[ESPN] Hollinger picks Rockets #4 in West... without Bonzi!

Possibly the most optimistic piece of writing on the internet I have ever seen.

 

excellent

 

I know its been said...but he didnt even factor bonzi in. or the fact that there is still a chance that tmac will play 70 games.

 

For all that people hate on ESPN, there are analysts there who do seem to somewhat regularly "promote" the Rockets. I think Holligner is kind of in that category. Ric Bucher certainly is.

 

THE SUNDAY INSIDERS INSIDE THE NBA

T-Mac, Rockets could win it all
Tim Povtak
INSIDE THE NBA

October 1, 2006

Michael Jordan didn't win the first of his six NBA titles until he was 28 years old, the same age that Tracy McGrady will turn just before the 2007 NBA Finals begin.

McGrady just smiled at that thought.

Far-fetched as it seems now, McGrady and the Houston Rockets just might be good long-shot, long-odds picks to win a championship this season. When training camps open throughout the league this week, optimism will be everywhere. But only in a few places will it seem so deserved.

Houston is one of those places. The Rockets won only 34 games last season and finished last in the Southwest Division, but rarely has a team had the potential for such a quick turnaround.

One reason is Jeff Van Gundy, a good coach facing a now-or-never situation.

His eye is not on the future. The Rockets are built for today.

They traded the draft rights to highly touted Rudy Gay to get dependable veteran Shane Battier from the Memphis Grizzlies. Last week they signed free-agent shooting guard Bonzi Wells, despite the belief by many teams that he wasn't worth the baggage he carries.

The Rockets are looking at a healthy McGrady -- at the peak of his career -- and a healthy Yao Ming, who will be entering his fifth NBA season. The Rockets were 21-10 last season when both McGrady and Yao were in the lineup.

They expect point guard Rafer Alston to be better and power forward Juwan Howard to fit his game around Yao.

"If we're healthy through a season, then we're right up there with the best of them,'' McGrady told reporters in New York last week at a promotional event. "I like our additions. If the two of us [he and Yao] are healthy, anything now is possible.''

Not since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 has a team gone from a losing record to winning an NBA title. The Golden State Warriors went from not making the playoffs in 1974 to winning the championship in '75.

But it just doesn't happen very often.

"I'm feeling good. I worked hard this summer, and I'm 100 percent healthy and motivated again,'' McGrady said. "Things have gone pretty much this summer like I expected.''

The addition of Wells could be huge. His playoff performance was spectacular last spring, when he averaged 23.2 points and 12 rebounds for the Sacramento Kings in a first-round series, a big reason the Rockets wanted him.

Another reason they signed him is that McGrady pushed for it, knowing that Wells could be looking at a career-best season, because he is determined to prove how wrong everyone else was in pretending he didn't exist during the free-agency period this summer.

The Rockets will be playing in the league's toughest division, alongside the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. Staying healthy should allow the Rockets to challenge the best teams in the Western Conference.

"We now have what it takes,'' McGrady said. "We'll compete with the best in the West.''

Wells cost himself

Wells might help the Rockets become winners this season, but he won't be getting any awards for business smarts. His checkered past, along with some really bad advice, cost him dearly at the bank.

Early this summer, Wells turned down a five-year, $37 million deal from Sacramento, believing more riches were on the horizon. But he apparently forgot what was on his resume, forcing him to settle for the two-year, $5 million offer he got from Houston.

He will have the option to become a free agent again this summer, and the Rockets expect him to use it, which is why he could have a banner season.

How's this for his dunderhead past:

In Portland, he was suspended twice by the Trail Blazers, clashing with the staff several times. He was suspended once for spitting at former Spurs forward Danny Ferry and another time for a postgame fight against the Golden State Warriors. His tenure in Memphis ended when Coach Mike Fratello removed him from the playoff roster because of unsavory conduct.

Williams gets a shot

There will be a real feel-good story brewing at the New Jersey Nets training camp this week if Jay Williams can prove he still belongs in the NBA.

Williams hasn't played since an outstanding rookie season (2002-03) in Chicago. Williams, a former point guard from Duke, sustained crippling injuries after his first season when he crashed his motorcycle into a utility pole.

He has spent the past three years learning first to walk again so he could lead a normal life and then trying to regain the basketball skills that once made him the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft.

The early reviews have been mixed, but the Nets still invited him to camp as a nonroster player, believing he might fill a role as a backup point guard.

Around the Rim

The Phoenix Suns won 54 games last season even though center/power forward Amare Stoudemire played in just three games. So imagine how many they can win if he is healthy again. That's why the Suns have become such a popular pick to win it all this season. Stoudemire, during a recent promotional tour, pronounced himself healthy and ready to be the force he was before two knee surgeries. He bypassed the chance to play for Team USA at the FIBA World Championship but worked out all summer, strengthening the legs that once helped make him an all-star. "I have my explosiveness, my ability to run, jump and play defense,''' he told reporters last week. "I'm feeling great. I've been working on the strength and power in my legs, and it has paid off. My skills will come back.'''

How about Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal telling Stephen A. Smith on television why he keeps rejecting Hall of Famer Rick Barry's offer to teach him how to shoot free throws underhand. It's how Barry did it when he hit 88 percent for his career. It just isn't manly enough for the Big Guy. "Rick Barry's resume is not good enough to even come into my office to be qualified for a job,'' Shaq said. "I will shoot negative-30 percent before I shoot underhanded.''

Good to see that Moses Malone will coach full time with the Philadelphia 76ers this season after serving as an underused consultant last year. Malone is one of the NBA's all-time greatest rebounders. He teaches a skill that has eroded badly in today's game.

