The 12 hottest questions (cont.) Sports Illustrated Posted: Wednesday October 25, 2006 12:42PM; Updated: Wednesday October 25, 2006 2:20PM By Paul Forrester 11. Which teams are on the rise? • 1Houston Rockets A healthy Tracy McGrady is back -- at least to start the season -- as is Yao Ming, who averaged almost 26 points, 12 rebounds while shooting nearly 54 percent after the All-Star break last season. And holding it all together is the NBA's ultimate glue guy, Shane Battier, acquired in a draft night trade from Memphis. "Obviously a lot hinges on the health of Yao and, in particular, McGrady," notes a front office consultant. "But I love Battier for this team; he's great off the ball defender; on offense he doesn't score a lot, but he doesn't make any mistakes and never turns the ball over. You've also got to guard him on the 3-point line, which allows him to take his guy away from the other scorers, which is a lot more valuable than a lot of teams realize. "With a healthy McGrady and Battier spreading the floor, it'll be hard for teams to counter Yao, who has stretches where he appears to be almost as dominant as any player in the NBA." Assuming McGrady keeps in touch with his chiropractor and Yao his orthopedist, the Western Conference playoff race should make room for one more. It's nothing new, but I like that it came from SI. Honestly, I'm looking forward to this season and I think we will go deep this year.
well it isn't a Rockets article.... it's an excerpt from a Q&A article regarding the NBA. the guy couldn't write a dissertation. but he should've mentioned wells.
Hi, I am Scoop Jackson and I approve this message. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview2006/news/story?page=Predictions0607
Darth Vader (Mark Cuban) has bought off Barry...how else can you explain this mutiny?...I'm afraid Jon has gone over to the Dark Side...
I've always liked that SI uses anonymous scouts in the league to size up other teams. It shows what teams really think about their opposition.
Rockets getting some much deserved respect. Now its time to get it together & show the league we are for real!
Actually, how is the respect "much-deserved"? They haven't done anything of relevance in 10 years. However, it IS nice to see the Rockets getting some attention. But for now, it's all hype.
They just aquired a def. minded pf (Battier), a pure shooter (SuperNova), a euro. tallent (V-Span), & a semi-allstar (Bonzi) for a damn good deal. If that dosn't warrent some respect for all there offseason moves than I dont know what does...
I think we should wait until at least midseason to see how they all mesh together with the team. Until then, I completely agree with Rockets111. Anyone can say that we had a pretty damn good offseason compared to previous years (excluding T-Mac trade).. but the season hasn't even started and for all we know, this team could implode by midseason. V-Span and Novak has yet to play against an NBA starting line up when it matters.. and from the looks of the preseason, V-Span still has LOTS to learn.
Well logically speaking your right but I'm a ROX fan & the season starts in 2 days! Im just so damn hypppppped up!!!!!!!
just be happy they ranked us as the top team on the rise. how much more do you want? we're #1. besides, we already know all there is to know about wells, snyder, novak, vspan. and we've already heard enough about them. no more talk, it's time to see them play for real.
Well, I will say that b/c of T-Mac never getting out of the 1st round, and YAO being criticized for being too soft and now the toe probs/broken foot last yr, having old role players the last couple of years, people questioning JVG and staff's coaching ability, questionable player trades, and all the multiple injuries on T-MAC, Yao, Rafer, Barry, Wesley, Juwan(05), no body believes the Rockets can put it together and sustain it throught the season and into the playoffs competing and ultimately beating the elite teams. The only thing I can say is that this is the Year they must get out of the first round AND the second round or you will see how irrelevant the Rockets will be in every NBA person's mind(media, teams, fans etc). Go Rockets......Now is the time to earn your Respect!!!
