Are the Rockets Ready to Relaunch?

[Indazone]

No Alston, No T-Mac

The speedy Aaron Brooks is the new pilot. Nobody in the NBA can keep up with Aaron because he is the Flash. Move over Dwayne Wade. The moniker belongs to Aaron. He is the future and a potential future All-Star.

Ron Artest moves to starting shooting guard in place of the injured T-Mac and the emergence of Scola has led to a new big three of Yao, Scola, Artest. If Aaron Brooks can ramp up his play, a potential Big 4. The starting 5 rounds out with defensive specialist Shane Battier.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9242744/Are-revamped-Rockets-ready-to-re-launch?

Watch out NBA. Here come the Rockets.

[Indazone]

Game Time: Rockets 93, Mavericks 86 (http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9247118/Brooks-sparks-Rockets-as-starting-PG)



In the past week, the Rockets' backcourt has been decimated by another season-ending injury to Tracy McGrady, and the rather abrupt exiling of Rafer Alston.

The newest alignment of the perpetually new-look Rockets has Aaron Brooks at the point and Ron Artest moving into the starting lineup as the shooting guard. And NBA watchers are left to wonder if this version of the team will be the one to finally get its game together.

Let's take a closer look at both the principal players and the marginal ones.

Aaron Brooks


Going north and south, nobody in the league is any quicker with the ball than Brooks. There's no side-to-side swerve in his crossover, and he seems to speed up as he gets closer to the rim.

Since all of the other starters — Yao Ming, Artest, Shane Battier, and Luis Scola — can't run with Brooks, Houston's fast breaks and early offense have a peculiar look: Brooks zipping into the paint, with Artest and Battier trailing and looking to spot up beyond the arc. Then Scola chugging his way to his favorite spot at the foul line. And Yao lumbering into the paint.
Trouble is that while Brooks is a knock-down perimeter shooter — he hit a pair of critical treys in the endgame — he's not an effective finisher in a crowd. Indeed, he missed three layups — all of them forced — when he couldn't create sufficient air-space amongst the trees.

But Brooks sure can shoot — whether from a standstill, or on an instantaneous stop-and-pop maneuver. For the game he was 7-15, including 3-5 from out there, for 19 points.

Even so, the youngster is still learning how to run an offense. Because he tends to rely too much on his superior quickness, Brooks winds up dribbling into trouble, and making ad-lib passes that misconnect. In addition, his feet are often quicker than his hands — two of his four turnovers came when he dribbled the ball off his own foot.

Not that the second-year player can't pass. His eight assists came on nifty drive-and-kicks and one drive-and-dump to Yao.

But it's defense that's his biggest worry. His quick hands enabled him to beat his man to a pair of entry passes — hence his two steals — but Brooks was discombobulated by high screen/rolls. Even worse, he was routinely beaten off the dribble by J.J. Barea. Aside from Brooks' steals, his best defensive efforts occurred when he successfully tailgated Jason Kidd through multiple screens on multiple occasions.

Brooks definitely has the tools to be an All-Star caliber performer. All he needs to do is recognize when having a light foot on the gas pedal is beneficial. It says here that by the All-Star break in 2010, Brooks will be a better point guard than Alston ever was.

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/9247900_36_2.jpg

Ron Artest will shoulder more of the scoring load without Tracy McGrady. (Bill Baptist / Getty Images)
Ron Artest


As usual, Ron-Ron overhandled the ball on several sequences, forced a variety of shots — 6-16 for 17 points — and frequently jammed up whatever offensive flow the Rockets had struggled to establish. But he's a powerhouse in the low post, a dangerous scorer in wing isolations, and although his shoot-on-the-way-up jumper can be streaky it's also surprisingly soft on the rim.

Most importantly, with T-Mac down and out, Artest is the only wingman who can create his own shots. What remains to be seen, however, is if Artest can match T-Mac's perimeter accuracy so as to discourage opponents from collapsing around Yao in the pivot.

It appears that Artest has lost a half-step on defense. For most of the game, both Antoine Wright and Josh Howard ran him ragged, beat him to the turn on S/Rs, and easily created open jumpers. Artest was much more effective — and much more physical — in defense of Dirk Nowizki.

