"The Rockets look Bad..."-Dime

We knew Pat Riley was getting up there in years, but on the eve of starting the season with the best Heat team he’s had in years, we didn’t expect him to retire. But that’s exactly what ‘Riles did yesterday, stepping down and handing the squad over to assistant Stan Van Gundy. Riley remains as the team’s president … If you saw the Lakers/Clippers game on Thursday night you saw Corey Maggette take a shot in the mouth from Karl Malone that resulted in two chipped teeth and a lacerated nasal passage. What were Malone’s thoughts of the play? "Ain't no free rides," he said. "I didn't feel him back there. I apologize if that was me." The best part is that just as Malone was saying that, Gary Payton rolled past and shouted "That’s one victim. Chalk it up." If they really get a chip on their shoulder, the old-timers are gonna make life miserable for a lot of people … Speaking of the Lakers, their preseason game against the Kings last night didn’t feel like a preseason game at all. They got after it out at UNLV. One thing everyone is gonna realize is how good the Lakers are defensively. The first quarter, when Jax had his bog dogs in the game, was like a track meet. Payton, Kobe and Malone were everywhere on D, and flying down the floor on fast breaks … On the other side of the spectrum, the Rockets look bad. We know Houston has a few guys hurt, but they’re just not good. Cuttino Mobley and Moochie Norris don’t look like they fit in at all with Jeff Van Gundy’s squad … Good God, if they don’t stop comparing Rasho Nesterovic to David Robinson, we may throw something at the TV … If you ever wondered what Darko Milicic and Chauncey Billups would talk about if they were locked in a car by themselves, now we know. Since Darko doesn’t have his driver’s license yet, Chauncey drives him to practice every day. "He asks me about Serbia a lot of times," Milicic said. " 'What would you be doing over there? And I ask him things about the League." We’re sure it’s riveting conversation … The Nets had a setback the other night when Kenyon Martin hurt his right thumb against Philly. "On the (pain) scale of 10, it was like a 12," said K-Mart after the game. For Kenyon to say something like that, the pain probably would’ve been enough to kill most normal humans. They just hope it’s not serious ligament damage … We’re out like ‘Riles.

Note:This was in response to yesterday's game vs. the Spurs, in which (I feel) the Rockets established themselves as a legitimate playoff team