Monday Morning Rockets/NBA Links

by Only_A_Lad on Nov 2, 2009 9:52 AM CST in Links Comment 19 comments

Did anyone else notice that Dorsey and T-Mac were wearing the same outfit on the bench? Awkward...

There's really only one team in pro sports that I hate more than the Jazz: the POS Tennessee Titans (and the fact that they're 1-6 to start the season dulls that resentment somewhat). The Jazz are the Dracula to the Rockets' Van Helsing; the Moriarty to our Holmes; the Borg to our Federation. They're pure evil, and it's really that simple. But let's ignore all that for a minute and get to some news.

Allen Iverson is expected to make his season debut in Sacramento tonight. The Grizzlies have been playing surprisingly well to start the season, and I'd worry about the introduction of yet another high-usage, low-efficiency scorer into the lineup.

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Rajon Rondo and the Celtics benefited from the extended extension deadline yesterday, agreeing on a 5 year, $55 million deal. Given Rondo's production over the last two seasons, he's worth it.

Speaking of Rondo, he and Chris Paul apparently hate one another. That really shouldn't be surprising: Rondo's a malcontent on his own team, and CP3 routinely leads the NBA in technicals.

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The city of Las Vegas is about to sign a deal to study the feasibility of building a 20,000 seat, $145 million stadium. The mayor of the city is courting both the NBA and NHL for a team. I doubt either league is likely to expand, and there are plenty of teams looking for a new home

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Our friend Ron Ron is not doing well to start the season in LA. Of course, Artest feels that shooting 25% from the field is "playing great." I suppose there's very little else to say about that, but I feel like gloating.

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JJ Redick is going to release a rap album. Watch out for Shane's impending country album, as well as Deke's spoken-word musings.

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Lastly, something actually about the Rockets. Les Alexander gives a few thoughts on the season, but more interesting are Adelman's comments on the defense:

The Rockets have customarily taken the unusual step of not using their best perimeter defender, Shane Battier, on the Blazers' best perimeter scorer, Brandon Roy.

...

Coach Rick Adelman said the idea was to free Battier to help defensively, particularly with the Blazers running Roy through so many screens. He also wanted to gauge how Ariza did in the matchup.

Roy scored 42 points that night. Whoops. Still, defensive evaluations are more complex than that, and the fact that nobody but Aldridge and Roy were able to get going for the Blazers might be a good indicator.

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Okay, one last thing: Just as a reminder, please remember that we can't let you post links to illegal streams around here. Sorry, that's not the Dream Shake's rules, they're SBN's. I know it's tough to watch Rockets games outside of the Houston area (particularly if you live outside of the USA and not in China). Perhaps ClutchFans is a better place to find/provide such info. And remember also that, until tomorrow, nba.com is giving out NBA League Pass Broadband for free, so you should be able to see the Utah game.

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HA HA HA…

… Looks like the Fakers got themselves stuck badly by old nutsy. He got his money so now he’s stinking up the joint. Last year, he was playing to try and earn that contract. Now that he has it, he looks like he don’t care nearly as much anymore.

lol!

Betcha the (few honest) Laker fans out there secretly wish they had Ariza back instead and had let old
“Ron-Ron” sign someplace else…

lol!

I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...

by steeler-hater on Nov 2, 2009 10:01 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-091101

This article on ESPN today, about how….hold on….the Lakers might have gotten the better of the Ariza/Artest deal after all.

All I can say is, maybe, MAYBE for this year, but 3 games in even that looks suspect.

But more importantly, the Lakers faithful are ignoring what their salaries in, say, 2012 are going to look like when an extended Kobe + Gasol + Bynum + Odom + Artest + Walton = $80 million plus. Even those 6 (with Walton in the prime of his career, ha!) can’t win much with 9 minimum contract role players.

by Moondebah on Nov 2, 2009 10:53 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Carmelo Anthony averaged 15 points against Artest’s Rockets last season; I’m already counting the days until the new, apparently unstoppable Anthony goes against Artest in Denver on Nov. 13.

… never mind that Battier was the Rockets’ primary wing defender.

by Only_A_Lad on Nov 2, 2009 11:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The Artest+Walton combo is going to be particularly ghastly.

