Rockets Daily: Monday, September 6th, 2010
06 Sep 2010 09:11 AM
- They say a Houston Rockets season has not actually begun until the first injury. With an upcoming training camp heralding the start of actual professional basketball, Chase Budinger sprained his ankle and will be out for four to six weeks. The high-flyer and generally chill bro was set to immediately increase his role thanks to Trevor Ariza’s departure causing a sudden dearth of flexibility at the 3. His defense and consistency will be closely scrutinized in a way they weren’t last season if he plays next to a roster that can contend, so losing a month or more of practice seems particularly ill-timed. Although, I suppose we’ve had less convenient injuries.
- Chuck Hayes does not play around. He doesn’t let anyone back him down, doesn’t want to take any guff about how short he is and perennially exudes an aura of being too old for this stuff, even though he’s only 27. So if Chuck Hayes thinks the Rockets will be one of the five best defensive units in the NBA next year, we should all prepare for some crisp rotations and active feet. When talking to Rockets staff writer Jason Friedman, Hayes pointed to his current team’s character as evidence of a defensive resurgence for the boys in the ketchup and mustard: “It’s all about the guys we have here and how hard we play. We’ve got guys who can defend and with Yao down there, he’s kind of like a safety net. Sometimes we use him as a crutch and we obviously can’t do that and I’m surely early on we’ll have nights when we’re good and others when we won’t be. But I think we can put it together. Brad Miller is an unselfish player. Patrick Patterson is a real humble and willing-to-listen rookie – he doesn’t have an ego. Then you throw in Yao who is probably the most unselfish superstar out there. I think the pieces are all there. We don’t have any egos in this locker room. Nobody thinks they’re better than anyone else. And that’s a big key to playing good team defense.” read more
Wanted: Video Contributor
05 Sep 2010 08:28 PM
Here’s the situation: I want to embed a reel of the main highlights from each game next season within the next day’s Rockets Daily. I need a contributor for the capture, compilation, and uploading of these clips.
I’m not looking for anything of analytical nature – just the major plays that people would want to see (ie: dunks, blocks, etc.)
If you’re interested, shoot me an email at rahathuq@red94.net.
Rockets Daily: Friday, September 3rd, 2010
03 Sep 2010 11:50 AM
- Yes, the Houston Rockets run the best organization, without a doubt. In the D-League. D-League Digest’s Matt Hubert gives the Rockets and its job running its D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, a score of perfect, based on a composite score of several experts (including our own Rahat Huq). Although division rival and general bastions of perfection the San Antonio Spurs were also in the highest tier of D-League usage, the Rockets’ constant use and selective control of its affiliate team has allowed it greater flexibility and player development than any other organization: “As the only team to earns a perfect 4.00 GPA (with a boost from Matt Moore’s A+), the Rockets are clearly a model franchise… The point is, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is one of the brightest minds in basketball. The man knows how to bring in talent and build a team. His commitment to using the D-League is one of the reasons why Houston is at least a step ahead of almost every team in the league… Assignments, call-ups, innovative use of the affiliation system—the Rockets do it all very well.”
- While the Rockets’ organization may be run differently than other teams’, exactly how typical are Houston’s players on the court? Hardwood Paroxysm’s Tom Haberstroh writes about the commonalities between all of those NBA players’ shot selections at particular positions; most interestingly, Haberstroh lists the players who shoot most and least like others at their positions. While few Rockets make the list (not many players on the team are particularly prototypical or revolutionary in their shooting styles), of particular note is Kevin Martin’s presence as one of the NBA’s most shooting-guard-like… shooting guards. Like most 2’s, he shoots a lot of threes, mid-to-long-range jumpshots and goes to the basket on occasion; his back-up, Courtney Lee, is ranked immediately behind him in terms of normality. As both are recent acquisitions, this news may lead readers to think the Rockets are piling up literal role players, players who play their positions on the court to a T without deviating too far from their positions’ strengths; however, another new face, Jared Jeffries, leads the list of out-of-the-norm power forwards, shooting less like a power forward than any other 4 in the league. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Jeffries does not take many shots. read more
‘94 Toons: The Case Against Carmelo
02 Sep 2010 10:01 PM
An Explanation of the value of Houston Rockets guard Kevin Martin with some help from Will Ferrell
02 Sep 2010 11:32 AM
Mmmmm…I look good. I mean really good. Hey everyone…come and see how good I look.