Yao Ming


Watching how Yao is so slow off his feet and so slow with the ball, it's hard to believe that his leg miseries have fully healed. For sure he has a variety of moves in the pivot, but he mainly relied on his jump hook. Yao executed nary a spin move, air-balled an open 15-footer from the right baseline, and suffered the indignity of having Ryan Hollins block one of his low-release turnaround jumpers.

Yao did fill up the stat sheet — 8-16, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, 22 points. But double-teams — especially those that eventuated after he'd put the ball on the floor — sent Yao into mild panics and resulted in a flurry of misdribbles and faulty passes. In all he registered six turnovers and zero assists.

Whenever the Mavs needed a score, they ran S/Rs that involved whomever Yao happened to be guarding. They ran 11 of these and got an open shot every single time (making seven), simply because Yao was both reluctant and incapable of establishing any kind of defensive presence beyond the shadow of the basket.

Still, with T-Mac out of action, Yao becomes the Rockets' primary target on offense. Which is why he had such a huge number of touches (32) when Houston had possession.

But the increased involvement will necessarily lead to increased body contact. And with various injuries having already caused Yao to miss more than a season's worth of games (86 to be exact) over the past three seasons, the question of his health looms as a larger issue than ever before.

Luis Scola hit his mid-range jumpers, scored a couple of earnest buckets in the low-post, and — more than Artest — was mainly responsible for banging Nowitzki around and limiting the Mavs' leading scorer to 4-18 and only nine total points.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the hard-working Scola is one of the most underrated players in the league.

Shane Battier also worked hard on defense, but was strung out when Yao offered no help on high S/Rs.


Von Wafer forced too many shots — 1-7 — and tried to pack 48 minutes of activity into his 16 minutes of daylight.
Having the benefit of only one walk-through since his arrival in Houston, Kyle Lowry drove to the hole with quickness and strength, played defense with admirable ferocity and terrific range, and avoided hoisting up his flawed jumpers. His four turnovers — as opposed to his two assists — were understandable given his unfamiliarity with his new teammates, with the Rockets' system, and also his desire to make an immediate positive impression. It won't take long before Lowry develops into a valuable backup to Brooks.

So, exactly where is this version of the Rockets?
A curious mixture of youth and experience, of speed and sluggishness, of vigor and fragility.

For the Rockets to finally experience lift-off several possibilities must come to pass:

Brooks' learning curve has to be short and steep.
Artest has to shoot well and be a mite more unselfish.
Yao has to keep his limbs intact.
Wafer has to light up the scoreboard on a consistent basis.

In all, there are simply too many things that can go wrong for the Rockets to blast their way into the finals. As ever, this team is still a year away from being a legitimate championship contender.

Are they? I don't think so.

[dirk4mvp]

no

[Indazone]

Another article lauding the New Look Rockets


New look Rockets hold off Mavericks


09:53 PM CST on Friday, February 20, 2009


Associated Press

Aaron Brooks scored 19 points, including a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, and also had eight assists to lead the Houston Rockets to a 93-86 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
http://www.khou.com/sports/rockets/stories/M_IMAGE.11f5fb26346.93.88.fa.d0.37393ae6.jpg
The re-tooled Rockets win their first game after trading point guard Rafer Alston to the Orlando Magic.