If the Red Nation apparatchiks start talking about a Five Year Plan, I'm out of here.

by Xiane on Nov 3, 2009 12:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

League Pass

League Pass Broadband doesn’t work for any shows that are nationally televised, including via NBA TV. Since this applies to the Utah game…crap.

While the full League Pass was a bit expensive ($140) for me, they’ve got something new this year called League Pass Choice, where you can evidently pick 7 teams and watch all their (non-televised) games for $90. So, like, that’s perfect if you don’t care about anyone but the Rockets. And also if none of the Rockets games are televised, dammit.

The League Pass Choice doesn’t kick in until after the free trial ends so I can’t report on whether it’s as good as it sounds, but I’ll find out soon enough.

by Moondebah on Nov 2, 2009 10:29 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

dammit

Forgot that this game is on fucking NBAtv. I hate that piece of shit channel. All it does is screw up things for league pass subscribers.

by Only_A_Lad on Nov 2, 2009 10:38 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I just got NBA League Pass on my cable TV…

… and it cost me $169 bucks.

Got it yesterday only to find out that the Jazz – Rockets game was on NBA TV (which is not part of League Pass) so I missed that game, anyways.

They get you either way, it seems. Lay out $169 because they refuse to show Houston nationally and yet they expect me to pay another $4 per month on my already too-high cable bill to get NBA TV so I can get the Rockets games not covered by League Pass?

What a racket they have going for themselves…

I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...

by steeler-hater on Nov 3, 2009 3:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Okay, one more link

ATH found out what the hell Byron Scott was thinking last night.

by Only_A_Lad on Nov 2, 2009 11:07 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

first time poster here

hey guys, ive been on battle red blog for the texans, and decided after that FAT FU** barkley said the rockets were the worst team in the west that i better get on the bandwagon.

rockets will get the 8th seed

and i have a better golf swing then staypuff does so HA

by Allen-OU on Nov 2, 2009 12:27 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I don't like the second part of that handle

But even Texas and OU fans can come together on the Rockets!

www.TheDreamShake.com Co-Founder and Writer

by UofTOrange on Nov 2, 2009 4:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

My 4 year old has a better golf swing than the Round Mound of Absurdity.

Seriously.

And welcome aboard.

If the Red Nation apparatchiks start talking about a Five Year Plan, I'm out of here.

by Xiane on Nov 3, 2009 12:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

If I had to bet on a team for Vegas

it would be either the Kings or Clippers, any chance of that happening?

by Rockets4LIFE on Nov 2, 2009 1:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I'd say the Kings, sadly, have a relatively large chance of moving

Though I have no idea how the plan to upgrade ARCO is going.

Sterling likes LA, and I think the only place they’d move is Anaheim/San Jose.

Other than that, the Pacers are having a lot of financial problems, and those rumors have been going around for a while now. Same goes for Milwaukee.

The other low-revenue teams (New Orleans, Memphis, Charlotte, Minnesota, OKC) seem to be fairly committed to their current cities.

by Only_A_Lad on Nov 2, 2009 1:30 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I have no idea why they'd leave Sacramento

But if they did, it is clearly the best owner group for Las Vegas in the Maloofs (whose father once owned the Rockets if I remember that correctly)

www.TheDreamShake.com Co-Founder and Writer

by UofTOrange on Nov 2, 2009 4:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Since they own a casino there already (Palms) that makes sense.

Why not Memphis though? Also, I’m surprised about Indiana. I thought that was a pretty well supported team. What is going on there? Too much losing destroying the ticket base?

If the Red Nation apparatchiks start talking about a Five Year Plan, I'm out of here.

by Xiane on Nov 3, 2009 12:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

What owners seem to care about

is not so much raw gate numbers but “state-of-the-art,” publicly-funded arenas. Indiana’s arena (Conseco) is on the small side and approaching its 10th birthday. Combined with its gate problems (no matter how huge basketball might be in Indiana, losing takes its toll), it’s apparently enough for the owners to consider a move.

Memphis, Charlotte, and Minnesota have relatively new (or newly renovated) arenas, even if ticket sales are poor. The Hornets might have moved a few years ago had Katrina not made that a certain PR disaster, and I doubt anything has changed there.

by Only_A_Lad on Nov 3, 2009 1:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs