it's the good stuff, but I'm not sure how many other people share my sentiments. My for-the-most-part-useless opinion about who's going to win, why and how it's going to happen. In the spirit of taking up more words and being as circuitous as possible, I'll tell you why each team will win before picking one.

Why the Magic will win: They have the ability to get hot from the outside on any given night, which lets them erase big leads and open up large cushions of their own. If they get going, they are nearly impossible to stop, as they have so many shooters that you really can't cover all of them. They have the most dominant post player in the series on both the defensive and offensive ends of the floor, but mainly on defense, which is key against the Lakers. If any team has the ability to slow down the Lakers' vaunted offense, it's this Magic squad. They have a young, growing superstar who looks like he has finally come into his own and is looking to prove himself on the biggest stage of them all against one of the league's most storied franchises, so in other words, you can bet that he'll be motivated and ready to go. They have the advantage at the point guard position, which shouldn't even have to be said at this point because, for God's sake, the Lakers are trotting out Derek Fisher to start games at the one. They have at least one player who the Lakers have no real answer for in Rashard Lewis, but that's mainly because when he's aggressive nobody in the NBA has an answer for him. They have a 6-9 forward who can shoot the ball, dribble, pass and score in the lane who also happens to be money in the clutch, as I've shown you before with various links. In case I haven't, here are a few examples of his best work. If Dwight Howard continues to control the paint on both ends of the floor, the Magic shooters keep shooting the way they have and Hedo can facilitate, score and distribute throughout the series, the Magic have an excellent chance to bring an NBA Championship to Disney World. On a semi-related note, actually, it's not related at all, but why is Disney World two words but Disneyland is one? It makes no sense to me.

Why the Lakers will win: They have the best offense in the NBA and the perfect players to run it. They have the best player in the NBA, or at least in the series, in Mr. Kobe Bean Bryant. Yes, his middle name is Bean. He was named after steak and a kind of plant seed. And he's the best player on the planet, or at least one of the two best. Like I said, 2012 can't come soon enough. They have finally started to play defense consistently and are actually damn good at it. Oh, and by the way, they're doing this all without the man who's supposed to be their starting center playing at anything close to full health. They have the deepest, most talented roster in the league, and anything short of a championship is underachieving for them. If they just live up to their potential, they should win the title.

As much as I hate to say this, I'm picking the Lakers to win it. They have the better team, home court advantage, and it finally looks like the drive as well. They also have the best NBA player not named Lebron, and this player also happens to be a psychopath who probably won't sleep until he wins an NBA Championship without this guy so he can get that much closer to this guy and so that this guy can finally pass up this guy. And so that he won't have to tell the first guy how his ass tastes. Whew.

But in all seriousness, the Lakers have too many options for the Magic to handle, and the Magic just have too many variables that could go wrong at any given time in a game/series. All it takes is one (three pointers not falling, Dwight having an off night, Rashard not being aggressive) and the Magic are in trouble for a game. Have it happen a few times, and they're in trouble for the series as a whole. Not that I think it's going to happen a few times. The Magic are a great team, and they're going to give the Lakers a hell of a fight. I'm picking the Lakers in 7 hard fought, highly contested games.

And with that, let me tell you this. The team that goes up 3-2 in this series is winning it. Because the Magic are winning Game 6. So if they split the first two and go up 3-2 by winning two out of three at home, they'll close it out in Game 6. If the Lakers go up 3-2, they'll lose Game 6 and win Game 7. So do I think the Magic can win two out of four games in Los Angeles? Yes. Do I think they will? No. But, after all, they are the best road team in basketball. And they did win a game and were one second away from winning another in the most hostile road arena in the NBA. And they also closed out a series on one of the best home courts in the league against the defending champions. So, here I am, trying to talk myself into picking the Magic, even though it's just plain stupid. But I'm not trapping myself here. I'm not choosing and underdog just for the hell of it on the off chance that if they win I can shove it in someone's face.

Then again, the Lakers do struggle, and let me emphasize that, struggle, to defend the pick and roll. And that is what the Magic do best. The Lakers also don't really have an answer for Dwight, as Pau isn't strong enough and Bynum isn't anything enough. And the Magic just knocked off the supposed best team in the league. And didn't the Magic go 2-0 against the Lakers during the regular season? But no, I'm not getting dragged into this. There's no way in hell I'm going to be dumb enough to pick the Magic when I can just as easily choose the Lakers, and Kobe Bryant, mind you, and be done with it. So I'll stick with my original prediction of the Lakers in 7.

Of course I'll never admit that to you in person. I'll probably say something like "Magic in 6, 'Glu for Finals MVP." In fact, that exactly what I'll say. You know, just to keep up my air of defiance or aura of stupidity or whatever you choose to call it. But not here. Here I have to be accurate and intelligent with what I say. This isn't a place for my half-assed opinions. Wait, that's exactly what this place is for. Screw it. Magic in 6. 'Glu for Finals MVP.

So there you have it. 3,500 words to keep you company for the next day and a half before the real action starts. Plus 10-15 more articles to read if you're really getting bored. You're welcome. Happy Finals.

Finals Preview

2009-06-03T01:42:00.008-05:00

In case you've been wondering, and you probably haven't, we're doing a finals preview. And it's long as hell. I'll have it up sometime [hopefully early] tomorrow. Read it, comment on it, print it out and use it as toilet paper, it's honestly up to you. Just know it'll be available for you if, by some bizarre, twisted turn of fate, you need it.

I Had A Dream

2009-06-02T13:32:00.005-05:00

Last night I happened to have one of the most beautiful, uplifting dreams I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. If you're wondering, it did have to do with the Rockets. Specifically, it was about Tracy Mcgrady.

The dream began about halfway through a Rockets game. I think we were playing the Pistons, or at least a team with similar uniforms to the Pistons. For the sake of making this dream as realistic as possible, let's assume it was the Pistons. But this wasn't just any Rockets game, this was Tracy Mcgrady's first game back from his microfracture surgery. The dream began with the commentator, I think it was Jeff Van Gundy (I actually have no idea who it was, I just want it to be Van Gundy) saying how many doubts there were about Mcgrady's phsyical ability and whether he would ever return to his pre-injury form.

On the first play that I "saw" Mcgrady drove into the lane. But instead of settling for a jumper or passing it or turning it over like he normally does, he kept going once he got inside the three point line. And going and going and going. And he rose up and tomahawked it on Rasheed Wallace. The next play he caught it as he was posting up on the left block, spun towards the basket and dunked it again, making Antonio McDyess the next Shawn Bradley. That's probably the third or fourth time I've used that link on this blog but I could care less.

There were a few more plays in my dream, he hit a jumper from the right wing, a pull-up three and another athletic layup, but is was the last play that stuck with me. The shot-clock was winding down (Another added detail, just like the Jeff Van Gundy one. Humor me. Please) and the ball was kicked out to Mcgrady at around the three point line. He attacked the basket, rose up, contorted his body in the air to move the ball away from both McDyess and Wallace, and dunked it with both hands. And then he did Dwight Howard's post-dunk move and hung onto the rim while lifting both legs up as he tried to put his manhood in both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess' mouths. At the same time. At that point, Jeff Van Gundy just kept saying "He's back, he's back. Tracy Mcgrady is back."

Then I woke up, realized that Mcgrady's health depends on his work ethic and that even if he does manage to find enough inspiration to put in 6 strong months of rehabilitation, there's still a great chance he'll never get back his lost athleticism and quickness. Damnit. Damnit, damnit, damnit.

Blasphemy

2009-06-01T21:45:00.008-05:00

As unbelievable as it might sound, I have come to a conclusion that I myself hate to make. I like Kobe Bryant more than I like Lebron James. It's not just that I respect him more, I actually like him more. By the way, the world "like" is used loosely here. Very, very loosely. But before you start searching for the video of Kobe elbowing Sasha Vujacic so you can send me it or making 4,124 rape jokes about Bryant to me, let me explain my case.

-Kobe doesn't put on that bullshit, and let me repeat that, bullshit, act of being loved by all and being everyone's best friend. Yeah, Kobe is terrible to his teammates on the floor. He bitches at them, sometimes physically abuses them and generally belittles and degrades them for 48 whole minutes. But he's forthright about it. With Kobe, what you see is what you get. You see a horrible teammate and person, and that's exactly what he is. Once in a while he'll try to cover up the true relationship between him and his teammates by telling you how he speaks Italian so Sasha Vujacic, but for the most part it's nothing compared to what Lebron does. Lebron puts on his whole humble, friendly guy-show but then tells us how if the Cavaliers could just clone him (second paragraph) they'd be fine. He refuses to throw Cleveland fans a bone and say that he's planning on staying in Cleveland so they can let out their collective breath before the summer of 2010. And my favorite, he says how he doesn't want to talk about himself before his MVP acceptance speech, and then goes on to talk about himself for 25-30 minutes. He acts like he's all for the team but when they lose he throws them under the bus, leaving them to face the wolves while he doesn't say a single word to the media.

-Lebron's whole "winner" complex or insecurity or whatever the hell you want to call it. It was honestly embarrassing that he walked off the court without so much as a congratulatory nod at any player on the Magic. No matter how many titles you've won, no matter how good you are, no self-respecting basketball player will ignore the other team after losing a series. Yes, Isiah Thomas and some of the Pistons walked off the court without shaking hands with the Bulls when they lost to them for the first time. Those Pistons were also hated by everyone outside of Detroit. I agree, Lebron is probably competitive. You think Kobe isn't competitive? What about Nash? Duncan? Nowitzki? Garnett? Every time I watch one of those guys lose a series, they're paying their respects to the victor, no matter how grudgingly it may be. The funny part is, Lebron actually hasn't won anything. He's got the same number of NBA Championships I do. In fact, he's won the same number of games in the NBA Finals that I have. So what gives him the right to bitch and moan and throw a tantrum akin to something you'd see from a five year old girl?

So even though this might have been an exaggeration (I don't think it's possible to actually "like" Kobe Bryant) I just wanted to get this off my chest. Lebron has an air of entitlement that puts me off, and his recent bitch-fit did so more than ever. Yeah, he's a great basketball player. Yeah, there's a good chance he'll go down as the best ever. No, that doesn't give him the right to act like a complete tool just because he lost a series. That Jordan fellow was supposed to be pretty competitive and I don't think he ever refused to congratulate the winning team he lost. Despite Lebron trying to convince us otherwise, Kobe Bryant is the most competitive man on the planet, and you bet your ass he'll be shaking hands with the other team after an elimination game, no matter how reluctantly. So Lebron, grow up. Stop acting like a petulant child. You haven't won anything. And even if/when you do, you don't have the right to act like you're above everyone else. Even if you may be. Don't make us root against you. I want to like you. I want to embrace the idea that there can actually be an NBA player who is loved by his teammates and his opponents alike and still manages to win. Don't ruin that for me. Don't ruin that for every single NBA fan who's going to get the chance to watch you play. And if you do, I hope you have to spend many more summers sitting on your ass while Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Yao Ming, Kevin Durant (Yes, Kevin Durant. OKC Thunder, your 2012 NBA Champions. Book it now) and every other NBA star you can think of is playing for a title. And now that I've actually published this, I'll probably start looking for a rock to live under until I can just die from the shame of saying what I just said.

How is Mike Brown Coach of the Year?

2009-05-27T17:58:00.004-05:00

Anyone else wondering how Mike Brown stole the coach of the year award? If you aren't, you probably haven't watched any of the Eastern Conference Finals this past week. Cleveland's coach has been thoroughly out-coached JVG's lesser brother SVG. Don't forget that Brown had more points in the COY voting than second place finisher Rick Adelman and third place finisher SVG combined. Sure, the Cavs were the best team in the regular season; however, that is because of the King and not because of Coach Brown's great schemes and motivation. Every Cavs possession it seems that they waste 15 or 16 seconds before giving Lebron the ball 25 feet from the basket. It is the coaches responsibility to make the team execute the offense, and this offense is an affront to basketball fans around the world.

A perfect example of Brown's ineptitude as a coach was the last minute of overtime in game 4 last night. With 6.4 seconds left in overtime and down 4 points, he called a timeout and stood in the huddle silently as an assistant coach drew up a play to give Lebron the chance to hit his ridiculous, falling-into-the-Magic-bench three pointer. I think drawing up a play in overtime with their team's playoff life on the line is part of the job description for any NBA coach, let alone the COY. Then, with 3.2 seconds to go and down 2, the Cavs have the ball under the basket, but... NO TIMEOUTS! Lebron's desperate, falling-left, half-court heave barely misses, and the Cavs are on the brink of elimination.

First, let me address the first issue. No head coach should defer to an assistant with the game on the line in the playoffs. Brown's forte might be defense, but even JVG (the greatest defensive coach in the history of the NBA) would take charge during a time out such as this one. It is completely unacceptable for a NBA Head Coach to defer to an assistant. If the owner wanted the assistant making big decisions, he would have hired him as head coach.

Cavaliers' Coach Mike Brown's "Maybe This Offense Doesn't Work" Face

Second, no timeouts? What? He had three timeouts for the entire overtime period, so he should have saved them for the last few possessions. (At the end of the game in the NBA, the ball is moved from the baseline to half-court when a timeout is called). If, anticipating the situation, Brown saves one timeout for the last possession, Lebron has time to get close enough to the basket to get a shot with a good chance to go in. Maybe if Brown saves a timeout, the Cavs are tied 2-2 and have home-court advantage. Timeouts and time management are two things the head coach has complete control over. He can't make shots or get stops, but he can give his players a chance to be great. Last night's overtime offers undeniable evidence of Mike Brown's coaching incompetence.

I am not the only one who doesn't think Brown is a good coach. Hell, he agrees. Brown says, "I don't feel like I'm a motivator." I agree. Brown says, "Offensively, the last three years, we weren't good mainly because of me." Once again, I agree. So Mike, what do you do for the Cavaliers? You are keeping the greatest player of our generation from winning a championship, and you are making a team that should be an exciting offensive team as boring as the San Antonio Spurs. This is unacceptable and doesn't warrant consideration for COY, let alone the award its self.

Every time the Cavs have a wasted possession, it gives Lebron a reason to head to NYC and Mike D'Antoni's free-flowing offensive machine. Mike Brown is the only reason Lebron might make the exodus from Cleveland (except the supposed $40 million bonus he will supposedly get for playing in NYC and his awful supporting cast). Anyone else up for the King trying his hand as player-coach? It might be the only way for Cleveland to beat the Magic.

Playoff Ramblings

2009-05-27T16:08:00.012-05:00

Just a quick thought before we get to the hard work. Lebron James is inhuman. That turnaround three was unbelievable and I honest-to-god believed that his half-court three was going in. He's just that good. If you had told me that he had made a 35 footer to win the game, I wouldn't have been surprised. Amazed? Of course. Surprised? No way in hell. Nothing with this guy surprises you anymore.

