thirdcoast – rudy gay is a paper tiger. i'm not impressed at all by his inflated production and don't think he impacts winning as much as does battier.

douglas – regarding ariza: i confess that i have begun to come off a bit harsh towards ariza in these past few games. i do like him for what he is and still think it was a great signing but it is very frustrating watching him attempt to do too much.

DoD: thanks for the comment – was not aware that you read us. interesting points. building a marginal playoff team is definitely the best business model for a sports team. it just makes too little sense to go all-in, esp. when there doesn't seem to be much correlation between spending and winning, atleast after a certain point of return. as per this particular team – the 2009 houston rockets are essentially a college basketball team. the draw is in those virtues but i do think that the perceived novelty of this has some bearing. fans are essentially fickle and grew tired of the old model (as if prior rockets teams didn't try hard or were profligate in spending). they're the underdog. the difference here is that that appeal does not lose its luster in the NCAA because every team operates in that same manner. if the team fails to become elite in the near future, i think that appeal will once again wear off. its cyclical.

Isn't Morey known to be a notorious numbers cruncher with a proprietary system that gives him insight into the subtle nuances of the game? This guy looks at all of the things that aren't in the box score. I applauded the move to get Battier. He is and always has been a champion. That guy is the glue that holds a team together. I think you are a little harsh on Ariza. He's not Tracy and wasn't Tracy when we got him. He was an intense guy, who played defense, and hustled (note the similarities to other Rocket's players).

RE: Yao – Yao IS the best center in the league. He is a 20 and 10 guy. He can be ackward, he can be slow, but he can also be amazingly consistent. Keep him out for three quarters and just bring him in in crunch time grind it out playoff basketball. Yao is worth keeping for his talent alone. That being said…you would be insane to trade the guy just because of his Chinese influence. As much as we like to pretend Basketball is a sport, it is a business. The Chinese influence creates cash, cash creates flexibility.

I remember writing to Les and JVG and telling them flat out that win or lose the product they were putting on the floor was unacceptable. It was just flat out painful to watch. These current Rockets – win or lose – are a blast to watch. They have what all Houston Sports fans want…a team that plays with heart. I would rather watch a bunch of overachievers any day than see a super star not fulfill his potential. More so than any other team I can remember I equate these guys with the luv ya Blue Oilers of the 80’s. Lunch pail guys who brought it every game and played their hearts out and who came home to a packed Astrodome in the wee hours of a winter morning AFTER a playoff loss with thousands of fans letting them know how much we appreciated them.

These Rockets have some common denominators – They play with energy/hustle, they are mentally tough (i.e. They don't back down from anybody), they play defense, and they play team ball. These are the attributes that Morey looks for. These are the things that create something greater than the individual parts. Are we 100% there? No. Are we looking? Of course. Will we ever get full value for Tmac? No. Personally I hope Morey holds onto the cap space and lets his contract expire. I do not see anything out there worth getting unless we can pull some insane 3 team deal that lands us something similar to a David Lee and Andre Iguodala deal. I just don't see that happening.

I appreciate your blog. Thank you.

Isn't Morey known to be a notorious numbers cruncher with a proprietary system that gives him insight into the subtle nuances of the game? This guy looks at all of the things that aren't in the box score. I applauded the move to get Battier. He is and always has been a champion. That guy is the glue that holds a team together. I think you are a little harsh on Ariza. He's not Tracy and wasn't Tracy when we got him. He was an intense guy, who played defense, and hustled (note the similarities to other Rocket's players).

RE: Yao – Yao IS the best center in the league. He is a 20 and 10 guy. He can be ackward, he can be slow, but he can also be amazingly consistent. Keep him out for three quarters and just bring him in in crunch time grind it out playoff basketball. Yao is worth keeping for his talent alone. That being said…you would be insane to trade the guy just because of his Chinese influence. As much as we like to pretend Basketball is a sport, it is a business. The Chinese influence creates cash, cash creates flexibility.

I remember writing to Les and JVG and telling them flat out that win or lose the product they were putting on the floor was unacceptable. It was just flat out painful to watch. These current Rockets – win or lose – are a blast to watch. They have what all Houston Sports fans want…a team that plays with heart. I would rather watch a bunch of overachievers any day than see a super star not fulfill his potential. More so than any other team I can remember I equate these guys with the luv ya Blue Oilers of the 80’s. Lunch pail guys who brought it every game and played their hearts out and who came home to a packed Astrodome in the wee hours of a winter morning AFTER a playoff loss with thousands of fans letting them know how much we appreciated them.

