It wasn't the regular season that many of us expected, but given the circumstances, an impressive late-season run and another near-playoff miss could serve to provide a sturdy foundation for the future. But now that it's over, it's time to hand out awards. In this case, you get to vote on who wins. We'll have a different award to hand out each day, so keep checking in. Feel free to discuss your reasoning for making a particular vote in the comments.

Previous Awards: Most Improved Player -- Most Impressive Victory -- Defensive Player of the Year -- Most Promising Future

We've come to the end of the awards train. So, who do you think was the Rockets' MVP this season?

This is a difficult question for me to answer, because there are two standout candidates -- Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry -- and then a third candidate in Luis Scola whose stability and consistency simply can't be overlooked.

Perhaps in the voting we'll see a nod to the insane scoring ability of Martin. He had himself a fantastic year on the offensive end, putting together one of his most efficient seasons. No matter what one thinks of Martin on the defensive end, his scoring ability positively impacted the number one offense in basketball far more than his suspect defense negatively impacted the team's overall D. I'm still convinced that with a legitimate center under the basket, the Rockets could have finished with a top fifteen, if not top ten defense.

Or, on the other hand, perhaps the crowd will stick with the story, much in the way that the NBA writers did in choosing Derrick Rose as the league MVP. Rose wasn't the best player in the league this season, and while an argument can be made against Lowry as the Rockets' best player in 2010-2011 as well, each point guard had an it factor that seemingly determined his respective team's direction and success. As Lowry began to heat up, so too did the Rockets.

Finally, there is Scola, who has quietly become one of the league's most effective scorers in the post. One also can't help but notice that Scola played some of his best games against the league's quality teams.

I can't decide. You make the call.

It wasn't the regular season that many of us expected, but given the circumstances, an impressive late-season run and another near-playoff miss could serve to provide a sturdy foundation for the future. But now that it's over, it's time to hand out awards. In this case, you get to vote on who wins. We'll have a different award to hand out each day, so keep checking in. Feel free to discuss your reasoning for making a particular vote in the comments.

Previous Awards: Most Improved Player - Most Impressive Victory - Defensive Player of the Year

Here lies an award that has quickly become my favorite. I've always been interested in developing prospects, sure, but this is the type of award that you can look back on a year later and see exactly how wrong you were about your initial projections. Last season's voting serves as a perfect example. Take a look at the results:

59% - Jordan Hill

28% - Chase Budinger

5% - Trevor Ariza

4% - Kyle Lowry

3% Jermaine Taylor

Of course, the question specifies that improvement is to be gauged from the end of one season to the end of the next. So, in other words, we were guessing who, by this point, would be the most improved player among the above options. Clearly, Hill's game hasn't grown and matured as we'd hoped, whereas Kyle Lowry's has exploded.

With this collective gaffe in judgment in mind, try your luck at this year's crop. Has Lowry peaked? Will Hill regain relevancy? Will Patrick Patterson turn into a legitimate starter? Have at it.

It wasn't the regular season that many of us expected, but given the circumstances, an impressive late-season run and another near-playoff miss could serve to provide a sturdy foundation for the future. But now that it's over, it's time to hand out awards. In this case, you get to vote on who wins. We'll have a different award to hand out each day, so keep checking in. Feel free to discuss your reasoning for making a particular vote in the comments.

Previous Awards: Most Improved Player - Most Impressive Victory

Once again, there wasn't a whole lot of defense this season, despite improvement over the second half of the year. Particularly, the Rockets struggled in late-game situations and ranked near the bottom of the league in fourth quarter points allowed per game.

That said, go ahead: pick your defensive player of the year. With Trevor Ariza and Shane Battier gone from last year's squad, who stepped up to pick up the slack?

Of course I'll weigh in on the Rockets' coaching situation.