While we're on the topic of the unbelievable, Dwight Howard's sixth technical foul was a joke of a call and I'm glad that it was rescinded. For those of you who didn't catch it, Dwight made a great play, scored, and yelled. That's it. That's not a technical foul. That's a good player scoring and getting excited. The referees need to see reactions for what they are, let players be players, and loosen up a little bit. If Dwight had missed a possible Game 6 or 7 because of that technical, Orlando would have been up in flames. So yes, I agree that Dwight's technical should have been taken back by the league.

Magic-Cavaliers

-Every bad habit of the Cavaliers we thought had died is popping back up. I actually don't know any of their bad habits besides standing around and watching Lebron, but that's the one that keeps popping up. That's the reason they're down 3-1. And that's why they're going to lose this series. If Lebron James is averaging 42 points and 7 assists a game, there's no reason you should be losing a series. Unless those 42 points and 7 assists make up half of your overall points as a team. As great as he is, no one man can beat a team. And the Magic are team. A hell of a team actually. Sorry Lebron. We thought Mo was the answer. We were wrong.

-Dwight Howard is hitting his free throws. When Dwight came out and complained about not getting enough touches towards the ends of games, I laughed at him. I said that he has no reliable post moves and that teams could just foul him and waste possessions for the Magic. I was wrong. Last night he dominated the overtime, scoring 10 points and carrying the Magic to victory. He even made two clutch free throws to effectively end the game. Throw in his usual, award-winning defense and there's a good chance that we just saw the birth of a superstar last night. See, this is why I'm hoping that neither Lebron or Kobe make the Finals. I love one of them (not Kobe) and I think it would be a great matchup, but people need to realize that there are many, many phenomenal players in the NBA and that we shouldn't be putting all our eggs into one basket. Even if that basket is a 6'9", 270 pound man who can score like Jordan and pass like Magic.

-Rafer Alston is one win away from the NBA Finals. Let me repeat that. Rafer Alston. Our "beloved" Skip is on his way to playing for an NBA Championship. And he scored 26 points last night to actually help is team in a good way in an important game. Who would've thought, right? I don't know if we should be happy for him or bitter. I'm just going to settle for pleasantly perplexed.

-The Magic are better than the Cavaliers. Yes, yes I know, we're not allowed to say things like that. It's sacrilege or something of that nature. But it's true. They won two games by 40 points combined and lost by 4 during the regular season, and now could easily have just swept the Cavaliers. At first glance, making 17 threes last night seems like an anomaly. And yes, it's a lot. But when you dig a little deeper, you realize that that's the Orlando Magic. They shoot the ball and they shoot it damn well. When you factor in how open the threes were, 17 threes is almost a foregone conclusion. And it's not even Cleveland's fault. If they stay home on the shooters, they open the lane to the likes of Courtney Lee and especially Hedo Turkoglu with his constant driving, dishing, and scoring. Oh, and of course, that means they can't double-team this guy. Which, as we saw last night, probably isn't a good thing.

All things considered, I don't want to act like I saw this coming. I saw this coming after Game 1, but if you had told me a team would be up 3-1 in this series, I would not have guessed the Magic to be that team. Yes, that means I thought the Cavaliers were going to win. But, here we are. The King is about to be dethroned by a team without it's starting point guard, who also happens to be an All-Star. Just saying. Then again, being an All-Star doesn't seem to mean much in this series. Just ask him. Mo, just an idea here, but don't talk trash when you're on the Cavaliers and are not named Lebron. It just makes those 5-15 nights when you leave Lebron to fight a team all by himself that much worse for you.

Lakers-Nuggets

What's left to be said here? A lot actually. I don't really know why I said that. The Nuggets put on a valiant show in Game 4, beating the Lakers with defense, rebounding and some fire from J.R. Smith. But more on that later.

-Chris Andersen. That's it. If you saw the mini-documentary on him during the halftime show, you'd [hopefully] understand my man-crush on him a little better. When he said, "Look at me now," I teared up. Alright that's an exaggeration. But it was still a great video nonetheless. Billy put it up, take a look at it. I'd link you to it, but there's no way in hell I'm linking you to something Billy posted. Find it yourself.

-The Nuggets big men (Andersen, Nene, Martin) combined for 42 rebounds while Odom, Gasol and Bynum had 23 put together. In other words, the Nuggets wanted it and the boys in purple didn't. The Lakers had a 58-40 rebounding advantage and won the offensive board battle 20-9. The Lakers cannot allow that to happen again if they want to win this series. So, yeah, L.A., allow it to happen again.

-The Nuggets were able to win on a night when Kobe got his 34 and 'Melo was sick and injured. That means, like I've said before, that the Nuggets are the better team. They are deeper and have more weapons, which is why they won by 19 points with Carmelo struggling.

-A big reason for that was J.R. Smith. He did what we've expected him to do all series long. He came in, took a bunch of shots and changed the game. And, before we move on, I'd just like to point out something to you. "I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field." That was me. Yes, I was actually [half] right about something. I know, it was only in Game 4 and my percentages were way off. I'll take credit anyway. It'd be great if you threw me a bone and agreed with me. 24 points, 4 threes and 1 badass post-shot celebration for this man.

J.R. Smith (the shirtless one), tatted up and ready to go.

So that leaves us at 2-2, with a big game tonight. A huge game. Monumental. Birdman-hair sized. That was a recycled joke. I think the winner of Game 5 wins the series, so here's hoping that the Nuggets win.

A Nuggets win tonight is dependent on their defense, rebounding, hustle and Carmelo Anthony. If they outplay the Lakers on the defensive end like they did in Game 4 and have a normal game from Anthony, they have a great shot at winning tonight. As for the Lakers, they need to remember how to box out, grab rebounds and most importantly, want the game. They can't come out flat like they've been prone to doing, and even games like Game 4 when they play hard but not as hard as they could will kill them against a team like the Nuggets. Against the Rockets, unfortunately, no. But against the more talented, deeper and fiery Nuggets? Yes. It's going to be another fight akin to Games 1-3. Don't expect a blowout. Don't expect any niceties to be exchanged between the two sides. This isn't the Champion's League (I actually shouldn't have said that. I watched Barcelona vs. Manchester United and actually enjoyed all of it. It was exciting and a great change of pace from what I'm used to. I think I'm actually starting to like soccer). But still, I mean what I said. There'll be no love lost between these two teams. It's far too late for that. Now is when things get chippy, ugly and sometimes even downright dirty. That means no more tripping, Dahntay. I'm looking forward to another great game and hopefully the boys in baby blue can pull out the win. If not, I don't really mind. At least not as much as I did before. My respect for Bryant has actually grown a lot, and while I still can't stand him, the Lakers or their fans, I suppose I don't hate them as much. That being said, I still want my Carmelo-Dwight Finals and would love to see Sasha Vujacic trying to console a raging-mad Kobe Bryant after they fail to win the championship yet again. And you're welcome to go now, I'm pretty much done here.

Just as an aside, I ordered a Hedo Turkoglu and Carmelo Anthony t-shirt jersey today. They should be here in about a week. Yes, just in time for the Finals. I don't know where my loyalties will lie if they face each other for the NBA Championship, so I got both just in case. I'll probably do something like switch shirts at halftime, or cheer for the home team. But my strange man-love is a completely different path that we don't need to be taking right now. Happy Wednesday and enjoy Game 5.

Who is the Birdman?

2009-05-26T07:53:00.001-05:00

Nuggets-Lakers Game 3 Reaction: Anything You Can Do

2009-05-24T14:55:00.005-05:00

Kobe can do better. That was directed at you, Lebron. You gave us an amazing shot, Kobe gave us an amazing fourth quarter. I'm expecting something special from you tonight. And this is the part where I remember that I'm betting against Lebron and punch a wall a few times. By the way, since we're on the topic of my bet, I realized that it really is the definition of a win-win situation. I win the bet and I get 30 dollars, I "lose" the bet and I get to eat a whole box of Eggo cereal. Was that just me trying to rationalize a stupid bet after picking against Lebron James? You bet your ass it was.

Lakers-Nuggets

I don't want to be seen as someone who shies away from my mistakes, so let me be the first to say that I was wrong. I said that the Nuggets would win Game 3 and was wrong. I said that Carmelo would prove to us that he's on the same level as Kobe and Lebron (which he is, he just wasn't last night) and was wrong. And probably most importantly, I forgot that Kobe Bryant was on the Lakers, which wasn't just wrong but was flat-out stupid. And even though I mentioned it in the previous paragraph, I'm not buying into this supposed Kobe-Lebron duel with each trying to top the other's exploits. Yes, Kobe is aware of what Lebron is doing. So are about a billion other people. Yes, Kobe knows that somewhere along the line this year we all decided to move the title of "The Best Player In The World" off of him and on to Lebron. And yes, a small part of what Kobe did in Game 3 was probably a giant bitch-slap to every basketball fan's collective face after we idolized Lebron for 24 hours, but I believe that the main reason Kobe won the game was, well, because they needed to win the game. It's as simple as that. Kobe knew, like he's known so many times before, that the Lakers needed him to carry them to the finish line and he did just that. There was no "take that Lebron" or trying to outdo The King, there was just a cold-blooded killer breaking the hearts of 20,000 fans in a game his team had to have.

That being said, the Nuggets should have won this game. But instead we were treated to "Furious George Screws Up An Inbounds Play: The Sequel," which was quickly followed by Carmelo Anthony fouling out, effectively ending the game. I still think that the Nuggets are the better team in this series and that they should be up 3-0, but the Lakers have Kobe Bryant and it's starting to look more and more like that just might be enough. At least as long as the Nuggets keep making unintelligent plays down the stretch. And now, rather than going for the sweep on Monday night, the Nuggets will be fighting to stay in the series. It's funny how much one guy changes things. It's also funny how some people never learn.

Don't get me wrong, I believe the Nuggets have a great chance at winning the series, but thanks to two floating, careless passes it's going to be a lot, lot harder. Unnecessarily harder, which might be the worst part. So what do they do now? I would recommend finding a reliable player to pass the ball in. A half-decent sideline inbounds play wouldn't hurt either. After that, they continue to do what they've been doing. They're better than the Lakers, if they stay the course, the winning will come. If not tomorrow, in Game 5. But it will come. Carmelo won't disappear in the second half again like he did in Game 3, Kobe Bryant won't single-handedly win two games in a row (He's getting older and he's getting tired. In his post-game interview both of his hands were on his knees and he was panting more than he was speaking. 2006 Kobe would have never admitted he was drained, let alone show it to the world on national television. Like it or not, he doesn't have enough left in him to dominate every single night.) and the Nuggets won't lose two games in two tries at the Pepsi Center. Hopefully.

And just to clarify, "dominate" doesn't mean scoring 30 for Kobe. That' s nothing for him. Dominate means holding the ball at the end of games for 15-20 seconds per possession and either shooting or creating a shot every time the Lakers go down the floor. And he just can't do that every night anymore. Even after Game 3 he said that the reason the Lakers went to Pau two times on a row late in the game because he was too tired to carry them and needed a break.

Conference Finals Recaps: Four Games, Four Posessions

2009-05-23T14:17:00.010-05:00

Before we go any further, you need to see this. Not just the Lebron shot. We all know that he's not a human being. But the last two minutes as whole. Hedo hits a huge three and a twisting jumper in the lane that we would be talking about this morning if Lebron had never been born (granted, there would a lot less people saying "we are all witnesses" and other variations of the phrase). And after all of that, of course, you have one man breathing life back into 20,057 people at once in less than a second. Add that to the three tense games we've had before Game 2 and we're looking at one hell of a pair of series. And since I have nothing better to do with my time, why not look at both of them in a little more detail?

Western Conference Finals: Lakers-Nuggets

Even though Lebron is busy on the other side of the bracket with his usual ungodly work, this has been my favorite series of the playoffs so far. The frenetic pace, similar quality of the teams and the massive tattoo that is the Denver Nuggets are a few reasons why. Here's what we know after two games.

-Something, somewhere, somehow has clicked for Carmelo Anthony. I've said this before, but I just want to repeat it because I don't think people understand just how good he is. Watching him defend Bryant late in Game 2, his hand waving in Kobe's face, was something special. Yeah, Kobe hit a pull up three and a jumper to tie the game on two separate occasions with that hand waving in his face, but he's Kobe Bryant. You can say all you want about forcing him to his left and trying to make him settle for jump shots, but at the end of the day, he's going to make very, very tough, near impossible shots. That's why he's Kobe Bryant. But Carmelo's ball denial throughout the fourth quarter and especially on the last play of the game was spectacular. Anytime you can make Derek Fisher (and I don't care what the Lakers say about Kobe being a "decoy," we all know that that ball would have been in his hands if they could have gotten it to him) take the last shot of a game, you're in good shape. And I'm putting this up before any of you try to send this to me and try to convince me that Derek Fisher is a viable option in the clutch. That was a fantastic shot, but that was also five years ago. A lot has changed since then. Some things got better, Derek Fisher got worse. The point is, Carmelo has really come into his own in the playoffs this year, and we're finally getting to see it. His offensive game has always been unstoppable, and now that he's doing it on the defensive end as well as winning games, he's right up there with Lebron, Kobe and Wade.

-Chauncey's layup off a pass to himself off Kobe's back. Witty, savvy, intelligent, entertaining, creative, resourceful, brilliant. Just a few ways to describe it.

-The Denver Nuggets are a more talented team than the Los Angeles Lakers. Outside of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Nuggets are better at every position on the floor. Billups, Carmelo and Nene are better than their Lakers counterparts and the Nugget also have the deeper bench. The Lakers might be better coached, better led and an overall better team, but talent-wise the Nuggets are the winners. Of course, they've been talented for years. It's just that now they're finally living up to their potential.

-We're going to find out all we need to know about the Los Angeles Lakers from this series. If they want to beat the Nuggets, the Lakers are going to have to show up to every game and play tough, physical basketball, which are the two things they've been criticized for not doing consistently since last summer. If they do both of those in this series, there's no reason to think they won't in the Finals. Which, by the way, is where they'll be if they do. That combined with the Magic proving that the Cavaliers are still a part of the NBA and can lose to other NBA teams means that Kobe receiving the championship trophy while awkwardly interacting with his teammates and pretending to like them as they wonder why he's not yelling or scowling at them followed by a contrived Bryant speech about how he couldn't have done it by himself before he ignores his team for two months is becoming more and more likely. The only thing that could make this moment any better is if afterwords Sasha Vujacic tried to take the trophy from Bryant to hold, only to get a Kobe elbow to his mouth followed by a "The Only Reason I Talk To Any Of You Is Because I Haven't Found A Way To Clone Myself And Win The Championship By Going Kobe-On-Five" glare from Bryant. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm a little excited.

I'll write a little more after tonight's Game 3, but right now we're moving on to the second series.

