Rockets Faithful Deserve Emotional Refund for Team's Lousy Season

The last-place Memphis Grizzlies walloped the Houston Rockets Wednesday night, 104-93, in perhaps the least surprising upset of the season.

What's worse? That a team in the bottom five in nearly every category—points scored, points allowed, field goal defense, assists, turnovers, and fan attendance—schooled a supposed championship contender?  Or that such embarrassment has become commonplace for the Rockets this season?

Does it qualify as an upset if the favored team has routinely saved dates against the league's worst as opportunities to give away games?

Make that seven losses to teams in last place and the second to the Grizzlies at the stale FedEx Forum. The Rockets, I guess, were not satisfied enough with home losses to the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards, and road flops against the Los Angeles Clippers, Grizzlies, and Pacers.

O.J. Mayo split through any defender who dared take the assignment, and Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay gorged on weak shows at the rim and from the perimeter.

The Rockets—a team that has finished no worse than fifth in points allowed and field goal defense since 2003—allowed the Grizzlies to shoot 53 percent. What defense?

A night after holding on for dear life at home against the mediocre Chicago Bulls, the Rockets had no life against the 13-35 Grizzlies. Were this a back-to-back against the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, or San Antonio Spurs, Rick Adelman could have explained the loss.

There is no plausible or acceptable excuse for losing to the Grizzlies on any night.

Aaron Brooks missed the contest with the flu, and Yao Ming spent much of the affair hunched over or in the locker room with his own illness.

The NBA does not consider that when it seeds playoff teams in mid-April. Does anyone believe these stinky performances won't matter when the Rockets joust for better postseason position in the next two months?

Seven losses that should have been blowout wins could mean the difference between the third and seventh seed in the Western Conference.

With all the playoff success the Rockets have enjoyed in the Yao Ming-Tracy McGrady era, why should they fret about opening a first round series on the road?

Luis Scola and Von Wafer Are Highs in Lowlight Season

Does Luis Scola ever take a night off? Sure, he has statistically unspectacular or poor games, as his 4-for-9 performance in the Memphis loss attests, but his effort is always there.

Against the Bulls Tuesday night, he recorded 13 points and 18 rebounds, his third 18-board showing of the season.

In one gritty play, he forced a Joakim Noah miss and then hit the floor to seal the rebound in a scrum with the second-year center and bruising forward Andres Nocioni. He makes these plays often, and a few of his floormates have dubbed him the team's MVP.

He might be the one Rocket who has given fans their money's worth in every game. Even if he racks up four fouls in several minutes and misses seven shots in a row, he tries. He gives a damn.

In a season marked by injuries and woeful offense and defense, Scola's hustle is a godsend.

Then there's Von Wafer, perhaps the oddest, most surprising story in the league. Daryl Morey told the Houston Chronicle during training camp that Wafer had a "one percent chance of making the roster."

A fringe rotation player axed from the Denver Nuggets early in the 2007-08 season, Wafer survived the final roster cuts in October and has been an unexpected clutch shooter.

He drilled a cold-blooded three-pointer at TD Banknorth Garden to sink the then slumping Celtics. He nailed another one to preserve a home victory against the Utah Jazz.

Yes, he has a lot to learn if he wants to lock up a regular rotation spot on any team. He seemingly gives up as many baskets as he scores, misses simple defensive rotations, and turns the ball over when he over-handles it.

Still, how can you not root for this guy? The Rockets' radio play-by-play man, Craig Ackerman, has a man-crush on Wafer.

His call of that dagger against the Celtics: "He's not a cookie, he's not a cracker, he's Von Wafer and he just gave the Rockets a two-point lead!"

Rockets Not Headed for Another Magical February, Logic Says

How far can the Rockets expect to go if Tracy McGrady, Ron Artest, and Yao Ming are their three best players, but Luis Scola is their MVP?

At this time in 2008, the Rockets were beginning the second-longest win streak in NBA history. They would win 22 in a row, 10 of those without Yao, and secure home court advantage in the first round.

Everyone in Houston remembers the nauseating end in Salt Lake City.

The Rockets have allowed teams to shoot better than 45 percent in five of the last eight games. The Rockets have allowed 100 or more in seven of those eight.

On the other end, the Rockets hit less than 45 percent of their looks in five of those eight.

Would you call that a recipe for another 22-game win streak? Will those paltry defensive stats set the Rockets up for their first playoff series win since 1997?

I wouldn't make plans for that championship parade just yet.

McGrady and Artest Will Decide How the Season Ends

The Rockets have integrated Yao into the offense. Every statistic imaginable supports that statement. He leads the team in fourth quarter baskets and points. When someone finds him on the low block with single coverage, count it for two.

This does not absolve Yao of his defensive shortcomings, his turnovers, or his mistake that cost the Rockets a chance at a tie in January against the Lakers.

Down three at the Toyota Center with three seconds to go in regulation, he flung up a contested jumper with no chance when he should have dished the ball to the wide-open Aaron Brooks or Von Wafer.

Yao's errors are manageable, but the many vapid performances from Artest and McGrady are not. The All-Star Game is less than two weeks away and Rick Adelman has yet to integrate McGrady and Artest into his scoring schemes.

The coach can blame part of that on a swath of injuries that have forced him to start 16 different lineups, the most in the NBA. The other half is on two-thirds of the Rockets' big three.

Artest and McGrady will decide what playoff seed the team gets and how far it will go when it gets there.

Artest missed nine of 10 shots in Memphis on Wednesday, and McGrady was mired in a similar funk, clanging all five of his threes.

He did score 21 points on 9-for-21 shooting, but his defense was horrid and his late-game decisions lacked the poise of a superstar.

There have been a few promising games for both All-Star caliber talents. Perhaps the best showing came at the Palace of Auburn Hills, when both moved the ball in Yao Ming's absence, found open looks, and mixed in drives with jump shots.

For much of the season, each has camped out behind the arc or at the top of the key and hoisted prayers they knew would not be answered.

They still have time to figure it out, but each minute is precious.

Refundable Rockets? Only in a Dream...

These Rockets have not been what Leslie Alexander, Daryl Morey, and Adelman advertised. A 30-20 record at first glance is respectable. The optimists will also refer to convincing wins over the New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, and the squeaker against the Celtics, with Shane Battier and McGrady in street clothes, as evidence this team can be special.

Indeed there have been moments when the Rockets have played like champions. When everyone defends, moves the ball like a hot potato, and matches God-given talent with energy, this team's ceiling looks limitless.

Too often, however, this team has bumped its head and chipped the paint from that ceiling. The fans thought this team could be magical like the Hakeem Olajuwon-led squads that secured back-to-back NBA crowns in the mid-90s.

Instead it has been macabre, with Wednesday night's pathetic loss serving as Exhibit A.

If there were a way to refund both road and home games, the fans would deserve it—even the jewelry rattlers who make Toyota Center one of the lousiest home courts in the NBA.

How fitting, then, that the Rockets were shellacked in one of the only fan environments worse than theirs.

The people least excited about these Rockets are the ones who have watched every game. With the sickening defeats piling up like storm debris, these fans can see what's coming from a mile away.