Yao Ming had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Luis Scola had 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who snapped a four-game home losing streak to Dallas.
Jose Barea scored a career-high 26 points for the Mavericks and his drive with 1:41 left cut Houston's lead to 89-86. The Rockets missed three shots on their next possession, but Barea committed a turnover at the other end.
Brooks then swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key and clenched his fist as he jogged down the court
The Rockets led by 10 after three quarters, but committed nine turnovers in the first nine minutes of the fourth to fuel the Mavs' comeback.
Barea sank a 3-pointer and a mid-range shot to cut Dallas' deficit to 76-73. Yao returned from a brief rest with 5:53 left and Houston leading 81-77.
Brooks hit a free throw and Scola scored, but Brandon Bass hit consecutive jumpers to pull the Mavs to within three.
Houston coach Rick Adelman had used Brooks in favor of Alston late in recent games and the Rockets' first-round pick in 2007 proved he can handle the job down the stretch Friday.
Josh Howard scored 21 and Bass had 13 for the Mavericks, who were outrebounded 50-38. Dirk Nowitzki went 4-for-18 from the field and scored nine.
Houston got an early injury scare when Yao ran into Howard in the first quarter, grabbed his right knee and fell down in pain. But Yao stayed in, a major relief for the Rockets after Tracy McGrady announced this week that he's done for the season to have knee surgery.
Howard scored 12 points in the first quarter and Dallas led 28-19. Von Wafer and Brent Barry swished long jumpers early in the second quarter to cut the deficit to four, but the Mavs answered with a 9-0 burst to push the lead back to double digits.
The Mavs missed nine of their last 11 shots of the half and Houston used a 13-4 spurt to trim the Dallas lead to 51-44. Nowitzki went 1-for-9 from the field in the half, but Howard scored 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
The Rockets opened the third quarter with a 24-6 spurt as the Mavericks got increasingly sloppy on offense, taking bad shots and coughing up turnovers.
Brooks sank a 3-pointer from the corner with 8:19 left in the third quarter to put Houston ahead for the first time since the opening minutes. After the good first half, Howard had an awful third quarter, scoring only two points with four turnovers.
A minute after Howard threw a pass out of bounds, Brooks dribbled into traffic and found Shane Battier open for a 3-pointer that put the Rockets up 68-57.
Brooks left late in the third quarter with a cut over his left eye. He got two stitches on the bench as Lowry finished the quarter. Lowry had six points and two assists in his Rockets' debut. Cook did not play.
Notes:@ Houston F Carl Landry sat out with a sprained right ankle. ... Dallas G Jerry Stackhouse was activated after missing three months with a right foot injury. He didn't score in nine minutes of action. ... The Rockets used their 16th different starting lineup. ... Houston improved to 14-6 without McGrady this season..

http://www.khou.com/sports/rockets/stories/khou090220_cc_rocketsmavericks.373616f6.html

[Indazone]

by the way, why does Dirk go 1-9 in this game? Artest?

[dirk4mvp]

lmao all this chode bloading over beating a Maverick team w/o their second best player and known rocket killer and best player being hungover. This sounds almost as bad as Suns bloading over their last 3 games.

[de Soto]

It is hard to say because beating a suckass team like the mavs means very little these days. We have to wait and see until they play a decent team before drawing too many conclusions.

[dirk4mvp]

It is hard to say because beating a suckass team like the mavs means very little these days. We have to wait and see until they play a decent team before drawing too many conclusions.

We'd all love for you to start a thread and share your thoughts.

[djohn2oo8]

I believe they did beat Boston in Boston, Orlando in Orlando, Dallas twice, spurs once, while losing to some sub-500 teams WITH MCGRADY. Let's see if they come together down the stretch. Kyle Lowry trade looks like a steal.

[DAF86]

by the way, why does Dirk go 1-9 in this game? Artest?

Scola

[Kai]

We'll have to win a few more games before we start talking.

[Shank]

Scola

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/zombie8/Other/Lilsloth.jpg

[Hemotivo]

:lmao

[Ditty]

houston is my number 5 seed

mavs will be my 6th seed

rockets won't get past the 1st sorry

[djohn2oo8]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/zombie8/Other/Lilsloth.jpg

= http://www.dailyspeculations.com/NOWITZKI.jpg

[Kai]

houston is my number 5 seed

mavs will be my 6th seed

rockets won't get past the 1st sorry

Who's your 4th seed?

[ManuTP9]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/zombie8/Other/Lilsloth.jpg

lol

[djohn2oo8]

houston is my number 5 seed

mavs will be my 6th seed

rockets won't get past the 1st sorry


They'll get past the first round just cuz mcgrady is out....That would be hilarious, then tmac would really have a mental breakdown

[layupdrill]

The Rockets getting out of the first round without McGrady would be just as big as if Phoenix can make the playoffs without Amare.

[Tmac&Luther]

The Rockets getting out of the first round without McGrady would be just as big as if Phoenix can make the playoffs without Amare.

Except this team is BETTER WITHOUT McGrady.......are the Suns better without Amare, I don't think so.

[Tmac&Luther]

by the way, why does Dirk go 1-9 in this game? Artest?


Scola

Scola took a big shit all over Dirk on both ends of the floor.........the guy is one of the most underrated players in the league. If he didn't play on a team that had a center who commanded the ball so much the guy would be a boarderline allstar.