Eastern Conference Finals: Magic-Cavaliers

In one of the most surprising games of the playoffs that in hindsight probably shouldn't have been that surprising, the Magic stole Game 1 from the Cavaliers. They tried to do the same in Game 2, but as you saw above, Lebron James had something to say about it. I've got a few incoherent thoughts about the series so far.

-The Magic are an excellent team, and them beating Cleveland is not as out of the question as we'd all like to think. They almost just beat Cleveland twice in two days at Quicken Loans Arena. To put that in perspective, Cleveland only lost twice at home all year, and one of those losses was a game in which Lorenzon Wright played 35 minutes. Don't ask who, it's not important. But listen to the following scenario without thinking about who the teams actually are and decide for yourself. During the regular season, Team A beats Team B twice at home, once by 11 and once by 29, and loses to Team B by 4 on the road. In their first game of the playoffs Team A comes back from a 15 point deficit to win on the road. In Game 2, Team A comes back from 23 down only to lose on a last second three point shot. If you didn't know that Team A was the Magic and Team B was the Cavaliers, who would you pick to win three out of the next five games in the series? It would have to be Team A right? Which brings me to my second point.

-Don't get too excited about the Magic. Even though could easily be up 2-0 right now, they could just as easily be down 2-0. And even though they came back from double digit deficits in both games, there's a reason they were down by so much. They are a streaky team. Any team whose offense is built around three point shooting and a center without any reliable low post moves is going to have stretches where it can't score. Any team led by Rafer Alston, and I know that this doesn't have to be said on a Rockets blog of all places, is going to have it's share of problems. The Magic were also one of the best road teams in the NBA this year and are not that much better at home than they are away from it. So before you jump onto the Magic bandwagon, remember that they still have this guy as their starting point guard.

On a semi-related note, I made a bet with a friend last night about the Magic-Cavaliers series. If the Cavaliers win I have to eat a full box of Eggo cereal with a jug of milk in one sitting. If they lose I get 30 dollars. It's a little lopsided, but so is the series. The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm a Magic fan for the next 3-5 games. So don't get confused if you see a little more fawning over Hedo Turkoglu than usual.

-The "momentum" of a playoff series isn't as big of a deal as people might make it out to be. The reason Lebron's shot was so huge was because it tied the series at 1-1 instead of sending the Cavaliers into Orlando down 0-2. Not because of the confidence or swagger or whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it it gave back to the Cavs. At the end of the day, a shot is a shot. The Magic had three losses at the buzzer before Game 2, so it obviously didn't have too adverse of an effect on them. And as for the momentum of the series being changed, momentum changes all the time. That's why it's momentum. It's fleeting. If the first play of the game is an entry pass to Dwight Howard followed by one of his thunderous dunks where he nearly throws the ball into the hoop or a Howard block on a Lebron drive that sends the ball into the fourth row, who has the momentum then? It's the fact that it won the game, not the momentum shift it may have caused, that makes Lebron's shot so amazing.

-The Cavaliers shouldn't be panicking. Should they be worried? Yes. But they should have been worried before the series started. The Magic were clearly the better team when they played in the regular season. Eight wins against mediocre teams that probably shouldn't have been in the playoffs doesn't change that. The Cavaliers weren't going to go 16-0 to win the championship, and it's better that their first loss came relatively early. They recovered, won their next game, and now have to win one on the road. It's as simple as that.

-"Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week...And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool." Damnit. But in all seriousness, I stand by that statement. Hopefully 'Melo does something tonight to make it look like I'm not a complete idiot.

What I'm trying to say in a very ineffective, inefficient and unneccessarily wordy way is that we have up to 10 more close games on our hands, and that's something any basketball fan should be anticipating. The first four games of the Conference Finals have been decided by four possessions, and that's truly special. So many little things can happen in a game like a shot rimming out, a missed free throw, a player stepping out of bounds, a bobbled pass, a bad call (a really bad call, an embarrassingly bad call, you get the idea), that it's rare to have so many games being so close. What's interesting is how important seemingly unimportant things become. For example, Dwight Howard went 4-8 from the free throw line in Game 2. If they had won you would look at the box score and think "So what? He's a terrible free throw shooter. It's expected." Now you look at it wonder what would have happened if he made two of those four that he missed. The beauty of these games is that Anthony Johnson missing a jumper in the second quarter becomes just as important as Lebron James making a three with one second left in the fourth, that Pau Gasol missing three free throws over the course of the game affects the game's outcome just as much as Derek Fisher missing the potentially game-tying three at the buzzer. Hopefully these four games are an indicator of what's yet to come in the Conference Finals, because I don't think anyone, regardless of who they support, would mind more games like the ones we've had. I just hope that Hedo recovers from his heartbreaking defeat at the hands of The King, that the Nuggets are able to push the Lakers and Kobe Bryant a little closer to an emotional breakdown tonight, and that we get as many of those Lebron-Kobe puppet commercials as possible.

A quick note on tonight's Game 3 of the Lakers-Nuggets series. I think the Nuggets are going to win tonight. The Lakers are hungover from a heartbreaking Game 2 loss and are probably scared for the first time in the playoffs, maybe even all year. The Nuggets are confident and are going back home where they haven't lost in something like 24 years (it's more like since mid-March, but it feels like a lot longer). I see another close, highly contested game with more continued brilliance from Carmelo and another victory for the Nuggets. And, by the way, we shouldn't have to say that about Carmelo anymore. He's on that level now with Kobe and Lebron where you don't have to mention that he's going to dominate because everyone already knows it.

Another "quick" note on Lebron's shot. What stood out the most was the reaction of the fans before and after the shot. It really is amazing how in a single second a single person can change the fortune of a team and by consequence an entire city. It was like those decades of suffering of Cleveland sports fans (the Indians haven't won a World Series since 1948, the Cavaliers have never won the championship, the Browns have never won the Super Bowl or even played in one) were erased with that single shot. After years and years of suffering, Cleveland invested everything it had left into an 18 year old kid from Akron and he has blessed them with his play ever since. I was reading a Sports Illustrated article and in it someone said that Lebron was "God's gift to Cleveland," and he proved it to us last night. In one arching, fading motion, Lebron carried the hopes, dreams and wishes of an entire city to a better place. Now that that's out of the way, I'll leave you with this. You know, just to clarify where my loyalties lie.

Why Mcgrady Has To Go (And Various Thoughts From The Conference Finals)

2009-05-21T22:34:00.013-05:00

I noticed a few things in Billy's article and in the Conference Finals that I'd like to share with you. One of them was his blatant misspelling of the word "bait" (he spelled it bate). Another was the comments about how Mcgrady can still help us. I love Mcgrady and argued for him all year until the microfracture surgery, but I don't think that he will ever suit up for us again.

First things first, I understand how good Mcgrady is. I remember that he average something like 24-7-7 during our winning streak last season, I remember his 40 in Game 6 of the Utah series. I also know that you don't go from scoring 40 in your last game of a season to averaging 15 a game the next season naturally, so obviously something was wrong this year. Ideally he has fixed whatever the problem was and will come back fully healthy, but his ability is not the problem anymore (and to be truthful, it never was, it was his commitment to working, but that's another story for another day). In fact, I'm almost sure he's going to go back to averaging 20 points a game, but that's not why he needs to leave our team.

Whether it's true or not, the seed has been planted in every Rocket's head that the team is better without Tracy Mcgrady. For the record, I don't think we are. Yes, we played better without him. We also had a healthy Artest and Battier as well as a newly unleashed Aaron Brooks. Don't forget that when you talk about how we "don't need" Mcgrady. But no matter what the truth is, the Rockets now think they don't need T-Mac. Yes, the Houston Rockets now believe we don't need our supposed savior, the man who was going to take us back to where the Dream took us, the man who "just sucked the gravity right out of the building." The man who beat the Spurs in the greatest comeback in NBA history. Now that we won a playoff series without Mcgrady, the doubt has been solidified. (In an unrelated note, the commercial for "The Hangover" just came on. There is absolutely nothing, and I will repeat, absolutely nothing, more bizarre than Mike Tyson singing "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.) But that's neither here nor there nor anywhere in the vicinity of either of those two places. The point is, Mcgrady will not be able to just walk into practice now that the Rockets "know" that we are better without him. That is the kind of mental damage that cannot be repaired. Bridges have been burned, and I believe it's time for both parties to move on. Not because it's the best option, but because we have to.

That being said, I would have advocated trading Mcgrady anyways. He is past his prime and his contract expires at the perfect time, as Billy just explained, which gives us a lot of options. Hopefully we can parlay (what a word) his contract into a star wing player and actually get somwhere next year. We'll keep you updated with news and our most likely worthless commentary on the matter as the offseason progresses.

And the Nuggets just beat the Lakers in Game 2. The series is tied at 1-1 with two games being decided by a combined 5 points. I'm going to put up a recap of the first two games of both this and the Cavaliers-Magic series on Saturday night, so I'll just make a few comments here.

-Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week. Yes, I know Kobe and Lebron have been playing, but the things Anthony has been doing are amazing. His offensive game is, since I really have no other word for it, perfect. He can score from inside, outside and everywhere in between. And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool.

-Chauncey Billups is missing free throws. It's probably nothing, but it's still something, if that makes sense. I don't like that he went 1-2 with 4 seconds left when making both of them would win the game. Things like that are what make good teams lose games they should win.

-J.R. Smith has been nonexistent. Actually, he's been existent, he's just been really, really bad. Horrendous even. Usualy out of control. Sometimes just stupid. He's been all of those things, but in all honesty, I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field.

-In Game 1, the Nuggets led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at the half, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In game 2, the Lakers led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at halftime, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In both games, Pau Gasol made more agonized faces than Yao Ming during an x-ray.

-The Magic are a very good basketball team. In case you missed Game 1, which you shouldn't have, I just want to tell you that it was not an anomaly. They won the way they usually do, Dwight dominating the paint, their shooters hitting 3s and Hedo "The Legend" Turkoglu running the show. And in all seriousness, "The Legend" should be Hedo's new nickname. He deserves it. Really. I'm dead serious. The point of this is that I think they will give the Cavaliers a fight, and while I still think Cleveland is going to win, (that Lebron fellow is not too shabby) I now think it's going to be in 7 games.

I'll post a deeper recap of what I saw in the first four games sometime Saturday, so that's another article for you to read. Or more realistically, another article for you to ignore. Happy Friday everyone.

Also, feel free to call out Billy about his Rockets Season Grades which were supposed to be "coming soon". If Mcgrady had the same work ethic as Billy there's no way he'd even be coming back next year, let alone returning to his pre-surgery form. Oh wait. Damnit. Forget I said anything.

T-Mac's Greatest Gift to the Rockets

2009-05-21T09:49:00.007-05:00

Its his contract. Tracy McGrady's expiring contract is the single most valuable trade asset in the NBA. I repeat, the Rockets have the most valuable asset in the league. Before you call me crazy for saying that an injured player making more than 20 million a year is more desirable trade bate than a healthy all-star, hear me out (and remember that Lebron, Kobe, etc. don't count since they will not be traded).

First, the summer of 2010 is the most anticipated free-agency period in the history of the NBA. Not only will Lebron James be a free-agent, but Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Shaq, Manu Ginobli, and Darko Milicic (just seeing if your paying attention) will be too. While some of these superstars will surely decide to stay with their current teams, there will be several that enter the market. Teams are trying as hard as they can to clear cap space if they think they have any chance to get one of these guys. Teams looking ahead to free-agency would love to acquire T-Mac's large, expiring contract. The teams I can think of off the top of my head that would do this are New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Dallas. (I'm sure there are others, please leave them in the comment section)

Second, the recession is hitting the NBA hard. Next year the salary cap will go down (this is extremely rare) because of the general money problems around the league. While the top teams still pull in the big bucks, the smaller markets are going to struggle. Penny pinching owners are going to try to get under the luxury tax and lower their bottom line. Bill Simmons wrote a great article about it (which you can find here http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090227). We can use Bill's list of teams in financial trouble: Indiana, Memphis, Milwaukee, Sacramento, New Jersey, New Orleans, Miami, Orlando, Minnesota, Charlotte and Philly.

Third, their are teams that might think that T-Mac could return from injury and help them. Hmmm... Off the top of my head I can think of one team stupid enough to do this: The Los Angeles Clippers and Mike Dunleavy.

All of the teams I mentioned would be interested in T-Mac, so I headed up to ESPN.com's excellent trade machine and put together a few trades. (Remember that a lot of the players mentioned would be involved for salary cap reasons, not necessarily
because of ability). Then I added the probability I believe the trade has (5/5 does not mean their is a 100% chance it happens, that isn't what I mean).

