Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 8:00 am  |  90 responses

Houston Rockets Season Preview

Welcome to the Heartbreak Hotel.

We continue previewing the Southwest Division with the Houston Rockets. You can read past previews here.

by Marcel Mutoni

Last chance.

It is easily one of the most overused expressions in the English language. We hear it so often–from parents, employers, friends, lovers, and just about anyone with whom we regularly interact in our lives–and yet it has such little meaning. When do those people really ever follow through with their threat?

A writer once famously claimed that there are no second acts in American lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald, brilliant scribe that he was, didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. Life is all about second, third, and fourth chances. Especially in the NBA. Each new season season offers players and teams ample opportunity to reinvent and redeem themselves.

As for the Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming partnership, this could truly end up being their final chance to prove that they can make it work. Should they fail to advance their squad in the postseason, there might not be any second and third acts. Daryl Morey will be left with little choice but to seriously consider breaking them up and return to the drawing board.

On paper, the Houston Rockets have a mouth-wateringly good team. There is of course the aforementioned McGrady and his partner in crime Ming; a very good coach; Shane Battier and his indefatigable dedication to solid defense; a wildly charismatic and bruising rookie; and a supporting cast that plays their role to a T.

Oh yeah, there’s also that one wild card they picked up over the summer. Certainly can’t forget about him.

Given their respective ages, Yao, Artest, Battier, and McGrady should be entering that stage of their professional lives where they put it all together–they’re each , theoretically, in their primes. This means we’ll likely never see them perform at such a high level again. They’d be wise to take advantage of this and make something special happen.

Of course, it will not be easy. In fact, it will be insanely difficult; impossible perhaps. I have higher hopes of winning the Powerball jackpot than for McGrady and Yao to play an entire season’s worth of games. Can we really count on Ron Artest, who’s angling for a huge contract next summer, to behave when he has to share shots and the spotlight with two other All-Stars? That’s almost like asking Palin to break down the theory of relativity.

The optimist in me sees Adelman getting everyone to buy into his system, the win total being a shade north of 55, a couple of guys repping the team at the midseason classic in Phoenix, and Houston finally breaking through that First Round wall only to succumb to the Lakers in the Conference Finals.

The realist, however, sees the Houston Rockets for who they really are: that stunningly beautiful, emotionally fragile, and downright crazy girl you can’t help but fall in love with, knowing full well that she’ll break your heart in the end. Being the helplessly foolish romantic that you are, though, you will nonetheless sign up and go along for the turbulent ride.

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  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Skip’s a minor part of it all, though—I think injuries will be their undoing in the end. Along with either the Spurs, the Lakers or the Jazz.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Alston is underrated defensively. Tad, when you play team D like Houston, you don’t need blazing speed or length. They’ve been a top defensive team the last two years and Tmac and landry (last year) were probably the most athletic guys on the team. Their top defenders, Battier and Hayes, are not long or fast. Adelman has pointed out Rafer does a good job of staying in front of guards, but he’s not a flashy defender. Yes, Deron has killed them, but that’s coming off of picks, so its not entriely on Rafer.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    entirely*

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Also, in the halfcourt Barry’s going to be point-forward a lot of the time, he’s going to be making decisions himself that Rafer normally would, and that’s not a bad thing.

  • Solomon

    My only true knock on Rafer’s game is the amount of 3′s he takes. But at the the same time its in the flow of the offense,and if he knocks them down its even better. He isn’t the quickest of players but is an excellent ball handler and should attempt to attack the rim more. That would cut down on long rebounds too. Sasha and Rafer kinda remind me of each other. When they are hitting the are awesome,but if not… Rafer would be an awesome backup,but he knows the offense and is a pass first pg

  • Solomon

    Tracy is my fav player but i feel that he is a passive “superstar” and so is Yao. Neither of them have really asserted themselves as the “leader” of the team which is why i think they struggle from time to time. in the season its made to be Yao’s team but Mcgrady is def better in the playoffs regardless of not making it out the 1st. Had/s Grant Hill made it out the 1st?

