Just went to a lunch honoring the Rockets. CD, Gene Peterson, George Postolos and Eric Piatkowski were there. No real big news, only these tidbits: According to CD: (1) Yao has grown a half inch and put on 20 lbs. (2) MoT now weighs in at 250. (3) Cuttino Mobley's ankles are all better. CD claimed that out of his 29 years of experience with the Rockets and NBA, he's never seen anyone able to play through pain like Cat. (4) Glen Rice is 100% healthy and he is weighing in at 230. (5) Rudy's treatments have been successful and he should fully recover by next year. Also, Rudy is now officially a scout for the Rockets. My Impressions: Pike looks like he is at least 6'6" tall. He also comes across as an intellegent nice person (he spoke a little bit, but didn't say anything worth repeating here). Gene Peterson was big pimpin! He was wearing a stylish grey suit and was sportin a rather bushy goatee. He had a little swagger to his walk as well. OK, that's it. Not much, but at least something to chew on before the season starts.
So Yao would be at about 320 lbs? And almost an even 7'6". And Mo isn't a fat tub of you-know-what. Hope it's true. I guess JVG's "show up in camp in shape" paid off.
I was also at the luncheon. The only thing I would add is that Pike has been working out regularly at Westside side for a while now. All the Rocket players have been in and out for a few games at one point. Van Gundy has been very hands on the whole time. Francis has only been down there for a couple of days. Pike did say Francis has been working out pretty hard on his own while he has been on the "celebrity" circuit the last month or so. Also, Gene Peterson was real pumped about the season. Of course, I think he's pumped before every season.
And now the starting center for your Houston Rockets....7'6" and 320 lbs of ass kicken Chinese from the Peoples Republic of China...Yao Ming! Better watch your back Shaq this damn sure isn't Shawn Bradley! Damn I am excited about the new season!
It sounds like MoT took his personal care seriously this summer, and... Glen Rice in a new contract push? All right and All Right!
This gives me real hope. Watch MoT. I knew it I knew it I knew it. If Yao trims some of that fat we've HEARD about, Rice is in shape, and MoT is in fact in shape, then we're looking at 6th seed. We can take the Blazers. They lost Daniels, Pip, and Sabonis. Woods and Randolph will see more minutes. So basically, we re-enforced the 2-spot (Pike), the 1 (Wilks and Moochie), the 3 (A Griffin + contract Rice + Boki), the 4 (MoT) + Yao. If at any point I hear that Griffin has bulked up since last season, I will bet on 6th seed without thinking twice.
xiki, (How do you pronounce that anyway, "cheeky") Ditto on Glen Rice. The lack of good shooters in the league keeps his value higher than it should be. It would be nice if JVG's workouts will slim him down to 220 - 225, you know, take a little stress off those old knees of his !
I'm very happy to see that we have 2 great shooters now in Glen Rice and Pike, followed by Francis and Mobley. I think that if you count the 2nd half of the season, both Rice and Pike were among the top 3 3-pt shooters in the league, right? If MoT is hitting the 15 footer and the hook shot consistently, this line-up is absolutely lethal: Yao MoT Rice Pike/Mobley Francis