1.) New Jersey trades Vince Carter and Eduardo Najera for TMAC.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cz7ngx
A swap of the cousins. We get an underrated perimeter scorer who is more than just a dunker now. They get cap space. At the trade deadline this year, a lot of people were talking about this deal before T-Mac's knee surgery ended the talks. Now that his contract has only one year left, I think this deal could happen. Probability: 4/5

2.) Dallas trades Eric Dampier and Jason Terry for TMAC and Kyle Lowry
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=obv38b
I think Mark Cuban would love to make a big splash in free agency in 2010, so he would need to clear a lot of cap room since they were 36 million over the cap this season. Jason Terrry could start at point guard for us or come off the bench and provide a spark as he did in Dallas. He would give us an impressive offense with Brooks, Artest, Scola/Landry, and Yao. Dampier would provide insurance incase of another injury for Yao. The Mavs could use Lowry to help their point guard situation. However, I don't think this trade is very likely because Cuban isn't likely to make his team worse for a chance to get better (he thinks they can still win a championship). Probability: 1.5/5

3.)a. Indiana trades Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy for TMAC and Brent Barry
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=p76zxw
If Indiana is in dire financial straights, they might be willing to trade their two biggest contracts for cap room after next year. Troy Murphy is a good version of Brian Cook. He averaged 11.8 rpg and shot .450 from behind the arc. He could help spread the floor around Yao or help the team after Yao's next injury. Dunleavy has come into his own over the last two years and could be a good scorer off the bench for us. However, these are also their second and third best players, so it isn't that likely (unless the economy continues to drop). Probability: 1/5

OR

3.)b. Indiana trades Troy Murphy and TJ Ford for TMAC and Aaron Brooks
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qkz6qo
TJ Ford returns home. While Aaron Brooks played well in the playoffs, we need to remember that he had a 12.7 PER (Player Efficiency Rating) which is really bad. Also, he is too small to finish consistently and often throws the ball away after driving. He isn't a very pure point guard and his assist to turnover ratio was about 2:1, which is below average for a point. If TJ Ford could get over his injury issues, he could be very important to our team. Either him of Lowry could start, and we would have Troy Murphy. I think this is a lot more likely than the first trade because they get something of real value. Probability: 4/5

4.) Milwaukee trades Michael Redd and Charlie Bell for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qeudw5
Milwaukee is another team supposedly hurting financially, so they might be willing to trade for T-Mac. Michael Redd would give us a true SG who can shoot from anywhere. He would start for us, and either Ron-Ron or Shane could come off the bench. I really like this deal from our perspective because it gives us a lot of options for how we utilize our lineups. However, Milwaukee would lose their best player because of money, and I doubt they will do this. Probability: 1/5

5.) Phoenix trades Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudamire for TMAC, Aaron Brooks, and Carl Landry
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lv4qwk
The Suns owner was worth a lot of money on paper, but after the stock market tanked he lost most of it and needs to save money. Amare doesn't want to be in Phoenix anymore, but he is a top power forward and still young at only 26 years of age. He would give us the best front court in the NBA with Yao. The Suns would get a successor to Nash with Brooks and a poor man's Amare with Landry. I think this deal could happen because of the Suns need to save money. Probability: 4.5/5

6.) New Orleans trades Tyson Chandler and James Posey for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qqqykl
The Hornets were desperate to give up Tyson, so I'm sure they would be willing to deal him this summer. We would get Yao insurance with Chandler and another versatile wing defender/shooter in Posey. I think New Orleans' desperation makes this trade very likely. Probability: 4.5/5

7.) Orlando trades Rashard Lewis for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pgtb52
The Rockets would finally get Rashard after passing on him 3 times in the draft and he would get to come home. If Orlando is hurting because of the economy, they might do this trade. Hedo Turkoglu will opt out of his contract after this season, and he will be in for a big pay raise. Rashard already has a big contract, so the Magic might try to move it. He would be one more weapon we could add to our arsenal. If Orlando beats Cleveland, this trade has ZERO chance of happening, but if they lose, who knows what will happen. Probability: 1/5

8.) Charlotte trades Gerald Wallace, Vlad Radmonivic, and Nazr Mohammed for TMAC and Joey Dorsey
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oab2av
We would take on Vlad and Nazr's bad contracts, but we would get Gerald Wallace who is very good. He plays with a lot of intensity and drives to the basket as hard as anyone in the league. Ron and him would team up to be one of the most intimidating pair of forwards in the league. The key is that Adelman could be creative with how he uses our weapons (Ron at the 4?) and we could try to exploit match-ups. I think Charlotte would be willing to do this since they might believe that TMAC could help them sell tickets. Probability: 3/5

9.) Cleveland trades Lebron James and Boobie Gibson for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=q5su8n
I can dream can't I? Probability: 0

I just want to trade T-Mac because he is a cancer to the team and doesn't help on the court anymore. I'm sure Darryl "Dork Elvis" Morrey will make a good deal with Tracy. And, this doesn't mean we release Von or Ron, since they are indispensable parts of our team.

Just An Idea

2009-05-20T17:29:00.007-05:00

Since the offseason for the Rockets has officially began, I've been spending some time on ESPN.com's NBA Trade Machine. Billy sent me a few trades earlier, but I'll let him post them. I was thinking about trading Tracy Mcgrady and his expiring contract for Kevin Martin, Andres Nocioni and his contract that nobody wants to pay, and some other filler, such as Beno Udrih. We would include Brooks in this trade if we had to (just listen to me before getting out the pitchforks and torches).

Now we would let go of Ron Artest and resign Von Wafer while also signing Ramon Sessions. For those of you who don't know, Sessions averaged 12 assists a game last April until being banished to the bench this year. He had some moments of brilliance (find them yourself) when he received playing time, but for the majority of the year his minutes were thrown around. He is a true point guard who can drive and dish, or in other words, another Kyle Lowry. Now I know that right now you're thinking two thoughts: "Why would we want another point guard who does exactly what our current backup point guard does?" and "Why the hell would be replace our starter with a clone of our backup?" I have three reasons:

1) Yes, he does do what Kyle Lowry does, but the thing is, he's better at it
2) If one Lowry is this good, imagine how dangerous two could be.
3) As much as I love Aaron Brooks, he's not going to become a superstar. He's very good now, and he'll probably get a little more controlled with experience, but it's going to take a while. We don't have time to wait for him, because let's face it, Yao's feet aren't getting any younger.

Yeah, Sessions would be in a fight with Lowry for the starting spot, but a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Or any team, for that matter. And if we had any money leftover, we could always sign Big Baby. So here's our new lineup:

Starters
PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry
SG - Kevin Martin
SF - Shane Battier
PF - Luis Scola
C - Yao Ming

Bench
PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry/Beno Udrih
SG - Von Wafer
SF - Andres Nocioni
PF - Carl Landry
C - Chuck Hayes (or hopefully even Glen Davis)

Now how does that team not win the championship? Assuming we were able to get Davis, we would have 10 players who would have significant roles on most NBA teams, if not be starters. It'd be very difficult for all of it to happen, but just imagine if it did. On that note, I'll leave you to ponder our potential greatness and/or why I have nothing better to spend my time on than hypothetical situations for a team that's already done playing. And if you still want to, you're now welcome to round up the villagers and storm my house to commit whatever vicious crimes, misdeeds, and acts of violence that you so choose to.

Series/Season Recap: I'm Not Complaining

2009-05-19T16:47:00.012-05:00

Nor should I be. If there was one constant through all of the injuries, tough losses and elbows that made up our season and playoff run, it was the effort. There was never a night when you could say that the Rockets did not put in the most that they could. There were nights when you could say that our offense resembled a paraplegic trying to run a marathon (In other words, our efforts were futile. Also, yes, that was a cripple joke), there were nights when you could say that the only reason Ron Artest shot was to drive away every single fan and supporter he's ever had, there were nights when you could say that the Rockets were just not talented, athletic or big enough to win, but there were never, ever nights when you could say that we didn't play our hardest. And honestly, I don't care how bad a team does, ff they play with as much passion and pride as the Rockets did, I'll support them until the bitter, possibly embarrassing end. And I'm happy to say that that's exactly what I did. All the way up until the discouraging, 59 points-in-two-games end that we had at the hands of those damn Lakers. Which by the way is how I'm going to be referring to them for the rest of the playoffs. Those damn Lakers.

Series

In Game 7 and as a result in the entire series, the Lakers were the better team. Believe me, that wasn't easy to say. I spent a good 5 minutes typing, re-typing, wording and re-wording that sentence to find the least painful way to put it, and that was the best that I could come up with. The truth is that the Lakers have been better than Rockets all along, but there was no way in hell you were getting us to admit that while we were still playing them. Now that it's all over, I want to, no matter how grudingly it may be, congratulate the Lakers. In the NBA, upsets in the playoffs are hard to come by. In a seven game series, the team that deserves to win will usually win, and that's the way it should be. Despite all of their laziness, arrogance and downright hate-ability, the Lakers were the better team in this series. Now that that's out of the way, I'd also like to say that I've never seen a team with as poor a work ethic as the men in purple (hah), and I hope Denver hands their asses to them in the Western Conference Finals. If you think that's the Bitter Rockets Fan side of me speaking, you're damn right. As for Game 7, I think it's enough to say that I don't want to talk about it. I watched it, yelled at the television once in a while and ended up with my face in my hands wondering where we went wrong. The sad part is, I knew exactly where we went wrong. Our two best players were injured and we could not score the ball. And even though we faced obvious shortcomings and exceeded any reasonable expectations people might have had for us, the end of your season is always disappoiting. I know I said I didn't care what happened to the Rockets after Game 4, but the truth is I did. And no matter how stacked against you the odds are, losing the last game of the year always hurts. It hurts a little less because of what this team accomplished, but it hurts nonetheless. So what now? We take a few days to recover emotionally (done), analyze what happened (in progress), clean up our wounds and hope for next year. The problem is, that's what we do every year. And that's why a season in which we overachieve so much has to be put into context. Because as much as we want to say "If we pushed the best team in the Western Conference to seven games without our two best players" or "Imagine if we were just healthy for one year" we have to realize that that's what we say every year. What I'm trying to say is that before we start planning the 2010 championship parade, let's remember why we're sitting here reading/writing this instead of getting ready to play Denver. So mix little bit each of apprecation of a special season, understanding of what went wrong and cautious optimism and I think we'll be on the right track. Now about our season.

Season

For simplicity, I like to divide our season into three parts. First, there was the "We're Winning The Championship This Year Because Our Team Kicks Ass" section. That was followed by the "Oh We're F**ked" stretch, and then of course there was the season-ending "We Might Not Get That Far, But I Really, Really Like This Team" part.

Part One:

We started the year with the addition of Ron Artest and essentially Yao Ming to a 50-win team. In other words, the David Stern might as well have called of the season and handed us the trophy. There was no way Kobe, Scruffy and the rest of them were going to touch us. Our pre-season optimism soon faded away when we realized that Tracy Mcgrady was overweight and undermotivated (I know that's not a word), Ron Artest and Battier were injured, and that we just weren't winning that many games. Thus we entered phase two.

Part Two:

Tracy Mcgrady was playing every other game, Ron Artest wasn't sure when he was ever going to play and the Rockets looked lost. We didn't know what to do on offense, we weren't defending as well as we used to and we were looking at another disappoining season. Then Mcgrady announced that his season was over, meaning that our title hopes would be going to the same place the debris in his knee was: the toilet. On a side note, I don't think they actually discard of the waste from surgeries in the toilet that doesn't seem sanitary. Mcgrady's injury pushed us into the third and final division of our season.

Part Three:

Just when things were looking worse than Tracy Mcgrady's back/knee/shoulder/desire to actually be a winning NBA player, something clicked for the Rockets. In case you're wondering, that something was approximately 7'6" and had unworldly basketball talent. We started focusing on defense and running the offense through Yao. We traded Rafer Alston and handed the reigns over to Aaron Brooks and we were there. Suddenly we were kicking asses and taking names. But were mostly just winning basketball games. The city of Houston fell in love with these lovable overachievers and we won our first playoff series since the Dream was shakin'. And even though our season ended 7 games and one hairline fracture later, there isn't anybody who can honestly say they aren't proud of the way the Rockets carried themselves, stuck together and found a way to win this year.

Next Season

And as for next year, of course I'm excited. A new season, a new 82 games, a new playoff run, it's impossible not to be. But I'm also aware. Aware that we have suffered a major injury every single year since 2004. Aware of how dangerous it is to get too hopeful about this current Rockets team. Aware of how many times I've been let down before. Ideally, we find a way to get rid of Mcgrady for a star (Kevin Martin, anyone?), keep Artest and KEEP VON WAFER. But that's a topic for another day, and one that will surely be addressed on this very blog as the offseason continues. In the meantime, I'm sticking with the controlled optimism and hoping that we can find a way to put it together next year. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how many times we've said it before, one simple statement still holds true: If we were completely healthy for just one year, there's no way we wouldn't win the championship. On that note, I'm done talking about the Rockets. At least for the next hour to hour-and-a-half.

(Our) Future

As for the rest of the playoffs and, more importantly, the future of Bring Back Novak, the tea leaves look good. We're hoping to keep running throughout the offseason and into next season, so don't forget to keep checking. Visiting hourly would be ideal, but we're just as happy with daily or even weekly. We're going to try our best to keep you updated on the Rockets actions/inactions during the summer and what we think about what they are doing/not doing/should be doing, but we're also going to expand to cover the whole NBA for the rest of the playoffs. As soon as playoffs are over we're going to go back to mostly being exclusively for the Rockets, but as of now we're a blog about everything NBA-related. Starting tonight. With the Western Conference Finals.

Nuggets-Lakers

Just to quickly preview the Lakers-Nuggets series, I want to say a few things about the Nuggets. If there's one team more inspirational than the Rockets, it's the guys the Lakers are about to be playing. They've overcome testicular cancer, drug suspension, a lack of mental stability, an angry coach and a major mid-season trade to become, in my opinion, the best team in the Western Conference. To put that in perspective, that's like if Lance Armstrong, Robert Downey Jr. and Mariah Carey combined all their problems into one person and still got over them. Also, is there any backup combination more badass than Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith? I'm excited to watch these guys for another possible 14 games, and am going to be pulling for them. Not just because they are playing the Lakers and not just because their tattoo total is far and away the most in the NBA, but because if anyone can appreciate a team fighting through obstacles it's a Rockets fan. So, as usual, I've got two words for you. They're not nearly as heartfelt, permanent or important to me as the other two, but they still stand for a sentiment that I hope you share with me. At least for the next 1-3 weeks. Go Nuggets

Heart of a Champion

2009-05-18T23:55:00.002-05:00

That would not be a good way to describe my work ethic. The Game 7 and season recaps will be up soon. Just give me some time to overcome my depression.

Joey Crawford

2009-05-17T17:35:00.002-05:00

After watching today's game, I have decided that Joey Crawford is the reason we lost. He screwed the Rockets and gave the game to the Lakers from the first play. He made us shoot 5-20 from the 3pt line and he made us turn the ball over 15 times. We would have won this game had it not been for the officiating of Joey Crawford. Actually, we shouldn't put to much blame on Joey, since David Stern was the one who ordered this result. Its all a conspiracy to get the Lakers into the Finals.

Ok, seriously this game was over from the beginning. I felt like we had lost as soon as they took an eight point lead. However, I'm not going to dwell on the game since this team went further than we could have expected from them after the loss of Yao. It was a fun series, and we should look forward to next year's run. This was my favorite Rockets team in a long time, and it was great how they fought back against adversity.

Game 7 Preview: Impossible is Nothing

2009-05-17T12:38:00.002-05:00

Look, there isn't much I can write about this afternoon's game. We've analyzed every part of the series that can be analyzed and now its time to see what happens. If we get good performances from our players, we win; if we don't, we lose. It is down to one, single-elimination game (who says the NCAA Tournament is more exciting than this?). We lost by 40 last time at Staples, but I wouldn't count us out for this game. A good start is vital for the Rockets today, and, hopefully, a good start will dishearten the Lakers and they will give up. Its happened before, it can happen again.

Today's ref is Joey Crawford. In case you don't know, Joey Crawford is the single worst official in the history of the NBA. I would prefer to have Tim Donaghy officiating today's game. Most likely, I will write a post about his horrendous officiating tomorrow. However, we can hope that his terrible calls will go against the Lakers.

If we lose today I will still be proud of the Rockets, but we should not be satisfied with going to a game 7, we should win. We will have a live blog going today.

We've eliminated this team before:

Game 7 Preview: Give 'Em Hell

2009-05-16T18:20:00.009-05:00

That's all I'm ask of the Rockets tomorrow afternoon. Expecting a win might be pushing it and I am not going to risk tempting fate, so I'll settle for one simple request: give them a fight. A drawn out, exhausting, grind-it-out fight. Make them understand that we're not going to just go away. Let them know that we haven't gone through all kinds of bullshit, because that's the only way to describe what we've been through this year, so that we could fall flat on our faces against them. Show them that not everyone is going to politely step out of their way and watch while the NBA hands them the championship. Hit them first, hit them hard, and hit them again. And again. And again and again and again. And if they're able to take our best shot and move on, they deserve. If not, and we've seen that they can't, well have something special to talk about come Monday. With that out of the way, the most important Rockets game of the century is Sunday afternoon.