These Rockets have some common denominators – They play with energy/hustle, they are mentally tough (i.e. They don't back down from anybody), they play defense, and they play team ball. These are the attributes that Morey looks for. These are the things that create something greater than the individual parts. Are we 100% there? No. Are we looking? Of course. Will we ever get full value for Tmac? No. Personally I hope Morey holds onto the cap space and lets his contract expire. I do not see anything out there worth getting unless we can pull some insane 3 team deal that lands us something similar to a David Lee and Andre Iguodala deal. I just don't see that happening.

I appreciate your blog. Thank you.

Just thought I'd mention the similarites at the 2 and 3 position.

Steve – i think ay can still be a dangerous weapon for this team but his role needs to be minimized. but that then begs the question of whether his cap hold is palatable…

mikol13 – i have definitely come around on battier since the trade as i once was one of his most vocal critics. i don't know what exactly he does, i haven't quite figured it out, but it's clear that his impact is considerable.

bob – glad that you mention 'chemistry' because that is the one most critical difference between baseball and basketball. how does one put a pricetag on that interaction between players? in baseball, parts can just be replaced. in basketball, that act of replacement impacts the entire machine.

luislandry – i stand corrected – i see your point, but i respectfully disagree.

alituro – great breakdown, i agree with most of your points. as far as battier and ariza, while that may have been the decision and the thought process, i don't think it can work. sure, the end output may be the same, but this doesn't account for situational analysis. over the course of an entire season, battier/ariza may outproduce their hypothetical counterpart, but what of the last 2 minutes in the 4th quarter when neither can dribble? is that being accounted for in the assessment?
so i think its a model that meets a certain acceptable denominator but isn't necessarily optimal.

easy – great points. i think it would be interesting to weigh the value of 'time' in the model. basically the question we are asking is if you build a team at the margin, which all would agree is very doable, is that probability of catching lightning in a bottle greater than hedging your bets on luck?

To be a championship team, at least according conventional wisdom, you have to have at least one superstar. And getting that illusive superstar is as much about luck as good management. I think you right that wasting time trying to get that superstar might not be worth it.

But with good management, you can build a second tier team without depending on luck, not that much. A lot of people point to the 04 Detroit team as an example of winning with a superstar. Perhaps that team was just a second tier team that happened to hit the outside shot of winning it all.

Think of teams like the Suns, the Jazz, and Adelman's Sac team (and even the Mavs). They perpetually have a shot, but not close to be a favorite, to the title almost every year. From a business point of view, this is the kind of teams that keep their fans interested.

Perhaps that's what Morey is shooting for. And if he gets lucky and lands a superstar, all the more better.

I think there is no question that Les holds on to Yao chiefly because of the financial rewards associated with having him on his team. It's a good enough a reason for me especially in these tough financial times. Hell, Chuck Hayes has his own shoe model in China if that's any gauge of the popularity of our team over there. T-mac was second in all-star votes, not having played a lick. Why? Yao Ming and his temendous worldwide marketability.

So, Morey is charged with the task of building a team around him. After the little spark of brilliance our team showed last year in the playoffs without Yao, he realized that there is much to work with. A little tweaking and we're contenders again. Having Yao on the court with these guys opens up a whole world of possibilities as far as rotations go. We can play fast or slow, with high powered offense and defense or anywhere in the middle. We have a point guard who can score lights out and one who can defend and dish out assists all night long. We have two terrific defensive talents at the wings who can surely drain spot up jumpers at least, and two more energetic offensive minded rookie wings. We have arguably the best power forward tandem in the league. Finally with Yao in, we have a top notch center all the way around, one who can back him up to wreak havoc defensively and one who can shoot from just about anywhere to spread defenses. We have a team that can compete with anybody and any style of play, and having Yao just makes us better.

I would become an un-fan really quick of a team who intentionally tanks a season just for the lottery. The Grizz, Clips, Wolves, Kings, Bobcats and many more have been lottery bound for years, how's that worked out for them so far?

The trade for Alston never would have happened had Lowry not been included. A top tier point guard sitting 3 deep on the bench of a terrible team. Experience means very little. How long did it take Paul, or Williams to rise to the top? Not long. Our two PGs, not given an opportunity to play would have easily fallen by the wayside and maybe slipped off to Europe. Alston was as good as he was ever going to be, and his game had plenty to be desired.

Starting Ariza and Battier at wing, I have no problem with. To me, basketball is as much about scoring as it is preventing the other team from scoring, EQUALLY. Those two are one of the best defensive wing tandems in the league. When the need for a 2 with a handle arises is when we see Lowry playing the wing, he can create off the dribble, drive to the basket with confidence, draw contact or pull up for a mid-range jumper. All of the qualities you'd be looking for, just a little undersized. Chase has similar attributes also.

When the Rockets stop competing every game, every play and with every transaction, I will stop watching them. But I don't see it happening.