So now we know Rick Adelman won't be back.  Unlike some, I've got mixed feelings about this.  I don't think coaches with Adelman's ability are easy to find.  Adelman can make a top offense out of almost any collection of smart, reasonably talented players.  Some coaches can't make a good offense with 3 superstars (Miami).  And while Tom Thibodeau has got Chicago playing fantastic D, it's offense apparently boils down to 

"Give Rose the ball.  Let him do something awesome.  Repeat."  So far, that's worked.  Chicago is one sprained D Rose ankle from disappearing.  There is no plan B.

For all the Bulls wonderfulness and vaunted D, it's taken D Rose Miracles to get them wins against Indiana.  Indiana, a team the Rockets effortlessly crushed.  A team with a losing record and no really scary threats anywhere on the court.

What's the point of that?  This: even a great new coach might not have everything you want.  Chicago's offense is slightly higher functioning than Jeff Van Gundy's, but not much, and with much more talent than JVG had.  And this is with the best new coaching prospect in a very long time, one who achieved an amazing feat with the Bulls.

Coaches who can do it all are rare.  You want a leader of men, a defensive guru, and offensive genius, a teacher, a wily media manipulator, a guy who maximizes every asset and minimizes every flaw, a cold-blooded tactician, a free-thinker who nonetheless respects management, an easy-going guy who can get millionaires to play like their lives depend on it, a man the everyone respects, but who doesn't take himself too seriously, someone with boundless energy who never is ground down by the long NBA season and time away from his family, young enough to relate to the kids and old enough to have seen it all.

So by all means, let's go get that guy.  

Continue reading this post »

It wasn't the regular season that many of us expected, but given the circumstances, an impressive late-season run and another near-playoff miss could serve to provide a sturdy foundation for the future. But now that it's over, it's time to hand out awards. In this case, you get to vote on who wins. We'll have a different award to hand out each day, so keep checking in. Feel free to discuss your reasoning for making a particular vote in the comments.

Previous Award: Most Improved Player

Contrary to the recent past, the Rockets took care of business against the inferior teams this year, only to find themselves without the typical slew of underdog victories that defined their 2009-2010 season. While there were certainly a few key wins here and there, nothing defiantly stood out. There were opportunities to pull off these types of wins, sure, but all too often the Rockets came up just short of grasping one of those impressive victories. However, I think the following list fits the bill decent enough (let me know if I missed anything, it's a long season):

Note: There are a few wins against superior teams that are omitted due to opposing star players being injured. See: @Utah, @Boston.

It wasn't the regular season that many of us expected, but given the circumstances, an impressive late-season run and another near-playoff miss could serve to provide a sturdy foundation for the future. But now that it's over, it's time to hand out awards. In this case, you get to vote on who wins. We'll have a different award to hand out each day, so keep checking in. Feel free to discuss your reasoning for making a particular vote in the comments.

We begin with the Most Improved Player award. Keep in mind: A) The only Rockets eligible to receive the award are those who have played with the team from the 10-11 season's start to finish, so if you were pushing to revive Terrence Williams' morale with a blog award, think again. Also, B) The award gauges improvement from THIS SEASON ONLY.

Have at it. Spread the word. Let's get as many votes on this as we can.

Attention:  this is off-topic in that it only moderately concerns the Rockets.  And even that isn't until the end.

How the hell is Reggie Miller not even a finalist for the HOF???

It's true.  Somehow Reggie Miller did not even make the first cut of nominees for the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame.  Essentially, Reggie Miller is now getting the Cris Carter treatment.  There is no logical explanation for this.  At no point has anyone ever looked at Reggie Miller and said "nah, he's not really a hall of famer."  Because that would be absolutely, utterly ridiculous.

On a more personal note -- there are exactly two (2) jerseys of NBA players that I own that are not Rockets jerseys.  One is Penny Hardaway, who if not for injury might have been the greatest point guard of all-time.  Yes, better than Magic Johnson.  Penny was amazing.  Then someone introduced him to the word "microfracture" and it was all over.  So sad.  The other jersey I own is Reggie Miller's #31 Pacers jersey.  And why?  Because Reggie was f--kin' awesome.  You have to be a true badass for me to own your jersey and Reggie fit the bill.  In every way.  (For those paying attention, I do not own a Kobe Bryant jersey and I may be a bigger Kobe fan than most Laker fans.) 