The Good

-The Rockets are confident. After a game like Game 5, that is huge. You can't let the memory something like that linger, and winning Game 6 took care of that for us. Now, we know that we can beat the Lakers, and we know that we can beat them at home. And we know that if Derek Fisher had played in Game 3 there's a good chance that this series would already be over.

-The Lakers are finally starting to doubt themselves. Even after blowing out the Rockets by 40 they found a way to lose by double digits two nights later. They're starting to understand that the Rockets are beating them because we are a good team, not because they are choosing not to try on certain nights, and it's starting to show. During a timeout in Game 6 Kobe grabbed Gasol's head and ruffled his hair while pushing his head down at the same time. I know what you're thinking: "That would never happen! I just watched 'Kobe Doin' Work' and he seems like a wonderful teammate. A real quality human being. He would never do something like that!" No. Not at all. Spike Lee just wants Kobe to Spike his Lee.

-We have nothing to lose. If we lose the game, we still won more games than anyone thought we would. We still already got out of the first round of the playoffs. We still showed the world how much of a little girl Kobe Bryant is. We can play freely, and that's always a good thing. The Lakers, on the other hand, are on the verge of crumbling under the weight of their own expectations, the expectations of the rest of the world and the fear the Kobe is going to put a brown bag over his head, go on a killing spree throught downtown Los Angeles and then kidnap Sasha Vujacic, leading to a King-Kong like showdown in which Kobe dangles Sasha off the roof of Staples Center while screaming at police to "Do it. Just do it." When you're playing a team that nobody expects you to lose to but that has already beaten you three times in the past two weeks, you're setting yourself up for trouble.

The Bad

-Joey Crawford is the head referee for game 7. Yes, the same Joey Crawford who asked Tim Duncan, Tim "I love everyone in the whole wide world" Duncan, if he wanted to fight. In other words, the NBA just told the entire greater Houston area to light itself on fire.

-The last time we played the Lakers in Los Angeles, we lost by 40. And even though it's not going to happen in Game 7, the point is that they were able to do it once, which means that they have the potential to do it again.

-Kobe Bryant is going to be mad. Which is bad for us, his teammates, and any unsuspecting girl within 3 miles of Los Angeles. This doesn't need any further explanation, we all know what Kobe can do. Let's just hope he doesn't do it.

The Ugly

Any game that has the possibility of making Yao this sad is a game I don't want to see

What Has To Happen

-Scola and Landry need to show up. Not just one of them, not just the other. Both of them need to play like they did in Game 6 for the Rockets to win. In a related sidenote, a nickname for Landry and Scola is in order. I tried to think of a few but I kept going back to "Two Forwards One Trophy," and that was disgusting.

-Ron Artest needs to realize that the Rockets are a better team when he's actually, you know, being a part of the team. And that means not dribbling the ball for 11 seconds and then taking a shot that actually could only be harder if he was trying to make the face that Yao is making above while shooting the ball.

-Aaron Brooks has to be aggressive. Like it or not, he's the best offensive player on our team when he's going. Yes, the best scorer on the Rockets is a 5-11, 160 pound, second year player who wears red suits and bowties to postgame press conferences. Things like this are why even playing in a Game 7 against the Lakers is an accomplishment.

The Point

This is it. A season's worth of injuries, trials, and unexpected wins comes down to one final game in Los Angeles. I know I said I don't care about whether or not we win another game after Game 4, but I lied. I want to win this game. Not just because I love the Rockets, not just because I never want to see Kobe Bryant win another NBA Championship, but because of how special it would be if the Rockets won Game 7. The Rockets and Lakers are mirror images of each other. For everything that's wrong with them, something is right with us. We suffer through injuries and losses every year while they get Pau Gasol handed to them halfway through the season. We play hard every single night in order to have a chance at winning, they coast through half of their games and take their talent for granted. Our fans actually know who's on our team, the fans at Staples Center wonder why stuff like this keeps happening. Our point guards are real NBA players, they have Derek Fisher and Frodo. What I'm trying to say is that I want to win Game 7 because we deserve it. Because if there's one team that should beat the Lakers, it's us. Because after going through the usual injuries and surgeries, we decided not to just let our season die. Because we kept fighting when, in all honesty, we should have stopped. Which is why, before the usual two, I've got three words for you. Give them hell. And of course, right now more than ever before: Go Rockets.

Now Open: The Official Bring Back Novak Store

2009-05-16T17:31:00.003-05:00

Buy all your favorite Novak themed apparel at the new Bring Back Novak store. We will be adding new products often, so remember to check it out.

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Ron Artest Mohawk

2009-05-16T15:40:00.003-05:00

I am planning on getting a mohawk just like Ron-Ron (including the Rockets logo). If anyone knows where I can get one, please post it in the comments.

Game 6 Grades

2009-05-15T15:23:00.003-05:00

Here is the second edition of post-game grades for the Rockets.

Aaron Brooks A : He was great as a scorer once again, and I feel like he has really responded well to the playoffs and Yao's injury specifically. This would be an A+, but he did have 4 turnovers. I feel like our turnovers have been a crucial aspect of each game, and no one has picked up on it yet. Overall, this was a spectacular game for Brooks.

Shane Battier B+ : Yeah, he was only 2-8, but any offense you get from him is acceptable. The important thing was his defense on Kobe (11-27). At the same time however, Kobe got to the line 10 times and has gotten in the paint more consistently in the past few games. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, he has started taking it to the hole where he is effective. Shane has done a good job, but we need him to show up big on sunday.

Ron Artest C: 3 turnovers and only 6-17 from the field (does he take 17 shots every game? I feel like he does). Ron was not that good but will need to be if we want to win this game 7.

Luis Scola A+ : He was phenomenal. I have been hard on him all series because the Lakers' length has bothered him and he has played bad, but last night he played like Round 1 Scola. If he plays well again on Sunday, we will win this series. Again, we will win this series.

Chuck Hayes A : He shot 100% (ok only 1-1), and stayed out of foul trouble. It is hard to see his value to this team in the box score, but you can see his effect in the final score. We lost Game 5 when he was in foul trouble and Cook played. We dominated Games 4 and 6 when he was on the court. An added bonus of his play is that we don't have to see Cook disgrace the game of basketball.

Carl Landry A+ : Another great performance for Landry. He was slamming down dunks and finishing all around the basket. He has been an integral part of our success this series. Just like Chuckwagon, he shot 100% (however, this was on 6 shots), and combined with Scola to score 39 points from the power forward position.

Kyle Lowry C+ : I think this is Adelman's fault, not Lowry's. He cannot play well with Aaron Brooks. They don't complement each other well, and the offense comes to a screeching halt when they play together. Alone, they are effective, but together, they suck.

Von Wafer A : His exile continues. Von did all he could during his brief 5 minutes of playing time, hitting a three and a mid-range jumper. If Adelman continues to let his grudge against Wafer get in the way of playing him, he will leave as a free agent. On a night when Shane and Ron's shots were off, we needed his sweet stroke. We got lucky that Carl, Luis, and Aaron played so well.

Rick Adelman A- : Aside from the two point guard scheme and not playing Von Wafer, I think Adelman coached well last night. He is a calming influence on the team.

Game 6 Recap: Stunned?

2009-05-14T23:40:00.022-05:00

Not me. I'm pleasantly surprised, but not stunned. You can never be stunned with these guys. When I say stunned I'm referring to the Lakers. And the media. And the rest of the world for that matter. But especially the Lakers. That means you Kobe. He'll bitch a little about the refereeing, yell at his teammates, sulk to the media, but the reality is that he didn't think this would happen again. One more time, him and the rest of the light bulbs (they turn it on and off, it's a pun) underestimated the Rockets and ended up getting embarrassed, smacked around and most importantly, beaten. And you can bet your ass that they're stunned.

The Good

-We won. They lost. Our season continues. The beat goes on. The wheels keep turning. No matter how many different ways there are to say it, the point is simple. We get to play one more game in the playoffs. And that's a good thing.

-Luis Scola finally showed up. As happy as I am about this, I'm still wondering why it took so long to finally happen. If you get drafted because you play a certain way, become a starter on a playoff team because you play a certain way and your team wins a playoff series because you play a certain way, why would you ever, ever stop playing that way? I'm going to include that Carl Landry also played a great game in here because they are inseparable in my mind. They're like Pinky and the Brain. Rob and Big. Starsky and Hutch. Kobe and absolutely nobody .

-The Rockets defense had another amazing night. Kobe took 27 shots and made 11 of them, which means we did very, very well. Battier played his usual defense on Kobe, Artest guarded him with his usual whatever-the-hell-Artest-does-things-with and Kobe looked mad all night long. I understand that he has a natural anger to him, but it looked a little worse yesterday. Or at least that's what I'd like to think.

The Bad

-The last time we had an inspiring, unexpected win at home, we lost the next game by 40. Because at the end of the day, when both teams put in the same amount of effort for all 48 minutes, the Lakers are a whole lot better than us. So we're hoping they don't come out as ticked off as they were in Game 5. Which, for the record, I don't think they will. Game 5 is not something that happens twice in a year, let alone in a week.

-Kobe is playing much more aggressively and is having an easier time getting to the basket. Without China's most talented 90 inches in the lane to stop him, Kobe was able to get to the basket and to the free throw line. This can't happen if we want to have a shot at Game 7.

-We let the Lakers back into the game in the third quarter. Unlike in Game 4, we allowed Los Angeles to get within striking distance after building a huge lead. It didn't hurt us last night, but runs like that are killer in close games on the road. Which, by the way, is what we're going to be playing in on Sunday.

We had a few more nits I could pick on, but at the end of the day, we won the game. And for the most part, we won it in dominating fashion, so I don't see the need to harp on what we did wrong for too long.

The Ugly

Billy told me not to use the blind people jokes anymore, so I'm boycotting this section for a little while. If it means anything, I would have used this picture and the caption would have read "Apologies to Jordan Farmar for leaving him out of yesterday's 'Clash of the Cochleas' between DJ Mbenga and Brian Cook.

What Happened

-For the third game in a row, the Lakers did not have an answer for Aaron Brooks. For the second time in those three games, the Rockets found a way to use that to our advantage. Brooks had 26 points, got to any spot on the floor at will and pushed Derek Fisher one step closer to finally giving up and retiring.

-The Rockets attacked the Lakers early and the Lakers collapsed. Sure, they made a half-hearted run in the third quarter, but for most of the game the Rockets did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We played with more intensity and aggression, and we all know what the Lakers do when teams play them tough. They lose, in case you didn't

-Odom, Bynum and Gasol were outplayed. The rest of the the Lakers bench (besides Farmar) played poorly. Derek Fisher just played. All of these combined turned the Lakers into the Stand Around and Watch Kobe-ers, and with Kobe having an off night, that wasn't going to cut it. Not against the Rockets.

The Point

Another game, another win, another one-sided fight. And we fough. All night long. Because that's what we do. Because that's who we are. A bunch of fighters. A bunch of scrappers. A bunch of tooth and nail, never-give-an-inch players who will take every punch and throw one right back. A bunch of guys who are just too stubborn to understand that this series is supposed to be over and that the Lakers are supposed to be waiting for the next round to start. For at least one more game, a bunch of winners. It defies all logic, and that's what makes it so beautiful. Nobody understands how the Rockets can ever be better than the Lakers when then Lakers are, for lack of any other way of saying it, much, much better than the Rockets. We try to analyze the games, the reasons we keep winning, what the Lakers could possibly be doing wrong and we all arrive at the same conclusion. It just doesn't make sense. And that's when you get to the point where all you can do is look at this team, throw your hands up in confusion and smile. The point at which you sit back, enjoy the ride and hope that it never ends. The point I've reached with the Rockets.

Game 6 Live Blog Tonight (8:15 PM)

2009-05-14T20:35:00.002-05:00

Rockets vs. Lakers: Game 6

Game 6 Preview: Nothing

2009-05-14T17:41:00.019-05:00

Nothing needs to be said about this game. We all know the implications. We all know what's on the line. We all know how much this means to the Lakers, and we know how much more it means to us. We all understand what winning this game, and, unfortunately, what losing it would mean. We all understand what everyone thinks our chances are, we also understand that our actual chances are much better than that. We all want to win tonight. We all want to play one more game. We all want this miraculous, odds-defying, counterintuitive, sometimes even confusing and undeniably special run to continue. And that alone is saying enough about Game 6. But we have a few hours until 8:30, so I'm going to say more. A lot more. A hell of a lot more. Because we have a game tonight. Which also means we have a game to preview. To rephrase. We have an elimination game to preview.

The Good

-It can't get much worse than it did on Tuesday night. It might come close. In fact, it might get pretty damn close, but it won't be worse. And that's always something to take solace in. Because if things aren't getting worse, that usually means they're getting better. We will not have another performance like that on the defensive end. Our defense on Tueday night had more holes than Magic Johnson has white blood cells. Which isn't really saying much, but still. And yes, that was another HIV joke. Our offense, as problematic as it is, will improve. Even though we have our fair share of struggles scoring the ball, we'll shoot better than 5-29 from three, which should automatically improve our scoring.

-We're at home. Which, despite what you say about the Staples Center crowd, (they're dead, it's like there's nobody even at the game, I don't think they actually want to be here but it's an easy way to get on TV, Jack Nicholson has looked over at that 25 year old woman for the third time in 2 minutes and it's starting to make me uncomfortable, things like that) playing at home is always better than playing on the road. Playing at home means it's easier to work up that frantic energy that we are going to need to beat the Lakers, and that's a plus.

-The Lakers still have no answer for Aaron Brooks. He had a tougher time on Tuesday because of Gasol and Bynum clogging the lane, but in the second half he looked more like his usual, speedy, wind-up car self. The Lakers, and every other NBA team for that matter, have nobody quick enough to stay in front of him. When the other team has nobody that can guard you, that's usually a good thing for your team. What's not good for your team is when you decide to tell the oher team that they can't guard you again and again and again and again. I'm talking to you here Kobe. Enough with the "You can't stop me" stuff with Shane. We know you're good, but you also have the most unfairly talented team in the NBA behind you and are still struggling to beat a depleted, significantly less-gifted Rockets team.