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Just out of curiosity, does anyone remember the last time the Houston Rockets won a playoff series? No? That was back in 1996, when they beat the Lakers 3-1 in the first round. Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming were still in high school. Hakeem Olajuwon led the way in the final game with 25 points, offsetting the 25 scored by Cedric Ceballos. The Rockets also got 17 apiece from Robert Horry and Kenny Smith (who went 6 of 6 from the floor, including 4 of 4 from three). For the Lakers, Magic Johnson had eight points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench in what would be his last-ever NBA game. The Rockets went on to lose to the Supersonics in the semis.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Grant Hill has never made it out of the first round either. The curse of the Magic?

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Rafer’s not going to play as big of a role this year. His minutes should drop as well. With Brooks emerging, Francis possibly healthy, and Barry and Tmac playing some point, Rafer is going to get more rest than usual. The point guard duties are also going to be easier with Ron not needing set plays and Landry developing actual moves. If Wafer makes the team then that’s another guy who doesn’t need to be set up. However, Rafer may need to hold Luther’s hand most of the time.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    more like a curse of frail bones

  • Solomon

    i think the Rockets have too many pg’s that do the same thing minus Francis if he can be considered in the debate lol. All of the are under 6’4 and shoot 3′s.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Grant Hill has played in all of four more career playoff games than Stephon Marbury.

  • http://slamonline.com Khalid Salaam

    WOW! i just heard that yao is out for the season with another stress fracture.

  • Solomon

    i brought up the Grant Hill thing to prove that he gets nowhere near the flack that Mac gets and hasn’t made it either. And lets not forget of all the playoff exits Mac has how many times was he actually favored to win the series? In other words when was the last time YOU honestly thought his team would advance barring the Detroit fiasco. Don’t worry i’ll wait…was it against the Knicks when he was a Raptor(how far did that Knick team go?) was it against Too Easy and the Hornets…

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    He probably hurt it kicking field goals.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Baron and the Hornets, yeah. That’s when they were up 3-1 and he said (paraphrasing here) “it feels great to finally get to the second round.” Then they lost three straight (behind a pair of Boom triple-doubles, if I remember correctly) and that was that.

  • http://slamonline.com Khalid Salaam

    Just kidding!!!.. but was anybody actually surprised? No way i put faith in a team that even when their stars are healthy find ways to lose in the 1st rd time after time. Also, the way that team is constructed will allow artest to assume a leadership position. They cannot succeed with that happening. Truth is, they will let down their fans once again. Accept it now and it won’t hurt as bad later.

  • Solomon

    no they lost the Hornet series 3-1. that next year against the Pistons was when they were up 3-1 and lost 4-3

  • Solomon

    i think they play better without Yao in the lineup. they do have a winning record without him and a losing one without Tracy. they are faster paced team and the lane isn’t clogged. get a truly athletic pf/c…amare would be a good fit

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    russ, no more wikipedia for you

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Whoops, combining my years. I was at the final game of that Hornets/Magic series if I remember correctly. My bad.

  • Solomon

    i only remember cause of practice the next day and the $20 dollars i owed a teammate lol

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    the streak probably inflates that record with Yao/tmac out of the lineup.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    RV: Basketball Reference, actually.

  • Solomon

    i remember Baron hitting some crazy 3 to win the game over McGrady and Mac falling to the ground to cover his eyes. They “reviewed” the play and said the shot was late(They were wrong) and the Magic still lost in OT

  • Solomon

    fact is without Mac they have some ungodly record….like 16-67

  • http://www.freewebs.com/betcats BETCATS

    they should have kept Mike James and traded Rafer. Or kept Bobby Jackson and traded Rafer.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    I’m guessing no one saw Yao at the Texans game. They’re like the Rockets of the NFL, but a lot younger.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    BET, Mike James isn’t even better than Aaron brooks right now. Bobby Jax is too old to build with.

  • Caleb

    With Artest, his on-the-court idiocy is just as bad as his off-the-court stuff.

    Oh and RV, Mike James is still an above average player… and has been shooting really well and doing a decent job of distributing in the preseason. Granted, its just the preseason… but don’t count James out. I think he’s gonna have a good season this year as CP3′s backup.

