This was probably the best I’ve seen anyone guard Harden this season, save for perhaps Iguodala very early in the year.  Paul George didn’t fall for any of Harden’s tricks and by my count, The Beard only walked his way to the hoop tonight one sole single time.  Every move Harden made, George was there, shadowing him with his quickness and disrupting him with his length.

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If you’re wondering why the background of this interview seems unfamiliar, it’s because it took place in the Toyota Center storage area.  Monta actually ducked out of the lockerroom and headed off before we were even let in.  Bucks PR rushed and stopped him so we could get in a word.  Typical Monta, I’m told.

My favorite moments in a lockerroom are when the players are fixated on the television screen upon some other game that is going on.  It’s just interesting watching them watch their own peers.

On this particular night, as I entered the visiting lockerroom, the Bucks’ eyes were glued to the finale of Knicks-Warriors.  As you’ve heard by now, Steph Curry had 54 points.  As time ran out and New York sealed off the win, the Bucks were not happy.

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Former Rockets Robert Horry and Sam Cassell gave their thoughts on the famous Barkley trade of 1996 which broke up Houston’s title team.  Each star had pretty strong feelings about the departure.

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What a game.  What a team.

As a colleague put it afterwards, “the Rockets sure are playing well, aren’t they?…and they’re the youngest freaking team in the league!”  The Lakers jumped on Houston early, but the Rockets buried them with 3′s and darts to the hoop.  It was too much of the usual from the good guys.  The scary part is that you know they’ll get better.  As always, some rookie will step up from the shadows or some trade at the deadline will pay dividends.  It always happens.  This team needs to just avoid injury.

I waited about an hour to capture the above footage as the subject of the recording took his time in gracing us with his presence.  For anyone else, I wouldn’t have done it.  But…it’s Kobe.

I knew he’d come out of one of the doors from the training room as he always does.  So as time passed, I flinched at any movement from that direction.  At least five times, when I thought Kobe Bryant was emerging to speak, it turned out to be Antawn Jamison.

A funny moment which I wish I had caught on tape: Someone asked Steve Nash, with regard to tallying his 10,000th assist, how much further he thought he could climb on the all-time list.  He responded that he wasn’t really sure of where those above him stood.  Someone said, “well Stockton is at 15,000″ to which Nash reacted with a blank look as if to say, “yea, that’s not happening.”  We all laughed.

Nash was a joy to watch tonight in the first half, on several plays schooling Toney Douglas with pullup jumpers.  Overall, there were stints early where the Lakers backcourt seemed like characters in a video game, showing off assortments of moves and ball-handling.  But all of that flash and aesthetic was not enough against the Rockets’ high-octane attack.

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My apologies for the poor audio at the start – Lowry’s voice was barely audible.  His demeanor wasn’t anything too unordinary – he was always prickly with media and especially affected by tough losses.  This wasn’t just because it was his former team.

Overall last night, Lowry was thoroughly outplayed by Jeremy Lin, something which likely came as a shock to most who had placed predictions.  Except for a short stint in the second half, Lowry didn’t even seem to be on the court most of the game, generally looking extremely lethargic.  Lin, on the other hand, was extremely aggressive, attacking the basket and seeming more comfortable than he has in any other start I’ve seen from him this season.  I wrote about that point guard battle in last night’s ESPN Daily Dime.

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Some highlights:

1:19 on whether he was surprised by Chandler Parsons: “…no, I’ve been watching him for a minute.  I like the way he plays.”

3:33 on the amount of pressure Jeremy Lin is facing: “I don’t think he’s playing with any pressure at all.  All the pressure was with him in New York.”

4:05 on his embrace of Lin after the game: “Cuz I don’t have no problem with him.  He was my teammate.  He’s a cool guy.  I don’t have a problem with him as a person.”

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Donatas Motiejunas saw five minutes of garbage time action, scoring three points and earning a trip to the line in that frame.  Upon checking in, he immediately went to the post, attacking his man with a quick fake-and-go, drawing the foul. It’s a move we had seen him use a lot during the preseason.  After the video you see above, off-camera, I asked D-Mo specifically about that move.