-The worst, worst, worst case scenario is that we lose tonight. Which, like anything else, has a good side to it. Losing means less of Odom's nose, less of Vujacic's hair, less of the massive Pubic-Hair Beard/Fungus known as Pau Gasol (which I've actually come to enjoy), less of Andrew Bynum's towel waving (I can still make fun of him all I want. All he did in Game 5 was realize that since he is an NBA player who also happens to be taller than everyone else on the court, he should actually have a positive impact on the game) and less of Sasha and Shannon's Fellowship of Female Athletes, also known as the Lakers' bench. And no more Lakers means no more Kobe. Which means the female population of Houston can stop holding their collective breath. In case this needs clarifying, that was a reference to his sexual assualt case. As you can see, I'm pulling out all the stops tonight. It might be another five months before I can make these jokes again.

Side note: This has nothing to do with anything, but that new Jack in the Box commercial just came on. It's the commercial in which the guy asks for 99 tacos for two cents, and I have one question: is there any way this guy isn't a stoner? He sees a little pixie-version of Jack who he talks to, laughs like he's been hit in the head with an elbow from Kobe, and can't read the damn sign in the drive-through line. Which makes you wonder if Jack in the Box really had no other good ideas for a commercial besides a clip of a man in a car pretending to be under the influence that probably took 15 minutes to write, direct, film, produce and whatever the hell else they do to movies. But that's neither here nor there, so I'll stop now.

The Bad

-In case anyone needs to review, we lost by 40 the last time we played these guys. Which means that on some nights, they can be a lot better than us. A whole lot better than us. They dismantled us once, which means there's the chance they can do it again. In other words, the Lakers are still a very, very dangerous basketball team.

-Who knows what kind of psychological effects Game 5 had on the Rockets. I'm mentally scarred myself and all I did was watch the game, so I don't even want to think about how the players feel. Losing like that can be deflating. It can be will-breaking. In can be spirit-crushing. It can be a lot other things that involve some combination of a synonym for hope, a dash, and synonym for destroying.

-Ron Artest has had two "Hey, Yao, Mcgrady and I are the three best players on this team. Mcgrady is out, and now Yao is out. Which means...I'm the best player we have left?" games in a row, which is a bad sign. He needs to understand that we need him to play within the offense and maintain the flow of the game for us to have a chance.

-There's a small chance that Brian Cook might actually touch the floor. Which should never be possible in an NBA basketball game. Unless DJ Mbenga is also playing.

The Ugly

A battle between DJ Mbenga's (L) and Brian Cook's (R) ears would be a treat for NBA fans all over the world, but punishment for anyone with vision. Things just keep getting better and better for those damn blind people.

What Has to Happen

-This may seem like I'm taking the easy way out, but the Rockets' offense needs to show up. As I've said on multiple occasions before, our offense is our "go-to-guy" in the attempt at pregnancy that is a basketball game. So the Little Rocket (I like this one) needs to come up big.

-Aaron Brooks needs to be on fire from the beginning. And Luis Scola needs to play like he played from November-April, not like he has in the playoffs. Brooks needs to continue to get in the paint and run circles around the Lakers' big men and Scola needs to start shooting his midrange jumper before I start to shoot it for him. I'm not sure what that threat exactly meant, but it sounded manly and I just went with it. But for us to have a shot tonight, both Scola and Brooks need to have big games.

-The energy that has become as much a part of the Rockets' game as anything has to be present from the very beginning. Somehow, some way, the Rockets need to get motivated for Game 6, and that means forgetting about Game 5. In order for us to play our best tonight, we are going to have to move past Tuesday night. Once we get it out of our heads, we should be able to play the hustling, disrupting, frustrating defense that we're used to playing, and that effort should carry over to the offensive end.

The Point

We win tonight, we get another chance. We lose, our offseason begins. It doesn't get any simpler than that. And if nothing else, I want the Rockets to win so that I don't have to sit around for another month watching other teams play basketball. But there's plenty else. For starters, I really don't like the Lakers. If they're going to win, I want us to make sure we make it as hard as we can on them. And of course, I really, really like the Rockets. More than I dislike the Lakers. And even though it happens for 29 out of the NBA's 30 teams, watching your season end on a loss is always painful. You dwell on it, wonder what could have changed, and in our case, wonder why injuries always strike us at the worst possible time. And I would like to postpone that feeling for as long as I possibly can. On a lighter note, nothing is more exciting than an underdog beating a heavy favorite multiple times. If it happens once, it's a wake up call for the favorite. If it happens twice, the favorite has some concentration issues. If it happens three times, maybe the underdog isn't as much of an underdog as we all thought. I want nothing more than for us to push the Lakers one more time, to make them question their team, coaching, and heart once again. To leave the rest of the world asking each other what the hell just happened. To make me proud to love this team, even if it's for the last time this year. Now that that's all out of the way, I'll leave you with this. It's not much. It's actually just two words. But those two words can be oh-so powerful when you realize how much thought, emotion, influence, and meaning they have. When you realize that 18,000 people are going to be saying those words with you tonight. When you realize that deep down, there's no better, simpler way to explain how you feel. You probably already know what those two words are, which means you probably already know that I'm going to say them anyway. Go Rockets

Game 6 Live Blog Tonight (8:15 PM)

2009-05-14T16:40:00.002-05:00

Ron Artest: Tru Warrior

2009-05-13T22:00:00.002-05:00

Before we got Ron Artest, I used to laugh about him asking for time off to promote his rap album. But now, Im a huge fan. Here are some of his greatest hits followed up with Kobe's feeble attempt to rap. (Explicit)

Game 5 Recap: Floored

2009-05-13T11:51:00.008-05:00

There are some losses that should be talked about. There are some losses that can even help a team. You analyze them, see what you did wrong, make the necessary adjustments and come out better than before. Game 5 was not one of them. Game 5 was what happens when a more talented team that has underachieved for the length of the series plays up to their potential against a team that has been exceeding expectations for the better part of a year and finally slips up. The result was a massacre. A brutal, embarrassing, ruthless slaughter of the Houston Rockets at the hands of the Lakers. And quite frankly, I don't want to talk about it. To put it simply, the Lakers played the way people have wanted them to play all year, and the Rockets played the way our talent says we should. All year we have done more with less, and Tuesday night in Los Angeles we just couldn't keep it up. This is not a knock on the Rockets. We have done more than anyone not living in Houston even dreamed we could, and I'm proud that we were able to maintain it for so long. But the fact of the matter is, if you take the best two players of any team in the NBA they are going to suffer. It may not be immediately, but at some point in time, the team is going to struggle. Take Kobe and Gasol off the Lakers, they don't make the playoffs. Remove Pierce and Garnett from the Celtics, they lose to the Bulls in the first round. Take Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups off the Nuggets and you have another lottery-bound team. Take Lebron and his chalk off the Cavaliers and they probably don't even win 20 games. The point I'm trying to make here is that as Rockets fans, we should have seen this coming. Don't let Billy or anyone else tell you otherwise. A game like this was to be expected. When you don't have a go to player on offense, there will be nights when you struggle to score. When you play a ticked off, almost-unfairly talented team on that same night, 118-78 happens.

And I know it may not seem like it, but nothing in my recent memory has hurt more than typing that score, than watching that game. Nothing is more painful than watching your team get the life sucked out of it and hardly putting up a fight, but not because they don't want to, because they just can't. The Rockets as a team were dead by the end of the second quarter on Tuesday night. The effort and energy we put into each minute of every game finally caught up to us, and it was evident from the way we played. What resulted was something that I'm going to remember for a long, long time. It takes a lot for a game to make me feel the way I did after Game 7 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs, but Game 5 was able to take me back there. Seeing my team get beaten senseless, its face shoved into the dirt repeatedly with its opponent only stopping to gloat was able to take me back to that abyss, that continuous blackness, that feeling of sickness, hopelessness and utter depression all rolled into one, and I hated every moment of it. But deep down, I knew that I should have seen this coming. Which is why I have nothing to say about Tuesday night. I've said before on this very blog that no matter what happens from now until the end of the postseason, I'm proud of the Rockets for all we've been able to do with seemingly every break (a bad pun, I know) going against us. And that's not just this year, but last year. And the year before. And not the year before that, because we admittedly choked away the Dallas series, (with the help of some poor, poor refereeing. Enjoy your prison cell Donaghy) but the year before that as well.

But the point of all of this is that I'm not going to talk about what happened last night. I'm going to focus on another game against the same team tomorrow night, when we get another shot and the golden boys (get it? it's funny beacuse they actually wear gold) of the NBA. Tthat's the beauty of the playoffs. You're down one second and given new life in the next. And that's exactly how it should be. But back on topic, the question on our hands is a simple one: what do we do now? Do we lie down, admit that the Lakers are the better team and let them finish the series at the Toyota Center on Thursday? Or do we pull together for one last run, one last, confusing, logic-defying victory over a more talented, better coached, and honestly, luckier team? Knowing these Rockets, I believe it's going to be the latter. Now, more than ever, we need to feed off the doubts. The whispers, the "I told you so's," the previews of a Lakers-Nuggets Conference Finals. I don't care what happens in Game 7 if and when it happens, all I'm asking for is another "upset" tomorrow night. If for nothing else, just because I don't want to go back to that dark place in the back of my head just yet. For at least one more night, I want to feel the pride I get when our undersized, undermanned, under-respected, (I think I just made up a word) team beats a team it should have no business even having a close game with. And I know I'm not going to be saying this once we actually get there, but right now, screw Game 7. I just want to win Game 6. And by doing so, move on past Game 5. I don't want to think about what happened last night, I want to hope for what's going to happen tomorrow night. I want to Beat LA, even if it's for the last time this year. And I know I say this a lot, but I promise that I can't remember a time when I've felt it more than I do right now. Go Rockets.

Rockets' Game Five Grades

2009-05-13T09:34:00.004-05:00

Last nights game was an embarrassment to the entire city of Houston. The Rockets lost by 40 points in the biggest loss in franchise playoff history. The game started off well, and we jumped out to an early lead in the beginning of the first quarter; however, we never got anywhere near the lead after that point. The game was no one player or coaches fault, so the grades are going to reflect that.

Aaron Brooks C- : Aaron led the Rockets with 14 points on 4-11 shooting and had some three pointers almost go in. However, our offense's stagnation and turnovers fall on Brooks because it is his responsibility as the point guard to run the offense. Also, his two assists are way to low for a point guard and he needs to put his teammates in better positions.

Ron Artest F- : 4-15 from the field, 1-7 from behind the arc, 0 free throws, and 4 turnovers. Crazy Ron refused to play in the flow of the offense after he made two shots early in the game, instead choosing to dribble the ball around before jacking up a bad shot. He made lazy passes and wasn't careful with the ball, so the Lakers took advantage. Ron hijacked the offense and probably deserves most of the blame after last night's debacle.

Shane Battier D : When Shane takes seven shots, he better make half of them because he only shoots when he is wide open. Last night, he shot 2-7 including only 1-4 from three. He wasn't able to replicate his game 4 performance on offense or defense. Kobe was a very efficient 10-19, and he was able to get in the paint several times. This falls on Shane, and Shane must play D like he did on sunday if we want to win.

Luis Scola F : Scola has not played well at all this series. Last night was no different. He had two turnovers and struggled to catch the ball all night. He is not making his shots because the length of the Lakers is bothering him. Luis needs to figure out how to play before our next game or we will lose.

Chuck Hayes C : Chuck scored six points!!! SIX!!! Thats THREE made shots!! However, after his three baskets, Chuck didn't do that much. He got in foul trouble early and was not able to make a difference like in game 4. He needs to stay out of foul trouble and play great D on thursday.

Carl Landry B- : The highest shooting percentage on the Rockets at 67%, he scored 9 points. Another good performance for Carl. I think we need to see more of him than Scola in game 6.

Von Wafer B : Please explain why Wafer played the second least minutes on the team (13, James White had 5). He scored 13 points in 13 minutes. His only turnover was when Vujacic pushed him out of bounds. He had five quick points off the bench then was replaced. Adellman needs to get past his grudge and let Wafer play. We need to score more points.

Brian Cook F- : I wonder why Cook never plays for us? Maybe its because he sucks: 0-7 from the field. Why is he even playing? I would rather see Joey Dorsey get a few minutes than this bum.

Kyle Lowry D : 1-7 from the field and 0-3 from three, Lowry did not shoot well at all. However, he did have 4 assists and no turnovers. We need to cut down on turnovers, so maybe Lowry should play more.

Brent Barry B- : 3-5 for 8 points, but he had 3 turnovers. We cannot turn the ball over, period. Their is no place for Brent's turnovers on the court.

James White D : He got in the game. However, he didn't dunk the ball and went 0-6. Oh well, its just garbage time.

Joey Dorsey Inc. : Maybe he should play. At least he didn't do anything wrong.

Rick Adelman F : The Rockets played terribly on Tuesday, and a lot of the blame must fall on the coach. While he deserves a lot of credit for getting the Rockets this far, last night was a disaster. Brian Cook played 19 minutes. End of story. There is no way in hell that Brian Cook should be allowed to suit up for the team, let alone play significant minutes. Also, Adelman's feud against Von Wafer is hurting the team and he needs to get over it.

Game 5 Preview: Still Punching

2009-05-12T18:32:00.012-05:00

And swinging. And hitting. And kicking and scratching and scrapping and and any other verb you can think of that means putting up one hell of a fight. Except elbowing. We don't elbow. We leave that to number 24. But the point is, the reason we've won two games in this series is because we have put in more effort in both of those games, and that's exactly what we're going to have to do tonight. The Lakers aren't going to play another game like they did in Game 4. Call it overconfidence, call it being poorly prepared, call it a bunch of overpaid athletes with a strong sense of self-entitlement coming out and playing like the game would just be given to them getting their asses kicked by a harder working team, but the Lakers are not going to play worse than they did on Sunday. Which most likely means we're going to have to play even better. With that in mind, we've got a big game to preview. A huge game really. Maybe even Yao-sized.

The Good

-Andrew Bynum does not look anywhere near fully healthy. When Yao went down I was worried that the Lakers would just pound the ball inside to Bynum and let him go to work. The good news is that Bynum's knee is in worse shape than Magic Johnson's immune system (yes, that was an AIDS joke). What does that mean? It means that we're not going to lose this series by the Lakers out-sizing us in the paint.

-Lamar Odom should miss Game 5. He hasn't really dominated in this series, but he's a big part of the Lakers' offense and can be very dangerous when he's at his versatile, involved best. When he's not interested he's deader than Derek Fisher, but he's still always a threat. Not having him should help our chances. On the other hand, this will probably lead to more shots of him and his massive nose on the bench. That's 3-0 in favor of those damn blind people.

-Ron Artest will not have another 4-19 night. It's as simple as that. Sure, he might go 6-19 or 7-19, but not 4-19. Call it confidence, call it blind faith, call it stupidity as a Rockets fan, but I refuse to believe that he will shoot that poorly again in this series.

The Bad

-The Lakers have Kobe Bryant. And in case anyone needs reminding, that is bad. Very, very bad. The only thing worse than Kobe Bryant is an angry Kobe Bryant, and that's what we're going to see tonight.

