[CHRONIC] Miller signing wasn't a must-do, but it sure helps Rockets

http://blogs.chron.com/jeromesolomon/2010/07/another_big_man_for_the_rocket.html


Miller signing wasn't a must-do, but it sure helps Rockets

One day, 2 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds.

That is how long after we displayed the clock on the Rockets' need for a backup center that they went out and got one.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

There are circumstances in which you wouldn't need a big man:

If you had Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Scottie Pippen, John Havlicek and Bernard King on your roster, for instance.

Of course, you would have the all-time all-time greatest team if you added Hakeem Olajuwon and Bill Russell to that squad, but you would still have the all-time greatest team if Chuck Hayes started in the middle for that team with David Andersen playing the role of ceremonial cigar. (Think Christian Laettner on the Dream team.)

Recognizing that they do not have a superstar on the roster, and probably don't have a player that will ever even make an All-Star squad — there is a chance Aaron Brooks will one day play at an All-Star level, but it is difficult to make the team in the Western Conference at the point — the Rockets have decided they should employ a couple of centers this season.

Yao Ming and Brad Miller.

Finally, a reason for a parade.


• • •
Even Daryl Morey knows the Rockets should have found a center to play center last season. Now, if only they can get their hands on a guy who can play a few minutes, block the occasional shot and grab a rebound inside without it having to roll to him.

Is Jordan Hill that guy? Good question.

While points in the paint tell you less about winning and losing than most think, it is a key stat to my personal enjoyment of a game.

I like it when things happen in the paint — scoring and especially defending.

The Rockets went from a team that allowed 37.8 points-in-the-paint per-game in 2008-09 to one that surrendered 45.4 in 2009-10. They went from being 10th-best in the league to fourth-worst.

In 2008-09 the Rockets were fifth in the league in defensive rebounding. They dropped to 13th last season, but the drop is even more significant considering they fell from the top-five in field goal percentage allowed to 20th. Hence they gave up almost eight more points a game this past season than they did the year before.

Yao's presence changes much of that. (How much will he play, how long will he last? You'd have to be psychic to know.)

Flopping Brad Miller changes some of that. He isn't a defensive terror, but against most teams the Rockets are better with him than without him.

Nobody knows how much he has left, but Miller, who has played 12 seasons in the league after not even being drafted out of Purdue, makes the Rockets a smarter team, which should help.

Getting Hayes back to playing most of his minutes at power forward should help big-time.