Breaking: we take you from your normally scheduled "Every post is by Patrick with a little Ryan sprinkled in" to bring you this.
PUT THE OFFSEASON BEHIND YOU AND STRAP IN! IT'S GO TIME BOYS AND GIRLS!
It's fun to be back.
The Rockets will face the Mavericks in Dallas tonight to kick off the "Games That Don't Count, But We Read Too Much Into Them."
I don't want to talk about the Mavs and the $46 Million Mistake, so we'll just talk Houston tonight, because I make the rules around here (if that's okay with Patrick).
Like the average NBA team, the Rockets are holding more than 15 players for the preseason and will use these games to get rotation guys in shape and get good looks at the fringe guys. Every time I look at the roster, I come up with a different number of guaranteed roster spots. By my count, the Rockets have 16 players officially under contract. Now, they can send some of those guys to RGV, so there are some potential spots available for the bubble guys to fight over.
We all know what Dwight Howard, James Harden, and the other players from last year's squad will bring. So Rockets fans will keep particularly close watch on the new guys, including Kostas Papanikolaou, Clint Capela, Jeff Adrien, Joey Dorsey (OF COURSE!), Josh Powell, Ish Smith, Tarik Black, Nick Johnson, and Akil Mitchell. Trevor Ariza is "new" too, but he's more of a known quantity than those other individuals. There's also the little propeller plane, but I hate him so I don't care.
Remember to stay civil to each other. I'll reiterate our policies in the first regular season preview, but for now just act like decent human beings and flag anyone who isn't doing so. We're all friends here.
Also, no posting links to illegal streaming websites. The game is on CSN Houston, and I know that sucks for most of us. But if you're looking to watch the game in a less-than-legal way, please ask/look elsewhere.
Tip-off is at 7:30pm CST.
Rockets vs Mavericks coverage