-There's always the chance that Phil Jackson decides to play someone with an actual heartbeat at point guard and give minutes to Shannon Brown. He was great in Game 4, and even though he mostly played in garbage time, having him running the offense is one hell of an upgrade over Dead Fish. That's Derek Fisher by the way. As for the movie, I've never seen it. I googled Dead Fish and that was the first result that came up.

-Once Pau Gasol realized that he is actually 6 inches taller than Chuck Hayes, he started to play him face up a little more. This could hurt the Rockets in Game 5 because if the Lakers start to use their size to their advantage, there's nothing we can really do about it. I know what you're about to ask: If the Lakers actually start using one of their obvious advantages that also happens to be one of our biggest weaknesses, it would help them? Really? I know, it's a novel idea. Someone call Phil Jackson.

-The Lakers are going to come out focused and aggressive. As Boston and Cleveland both know after losing both of of their meetings with the Lakers, when this team is playing hard they are very, very difficult to beat. The Rockets most likely aren't going to be able to open up another big lead early, so execution will be critical down the stretch.

The Ugly

Lamar Odom (M), and his nose that only a plane landing on it could love.

What Has To Happen

-The Rockets have to show up. For us to have a shot at this series, every single player on the team has to come to play every night. That means Ron Artest needs to play like he did in Games 1-3, which means operating within the offense and taking smart shots. Scola needs to step up and start taking his 20 foot jumper. Brooks has to have another game of zipping around, nailing shots and creating general confusion in the Lakers' defense. Rick Adelman needs to actually call a play once in a while. Aside from that last part, which was mainly just wishful thinking, all of these things can and have to happen for us to win Game 5.

-Battier has to defend Kobe. Not that this needs to be said, but I'll say it anyways. Kobe Bryant looked pissed off after Game 4. And I don't mean reglular, "I'm going to be a jerk to everyone because I'm Kobe Bryant" pissed off. I mean "I am going to put up 48 shots and take out that midget with an elbow to the head the next time we play these guys" pissed off. And that's bad. Which is why Battier has to come out ready to defend on every single possession. Not that he doesn't already. He'll come out feet shuffling, hands moving, and manual manualing. Not that manualing is a verb. I just wanted a way to bring up that book of his again.

-The Rockets need to come out with the same energy and attitude they played with in Game 4. The Rockets started Game 4 as the clear underdogs and that turned out to be a good thing for us. We played free, loose basketball and acted as though we had nothing to lose. Which was true. We also came out and played confidently, like we knew we could beat the Lakers. Which also was true. Now that there is a little more attention being paid to the other 11, non-Asian, non 7'6" members of the Rockets that carefree mindset might be a little harder to find in Game 5, but it's still vital if the Rockets want to get another win at Staples Center.

-I hate to repeat myself, but the Rockets' offense needs to work. When it works, we win (see Games 1 and 2). When it doesn't we don't. It's as simple as that. So don't stop whatever got Mr. Magic Marker up in Game 4. It seemed to work well.

-The Rockets bench needs to outperform the Lakers bench. If the Sasha-Shannon All-Girl Extravaganza outplays Landry, Lowry, Wafer and the rest of the lot, the Rockets could be facing some problems. The bench needs to bring the energy and up-tempo game it always does. On a related note, doesn't Sasha Vujacic seem like the type of guy who would name his "Big Man in the Paint?" If he actually did, I think its name would be one of these three gems: The Little Machine, The Slovenian Sharpshooter, Kobe, or my personal favorite, Sasha's Vujacic.

The Point

The Rockets have outplayed the Lakers through heart and determination in their two series wins, and that's what it's going to take to get another one. We cannot beat them on talent alone, and if the effort isn't there for a full 48 minutes, we are going to lose. Hopefully we can continue to do what we've done all year long, which is play hard and prove the doubters wrong. And no matter what happens in the next 2-3 games, I'm proud of these guys. If I ever have kids, when I take them to their first Rockets game, I'm going to have some stories to tell. First, I'll tell them about Hakeem and the championship runs that I was born just too late to understand. But right after that, I'm going to bring up this team. This team that lost it's best player last year and it's two best players this year, yet keeps on going. This team that makes me understand why people watch sports. Because despite all of the steriods, poor officiating, controversies and other problems (in other words, the bullshit we deal with daily as sports fans), something happens to make it all worthwhile. And that something is the Rockets. Last year, we lost our best player and went on to have the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. This year, we lost our best player once again in the playoffs after losing our second-best player earlier on in nthe year, and what did we do? We went out and won. And that's why, no matter what happens tonight, Thursday, and possibly Saturday night, I'm proud of this team. That being said, let's not stop the punching after it's gotten this far. Go Rockets.

Bring Back Novak: The Incredible Name Controversy

2009-05-11T19:44:00.006-05:00

Alright so there's really not much of a controversy, and it's not that incredible, but still. As Tom Martin from The Dream Shake pointed out, the name of our blog matches the name of one of the users on The Dream Shake (his). This is not on purpose, and I know this is harder to believe than Kobe's teammates acting like they actually like him, but we thought of the phrases "Bring Back Novak," "Steve Yesvak," and "Suck My Novak" when we attended the Clippers game on March 28. I started reading The Dream Shake around when the playoffs started, and we only realized there was someone named Bring Back Novak on it when we googled the blog. So I'm hoping that clears things up. In other news, someone from The Dream Shake was actually able to find the blog, which must be a step in the right direction.

Is Kobe Bryant a Top Flight Defender?

2009-05-11T15:33:00.003-05:00

Kobe is a member of the NBA all defensive first team, ahead of the Rockets' two super defenders, Shane Battier and Ron Artest. As I have watched the Rockets-Lakers series, I have come to question the idea that Kobe is an elite defender. Last year during the MVP race, the argument was made that Kobe was a much better defender than Lebron, and, therefore, he deserved to win the MVP. He did win the award, so his reputation as an elite defender was recognized. Then, this summer a lot of time was spent discussing Kobe's role on the national team as a defensive specialist. This solidified his reputation as a great defender. Because most basketball writers do not pay attention to the defensive side of the game and because the standard stats devoted to defense do a poor job of identifying good defenders, most selections to the all-NBA defensive teams are based on reputation and hype. Once Kobe was called a good defender by ESPN and the other propaganda machines of the NBA, he was bound to be voted to the all-defensive team. The question is whether he deserves it:

THE CASE FOR KOBE: -He is twelfth in the NBA in steals per game this year (1.46) However, as I said before, standard defensive stats are a poor measure of defensive prowess, and the always great Rafer Alston is thirteenth in the league.

-He is a great athlete and competitor He is athletic, but being a great athlete is not a guarantee of being a great defender (see: Carter, Vince and Wafer, Von)

-He guards the other teams best player Oh really? So Shane Battier is our biggest scoring threat? I would expect him to want to guard Artest, but he has spent the whole series on Battier

MY CASE AGAINST KOBE: -He gives Shane Battier the open three every time down the court This worked out real well for the Lakers last night when Battier went off

-He spends too much energy trying to run the Lakers' offense With terrible point guards, a 3 that can't do anything, a head case named Lamar Odom, and a Spaniard at center, Kobe is forced to do everything for the Lakers offense. He always ends up with the ball in his hands and is required to score, to make plays, and to save enough energy for the fourth quarter. All of this activity puts a toll on Kobe's body and he is unable to play his hardest on defense all the time

-He is almost never called for a foul Oftentimes, a foul is the result of a good, aggressive defensive play and hustle. Being a great defender requires hustle and effort, and Kobe's lack of fouls seem to indicate a lack of both of these crucial defensive traits

THE VERDICT: Kobe has elite defensive ability; however, his incredible expenditure of energy on offense forces him to pick his spots on defense when he really locks on. Because he doesn't always bring it, his inconstancy means that he doesn't deserve a spot on the All-NBA defensive team instead of Shane Battier.

Shane Battier demonstrating good D

The Dream

2009-05-10T22:13:00.002-05:00

Something all Rockets fans should see at least once. The quality of the video leaves something to be desired, the quality of the play is just fine.

2009-05-10T17:36:00.001-05:00

Do the Rockets Match Up Better Against the Lakers without Yao?(poll)

Game 4 Recap: Never Underestimate the Heart of a

2009-05-10T17:10:00.020-05:00

Champion. And on Sunday afternoon, only one basketball team looked like champions. And it wasn't the team that has been predicted to win the championship by "experts" since the end of last season. It wasn't the team with the supposed best player in the world. It wasn't so-called deepest team in the NBA. It wasn't the team that barely lost in the Finals last year without their starting center, which everyone thought meant that there was no way they would lose this year. It was the team that has been doubted all year long. It was the team that was missing two of its best three players, a combined 45 million dollars a year. It was the team that came out and played inspired, smart, hard, free, emotional, prideful basketball. It wasn't the Lakers. It was the Houston Rockets. Those relentless, tenacious, persistent Rockets. I've never seen a team go through so much in one year only to bounce back stronger every single time. I don't give a damn if we lose Games 5 and 6 by 78 points combined, what the Rockets have done in this series and this season is more impressive than anything any other team has done all year long. Now that that's out of the way, on to business.

The Good

-Aaron Brooks played the best basketball that I've ever seen him play. With Derek Fisher's Dead Body guarding him, Brooks was able to get to the basket, find his teammates, and wreak general havoc. All 6 feet of him.

-The Rockets' defense. We played stifling, determined defense, holding the Lakers to 54 points in three quarters. Even though we let them back into the game in the end of the fourth quarter, but 45 minutes of lock down defense makes up for 3 minutes of falling asleep at the wheel.

-Shane Battier played the game of his Rockets career, scoring 23 points and playing his usual bothersome, effective, Kobe pamphlet-studying defense on Bryant that we've grown to love and expect from him.

The Bad

-Ron Artest's Hero Complex kicked in and he took some shots that made we want to rape a Coloradan. We won despite Ron-Ron, not because of him, and that can't happen again if we want to win Game 5.

-Pau Gasol scored 30 points, and even though some of them came in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided, he looked comfortable going against the likes of Scola and Hayes. In other Pau-related news, his beard actually covers the whole underside of his chin/neck, almost reaching his Adam's Apple. I'm starting to think it's more of a fungus than facial hair, and that it actually has a mind of it's own and is spreading by itself. For everyone with vision's sake, let's hope Pau regains control of his face. Until then, those damn blind people win again.

-I just insulted blind people and made fun of a sexual assualt case within two paragraphs of each other. Other than that, the Rockets played a hell of a game and I can't really find any more fault with it. We lost some of our intensity towards the end of the game, but that happens when you've been giving your full, unbridled effort for 3 and a half quarters.

The Ugly

Dick Bavetta (L), one of our officials for Game 4.

What Happened

The Rockets attacked the Lakers from the opening tip, beating them to loose balls, defending with intensity, and generally out-hustling the girls in purple for the duration of the game. I don't know if we were inspired by Yao, everyone counting us out, or Lamar Odom's nose, but the Rockets played with more effort than the Lakers, and that translated into the win. The Rockets were also on fire for most of the game. I compared the Rockets' offense to a man's Magic Johnson in the sense that it only needed to function for us to have a chance, and in Game 4 we found the Viagra. That might have been in poor taste, but I liked it. And spent 5 minutes on Google looking for a funny phrase for a man's little man, so you bet your ass I was going to use "Magic Johnson" once I found it. Back on to the point (it just happened that time), the Rockets dominated the Lakers today, and that's really all there is to say. I have a hard time nitpicking when we played such an impressive game, so I'm not going to try. Like Phil Jackson said in his post-game interview, "Give them some f*cking credit". So that's what I'll do. I'll give them some f*cking credit.

The Point

The Rockets lost Yao, everyone thought this series was over, we came out and proved them wrong. If this storyline sounds familiar, it's because the same thing happened last spring. And this spring for that matter, except Yao was replaced with Mcgrady this time. No matter what happens after today I'm proud of the Rockets for finding strength in numbers when we needed it the most. I can't imagine what it feels like to go against a team that already might be better than you when you're healthy without your best player, but the Rockets do. And thanks to some hot shooting and tough defense, we now also know how it feels to beat that team. Game 4 went better than I dared to hope it would, but now comes the hard part. Stealing a game [again] in Los Angeles. But that's a different topic for a different day. Today, I'm glad we were able to keep this playoff run alive for a little longer and promise ourselves another game at the Toyota Center. The better team won today, it just wasn't the team everyone expected it to be. Go Rockets.

Game 4 Preview: Hoping Against Hope

2009-05-09T23:50:00.033-05:00

By now, any Rockets fan has seen the news. Our talented, hard-working, oft-injured, 7'6" center from Shanghai will be out for the rest of the postseason. In other words, goodbye 2008-2009. I believe we will win tomorrow, but I do not believe we can win this series without Yao Ming. He is the best player on our team, and you don't beat a team that might have beat you healthy without the best player on your team. Yeah it sucks, but then again so does losing in the Finals, and you don' t see the Lakers bitching about not having their starting center last year. Wait..scratch that. Let the bitching begin. But like it or not, we have a game to play tomorrow. And that means we have a game to preview.

The Good

-For the second time in three games, Kobe Bryant had a poor shooting night against the Rockets. I have to attribute this to Battier and his pesky, relentless, Kobe-manual-reading defense. I don't see why this won't continue.

-We actually match up better against the Lakers without Yao. I am not saying we are better without him, far from it, I'm just saying that Pau has been playing Yao very well during the series, doing a much better job of poking the ball away from him and fronting him than I've seen from him before. On defense we also might end up putting Scola on Pau, which is a much better matchup for him than Odom or Ariza. Also, they could end up treating us to the greatest Spanish trash-talking matchup ever. How Scola's hair does against Pau's Pubic-Beard is key for us tomorrow.

-Derek Fisher is back. If we are to have a chance tomorrow, Aaron Brooks has to use his quickness to score, get in the paint, and wreak general havoc on the Lakers defense. That'll be a lot easier if Derek Fisher's Repuation As A Good Player is guarding him.

The Bad

-Yao Ming isn't playing. There's nothing to really say here, we know what he does for our team. Losing his 20-10 is going to hurt. Losing our 9,000 fans who watch basketball just for him is probably going to hurt just as much. So will losing his agonized facial expressions that I've grown to love. Nobody can make sitting on a bench look as painful as Yao can. Not only does losing Yao ruin this series for us, it ruins it for the rest of the league, the fans, and the Lakers. Beating us without our best player is not the same as beating us when we're at healthy, and you can bet your subscription to O, The Oprah Magazine that they wanted to beat us with our full team.

-The Lakers are still the best offensive team in the NBA. They actually played a pretty sub-par game against us Friday, with their two best players shooting a combined 15-39. Stopping them is going to be even harder without 7 and a half feet of China's hopes and dreams in the paint to contest their shots.