“You know where I learned that move?  Watching Luis Scola five years ago.”

“But yours is nothing like his, you do it much more quickly,” I replied.

“You always have to make things better,” he said, with a wink.

Terrence Jones actually got significant minutes, checking in when the game had not yet been decided.  His absence so far had been the most puzzling.  The rookie four-man had started most-to-all of the team’s games in the preseason and, with his play,  seemed to at least have secured a spot for himself in the rotation.

Tonight, he checked in and immediately attacked, throwing up two wild, horrifically awkward shots in the span of a minute; the nerves were certainly at play.  Overall, he finished 1-6 for five points in his twelve minutes, but he brought a new element to the position which we hadn’t yet seen.  He provided energy, blocking two shots and running the floor, and while he was not accurate, he put pressure on the opposing defense by spotting up and attacking the rim off the dribble.  These were skills his counterparts at the position (Patterson, Morris) don’t have.

Most fascinating though was the context of Jones’ insertion into the lineup, revealed during the postgame presser.  When we asked about the decision, said Kelvin Sampson:

“One of the things I’m always on Patrick about, is he has to rebound better. At some point you have to earn the right to stay on the floor. We all have responsiblities…

Last night I didnt think we defensive rebounded as well as we should. And, I wanted to see if Terrence could.”

In my four years covering the team, spanning from Rick Adelman until this point, I don’t think I recall a Rockets coach publicly criticize a player the way Sampson discussed Patterson.  In fact, I was almost shocked when the words came out of his mouth.

Overall, Sampson was extremely candid while taking our questions, making for easily the most insightful presser I’ve heard in some time (second to only the night Kevin McHale told us he had asked himself why he had taken the job.)

Sampson revealed that the team tracks pick & roll defensive coverage during the game and instantaneously provides this information to the bench.  He said that last night, at times, the Rockets were 90% on their side pick & roll coverages, 80% on their mid pick & roll coverages, and 75% defending the rim.  I hadn’t heard before that the team used in-game data to provide for adjustments.  Then again, we don’t know if it had even been given heed before.

Sampson talked about Asik glowingly, but then added, in response to a question about his post-game, that the center seemed like a Russian gymnast on offense, never finishing a move on the same side of the basket as he had begun.

Still, the big storyline last night was the switch of Jones for Patterson.  Under McHale, we wouldn’t have seen it.  That’s significant in projecting what happens going forward.  Both men–even Sampson last night–have nothing but praise for Patterson’s intelligence in team coverage.  The man simply does not make mistakes and that quality is held at a premium by coaches.  But his weaknesses are evident: he’s not much of an offensive threat and perhaps more troubling, he’s a poor rebounder.

Will Jones continue to be given minutes in these next few games?  We hold McHale and his family in our prayers.  What happens upon the coach’s return if Jones flourishes?  Will Patterson be reinserted?  I had been predicting since the summer that Patterson would lose his job by January at the earliest.  Those wheels seem to now be in motion.  The tricky part though, is that the impetus was a coaching change.

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Someone seriously asked him if he felt he could make his teammates better.

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The Rockets have the assets and the flexibility to add one more big-name player. Almost unanimously, Aldridge has been at the top of every diehard’s wish list for the next acquisition.  I asked LaMarcus how he felt about Harden and if he could see himself fitting in.

More thoughts coming soon….

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So we waited for about an hour and a half today before we were let in to the court.  Arriving at 11:30, I put in enough on the parking meter to last me till 2.  Lucky for me because I was expecting to get out of there by 1.

When we got in, they were doing what you see in the video above.  Exciting, I know.  (No danger of exceeding the two minute limit.)  Patrick Patterson, like yesterday, sat against the basket support and watched.  He pointed out instructions to Greg Smith from time to time when the latter would mess up.  At just like 24 or 25, Pat is now the elder statesman on this team.