Thank you, all, for the warm reception. It is much appreciated. I especially enjoyed the comments. They provided some ideas I had failed to incorporate for one reason or another.
Rockets Daily: Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
02 Sep 2010 10:58 AM
- If Carmelo Anthony is the inefficient ball vacuum he’s been called in recent days by Rockets fans not so eager to buy stock in the Melo sweepstakes (yep, that’s what it’s called), is Rockets (and Nets, T-Wolves, Kings, Clippers, Warriors, Globetrotters,Wizards, Orangemen, Bulls and Knicks) fans’ interest in him based solely in a foolhardy Jordan-like adoration for the wing scorer? Can a man not hit 20-foot-fadeaway jumpers without building a mythos these days? Warriors World’s Ethan Sherwood Strauss looks at the way Kobe-Bryant-love grew thanks to 81-point-games and ill-advised fadeaways during Bryant’s years as the primary (read: only) option for the Lakers, leaving people to forget all that may have been wrong with both Kobe and those teams: “So what does this have to do with Carmelo Anthony? Well, we obsess over him for many of the same reasons we focus on Bryant. When Melo’s draining shots in the playoffs, the casual fan gets swept up in the drama (How many shots in a row can he hit? Will he score the game winner?). The other facets of the game fade into periphery, blur as we look for the next Anthony bucket. And those memories of off-balance jumpers linger longer than anything from a Denver playoff exit.”
- Luis Scola cannot stop scoring. Regardless of the defense placed before him, this very slow, very tall fellow will spin, dip and hook his way into buckets; for Argentina, the post craftiness has turned the gold-mdeal-winning Scola, who’s dropped 30 or more in each of his first three games in the FIBA World Championships, a true savior in the absence of Manu Ginobili. The Argentinian Jesus will continue his reign of blessings/terror against the Serbs today. read more
Rockets Daily: Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
01 Sep 2010 12:00 PM
- Remember the glorious month of August, one in which the Houston Rockets seemed to be among the chosen few angling for the services of one Carmelo Anthony? Entering the fracas at this point, an unbiased observer has to wonder if the Rockets’ calls are even getting through to newly named and, most likely, newly overwhelmed Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri. The Nuggets are apparently trying to move Anthony somewhere he has no interest in in the West, as the Clippers, King and Timberwolves have emerged as the Nuggets’ preferred trade partners. None of these places provide Mr. Ihatekatstacks with the win-now roster in which Anthony seems interested (scream sweating, hopeful Rockets fans everywhere). If Anthony can suck it up and learn to live, though, NBA Fanhouse’s Tom Ziller thinks Melo should reconsider one of these NBA cellar-dweller’s offers: “Consider this, then, a plea for Carmelo to look past 2010-11 and embrace the wonderful future he could have with a young, rising team. Sacramento, for instance, could make Denver an attractive offer without putting Tyreke Evans or rookie Demarcus Cousins in play. The Kings have modeled themselves after the Oklahoma City Thunder; like OKC, Sacramento hit the depths, drafted a superstar, drafted well again and is ready to rise. Evans isn’t Kevin Durant, but one could argue Cousins is a bigger chip than Russell Westbrook and that the Omri Cassippi-Donté Greene dragon outstrip the Thunders’ third tier. (There’s also the fact that Sactown is an hour flight from L.A., with jets leaving five dozen times a day. Also, the team is owned by the Maloofs, who have some pulls both in Vegas and the entertainment world. And they got Evans a sitdown dinner with President Obama last season. Power comes in odd shapes and sizes!)” read more
Two Carmelo Anthony Related Points
31 Aug 2010 02:56 PM
Two points for discussion while I eat this sandwich:
