All Aboard! Rockets Back on Track

Can you say "Bandwagon"? Looks like everyone loves Rudy and the Rockets again. Nothing like a winning streak to get everyone excited. So it's now five games and still counting. Winning is such fun. Don't let anyone bring you down because the Rockets have won mostly against teams with losing records. THIS team has a losing record! This winning streak is about turning it around, turning it up, and turning us on.

At the beginning of the season, I believed that with all the new faces the team would probably finish around .500 and slip into the play-offs. I even thought that, with Olajuwon and Barkley, they had a chance to pull an upset or two in the post-season. Now I'm not so sure. A .500 season is a reasonable goal, but not a given.

However, it seems that the injuries to Olajuwon and Barkley (notice I always put Hakeem first) have actually benefited the installment of the Steve Francis era. It has given the new players a chance to test their skills and define the new "pecking order." The talent, the intensity, and the enthusiasm of youth are present. Now add the magic ingredient, Hakeem Olajuwon!

I think Hakeem will fit in very well with this running offense, in fact I believe that he prefers it. There will be less wear and tear on the old body than banging in the low post all night against a triple team. I can't believe that some sportswriters think he is selfish or that he likes "slow ball". Either they have forgotten Phi Slamma Jamma or they never experienced it. This is the type of offense The Dream grew up in. If Kato and the late Thomas Hamilton could get easy dunks, can you really doubt that Olajuwon can? In his college days he was quoted as saying he loved to "donk, donk, donk!" I suspect that Hakeem has much more gas left in his tank than people are giving him credit for. You've got to believe that Rudy has designed this offense to include Dream. In the old days opponents would put 3 and 4 men on him to keep him from scoring, because the Rocket's only other weapon was the 3-point shot. We had no one who could consistently break down the defense and drive to the hoop. No one can win a championship by depending on 3 pointers, its a low percentage kind of a shot. So, after the championships, everyone developed a "Mug the Dream" defense. How good would Jordan have been if he had 3 and 4 defenders banging and hacking him? But now, we have Steve Francis. To use the words of an old 60's hit song:

People get ready, there's a train a-coming.
It's picking up passengers from coast-to-coast.
All you need is faith, to hear the engines humming!
You don't need a ticket, you just get on board.

With The Dream available this is a dangerous team! As in the old offense, if you triple team Hakeem, that leaves two players to defend against four. If you only double team him that still leaves one Rocket free. This team, however, doesn't settle for the 3 pointer, they dare to attack the basket and the offense starts outside with Francis as the catalyst. Go ahead, fall back and cover Hakeem, someone else will deliver the mail. Double team Francis? Oops! Single coverage on Hakeem. Double The Dream and The Wonder? Oops, now you have one man left to cover three Rockets. Young Rockets. Fast Rockets. Hungry Rockets.

As for those people who think the Rockets should "tank" the season in order to get a high Lottery pick, this was never the Rocket's plan. They said they wanted to "re-tool", not "re-build." They said even before last season that they hoped to change the make-up of the team, yet stay competitive. Why hit rock-bottom like the Bulls? Last year the Rockets drafted well. Now they have used the Pippen debacle to add three quality younger players. Shandon is the new "junkyard dog." Via the trade route they have added their Lottery pick this year in "Little Stevie Wonder."

Screw the lottery pick next year! I think the team is much better off learning to win, than learning to lose. Keep your fingers crossed this year as the team comes together. Next year could be a Dream come true and a Wonder to behold.