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And away we go…

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I really can’t wait to see Kobe, actually.  He’s become the NBA’s greatest subplot, somehow by his own doing, a curmudgeonly All-time great on his last leg(s), stuck on a horrible team with no hopes of doing anything of relevance.  Always a great interview, there will be no filter this season, and it will be spectacular.  I actually kind of hope to see him average 30 a game on 35 shots because….Kobe.  But we and the league will get our first look tonight on national television as the hometown heroes in red travel up to the Staples Center to face L.A.’s other team.  Our old friend Jeremy Lin will also be in tow, with something to prove after being billed a colossal failure during his stint in Houston.  Lin, now, is playing for his next contract, with Linsanity now having been long forgotten as a distant memory, at least in the eyes of NBA general managers, and with the bulk of his $25million paycheck already having been squared away safely in long-term securities.  What happens next is anyone’s guess, but as sort-of-an-Asian myself (I’m South Asian), I hope he succeeds because it would really suck if our defining moment in American sports was deemed a complete fluke.  The reader may note that I am not exactly holding my breath on Sim Bhullar panning out.

Houston should obliterate these guys and thus, naturally, I am expecting a close game with lots of errors.  I hope we win because, that would be depressing if we don’t, but I’m not going to lose any sleep if the good guys lay an egg.  L.A. will come out amped, and Kobe will be trying to break the single game record on field goals attempted.  On that note, Beard similarly should have a monster outing as Bryant, physiologically does not have much in the way of a prayer of staying with him laterally, at this point in time.  I expect Bryant to insist upon guarding Harden rather than Ariza, at least in stints.

Terrence Jones will have a big game because that is what Terrence Jones does against bad teams with weak frontlines while Dwight Howard will be hoping to build off last summer’s dominance.  But I’ll be paying close attention to the defense because that is where Houston can really separate itself this season, especially with the Thunder really hurting at the moment.  Remember how every year during the late 90’s (okay, I realize a large percentage of you reading this were born in the 90’s but just listen and feel enlightened), Houston and some other team would make huge splashes during the offseason like bringing in Charles Barkley, or Scottie Pippen, or Shaq, and the media would be like “Oh!  Look at Houston!  Primed for a title with the addition of Scottie Pippen!” all the meanwhile completely forgetting about the Utah Jazz?  And then the Jazz would just run it back with the exact same group, come back grittier, and get the #1 seed and go to the Finals?  That’s kind of how I feel right now about the Rockets.  Everyone’s sleeping on them.  Hell, there are people out there picking them to miss the playoffs.  But they swap out Parsons for Ariza, are mad, and could be exponentially better defensively.  (Or maybe this is just what I’m telling myself to get over the sleepless nights induced by the Bosh fiasco).  But really, I just have this feeling, you know?  Everyone crapped all over them, their GM, their city, their superstars, their role players (oh wait, that was James Harden that did that), and now they’re just mad and hungry.  I could see them reeling off like 15 straight to start the season, reminiscent of Akeem’s Rockets.  Wait, I just looked at the schedule, they’re playing the Spurs next week.  But in seriousness, we should realistically start out 4-0 heading into the Miami game next week.

Jeff Adrien is gone and thus, a part of me has died inside.  This also slightly increases the odds of Donatas Motiejunas staying in the NBA because I (fearfully) predicted Adrien supplanting Motiejunas as the first backup big off the bench.  Shows how much I know.  Tonight will give us our first glimpse of the rotation with backup point guard and backup big the two biggest question marks.  Trevor Ariza could lead the league in minutes this year.  Seriously.

Okay, I don’t really have much more to say so let’s close this thing out with a few predictions for tonight:

  • Terrence Jones will go coast to coast at least once, crossing someone over at midcourt, causing Chris Webber to lose his composure.
  • It’s too easy to predict the inevitable Dwight Howard discussion where both guys remain oblivious to the rule changes and Shaq demands 35 and 15 of Dwight, and Charles says “but he’s not you, Shaq!” and Shaq says “Exactly” and then Kenny says “that’s the point!  He’s not you!” while Ernie looks on.  Please bring back Chris Webber into the studio.
  • Patrick Beverley strips Jeremy Lin at halfcourt 5 times and the internet ends.
  • Jeremy Lin scores 45 points with 20 assists and my Twitter timeline explodes and I have to create a new account.
  • Which of the above two is more likely?
  • Julius Randle and Terrence Jones matchup, I just remembered.  This reminds me, I never understand when announcers say, “if he had stayed at Kentucky, he would still just be a senior this year!”.  Because everyone stays the full four years, right?  That’s like saying “well, if I hadn’t had to pay tuition during law school, I’d have made serious headway on this mortgage already!”
  • I’m kind of bored of advanced stats at the moment.  Kobe: 30 points, 35 shots is the only ratio I care about.
  • Donatas Motiejunas trips over his own legs tonight: 3 times.
  • Kevin McHale mic’ed up during a timeout implores the guys to play harder and dig deep: 2 times.

That’s all I got.  Podcast after the game, will be up around 12:30 A.Mish tonight, for your morning drive.  We’re going to try to broadcast it live, barring any technical difficulties.  Go Rockets.  Hopefully this ends better than the last time around.

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About the author: Rahat Huq is a lawyer in real life and the founder and editor-in-chief of www.Red94.net.

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