I don't put a lot of stock in Hollinger's playoff odds on ESPN (where he simulates the results of the rest of the season 5000 times and gives the % of times a team makes the playoffs), but it's still a fun thing to check out occasionally.

One interesting tidbit: the Rockets are the ONLY team in the NBA in which the "best case" scenario is that we win all remaining games, and the "worst case" scenario is we lose all remaining games.  Every other team either steals or drops at least one in their best and worst cases.

How about it: it's possible for us (and no one else) to go 16-0 or 0-16 from here out.  An up-and-down season in a nutshell.

It is week #21 and the Houston Rockets are...

Continue reading this post »

I'm going to preface this with thinking that ak2themax said that he can't do a game preview today because of traveling, or something like that.

Tonight is a big game, as is the rest of the games this season if we have any shot of making the playoffs. Both San Antonio and Portland (the two teams we have any realistic shot of catching in the playoff race) are beginning to play pretty well, and a caller on KILT 610 the other night pointed out that the Rockets must finish the season 14-4 in order to tie Portland if they finish 7-7 (they have played 4 more games than us this season). That's quite the task, considering we still have games left against a lot of +.500  teams.

Denver is coming to Houston on a 6-game winning streak, and looking for their first season sweep of the Rockets in 32 years and having vanquished New Orleans and Memphis in their last two games. The Rockets are looking for their first 3-game winning streak in a long, long time. Said streak would tie the longest for the season. The last time Denver visited Houston, they played without Carmelo Anthony, but got big games from Billups and Smith, pulling away in the 4th quarter despite the good guys being up by as much as 15 early in the game.

Matchups:

PG: Aaron Brooks v. Chauncey Billups:  Chauncey Billups is kind of really good at basketball. He is big for his position, an amazing passer, solid 3-point shooter and plays great defense. Not much can be said about him that hasn't been said here, on ESPN, or illustrated by his career. Aaron has been struggling lately; to be frank, he is taking too many shots, and they are not the smartest shot attempts. This problem is especially visible in late-game situations - his dribble for 22 seconds and shoot strategy has cost us games recently (see: Detroit), or let bad teams get in the game (see: Washington). Aaron has had some bad games against Billups, but he's also had some great games against him. Still. . .

Advantage: Nuggets

SG: Kevin Martin v. Aaron Afflalo: For clarity's sake, basketball-reference has Afflalo listed as Denver's starting SG. Kevin Martin had a quiet 20 points Saturday night, and continues to play pretty well as a Rocket. Afflalo can play decent defense, but I imagine him getting the Blue Light Special tonight. Don't be surprised if Kevin has a 25-30 point game tonight; then again, you should probably never be surprised if he dumps that many points on someone.

Advantage: Rockets

SF: Trevor Ariza v. Carmelo Anthony: Melo continues to be a monster this season, having dropped 24 and 6 on Memphis the other night. Ariza is starting to make decent strides, having posted a double-double against the Nets. The key phrase in that sentence, however, is 'against the Nets.' Help defense is going to be so crucial in this game - if the Rockets make Melo take the lion's share of his team's shots and keep the passing lanes closed, we stand a chance. Otherwise, we're toast. Even if we do execute a solid defensive game plan, Melo still might win it anyway for his team. He's done it before.

Advantage: Nuggets

PF: Luis Scola v. Johan Petro: The Nuggets have been bitten particularly hard by the injury bug in the front court department, so I'm making an educated guess about who starts at PF for them. He's only averaging 3 points and 3 rebounds this season, and had 5 and 5 against Memphis. Needless to say, the guy isn't used to seeing 20+ minutes a game, and that's probably going to show against Scola, who posted an epic career high this weekend. Interesting tidbit of info: Scola is the first Rocket since the Dream to hit 20 shots in a game, and that was in 1990. The Rockets need to lob it in to Scola, and play a more inside-out game against Denver in order to exploit their current glaring weakness in the post.

Advantage: Rockets, and clearly the most important advantage of tonight's game.

C: Chuck Hayes v. Nene Hilario: Nene is having a pretty solid season this year, averaging 14 and 8. He played pretty well against Houston their last visit here, and Scola is going to be exerting a lot of energy on the offensive end (hopefully). Subsequently, it's going to be on Hayes to really contain the Nuggets' only [current] front court weapon. Chuck has done it before, and knowing when he's gonna come to play is hard to tell.

