[Sporting News] The Baseline sees all - Houston Rockets

The Sporting news dissects the upcomming season

Elsewhere in our web of basketball knowledge, you'll find comprehensive team previews by experts intimately acquainted with what makes these NBA teams tick, where they've been, and what might be next for them. So why another set of previews? Because sometimes, it's worth listening to your crazy uncle about that broken leg before you take a second trip to the doctor's office.

Yao is as resolute as he's ever been, except it's about missing the entire season. T-Mac, whom we'd both love and not love to see return ASAP, is pretending like there's no timetable for microfracture recovery. But like one of those films where someone's house burns down, which leads to an affair and a bunch of self-realization, the Rockets are in a position to salvage order from utter wreckage.

Even after Daryl Morey laid out his super-secret plans in The New York Times Magazine, we still don't know exactly what he's up to. Yet past history suggests that his bench weirdos and spare parts are in fact as capable as players come. Put them together, in Adelman's system, for a full year, and those superstars might prove to have been nothing but a smokescreen.

Most Likely Breakout: I know Carl Landry's(notes) been on the radar for some time now and earned his stripes off the bench. We know he's a trooper, a ball of kinetic energy, that dude who will save a playoff game with a tooth dripping off a rotted root canal. He's also a linebacker of a man whose natural position is that most unnatural slot of "small center." With Yao out, it's his time to build on the Ben Wallace(notes) legacy, unless Joey Dorsey(notes) gets there first. Yao is skilled beyond belief, in more ways than we care to admit. Landry is a full-on assault balled up in a motivational speech, and can hold down the paint while staying in the character of Adelman's zippy style.

More obscure pick: Like many of you, I hated Chase Budinger from the day he was born. I wish the Rockets had kept McCants. But between the newly-inked Trevor Ariza(notes) and basketball institution Shane Battier(notes), there's clearly a premium placed here on versatile forwards who have no trouble calibrating where they fall on the 2-3-4 spectrum while reaping a little bit of everything. Under the tutelage of Ariza and Battier, Budinger could become a member of their army. Imagine that the Rockets are stockpiling—nay, engineering—long, athletic players with high IQ who know how to shoot and enjoy pinpoint defense. If this assembly line gets going, we should all be awed and frightened.

Most Likely Letdown: People, Tracy McGrady(notes) was being gnawed apart by nagging injuries before microfracture, which is still serious surgery. (Witness Gilbert Arenas(notes) trying to rush back so often.) McGrady is filled with termites, maybe even cursed, and needs to cleanse his whole being if his career's going to have a successful second (third, now?) act. I thought he showed admirable mitigation when Jeff Van Gundy first showed up, but soon he returned to the old superstar act, minus the old capability. And it never really moved from there.

I repeat this a lot because we need this out, even as a personal plea: McGrady should sit the year out. He might be traded for cap room or end up unrestricted at the end of this season. He needs to emerge as a player relying more on, say, his passing, the defensive ability afforded to him by his length, and a willingness to un-learn volume shooting. I know that sounds nuts, but he could turn into a point forward who takes outside shots and goes inside when it's there. That would make him the shinier prototype for the Ariza/Battier movement with an element of redemption, or inner peace, that's been missing for years.

Do the Rockets still need him? Maybe—depends on how crazy this franchise wants to get—but that kind of player would be welcome for a decent price anywhere. What's not going to work, or make anyone happy, is him trying to resurrect the scoring machine T-Mac, especially in the midst of a Rockets seasons that seems to be plumbing something new. The last thing we want to see is ol' ball-stopping T-Mac invading and foregrounding his injury-watch once again.

Blog superstar: No idea. Maybe get Morey to weigh in each week on how his statistical know-how helps him order off a tricky lunch menu. Or how about Morey and Adelman with a web video each month where they go the amusement parks or hit the Galleria with cash to burn. Fine, you've discovered the downside to this team's "so little to lose it's gotta be bright" future.

Signature game: I just want to see that one game—I don't know where, when, why or how it'll happen—where the Rockets unload on an elite team. I'm not expecting another one of those magical winning streaks, which are more fluke than fact. But to see them play their game, whatever that ends up being, and strike the pants off, say, the Magic, would do a lot to alert the world to the fact that something's brewin' down on the Bayou. Landry tearing into Dwight Howard(notes) is particularly intriguing, even if D-How takes another major jump ahead next season.

Yeah, let's stick with that Magic thing. On the road, no less; at home, it becomes a Rashard Lewis(notes) homecoming, and you know what that means—film mocking his green room performance, a groundswell of way-too-familiar support, or both. I just want to see basketball at its highest. Try Oct. 9 for this one; if that's a dud, they travel to the Magic Kingdom again on Dec. 23. See you there, sports fans

Why else you should care: Sometimes you read about how in the jungles of some part of South or Central America, there will one day be a perfect storm of guerrillas, drug traffickers, and terrorists all hanging out together despite very different dietary preferences. I think that's kind of already Afghanistan, but putting it in a jungle makes it even crazier and gives it more boom/bust potential. I'll go ahead and stake that analogy on the Rockets this season. Advanced stats. A potentially sublime style of play. Exciting guys like Ariza and Aaron Brooks(notes). Lynchpins Battier and (even now) Landry.

There's also that wild card of Luis Scola(notes), an international gem who in the NBA, has been patiently waiting to bring together all these strains. Some predict stardom for him on these shores. I'm just content to see him step up and become a wacky, mobile, intelligent forward with a little bit of Vlade to him. Is that too much to ask? His resume up to this point, and the place the Rockets are at, practically screams "no, and only a fool would want to spoil this prematurely!"
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DD

 

He actually mispelled Chase as Chade, but I fixed it for him.....before pasting it here...

