When the Rockets acquired mercurial forward Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings in a thus far lopsided trade, expectations for the team aggrandized. Even if the Artest experiment flopped, General Manager Daryl Morey and Owner Leslie Alexander would have no reason to lose sleep.
Artest for defenseless Donta Greene, older than hell Bobby Jackson and a late first-rounder? Who wouldn't make that deal? If the Maloof brothers, who enjoy meddling in the team's basketball decisions more than they should, had the chance to redo the deal, no one would blame them for doing it.
The comatose Kings fired Reggie Theus less than a year and a half after his greenhorn tenure began, the key players are defenseless and nursing ailments, and Greene, as projected, has struggled to earn playing time.
The Rockets, however, have begun to look like the team fans and 29 other general managers envisioned this summer: Gutsy, brimming with offensive firepower, and packed with defensive stalwarts.
The Rockets mired in mediocrity in the season's first month. They clobbered and murdered themselves before opponents could and often needed butt-kickings and mournful collapses to wake themselves up.
The team's biggest critics can lower their bullhorns a bit. Maybe, after a 24-point, wire-to-wire thumping of the surprising but unexceptional New Jersey Nets, this team has figured it out.
It would be remembering Yao Ming exists, and running the offense through him. It would be not folding offensively every time the big fella' sits. It would be running over a second-rate team at full speed, and not letting up until the beatdown is secure.
The Rockets boast the talent and depth to win a championship. Few have doubted this. While a Western Conference Finals berth seems more realistic for a team that has not tasted a postseason series win in more than a decade, the Rockets sole reason to aim low is themselves.
Early season liftoff trouble: Win one, lose the next by a bunch
An impressive 112-100 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener was sandwiched by unimpressive and somnolent wins over the awful Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder. Ron Artest followed a brilliant 10-point fourth quarter against the Mavericks with a slew of brick fests.
Did he marry the 3-pointer or did he marry the 3-pointer?
The Rockets fell apart in San Antonio against the banged-up Spurs in a 77-75 loss the same week the Los Angeles Lakers had pistol whipped them by 30 points and they trounced the Phoenix Suns. Two crushing defeats, and a dominating, 48-minute performance in the desert.
The night after surrendering a 14-point fourth quarter lead in San Antonio, playing without Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the Rockets pounded the New Orleans Hornets 92-83 at the Toyota Center.
The night before Thanksgiving, the Rockets played like turkeys and dropped an embarrassing one-point decision at home to the Indiana Pacers. The Rockets early season resume also boasts pitiful road losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies.
Notice the pattern here?
Coach Rick Adelman and the players knew this kind of flirtatious tease would win them nothing in April or May.
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