Given his eccentricities, I thought D-Mo would be more talkative than this.  Maybe he doesn’t like me.

Now that I think about it, I actually think I’ve asked Chandler different iterations of this same question at least three other times over the course of the past year.  Hopefully he doesn’t remember.  You never want to be that guy.

Royce White–below–was the last guy to leave the court.  Like yesterday, he stayed and practiced his shooting with coaches.  His is an extremely ugly shot with a strange hitch right around the release.  I watched him take about ten consecutive mid range shots at one point and brick all of them.

Having said that, the guy is working his tail off and clearly realizes he needs to improve.  Royce White is one of the bright spots on this team.

My new twitter handle is @rahathuq.

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We’re only allowed to upload two minutes of practice footage online due to new league regulations.  What you see is the first two minutes I shot.  Not to be a tease but what happened afterwards was pretty good too.  Now that I think about it, I would honestly say that other than Game 7′s of playoff series’, summer league and the associated sessions is easily the most intense NBA-level or psuedo-NBA-level basketball in the entire world.  You hadguys with near NBA talent squaring off with NBA contracts on the line with Daryl Morey and Sam Hinkie in the house watching from the sidelines.  One head-turning possession could very well be the difference between just getting by financially and a six-figure salary.

Notice Jeremy Lamb break some ankles in the above clip.  Also notice Chandler Parsons take a charge, much to everyone’s mocking delight.

Chandler seemed pretty out of place considering he holds the single highest trade value of any current Rocket.  I realize its normal for “good players” to participate in these things when they’re just sophomores, but it still seemed off seeing him amongst that group.

Those who read this blog know that Marcus Morris is my guy.  Wishing him the best this year.

“We should be good this year.” – Greg Smith.  Such a sweet kid.

I will talk to the new rookies tomorrow.

My new Twitter account is @rahathuq.

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I took these yesterday at the player introduction presser at Toyota Center.  My apologies again on the quality – I need to just stick with the flipcam until I figure things out.

Initial thought–especially if you’ve read his Grantland interview–is that Royce White is going to be gold for those of us in the media.  We haven’t had much of a quote machine since Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier left.  (View some of my old Hayes videos from two years ago to see how good he was for me on game day.)

From a basketball standpoint, after allowing time to let things sink in, I overall feel pretty good.  Not just for myself, but I think for everyone, Thursday night’s disappointment was more within the context of the expectations that had been built leading up until the event.  If not Dwight, it seemed imminent that some stepping stone move would be made to change course.  When that didn’t happen, perspective became skewed.  Make no mistake though, the Rockets came away with some very good players who I think will really help them going forward.  I’m still not so sure about Terrence Jones, but I’m getting extremely excited about seeing Jeremy Lamb and Royce White in Rocket red.

Tonight starts free agency and the Rockets will make their move, their first pitch expected to go to Bulls defensive specialist Omer Asik.  It’s a signing I would applaud.  The team currently sits at around $55million of salary and thus, to be able to offer Asik more than the MLE, will need to make some move to unload Kevin Martin or Luis Scola.  ESPN reported today that Houston is aggressively pursuing deals to jettison the latter.

As I’ve said all along, perhaps for two years now, I don’t care if the Rockets don’t get a star.  That’s the goal, but I understand it’s easier said than done.  All I really ask for is that they pick a direction.  No more of this ‘rebuild while staying competitive’ BS no matter how much they think it entitles them to plaudits.  They must pick a direction and go forward with that course.  Save for Camby, unload all of the aging vets and roll the dice with the young guys.  Even if they’re horrible, that’s an outcome I can live with.  What I can’t tolerate for another year is heavy minutes for 30-somethings while lottery picks rot away on the bench.  The young talent must play if it is to develop.

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The laughter during Morey’s answer to my first question was due to the fact that earlier in the presser, Morey had mentioned that the team had made another trade which he could not announce due to league regulations.  As we learned, the alluded deal was the purchase of a second round pick.

