In past years, you could go to draftexpress or nbadraft.net and find out who a team has been working out. That doesn't seem to work now. Does anyone know who the Rockets have officially worked out?
I now they're already working out players. See http://www.draftexpress.com/twitter.php. "James Anderson strained his hamstring in a workout in Houston today, his agent Andy Miller informs us. Will be out for a week to ten days." I just don't understand why we don't have a list of these players.
The Rockets (and many other teams) really don't want the list of players they work out to become public. It basically gives away the players they are looking at, especially those who come in late or for second workouts. For example, one of the very few players who draftexpress.com reported worked out for the Rockets multiple times was . . . you guessed it . . . Jermaine Taylor, the guy on which the Rockets ended up using their first purchased pick. I would guess that Morey wants to keep that information as hush-hush as possible. Frankly, if it helps the Rockets manage the draft as best possible, I'll sacrifice that pre-draft knowledge for the sake of the team.
Paul George vs. James Anderson Bulls did a similar workout early this month and George was the absolute best. I think Rockets could pair the following players in the upcoming private workout. Hassan Whiteside vs. Daniel Orton Larry Sanders vs. Solomon Alabi Xavier Henry vs. Dominique Jones Gordon Hayward vs. Luke Babbitt Damion James vs. Stanley Robinson Avery Bradley vs. Terrico White Quincy Pondexter vs. Gani Lawal
Marqus Blakely, Courtney Fortson, Bryan Davis, Manny Harris, JaJuan Johnson, Kelvin Lewis, Demetri McCamey, Latavious Williams, Jeremy Wise, Jeremy Evans. From hoopshype.
I believe Marqus Blakely is getting a second workout with the Rockets. They were impressed the first time around.
In the good ol' days the Rockets would let the media know who and when they were working out. We were allowed to come down to the old practice facility (Westside Tennis Center) and get a few minutes of video and interview the players. They wouldn't let us shoot the entire workout, just enough to show a little bit for our sportscasts. I can remember seeing and interviewing Amare Stoudemire as if it were yesterday. I was there the day Boki went crazy knocking down shot after shot and the Rockets fell in love with him. I'm still not sure why they don't allow this anymore. To me it keeps the Rockets relevant in the off-season. Right now they get little if any mention on the news because there is nothing to report. I think it would be good PR for the team and keep the fans interested. Last I checked season tickets are still available. I've been told they don't want other teams knowing who they are working about, but I have a hard time believing that's the real reason because most teams would probably work out the same guys anyway. Most of this started when Van Gundy took over.
Possible powerwing and NCAA dunk contest winner. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Marqus-Blakely-5312/ <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/itQRvRsK7Eo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/itQRvRsK7Eo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
