The Houston Rockets have claimed two consecutive NBA titles (1994, 1995), four conference titles (1981, 1986, 1994, 1995), and four divisional titles (1977, 1986, 1993, 1994).
The players most noted for the two titles in '94 and '95, are Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler (Drexler was only on the 1995 championship team).
Since then, the Rockets have been plagued by above-average mediocrity. They have made the playoffs the past two seasons, but in both instances, they have been eliminated by the Utah Jazz in the first round.
This led the Rockets' management to fire Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy after the 2006-2007 season. Van Gundy was replaced by the great Rick Aldelman.
Aldelman has coached the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and Golden State Warriors.
When coaching in Portland, he helped lead the Blazers to three straight Western Conference Finals appearances from 1990-1992. In 1990, the Blazers advanced to the NBA Finals where they were knocked off by the Isiah Thomas led Detroit Pistons. In the 1991 Western Conference Finals, the Blazers were eliminated by the Magic Johnson led Los Angeles Lakers, and in '92, the Blazers made it to the NBA Finals again, before losing to the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls.
In 2002, Aldelman led the Sacramento Kings to the 2002 Western Conference Finals, where they eventually were beat out by the eventual champions, the Lakers.
As you can see, Aldelman brings great coaching experience and knowledge to this already loaded roster. Speaking of which, let's get right to analyzing the Rockets' current roster.
This roster is simply put, loaded with talent. There is also a calming presence of leadership to a relatively young team in some aspects. Here is my projected starting lineup for the Rockets:
PG: TBD
The starting point guard position is difficult to pick and/or predict. Steve Francis, who has been a starting point guard for many years, has been plagued by knee injuries the past two seasons. Still, when he is healthy, Francis is a beast. If Francis is not 100% coming into the season, I would give the edge to Rafer Alston, who has been in the league just as long as Francis.
SG: Tracy McGrady
Tracy McGrady is a franchise SG. His eleven years of experience bring knowledge and leadership to the table. McGrady can just flat as well. There is no question that he will start at SG, unless he is injured.
SF: Ron Artest
Artest reunites with coach Rick Adelman, as he played under Adelman in Sacramento for half a year. Artest brings offensive scoring to the team, and strengthens the already strong Rockets defense.
PF: Luis Scola
Scola has brought some much needed rebounding and inside presence that the Rockets desperately showed a lack of in their 2006 NBA Playoffs loss to the Utah Jazz, and he came at a very small price as the Rockets traded away seldom-used Vassilis Spanoulis for him.
Hopefully, Scola will be another piece of the puzzle that the Rockets are attempting to build so they can regain their elite championship stats from the 1990s.
C: Yao Ming
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