Chronic: Back to our regularly scheduled programming

http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2007/07/back_to_our_regularly_schedule.html

Now, where were we?

Oh yeah, basketball.

Before Tim Donaghy changed the subject last week, which has to be listed among his crimes, we were talking about Steve Francis, who if nothing else has not lost any of his power to polarize opinion.

Back before we blogged the days away, he was great at that for the talk radio crowd. Apparently, that has not changed.

Anyway, a few days ago, I finally broke down and picked up a DVR. I rarely record anything. I don't even know if the VCR is hooked up. But when experimenting with the DVR, I recorded "The Last Waltz" for me, a Hitchcock movie for my wife, a "7th Heaven" episode for my daughter (don't ask) and the Rockets championship video for my youngest son. (The oldest son is stationed in Kentucky. He didn't get anything.)

In watching the Rockets video, it made me think of the blog and the Steve Francis debates. The Steve versus Tracy part was a waste of the time it took to read them, and to type this sentence. And I'll ignore the discussion of who Yao likes most, since I'm out of junior high school. But the questions about minutes and the rotation seem perfectly valid.

The issue, however, is not who starts, but who finishes, which brings us back to the championship video.

Back then, Kenny Smith started, Sam Cassell worked his way in, Scott Brooks finished. But the playoffs, the rotation was cut to Smith and Cassell with Rudy Tomjanovich going with whatever was working best that game.

In Orlando, Kenny started, starred and finished Game 1, Sam was the man in Game 2, and pretty soon they swept to their second title.

I'm a long way from predicting anything so grand, but that seems like a pretty good plan going in. I tend to think James might be a better fit as the first guard off the bench. Likely coming in when Yao is out, and staying on the floor when McGrady leaves it, James can look for his shot in that role, with an ability to shoot off the dribble or in a catch-and-shoot role roughly equally well.

The more removed we are from the Francis signing, the more I'm starting to like it. As teams clog the lane in front of McGrady and sent double teams to Yao, I like the idea of someone busting defenses off the dribble and driving to the basket.

Steve's shooting percentage his last season with the Rockets went down in part because his range shooting declined, but also because with Kelvin Cato and Yao starting together, the lane was terribly clogged. He had his worst season finishing. That should not be a problem this season. And for whatever Steve does not do as a point guard, he could always find open shooters.

On nights James is lighting it up, he can finish. When Steve is carving up defenses or knocking down shots, he can finish. Mix in a little Aaron Brooks along the way. And if the Rockets don't deal Rafer Alston - though they still seem likely to make a move (as well as dealing John Lucas III) - they can have unusual depth at the position that was their thinnest last season.

Rick Adelman seems the type to be more than capable of that juggling. At first, it might have sounded like a problem, but thinking about it, the mix at the point seems a strength.

More than that, I can now consider the DVR a tax deduction.