Advantage: Nuggets, but definitely not set in stone

---

Denver Bench: J.R. Smith is coming off an incredible 4th quarter against Memphis, and Anthony Carter has been playing well as of late. Unfortunately, for Denver, Andersen Balkman and Martin are all hurt, severely hurting their depth at the moment.

Conversely. . .

Houston Bench: Houston is finally at full strength in the wake of Lowry and Ariza's return. Battier has played OK off the bench, Lowry has been Lowry, and Jordan Hill is continuing to show why he was the 8th pick in the draft. This is a game where the bench really has to give it to Denver, given their weaknesses right now. Luckily, having a defensive-minded wing come off the bench (Battier) with a scoring wing (Budinger) means we might be able to slow down Smith while still putting points on the board.

Advantage: Houston, and once again is a crucial one.

All in all, Houston has looked more and more like they are playing to the level of their competition in the last week or two. Let's hope that continues tonight, so that the Rockets scrape out a victory. I'm gonna be at the game, and I think they've only lost 5-6 of the last 20 games I've attended, so here's to banking on my presence. 

Prediction: I really think the Rockets can scrape this one out tonight. Rockets by 6.

Story - UH beats UTEP
To all my fellow cougars on here...
For the first time since 1992, the Houston Cougars are going to the BIG DANCE! and for the first time EVER they've won the Conference USA Tournament!
Kelvin Lewis led the team with 28 pts and made 6/10 3pt shots and we also have Aubrey Coleman leading the whole NCAA on points, look like good prospers for this year's NBA draft
Even though I think last year's team with Lanny Smith and Mckiver was better, the fall of Memphis as a power house in the conference has allowed this team to make it happen
Cinderella Team? prob a long shot
but we can always dream!

With Kyle Lowry and Trevor Ariza returning to the lineup we now have out full compliment of players (except for Yao). Now whether or not Ariza or Shane Battier will start does not matter to me because there are pros and cons either way and their about even. With three days of rest and two practices we will now see how this re-tooled Rockets team will operate. The lowly New Jersey Nets will be in town and there is no better way to test the full lineup (hopefully David Andersen returns also) than against the worst team of the decade (which i think is a disappointment because they actually have some talent). It could be the jumpstart we need to build some momentum towards a playoff push. I am most interested in seeing a breakout game for rookie Jordan Hll, maybe his first double double? Well nonethelss, after the game Saturday night we will pretty much be able to tell how much fun we will have for the rest of the season. If we win big (by at least 20 points) then we should all get ready for a fun rest of season. If its close then I will be pissed. If we lose (don't bet on it) then I will sign a 10-day contract with the New York Knicks. I think we will have fun watching the rest of the season, especially if we make the playoffs (and possibly upset those damn Lakers).

Theory 1: Trevor Ariza is going to come off the bench the rest of the year, but not because thats our best starting line up. In fact, the only reason shane starts is so that he appears to be an important piece to the squad for trading purposes this summer. If he loses his starting spot, his trade value suffers. Plus having the summer to move his family and get things coordinated is the Rockets hope for a peaceful parting.

Theory 2: Yao does not come back with the team if he gets hurt for any significant time next year. Yao will not exercise his option since he missed the whole year and becoming a free agent will cost him money short term. I think Mr. Alexander will plug up the middle with other assets like young rebounders with our upcoming draft picks. They will be alternating between D-League and practice players while we see what few minutes we can use Yao where he is still effective but not overused

Theory 3: Adelman has a lot of say with the team. Sleepy dreams of a team in the mold of his old kings teams. Playing fast, cutting, and winning the game on the offensive end. Which is why i believe in theory 1. He likes Chase cause he's athletic and can shoot from distance. So can all of our guards. Trevor is similar to what Doug Christie used to bring. Ditto Scola in the Webber mold. Lowry = Bobby Jackson energy/pace pusher off the bench. Our Vlade is better if he doesn't get hurt. That Kings team was number 1 in free throw shooting and look how our freethrow shooting has come up.

Theory 4: DM likes Chris bosh, but he wont want to give up Scola for him because he loves the fact that he got over on the Spurs and doesn't want to then trade him.

