1. Courtney Lee dropped his second fantastic performance this month, finishing with 22 points on 8-14 shooting in Houston's 121-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. "Battier & The Bench" - normally nothing more than a sideshow act - carried the Rockets, as Chase Budinger, Aaron Brooks and Battier, who finished a perfect 7-7 from the field, each pitched in to make up for subpar shooting nights from Kevin Martin and Luis Scola. These types of wins might be my favorite: those that involve the stars taking a backseat. These types of wins need to appear every so often in order to remind the team of its should-be balanced nature. Then, once Martin bounces back with 35 the next night and Scola drops a customary double-double, there might be a little more from the others as well, and perhaps that'll be the difference.
2. Good stuff from ClutchFans on Carmelo Anthony, but don't make anything of it. He took the professional route, to his credit, and chose to provide his brief commentary on the Rockets without offering any sort of interest on his part. In saying that "anybody would like to play for that team," well, I can't help but agree with him. He chose to state what we believe to be the obvious, and while Anthony may be perfectly fine with playing in Houston, I can't imagine playing for the Rockets to be a priority for him. Then again, the more the Rockets beat his Nuggets, the more consideration he may give Houston. Perhaps a rise from 5% to 10% on the "chances he'll end up down South" scale.
3. Rick Adelman is apparently talking retirement, not that he has much of a choice. Any man of his age in just about any profession has got to give it some thought, and Adelman happens to be employed in a position that garners media spotlight. As such, if Adelman talks retirement, we're all going to hear about it. Solomon makes a good point in stating that Rick certainly arrived in Houston with a roster built to win now, if not in a few years, and not to a team that could be in a rebuilding mode the minute someone presses the big red button. Can't blame the man for possibly hanging it up if he's not up for the three to four-year track upon which this Rockets team may be placed. That said, at this point, while Adelman is still the coach, I've got the upmost faith in his dedication to winning.
Thoughts in brief. I wasn't kidding.