A Final Thought: With training camps opening, how long before the Knicks self-destruct?

Tim Povtak can be reached at tpovtak@orlandosentinel.com.


Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel | Get home delivery - up to 50% off

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...121104,print.column?coll=orl-sports-headlines

 

If everything Hollinger says is a good forecast of what will happen, then Bonzi makes us an incredibly dangerous team.

Right now I think I'd like to see him as our 6th man, like Dyess for Detroit and Stackhouse for Dallas - a guy that comes in and creates a whole bunch of matchup problems. That would solve the problem in our bench, which as Hollinger points out, is one of our major weaknesses. Just hope he's ok with that role. If he isn't, he'll still be good as our 2-guard, it would just be more fun to see him come him as our substitute wrecking ball

 

For the Van Gundy hate club to consider:

"Given how bad the Rockets were offensively, the amazing thing isn't that they lost 48 games, but that they managed to win 34. For that, thank Jeff Van Gundy and his stingy defense. Every team Van Gundy has coached has finished the season ranked in the top five in field-goal percentage defense, and this one was no exception. In fact, they ranked second, holding opponents to 42.9 percent marksmanship. This is a staggering accomplishment considering he was sending out a CBA lineup on many nights, and it's one that hasn't drawn nearly enough attention."

Now toss in a few extra hoops while maintaining the D and voilà.

 

I agree with the sixth man role. Snyder fits better into the starting rotation since he can shoot and defensd. Wells will be good off the bench when mcgrady goes out. We could even make him the focal part of an inside out offense with him playing the post and putting shooters on the floor. The best part is that we won't completely suck when yao or mcgrady goes out, allowing them to rest a little more. Expect more 4th quarter heroics from a rested mcgrady.

 

You have to take the good with the bad. Here's the bad...

The choice of players fall squarely on JVG's lap.

 

Hollinger does give us a pretty good outlook but at the same time he is pretty through in his assesment, at least IMO

 

yea but last season we were all screaming for a pure, pass-1st point guard. JVG did not have a crystal ball telling him that mcgrady would be injured

 

Firstly "we" weren't all screaming for a "pass-1st" point guard. 2ndly Rafer has a lot to prove still. Hollinger points that out. See the following in Hollinger's write-up:

If it isn't apparent let me spell it out. Even with TMac and Yao healthy Hollinger believes the Rockets are suspect with Alston at the point.

 

"the scandalously unproductive Juwan Howard"

LOL!!!

Preach on brutha!! Apparently everyone in the league knows Juwan is a mighty scrub except JVG.

 

Hey, I was wondering if someone could start a thread for me.

the website http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si...rockets-go.html

The content:Can a team that finished last in its division a year ago now be considered the favorite to reach the NBA Finals out of the Western Conference this season?

No. Expecting the Houston Rockets to make that kind of leap may be asking too much, especially in the Southwest, the most loaded division in the league. But adding Bonzi Wells to a lineup that already features two All-Star starters certainly means the Rockets should finish in the 50-60 win range this season ... provided, of course, those star players stay healthy. As last season suggests, that's a big if.

But forget the impact that Wells (and the other key acquisition, Shane Battier) will make during the regular season. Whether the Rockets finish first or last in the West doesn't really matter. The key here is that if the Wells-Yao Ming-Tracy McGrady threesome is clicking going into the playoffs, absolutely no one will want any part of the Rockets.

Wells was a playoff monster last year, averaging 23.2 points and 12 rebounds in the Kings' six-game first-round loss to the Spurs. McGrady, you'll recall, was an even bigger playoff monster the year before, averaging 30.7 points and 7.4 rebounds in a seven-game loss to the Mavs.

Upon reaching the playoffs next spring, both players will be properly motivated. For Wells, it will be for financial reasons -- to make up for misreading the market this offseason when he turned down a five-year $37 million offer from the Kings, ultimately settling for a two-year, $4.5 million deal with the Rockets in which he can opt out after this season. Wells will need another huge playoff performance (and will need to remain on his best behavior) in order to attract a big-money deal.

T-Mac, meanwhile, will simply want to get past the first round, something he has yet to achieve in five previous playoff appearances. Against the Mavs in 2005, he didn't have the supporting crew he does now (Wells, Battier, an improved Yao). If he averages 30 and 7 again, the Rockets should have no trouble advancing this time.

In 1999, Jeff Van Gundy's Knicks became the first 8th seed to advance to the NBA Finals. If Van Gundy's Rockets finish 8th in the West this year, a similar run wouldn't be as big a surprise.

But let me hear from you. Do the Rockets have what it takes to reach the Finals? Or will depth and health still be a problem this season?


I think this is one of the better articles about us, especially by a SI. It points out some good things. Hope every1 likes

forgot to add that some of the replies are f***in riducluos sayin we shouldnt get our hopes up and a realistic expectation will be just trying to make the playoffs

 

a surplus of 10+ points would be huge
now scratch your head jvg

 

Your link doesn't work.

If one believes Spurs' 1999 NBA title has an asterisk next to it, then one should also consider an aberration the much-heralded JVG's one and only NBA Finals' coaching experience with the 8th seed Knicks in the first post MJ, and shortened, NBA season.

Quite unlikely. Barring major injuries to our key player(s), if JVG has yet figured out a way to guide a team of such talent and depth to 4th seed or better by the end of the regular seaon, there is little chance he will succeed in the playoffs.

 

By that logic, I guess you think the Rockets' 1994 Championship should have an asterisk too, since it was in the original post-MJ season.

I don't believe this myself, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

"Shortened" is the keyword while "post-MJ" is a side track.