Also a sidenote: Was Clutch born when the rockets won their last championship? Thats why he's 15? Hmmm... i kinda like the bear now

Click Here for the Kevin Martin Q&A...

Continue reading this post »

Hello everyone.  This is my first post so I hope someone finds it interesting.  With the stress of the Rockets being a longshot, dark horse contender for the number 8 spot  in the west, I had some diversionary thoughts while they play it out.

First, is there anyone else who feels that if the Rockets were an Eastern Conference squad that they would be at least a top five team in the East (below Boston, Cleveland and Orlando but above most everyone else in the East)?  This has been a point that I thought about often in the years that they've missed the playoffs only to see atrocious teams with losing records make the playoffs in the East.  Right now Miami has the 8th seed with a 500 record so I can't complain too much, but in past years it has been really bad with horrible teams making it in the east and the rockets getting left out in the west.  But, Houston is above 500 now so maybe I can complain.   

Second, how good are they going to be with Yao?  Without a guy who was a star before the season started (except McGrady) the Rockets have competed and kicked some serious tail when they weren't exhausted or run ragged by the schedule.  Chuck Hayes has done a great job but his ppg is nowhere near what even a rusty or recovering Yao Ming is capable of.  If Yao only gets 10 shots a game, he adds so many points to a team that had trouble establishing a go to scorer.  I'm guessing if everyone is relatively healthy next year, they win 55 games with Yao back.  Is it too optimistic to dream about a 60 plus win season and trip to at least the Conference finals?

Hi Rocket fans,

Wondering if you guys have any insight into Brian Cook for us Nuggets fans? I know he didn't play much in his time in Houston, but anything you guys think about his game or lack thereof would be appreciated!

To get to 75 words I would like to say that I wish Carl Landry would have somehow done a Face Off move a la Nic Cage in said movie and then revealed himself after the Nuggets signed him ... well perhaps after the season instead so he didn't have to play for the Kings.

-Nate, Denver Stiffs.

Another enigma added to the colossal enigma that has been the Rockets season. First we start the season playing much better than anyone could have ever anticipated, then we have a slump and once we actually do get better we struggle, although it is understandable to some degree with the team's chemistry changing I guess some time is necessary. Unfortunately when it comes down to it other teams won't go easy on the Rockets simply because they've got new players and need to adjust. Excuses don't equal results, that being said I sadly don't see the Rockets making the playoffs this year. Which is okay seeing as how this upcoming draft is relatively well endowed, and with Yao back next year, Jordan Hill with a year under his belt, not mention everyone else I fully expect us to contend. Sure we might lose Luis Scola who is a very underrated player, fortunately this is one of the best times to let him go. He is 30 years old, and will probably ask for contract in the neighborhood of 5-7million spanning anywhere from 3-5 years. Do we really want to make that kind of commitment in a 30 year old? And now to the actual recap of the game!

The Rockets began the game well in fact they played well for about 3 and 3/4 quarters. Kevin Martin was somewhat efficient with 27 pts on 8 of 18 shooting which amounts to .444 he was 9 for 9 from the free throw line which is pretty good, Aaron Brooks had 25 pts going 10 for 23 and 2 for 10 in 3pt attempts, now Scola on the other hand was a beast plain and simple, he accumulated 20 pts and 15 reb all while shooting .533 percent from the field. We just could NOT hit any shots down the stretch and that is what it came down to, this wasn't a horrible game for either team, disappointing but not horrible. It was a close one and we lost in the end there is nothing to do but move on and try to add a few more wins in the win column. Jordan Hill had his best outing as a Rocket, perhaps his best outing as an NBA player. His stat line was an average 12 points and 8 rebounds. He did this in a abridged amount of playing time 23 minutes. I liked what I saw from him good hustle decent scoring. Which kind of makes you wonder why hasn't he seen more action? It's awfully hard to measure someone when they average around 8 minutes a game. Even though Jordan Hill is still inconsistent and a little raw it is my belief that he should start over Chuck Hayes, yes Chuck Hayes is stronger, yes he plays better defense but that's it folks! He doesn't have the athleticism, size, nor post moves that J Hill has, and yes they might be limited post moves but it's either limited or none! Thanks for your time ladies and gentlemen.

Something about me is that I like to listen to music... A lot and so with every post there will be a song of the post to go a long with it. Todays song is Drake - Over. A song off of his new album Thank Me Later.