[Ghazi]

If they get a 4/5 seed they have a shot. Don't see them beating Nuggets/Spurs/Lakers.

[sook]

lmao all this chode bloading over beating a Maverick team w/o their second best player and known rocket killer and best player being hungover. This sounds almost as bad as Suns bloading over their last 3 games.

Why the hell would you use injury as an excuse? The rockets were missing 3 players.

Don't act like you beat us just because terry went off last time in houston. Chuck Hayes was starting at C LOL.


Anyways, doesn't change anything, Houston and Dallas both suck this yr

[Tmac&Luther]

If they get a 4/5 seed they have a shot. Don't see them beating Nuggets/Spurs/Lakers.

Nuggets we can beat.......Spurs and Lakers.....that will be tough.

[Tmac&Luther]

Anyways, doesn't change anything, Houston (with Tmac) and Dallas both suck this yr

Correction....

[Lars]

Nuggets we can beat.......Spurs and Lakers.....that will be tough.

I think we match up with the spurs better than anyone, especially if Manu is out.

[sook]

I think we match up with the spurs better than anyone, especially if Manu is out.

IF Manu is out...Keyword, if he isn't we can't beat them , plain and simple

[Indazone]

Sook that is by far the worst attitude I've seen yet. We typically split our games with the Spurs. Both teams have trouble with each other.

[sook]

Sook that is by far the worst attitude I've seen yet. We typically split our games with the Spurs. Both teams have trouble with each other.

Yea and the suns close to swept the spurs in the reg season...and they lost in 5 games.

Don't mistake playoff spurs with the reg season spurs, with a Coaching Genius like Pop you never know.

[Lars]

I was at the game when we beat them by ~20 with all of thier guys healthy. I am not saying they are bad or overated, I just think we match up well with them pretty well specifically.

[sook]

You bring up an interesting point, with the emergence of Bonner and Mason i still have my doubts.

Lowry and Brooks can maintain the speed of TP so idk...

[Rogue]

rockets will have to relaunch, with 22m-worth a trash left on land.

[Tmac&Luther]

rockets will have to relaunch, with 22m-worth a trash left on land.

That 22m worth of trash will turn to gold in 2010 though.

[GuerillaBlack]

If they get a 4/5 seed they have a shot. Don't see them beating Nuggets/Spurs/Lakers.

We can beat the Nuggets. We already have twice this season.

[m33p0]

keep a finger on this, just in case
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2745792928_142286b6ba.jpg?v=0

[DaDakota]

Rockets will at least be a 4th seed and maybe as high as a number 2.

DD

[Ghazi]

Rockets will at least be a 4th seed and maybe as high as a number 2.

DD

:rollin

[djohn2oo8]

:rollin


Mavericks dream about being in the fifth seed

[Ghazi]

Mavericks dream about being in the fifth seed

So jealous of the Rockets 5th seed:rolleyes

SO FUCKING JEALOUS

[The Franchise]

Rockets will at least be a 4th seed and maybe as high as a number 2.

DD

I think I'm in the minority who believe that.

[Tmac&Luther]

:rollin

It's funny that you use that smilie.....because that smilie sums up your entire franchise. Go kick a exercise bike or something.

[Tmac&Luther]

:rolleyes

Anyways Houston is about to go on a run, the elite defense is back and the team is MUCH better without Tmac. A cloud has been lifted now that Tmac announced he won't be back and the team is starting to come together. Aaron is also only going to get better now that the team has been turned over to him and he doesn't have Rafer looking over his shoulder.

[Kai]

:rolleyes

Anyways Houston is about to go on a run, the elite defense is back and the team is MUCH better without Tmac. A cloud has been lifted now that Tmac announced he won't be back and the team is starting to come together. Aaron is also only going to get better now that the team has been turned over to him and he doesn't have Rafer looking over his shoulder.

We'll have a much clearer picture of the 'run' that we're about to go on after Tuesday vs Portland and Thursday vs Cleveland. Here's hoping for a couple W's:toast

[djohn2oo8]

:toast

[Tmac&Luther]

We'll have a much clearer picture of the 'run' that we're about to go on after Tuesday vs Portland and Thursday vs Cleveland. Here's hoping for a couple W's:toast

This team has always been a second half team, that's why we are now playing defense. This team coasted the first half, now they play with effort every time out.