Got to represent my new man crush.....

He had an abdominal/groin injury and was unable to practice so the team declined to sign him, but may look at him later.

DD

 

Sporting news NBA Countdown by Fran Blinebury

When they walked off the court after defeating Portland in a rugged first-round series and then put up a gallant seven-game fight against the eventual champion Lakers, the Rockets believed they were finally headed in a new direction.
Little did they know that direction was straight down.

Tracy McGrady (microfracture knee surgery) was already expected to be out for the start of the coming season. Yao Ming later discovered that an unhealed stress fracture in his left foot would require surgery and force him to miss all of the 2009-10 campaign. Then Ron Artest flew the coop for a new free-agent contract with the Lakers.

You can’t blame the Rockets for wondering what hit them. They went from the cusp of being contenders to dwelling near the bottom of the Western Conference and hoping that somehow they can sneak onto the bottom rung of the playoffs.

The Rockets’ plan of attack is to retrench completely without Yao as their anchor and try to implement coach Rick Adelman’s wide-open style of offense that gets easy baskets on the fast break and creates open shots with the passing game.

Water bug point guard Aaron Brooks, with a half-season of starting experience under his belt, will be the Rockets’ top gun in the backcourt, with Luis Scola playing more of the lead up front.


To fill Yao’s spot in the middle, the Rockets traded for the rights to Australian David Andersen, then signed him to a two-year contract for almost $5 million. Andersen isn't Yao, but he can run, and Adelman wants to play fast. Really, it’s all Houston can do with a roster that has been decimated and pieced together on the fly.

"If we lose, it won’t be for a lack of effort and desire and winning qualities," general manager Daryl Morey said.

It will be the simple, brutal fact that the Rockets don’t have the talent to line up with the Western Conference contenders. They will be relying on the continued development of young players such as Brooks and Carl Landry while hoping that Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry can bring their games up a notch or two.
Ariza, 24, was signed to replace Artest and is fresh off a championship run with the Lakers. He will be under pressure to carry a large part of the offensive burden, but, like veteran Rockets forward Shane Battier, he needs spacing of the floor to create openings. He needs time to catch and shoot.

The Rockets are so hungry for offense that they are expecting to receive tangible offensive contributions from second-round draft choices Jermaine Taylor and Chase Budinger.
The X-factor in the Rockets’ plans is still McGrady, who will be evaluated in late November for a possible return. After surgery on his left knee in February, he rehabilitated in Chicago with renowned trainer Tim Grover. McGrady says he is determined to come back stronger than ever. McGrady, whose $23 million salary will be the highest in the league this season, has an expiring contract and is also motivated to get another long-term deal. The Rockets also could unload him if the opportunity arises during the season.

Fast Facts
2008-09 record: 53-29
Last playoff: 2009 (lost in conference semifinal)
Coach: Rick Adelman

Burning question
Who will replace Yao Ming?
They're going to have to fake it. The Rockets acquired Australian big man David Andersen from the Hawks in the offseason, and he'll get a crack at the job. Reserve Chuck Hayes can fill in as needed, but he is 6-6 and can't be relied on to be the team's top center. The other option is Joey Dorsey, who was a disappointment as a rookie but looked good in this year's summer league. Dorsey is only 6-9, but he is strong and could bruise his way into the starting spot. — Sean Deveney

View from the other bench
(an opponent breaks down the Rockets)

"How much more of a hit can one team take when you lose your top three players in (Tracy) McGrady, Yao (Ming) and (Ron) Artest all at once? It's like everything they did in the playoffs never happened and they have to start all over again. …

"One thing I've learned is to never count out Rick Adelman when it comes to adapting and making the most of the talent on hand. He's in a situation where the only way this team can win is to move the ball and try to get a lot of easy baskets in the running game. Of course, that's exactly the style Adelman likes to play."

Rookie to watch: G Jermaine Taylor
The 6-4 shooting guard, a second-round pick (No. 32) from Central Florida, has never lacked the confidence or ability to put the ball in the basket—especially from 3-point range. The broken Rockets will need Taylor to step up right away, and they showed him some love with a multiyear contract offer after he averaged 11 points in four summer-league games.

Inside the numbers
22: Combined career All-Star appearances by Dikembe Mutombo, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, each of whom was sidelined by injury for the Rockets' season-ending Game 7 loss to the Lakers in May.

0: Combined All-Star appearances made by Houston players expected to be healthy for the start of the season.

16.8: Playoff scoring average of Aaron Brooks last season, up 5.6 points per game from his regular-season average—the fourth-highest increase in the league.

Additions: Trevor Ariza, G/F (L.A. Lakers), David Andersen, F/C (trade, Atlanta), Pops Mensah-Bonsu, F (Toronto)

Subtractions: Ron Artest, F (L.A. Lakers), Dikembe Mutombo, C (retired)

 

There are actually 2 articles in this thread....both are different and both from the Sporting news.

DD

 

Brooks and Lowry are the two right now.....maybe Ariza bu he is unproven in that role....

Some of our young guys as well may be able to do that...Chase and Taylor....

To me there is a difference between ball stopper and finisher, TMac is a ball stopper......we need finishers..if they are going to stop the ball.....



DD

 

Facts? Sounds like an assumption, but whatever....

He is young, he will get better and move the ball more.

However, watch AB, when Lowry is in with him, he moves very well off the ball too, that is something we need from all of our players.

DD

 

Exactly, give them some time to find out......Brooks has started about 35 games or so, he has probably a lot of room for growth...same with Lowry....

It is not like there is years of data of ball stopping, let's see what they do...

I am excited about the prospects.

DD