My sincerest apologies for the formatting on these: this was the first time I used my Iphone to record (I used a flipcam in years past) and stupidly recorded horizontally.  After rotating the clips in imovie….well, you see the finished products…

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey

Houston Rockets Director of Scouting Arturas Karnisovas

Below is the audio of our conversation with new Rockets forward Royce White.  If you’ve read his Grantland interview, you know he’s quite the character.

Royce White speaks to the media (click to play.)

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This kind of insight is why ‘Inside the NBA’ is the best show on television.

A note: I wish I hadn’t been so young when Hakeem was here because I’m just now making observations when seeing reruns of his.  One thing that just came to mind: aside from just how ridiculous his arsenal was in its entirety, what even made him think  to expand it in such ways?  As humans, we learn by imitation and attempt new things through emulation.  What made him think “I as a big man should put my soccer footwork to good and use these guard moves and cross people over and spin on them.”

Stepping aside from basketball, a big part of emulation is the knowledge that something can be done and the confidence/reassurance that brings just simply because someone else has done it with success.  So I think one of the big things about Hakeem that isn’t appreciated is the creativity and confidence to even reach that point of inventing post moves…

A final note on Hakeem: When news breaks of Hakeem’s tutelage of some superstar, the reaction almost always is, “Why haven’t the Rockets hired him as a coach?”  Think for a second.

You’re the greatest consultant in the world in a particular field.  Would you work in-house somewhere and handle low-profile, unspectacular clients?  Or instead, would you stay independent and only handle the best and as they sought you out?  The answer is fairly obvious.

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Goran Dragic, Greg Smith, and Patrick Patterson after the jump.

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The Rockets won, improving their playoff odds to higher than the 2.3% it stood at this afternoon.  We’ll need to keep an eye on the development with Phoenix and Utah, but for tonight, in my eyes, the big story was the benching of Kyle Lowry. The team’s former MVP did not see a single minute in the second half.  We asked McHale about this and, as you just heard, he responded, he was “just trying to win a game.”  We did not get a chance to talk to Kyle.

Also interesting were McHale’s comments on Marcus Morris.  They provide a little bit of insight into why Morris may not have gotten much time this season. If you joined me on Twitter, I raved about Morris’ offensive arsenal after the forward scored six points in the second quarter including a beautiful turnaround from the corner.  I asked McHale about Morris’ stint tonight, expecting a positive response, but instead, he pointed out the mental errors the rookie forward made on the defensive end.

I see offense.  But McHale, needing to win, can’t afford defensive miscues. Mental lapses might be the one thing coaches tolerate least.  That’s why guys like Shane Battier and Patrick Patterson (this year) are still held in such high esteem despite their apparent offensive inabilities.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Lowry.  Tonight, combined with the shouting match during the Denver game, combined with the Dragic free agency situation makes me think it’s a safe bet Kyle will be dealt in the offseason.

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I’m now seriously starting to wonder if it might be better to just keep our pick rather than back into the playoffs by default.  I just don’t know at this point.  Knowing this team, I could see them, after all of this, still upsetting Oklahoma City in the first round.  Nothing would shock me at this point.

Goran Dragic and Chandler Parsons led the way for the good guys with 21 apiece.  Courtney Lee chipped in 18.  For the Nugets, Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson combined for 51.

After the game, many wondered why Sam Dalembert, after having blocked 7 shots up to that point, did not see time in the final frame.  Kevin McHale closed the game with a lineup of Dragic-Lee-Parsons-Patterson-Scola, or, more amiably known around these parts as “Scola at the 5.”  I sort of understand the decision.  I discovered earlier tonight, via some snooping on 82games.com that Patterson leads the entire league in crunch time +/-; and of course it makes sense to send out Scola to fill the need for a post threat.  Still, it seems nothing good has ever come from this lineup.  If the team misses the postseason, we will not forget its evil.

Most interesting was Kyle Lowry’s absence from the game in the deciding minutes.  To be honest, his return seems to have been a factor in the team’s poor play.  A unit that was once in sync no longer seems to have defined roles…

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