-Our offense has a tendency to stagnate, and without Yao we are going to be more prone to that. We can't let it turn into the Ron Artest show, and ball movement and smart decisions are going to be more important than ever tomorrow.

The Ugly

Vanessa Bryant. Not that she's ugly. She's actually far from it. I just want to remind everyone that Kobe cheated on this woman. Look at her, read that last sentence again, smile.

What Has To Happen

For the Rockets to win Game 4 we are going to have to do what we have done all year long, except we're going to have to do it better and without our best player.

First and foremost, the Rockets need to defend with intensity and hustle. No letting players get open looks like in Game 3, every shot needs to be contested for us to have a chance. Despite their best efforts to convince themselves otherwise in Game 3, Ariza, Farmar, Walton, and Odom are not three point shooters and we can't allow them to look like they are. A simple hand in their face will help with that.

We have to continue to out-rebound the Lakers. This is obviously easier said than done after losing Yao, but we still have to find a way to do it. Rebounding is going to have to be a more of a team effort. Every time a shot goes up, all five players on the floor for the Rockets have to box a man out. Landry, Scola, and Hayes are going to have to work especially hard tomorrow afternoon. Not that bringing the effort is ever a problem for these guys.

The bench has to step up. With Landry most likely becoming a starter, Lowry, Wafer, and Hayes are going to have to out-produce the Lakers' bench. Say what you want about their names, but Sasha, Shannon, and the rest of the girls can actually play some pretty good basketball. This seems like a good time to bring up that when asked about the craziest thing that ever happened to him as a basketball player, Sasha Vujacic recalled a time when a girl asked him to sign her panties. I don't really know how that affects Game 4 at all, I just think it's something you should hear. Anyways, the Rockets' bench has to outperform the Lakers', which is only made tougher by Jordan Farmar remembering that he is, in fact, and NBA player sometime during Game 3.

The offense has to work. Think of this game as a married couple's desperate attempt at having a child, with the Rockets' offense being the male's go-to guy. It doesn't have to work well, it just needs to function long enough to get the job done. I don't care how ugly and unsatisfactory it might be, the Rockets offense has to perform. Artest has to stay within the offense and take smart shots, which he has done a decent job of all series long. Battier needs to get more shots, and Wafer simply cannot go 2-10 again.

The Point

So here we are, punching just to have a puncher's chance. The Rockets have played through injuries all year, and we're going to have to do it again tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be hard, but so is everything else worth having right? Rudy Tomjonavich once told us to "never underestimate the heart of a champion," and the Rockets have proven his words time and again this year. We have played with heart and determination all season long and I expect us to play every second like it's our last tomorrow. Of course, I'd have a 7'6" heart with phenomenal basketball skills and footwork, but we have to work with what we have. We are going to have to play as a team tomorrow to win as a team, and luckily for us, that's what we do best. We can't control that the basketball gods seem to have a passion for kicking us in the shins, but we can control how much effort we put in tomorrow. Tomorrow, we play for pride, we play for the fans, we play for the chance to let Kobe know that the NBA Championship isn't just going to be handed to him. Just like that girl in Colorado wasn't handed to him. Uncalled for, I know, but I'm bitter and it made me feel better. Sexual assualt cases aside, tomorrow, more than anything else, we play for our franchise player, the man who led us out of the first round for the first time since 1998, the best center to put on a Rockets jersey since that guy we called The Dream. He fought through a knee collision that would have ended T-Mac's career in Game 1 and through a hairline fracture in Game 3 for us. I hate to sound sentimental, but tomorrow afternoon we're fighting for him. Go Rockets.

It's Not Over Yet Houston

2009-05-09T20:50:00.002-05:00

How do you replace your teams best player? Thats the question Rockets fans must ask themselves once again after Yao Ming's latest injury setback. We have spent most of the Yao/McGrady era sweating out injuries and hoping the Rockets can adapt, and, now, all of our practice will be put to use. The Rockets have spent more time recovering from injuries than anyone else in the league, so its not time to give up hope yet. Last year, we were proclaimed dead when Yao was injured, but we kept our streak alive and won more games in a row than every team in the history of the NBA but one. This year, we lost T-MAC and were told that the suns would pass us up and take the last playoff seed. Look where we are now. If we know one thing about this team, its that they never give up, and if they believe why shouldn't I? So keep your heads held high Rockets fans because we can still win this series.

We have not been matched up well against the Lakers the last two games. Pau Gasol is one of the top match-up problems for Yao because of his height, athleticism, and skill. He gives Yao fits on defense by poking entry passes away and making life difficult inside, and then he runs the floor and can convert in the open court. Yao can defend him straight up, but Pau can score on him. With Yao on Pau and Crazy Ron guarding Odom, we have been using Scola to guard Ariza/Walton. Scola is not quick enough to guard them on the perimeter, and we are conceding the open three. Friday, they capitalized and went 4-6 from the 3 point line, combining for 19 points. Without Yao, I predict that we will play Scola at center with Landry at the 4. With this lineup, we have the option of Landry or Artest on Odom, and we can guard their 3 with a quicker man that will contest the three. If they decide to go big with Gasol and Bynum's injured knees, we can counter with Chuck Hayes and Scola or Landry.

While losing Yao is not good for the Rockets, it is not devastating either and we still have a chance to win this series. I predict that our defense will be stifling tomorrow, and good games from Artest and Wafer will provide the firepower for a Rockets win.

Yao Sprains Ankle

2009-05-09T18:59:00.007-05:00

Yao has a sprained ankle and will be re-evaluated tomorrow before Game 4. We need him to play, and we need him to play well, so let's hope he's alright.

UPDATE: Yao will miss the rest of the playoffs with a hairline fracture. He doesn't need surgery, but our playoff dreams sure as hell do. Another year, another injury for the Great Wall. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I can't really describe how I feel right now, but if I had to it would be something like this: It feels like someone kicked me in the balls twice, punched me in the stomach, and then when I kneeled down from that, they kneed me in the mouth. And then they repeated the whole cycle. Twice. And it's not a good feeling. But that's neither here nor there.

And Yao, thank you for refusing to come out of the game last night till the end of the fourth even though you were visibly in pain. Thank you for coming back to play in Game 1 and winning the game for us. Thank you for leading us out of the first round, putting those days of depending on Mcgrady behind us. Thank you for showing us how it felt to be proud of your team again. Get well soon, we'll give 'em hell next year.

Important Question

2009-05-09T18:49:00.001-05:00

Who Should the Rockets Send After Kobe Bryant on Sunday?(polls)

Throwback Day?

2009-05-09T17:46:00.008-05:00

Since Sunday's Game 4 is as close to a must-win game for the Rockets as it gets, I was thinking that we could break out the throwback jerseys. We already are playing our song from the 90s, why not wear the jerseys from the glory days for one night? I'm sure the crowd would love it, and there are very few things that I want to see more than Yao in the red and gold. And none of those other things can be discussed outside of my head.

Hakeem, in all his knee pad-wearing glory

The Successor

2009-05-09T17:33:00.005-05:00

I saw this video a few years ago and fell in love with it. I forgot about it for a while, but Game 1 made me want to find it again. Enjoy, and if you don't want to watch the whole thing, 2:15-2:30 and 3:03-3:16 are my two favorite parts.

A Message for Lakers Fans at Toyota Center

2009-05-09T16:13:00.003-05:00

At the game last night, I was surprised by the number of Lakers fans at Toyota Center. There were Kobe jerseys scattered throughout the stands, and, by the end of the game, Lakers fans seemed to be the only ones who hadn't headed for the exits. There were even a few Lakers fans sitting right behind me. While I respect your right to be at the game, I request that you follow these guidlines:

1.) Don't Go Overboard on the Cheering-
Sure, you can get excited when Kobe hits a 35 foot three at the buzzer while falling left with Crazy Ron all over him, but no you can't scream about an easy Lamar Odom lay-up. Also, I don't want to hear any attempts to start a "DE-FENSE, Clap-Clap, DE-FENSE, Clap-Clap" while the Rockets have the ball. Enjoy the game, but try not to ruin it for us.

2.) Don't Be Obnoxious-
The Laker fan sitting behind me at the game last night was the most obnoxious, dislikable person I have ever encountered at a sporting event. The main reason for this was his continued screaming of one phrase, "Come on KOBEEEEEEEEE!!!" in a scratchy Mexican accent every-time the Lakers brought the ball down the court. If the ball was passed to Kobe, he would do it again, as if we hadn't heard him the first time. It didn't even matter if Kobe was on the court, because this idiot would scream, "Come on KOBEEEEEEEEEE!!!" even if the Lakers line up at the time consisted of 4 white guys and Lamar Odom. Don't scream just to hear the sound of your own voice, because you probably don't sound very good.

3.) Don't Be Belligerent-
After hearing the idiot behind me scream for the one hundredth time, I turned around a respectfully asked him to stop screaming. He responded with "F*** you," and began screaming, "Come on KOBEEEEEEE!!!!!!", with more gusto than ever before. Oh, and Kobe was on the bench at this point. He spent the rest of the game screaming just trying to get me to do something. Well, I have news for my Laker fan amigos, next time I will knock you out like Ron Artest would. And you are surrounded by people wearing red, think about that before you try to pick a fight.

4.) Don't Call the Lakers "We"-
While I'm sure you've had that Kobe Bryant jersey for at least 10 days, I'm pretty sure that the Lakers are not "your" team. I understand that you hopped off the Celtics bandwagon when Garnett went out with an injury, but your few weeks of fanhood do not make the Lakers your team, anymore than the Red Sox, Patriots, and Red Wings are your teams. If you live in Houston and you root for the Lakers, you are a bandwagon fan, and there is nothing worse than a bandwagon fan. So keep your mouth shut and go home to your house filled with Florida football gear.

If Lakers fans don't follow these simple guidlines, they might be in for a little rendezvous with Ron-Ron.

The Adventures of Ron-Ron Will Continue

2009-05-09T15:23:00.004-05:00

Ron Artest is going to play tomorrow after his [unwarranted] flagrant-2 foul on Pau Gasol in the waning moments of Game 3. The foul was also downgraded to a flagrant-1. This is welcome news as I don't think any Rockets fan wanted to face the Lakers without Artest. Hopefully he comes up big on Sunday. We're going to need it.

Game 3 Recap: Venting

2009-05-09T12:46:00.006-05:00

The easiest way to sum up Game 3 would be this: the Lakers' role players all found their stroke, confidence, NBA talent, whatever the hell was missing, and the only thing the Rockets did exceptionally well was turn the ball over. It was a long frustrating night of good shooters missing open looks for the guys in red and guys who are not expected to consistently hit threes (I'm looking at you, Trevor) consistently hitting them. I really am in no mood to recap a game that broke my heart on at least four different occasions, but someone has to get the readership up right?

The Good

-Kobe Bryant had another human night, scoring 33 points on 28 shots. He took 8 free throws, but 4 of them were late in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided. His Spanish partner went 4-11 with 13 points, so there's no complaining there either. What's scary was that they didn't seem to miss Pau very much.
-The Rockets showed that when we defended hard, rotated well, and contested open shots, they can stop the Lakers' offensive machine. Put your hand down Sasha, I meant the Lakers' offense as a whole. The reason this game was relatively close and not an absolute blowout was because of the Rockets' ability to defend.

The Bad

-The Rockets turned the ball over 17 times to the Lakers' 6. With a team as talented offensively as the Lakers you cannot afford to give them such a heavy turnover advantage. They thrive on pushing the pace of the game and were able to make life easier for their struggling offense by a steady dose of fast break points. Also, the last thing any human being with eyes wants to see is the sight of Sasha Vujacic/Pau Gasol running down the court on the fast break, their hair flowing in the wind. Blind people, you caught a break here.
-The Rockets offense sputtered in the second and third quarters, putting up 34 points in the two combined. The defense kept the game close, but there's no way the Rockets were going to win without being able to put the ball in the basket. The Rockets' offensive struggles are like a scar on the face of the perfect girl. Usually her other great qualities are good enough to overcome it, but last night she forgot her makeup.
-Lamar Odom realized that he is one of the most versatile, talented players in the NBA and that the whole reason they got him was so when offenses focused too much on Bryant, he would score. He had 16, matching his point total for the series up till Game 3.
-The Lakers' role players, known by Lakers' fans as the "bench mob" and by everyone else as the "wait they really have someone named Sasha AND someone named Shannon? And these two guys actually play? mob," started to make the open looks that they got. Trevor Ariza is included here, as he went 3-4 from behind the arc.
-Yao Ming left the court limping in the fourth quarter and looked as though he was playing through pain for most of the second half. He said he's good to go, but let's face it, if Yao's not at his turnaround shooting, jump hooking, agonized face making best, we are not winning this series.

What Happened
After getting into the second round and taking home court advantage from the Lakers, the Rockets strayed from what had gotten us this far. We came out flat in the third quarter, allowing the Lakers to build a cushion that we were never really able to erase. I hate bitching about the referees because I usually believe that bad calls even themselves out over the course of a year, but Game 3 was a whole new level of poor officiating. An example that comes to mind was in the fourth quarter when Pau Gasol was trying to manhandle Yao in the post, which the referees actually ignored until Pau said "Screw it, I want to see just how dumb these refs actually are" and threw Yao to the ground. That's all I'm going to say on the officiating, that it was bad. Really, really, really, game influence-ingly bad. Yao went down with an injury and for the 107th time in the last four years I found myself asking God why bad things always happen to good people and why he made my life's hopes and dreams revolve around a 7'6" Asian man. We turned the ball over way too much to have a chance, the only thing we have really done well this series. To put it simply, we're not going to win if we keep that up. We missed our threes, going 6-19, 2-12 after that 4-7 start. The Lakers started to run their offense and make open shots, which apparently is actually what NBA teams are SUPPOSED to do. Who would have guessed, right? Add those things up and you have a game that was never really as close as it seemed and 18,000 sad, sad faces.

The Point
After an impressive Game 1 win in which we stole home court from the Lakers, they marched into the Toyota Center and took it right back. We're down, but we're not out. I'd like to remind you that in 1995 we knocked of 2nd seeded Phoenix in 7 games as the 6 seed, so despite my attitude, all is not lost. The difference is that the 1995 Rockets were not missing two of their best three players, which we might be if Yao can't go Sunday. And yes, I said two of our best three players. You can say all you want about how he's declined or injury prone, but Mutumbo is still a huge part of our team. So what now? We dust ourselves off, make the necessary adjustments, and pray to Guede, the Haitian Vodoo god of fertility, that Yao Ming is starting at center on Sunday.

Bitterness After Game 3

2009-05-09T00:36:00.002-05:00

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/postedsports/archive/2009/03/25/housekeeper-sues-kobe-bryant-and-wife.aspx

I saw someone say Kobe's wife is respectable. Doesn't look like it. Game 3 recap is coming soon.