[Kai]

This team has always been a second half team, that's why we are now playing defense. This team coasted the first half, now they play with effort every time out.

Relying on history wont get you too far in the NBA.

[djohn2oo8]

Relying on history wont get you too far in the NBA.

The Mavs know only too well :downspin:

[sook]

awesome game, best defense played ever since TMAC went out Ron Ron is a BEAST!! I love this guy

[Tmac&Luther]

Relying on history wont get you too far in the NBA.

I'm not "relying on history", I'm just stating the facts.....this squad (current players) pull it together and finish strong in the second half. Everybody has bitched about our defense all year....now we're playing great defense. When we play that defense we win. This team is about to go on a run, you can disagree with that statement all you want, but it's not going to stop it from happening. (unless Yao goes down Again)

[Kai]

I'm not "relying on history", I'm just stating the facts.....this squad (current players) pull it together and finish strong in the second half. Everybody has bitched about our defense all year....now we're playing great defense. When we play that defense we win. This team is about to go on a run, you can disagree with that statement all you want, but it's not going to stop it from happening. (unless Yao goes down Again)

Well, I don't know how that's much different from relying on history, but I sure hope you're right.

[Pelicans78]

IF Manu is out...Keyword, if he isn't we can't beat them , plain and simple

Why couldn't you guys guard Manu with Artest and Battier? My big concern would be Brooks guarding Parker, but maybe Lowery could came in and defend Parker well. I like the Rockets unless they beat us, but I'm a fan of Scola, Battier, Landry, and Brooks. Yao's playing well too the last two games. I think you guys could give the Spurs a tough series. I don't who's gonna guard Duncan. Mutombooooooooo!!!!!!!!

[Tmac&Luther]

I don't who's gonna guard Duncan. Mutombooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Yao/Scola

Houston matches up well against the Spurs and the Lakers.....we have two great post options and that allow us to stay with both teams. It's the bigs that pull Yao away from the basket (Okur) that give him fits.

[Pelicans78]

Yao/Scola

Houston matches up well against the Spurs and the Lakers.....we have two great post options and that allow us to stay with both teams. It's the bigs that pull Yao away from the basket (Okur) that give him fits.

Yeah and the problem with putting Scola on Okur means having Yao trying to block out quicker guys like Boozer and The Best Backup PF in Utah History (Millsap) and he tends to lose those rebounds.

Yao needs to dominate against the Spurs. A concern would be having him react to the double-teaming quickly since the Spurs trap pretty well when they double team.

[Tmac&Luther]

Yeah and the problem with putting Scola on Okur means having Yao trying to block out quicker guys like Boozer and The Best Backup PF in Utah History (Millsap) and he tends to lose those rebounds.

Yao needs to dominate against the Spurs. A concern would be having him react to the double-teaming quickly since the Spurs trap pretty well when they double team.

Yao is a great paint defender just because of his size, if there was a stat for "altered shots" he'd be top 3 in the league..his weakness is bigs that pull him out to the 3pt line, because he doesn't have the quickness to run out there or recover if they drive in.

This is one of the reasons why he always outplays bigs like Dwight Howard and struggles against bigs like Okur. (infact Adelman puts Scola on those type of players now, because he knows Yao can't guard them) Duncan and Gasol can hit mid range jumpers, but they don't live on those so Yao can guard them enough to be effective on the defensive end.

This is also a big reason why I was excited as hell when the Suns made the trade for Shaq......before that Houston flat out couldn't beat the Suns, they ran up and down the court, which made Yao a liability, and Yao wasn't athletic enough to guard Amare who had extended range. Since they traded for Shaq, Houston has been able to beat them because it gave Yao a traditional center to guard.

[Pelicans78]

well, I like the Rafer trade. I think Brooks will bring a new dynamic to the lineup and Lowery should be effective off the bench

[Indazone]

Well ever since Van Gundy left, Yao doesn't have to come out to the three point line anymore to show. Now he just camps out in the paint ala Shaq and waits for the game to come to him.

[robbie380]

Well ever since Van Gundy left, Yao doesn't have to come out to the three point line anymore to show. Now he just camps out in the paint ala Shaq and waits for the game to come to him.

i think it's a trade off. when yao used to show on the pnr it seemed like he would get tired out. those fatigue issues don't seemed to be as major now but the defense suffers some.