    Anyway… as to the Rockets: If the core stays healthy, I see them grabbing the 3rd or 4th seed, and possibly getting past the first round. But I think whoever they end up running into after that… be it the Hornets, the Jazz, the Lakers.. will probably knock them off.

  • RocketsTerps

    Some of you guys don’t know anything about the Rockets. Mike James SUCKS — Rafer is a much better point for this team. Bobby Jackson is OLD and never was able to run a team like Rafer. The Rockets won 55 games/2nd best rated defense behind Boston and add Artest and a healthy (prayerfully) Yao w/ an experienced Scola/Landry combo w/ a young Ben Wallace in Joey Dorsey and you don’t think this team is ready to shine??? PLEASE. Rockets 2009 NBA Champs!

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Caleb, James needs to show it first. He hasn’t been consistent enough throughout his career to know for sure if he still has it. If you’re going by preseason, like i was, Brooks is still better, not by a large margin, but still is. He’s done the same thing before, where he shows he can distribute and score intelligently, but then he always goes back to only jacking it up. Have to wait and see.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    ROCKET PRIDE. Very interesting article, I enjoyed reading it. However, I do indeed believe that our Rockets can accomplish something special this year.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ BET: Uhhh, no. Rafer (New York whaddup!) rightfully stays.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Brian says:
    No mention of Rafer Alston. He averaged over 13 points and 5 dimes last year
    ________________________________________________
    Sure, but not nearly enough assists to get this team past the 2nd round of the playoffs. I can’t believe how lengthy and well Rafer’s career has been in the NBA. I for one was a critic and I STILL dont see them getting to the finals.

    Consider this point. If you can be DOMINANT for a great stretch of games without “key” players as was the case when they went for that amazing 22 game W streak then you have to look at your roster as a whole and see if the “on paper” version, the FULL LINE UP is actually as good as the sum of it’s parts. Essentially the role players on this team are better at their jobs than the super stars are at theirs…AND THAT MAKES A PROBLEM.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Dacre, unless you were watching every game of the streak you don’t know how perfect everything came together. It started with tmac being out and the Rockets wanting to show they could win without him, then he came back and provided a lift to keep it going..then Novak hit a 3 practically at the buzzer to keep it alive at 8. That was the biggest moment, which gave them all a high for a few more games. then Yao goes down, and they all re-focused, not only to keep the streak alive, but prove they still had game without Yao. a few games later, they re-focused again as it became all about surpassing the league streak records. Then again had to re-focus towards the end to prove they could beat a contender like the Lakers….the majority of the schedule was easy, along the way different things caused them to regain their concentration when most teams would lose it. Had Novak not hit that 3, its very unlikely they win 14 in a row after that. All their shooters were on hot streaks (they went back to normal after the streak).It was just everything fitting perfectly and not that they are better without their stars.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    Rocket Pride. That is all. :)
    PS- Teddy, dont be trying to steal that off of me now will you?

  • Froggiestyle

    Not to be a buzz kill there Hurst, but when was the last time they made it to the Conf finals? I’m not a fan so don’t know…

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    RV…
    I would pin it on luck and the bounce of the ball too…..not being a great team, certainly not headed to the finals.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    See for me…they are the exact same team if they didnt get that streak and went 20-2 down that stretch. Won games they should have and faulted at key moments. My original point still stands I feel…If their record was more like 7-8 without Yao and McGrady then I would feel more comfident about their value to this team, in relation to whether they are going to the finals or not.
    CONSIDER: The year after Jordan retired, Scottie Pippen dragged the Bulls kicking and screaming to a 50+ win season, that had lost ONLY TWO GAMES LESS than with Michael the year before…the difference THE CHAMPIONSHIP obviously. What I want to establish is the concept that the Houston Rockets LOOK like they are built around Yao and TMAC but the output proves otherwise (whereas Jordan WITH Scottie and Rodman completed the teams needs), they do not lift this team to that next level of dominance at the playoff level and thats where they will come unstuck again. The only way out as I see it is if ROnROn becomes a leader for this team and Skip to my Lou gets on some “top 3-type pg salsa”….and get healthy!
    just my thoughts…

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