Yet some clowns who wield their authority like a high-school nerd scorned by the head cheerleader have decided that Reggie Miller is not even worthy of discussion as a finalist for the Hall of Fame. 

Do you know who Reggie was competing with for nomination?  Immortals along the lines of Dennis Rodman, Maurice Cheeks (good guy, but he's not Reggie), Ralph Sampson (!?!?!), Dick Bavetta (seriously?), Rick Pitino (now this is just absurd), and Mark Jackson (uhhhh...).

Dick Bavetta!?!?!?!?  When did the Basketball Hall of Fame become the sporting equivalent of the Grammy Awards?  This is like Jethro Tull winning the Grammy for "Best Heavy Metal Performance" over Metallica in 1989.  Mind-boggling.

If Reggie Miller does not get inducted into the Hall of Fame next year, let me be the first to lead the ensuing riot in Springfield.  Or as Al Bundy would say:  "I am going to run amok and start killing people in alphabetical order."

Now, the only good news that can come from this is that the absence of Reggie Miller as a candidate makes it that much easier for one Rudy Tomjanovich to make the Hall of Fame.  Do not get me wrong, it is still a massive mistake by the Hall that Rudy T is not an inductee while Jerry Sloan, John Stockton and the Worst Person Alive™ Karl Malone have already been afforded the opportunity to give lame speeches and be immortalized.  It's shameful, in fact.  And it must be corrected immediately.

So -- if not Reggie, put Rudy T in the Hall of Fame!

maddening update:  Rudy T did not make the list of finalists either.  F--k you, Hall of Fame!

Every once in a while there comes along a player that transcends all odds and overcomes incredible adversity.

And every once in a while someone throws out a really stupid cliche like the one above. The difference is that when it comes to Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon, the cliche doesn't begin to describe how transcendent and resilient the man was.

Take, for instance, how he started. The stories about basketball players starting their careers late have become more ubiquitous in recent years (Tim Duncan comes to mind), Hakeem started on a different continent, playing a completely different sport, in a country that couldn't have cared less about basketball. Granted, it was the Dream's history of playing goalie in Nigeria that helped him develop his trademark footwork and shot-blocking prowess.

And the adversity was certainly there from day one. Learning English, honing his basketball skills, and comprehending American culture were just some of the hurdles Hakeem faced. Life in the NBA wasn't a cakewalk either. Though his teams always had talent, injuries to Hakeem and Ralph Sampson kept the Rockets from achieving meaningful success. Nevertheless, Hakeem continued through a contract dispute, allegations of a lack of caring from the franchise, and a sudden lack of a supporting cast in the early 90s to become one of the greatest centers of all-time.

We can talk all we want about the accolades: only player in NBA history to be named MVP, Defensive MVP, and Finals MVP in the same season, two NBA titles, Olympic Gold Medalist, multiple All-Star and All-NBA seasons (regular and defensive), most blocked shots ever, and so many others.

I could talk about all the signature moments that Olajuwon gave the city of Houston. He blocked John Starks in Game 6 of the 1994 NBA Finals when everyone and their mothers knew Starks wasn't going to miss. He "bamboozled" David Robinson in a series that even Spurs fans talk about in hushed tones. He tipped in the game winner in Game 1 of the 1995 Finals.

Or we could look at his off-the-court demeanor. He was a devout Muslim whose character was hardly ever questioned. He endorsed Spalding shoes because they were cheaper than Nike and Reebok alternatives. His charity work has also been well-documented.

But when I think back on Hakeem Olajuwon, I think of that 17-year-old kid playing soccer who had no clue that he would affect so many lives in another country entirely, through a sport he had never played. The Dream is the reason I watch basketball today, and for that I am eternally grateful. It is a gift I cannot return, but I can give thanks and wish him a very happy birthday to the 48-years-young man who showed a five-year-old boy in Houston about the wonderful game of basketball.

What do you remember about Hakeem? What did he mean to you? Sound off in the comments.