1. The ghost of Tracy McGrady hovers over this discussion in some relevant ways.
1a) deterrence – Many feel embittered after the McGrady experience, gaining cynicism towards all misfits. I don’t think this is wise. While I have my own reluctances, this past experience should not scare one off completely. As I have often said, “Tim Duncan isn’t walking through that door,” and talent is talent and ultimately what wins in the NBA.
1b) the comparison – to be fair, Carmelo Anthony shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as the Tracy McGrady of 2005. You could state with a straight face that the team had acquired the best player in basketball, in those days. In this situation, were there to be a trade, you’d need to conjure quite an argument to convince some of the smarter basketball minds that the Rockets had acquired a player who was truly “elite.”
2. We’ve heard the anti-Melo argument, passionately posited by the stat-geek community. What are the chances that Morey has no interest? Based on his comments and his known philosophy, it’s really at 50/50, I think.
Rockets Daily: Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
31 Aug 2010 11:48 AM
- For a stretch of last year, Luis Scola was far and away the Houston Rockets’ best player, even if the Houston Rockets weren’t necessarily that great. This further deepened Houston’s already passionate Scola-mania, culminating in his (contextually) gigantic five-year-deal with the Rockets. What can a 30-year-old power forward who has certainly already peaked out and just received a huge contract bring in terms of intensity? As it turns out, 17 points in the 1st quarter is the exact amount. Scola opened Argentina’s preliminary round matchup with Angola with a roar, going 11-19 in the game and single-handedly keeping his country’s team undefeated. While the Rockets’ own caveman’s dominance was undeniable, The Painted Area recognized a theme regarding Scola and his international superstar treatment that I’m sure Rockets fans would love to see imported from Istanbul: “Luis Scola got back to his efficient ways with a 31-point, 9 rebound effort on 11-of-19 shooting. Scola did most of his damage as the roll man. He hit 3-4 pick/pop foul-line jumpers. To say Scola gets superstar calls from FIBA refs is an understatement. He’s definitely a physical guy, but he gets some calls other pedestrian players don’t. I only counted two buckets off post-ups, but both were tough makes. One was a banker in traffic plus the foul. Then he added a sweet up/under move finished with his left hand that gave ARG a 69-66 lead late.” read more
Rockets Daily: Monday, August 30th, 2010
30 Aug 2010 01:17 PM
- I think all good news begins with Twitter; therefore, today shall be a glorious news day as this weekend was seemingly turbulent in NBA Twitter news. One of the NBA’s most prominent experts, John Hollinger, predicted that if Carmelo Anthony ends this upcoming season in a jersey other than the Nuggets’, he’ll end up in the ketchup and mustard of the Houston Rockets thanks to a three-way deal that he hypothesizes would send Aaron Brooks to the Charlotte Bobcats and Erick Dampier’s gigantic non-guaranteed deal to the Nuggets for cap relief. As trivial as this seems, it stands as probably the most realistic Melo/Rockets deal put forth (although he later amended it by saying the Rockets’ draft picks acquired in last year’s deal for Kevin Martin would probably go the way of the rockies as well). While Hollinger’s prediction about Carmelo’s future piqued the interest of a few followers, the man himself caused the Internet to explode via a tweet that appeared to put a bounty out on the head of hip-hop socialite Kat Stacks for some vague reason related to his wife. Though this was eaten up by the exploding Internet, the tweets were later learned to have come as the result of a hacked account. While this may all feel a little ridiculous and seedy to Rockets fans already wary of the culture Anthony could bring this team, it is important to note two things: one, that this had little to do with him. And secondly, the Rockets obviously need more Twitter beefs. Brad Miller, I’m looking at you. read more
