Nothing But The Truth (Opinion) About All Things Rockets.

     Realizing that objective, critical comments about your hometown team probably won't go over as well as a article that makes the most casual fan feel good.  I, like a lot of other fans prefer the cold, brutal truth.  The fact is, you get that anyway if we're not hosting a parade downtown Houston in June.  I believe that fans can handle the truth without smoothing over.  So to ease my frustration with other articles glossing over the truth, I decided to say what I thought, and get in the hot seat of those who write articles.  In order to get going, I've gone back a few years to where the effects of what we see now started.     

      I read a certain article the other day touting the accomplishments of the Rockets GM.  It went so far as to put him out there as the best GM in all of sports.  Um.....I'm sorry WHAT?  Don't get me wrong,  I think Morey has done a hella job with what he has to work with.  But isn't the bottom line about winning and competing for the NBA title?  There are no dynasties anymore,  but fans can handle and would love a consistent winning product (San Antonio comes to mind).  It's not all on Morey if the team doesn't advance past the first round, nor is it on the shoulders of ONE player.  It wasn't all on Dreem's shoulders when we won back-to-back titles.  Btw....that spelling of Dreem is how he spelled it on his license plates back in the day.   To win consistently in the NBA,  you need basically 2 players with superstar skills, and a 3rd one with very good skills.  The Bulls had it,  the 80's Lakers had it,  Boston had it, the recent Lakers with Shaq had it, Detroit had it, San Antonio had/has it.  Of course you need excellent role players on offense and defense, and top shelf coaching.  And God's grace with no major injuries.

     I believed it was a risky plan to build a team around injury prone players such as Tracy first, then Yao.  Tracy was injury prone when we traded for him, so I'm thinking we had better be grooming somebody to fill his shoes because of his history of back problems, etc.   Yao's problems came shortly after his first year, once his minutes went up.  In spite of this, before his salary went up, the Rockets failed to acquire a decent fill-in, opting for the aging Deke.  At the time, Deke's salary was paid by the Nets...so we weren't strapped by the cap with his acquisition, but I was thinking, man we need to develop somebody to help Yao.....nothing has happened there yet.   STILL. 

     I believed our luck had changed with our lottery pick 3 years ago.  I was thinking there is no way we won't get that one player to be groomed to either be Tracy's wingman, or better yet his replacement.   The draftniks were projecting Gay to fall to us,  but the Rockets were itching to get Brandon Roy......can't fault them there, but I was hoping it would be Gay or Rodney Carney(yeah, I know who?).  Somebody with athleticism and the ability to create their own shot.  When we selected Gay, I was estatic. It didn't last long, we traded his rights for Battier (along with Stromile Swift).  I didn't understand Van Gundy's reasoning...win right now, which became the message the Rockets brass were pumping up our hiney's. Shane Battier?  a guy who wasn't even starting for the Grizzlies was the missing piece?  I was living in Valley Ranch (North Irving) the year before when the Mavs swept the Grizzlies in the playoffs and he was completely invisible during the series.  Did nothing, zip, nada.  I thought,(Jerry) West has done it again,  hoodwinked a team (did it to the Hornets when he traded Vlade for Kobe) again.   The media latched on to the message of win now, great lockerroom guy, community, blah, blah, blah.  When Vernon Maxwell( Mad Max) was helping us win those championships, no fans cared about his off court life,  we loved his intense, maniacal attitude.  He was Ron Artest, before Ron Artest.  My point is we needed Rudy Gay, a guy with superstar talent for the reasons I mentioned before. Worst case scenario, Tracy goes down for extended time, we have a player we can transition to in place....CHEAP(rookie contract) ....now Tracy has the kind of (wingman) help Kobe wanted before Pau got there.  Remember before Pau got traded to LA?  Kobe was trying to get out of town, force a trade, because he knew you have to have studs to go deep and compete for a championship!  The Lakers were like the 8th seed before they got Pau Gasol in a steal of a deal.       

    Tracy made a irresponsible, but true comment a few years ago; "It's on me". I understood why he made it, and in some regards it was true. He knew if the Rockets got out of the first round, he would have to do everything himself. If wanna-be jocks/talking heads are constantly asking you some variation of the question as to why your teams always lose in the first round, you know you're going to be blamed if you lose, no matter what you do.  Nobody remembers Lebron's stat's against the Magic, people only remember his lack of sportsmanship, his bitter, immature attitude when they lost.  They don't realize he had no help, but it's his fault.  Who can blame him if he wants to leave Cleveland?  However, if he really wants to win, he will go to a team that NEEDS his talent, not the team with the most money to throw at him, the team that's one superstar away from winning it all.  For one thing, taking a max contract limits a teams ability to get the kind of players a LeBron needs.... unless they draft well, or in the case of Boston, just blow the luxury tax (and it paid off with a championship).  Of course those superstars bought into the concept too.    (San Antonio comes to mind again).  All that proves is they're (the media) idiots for asking such a insane question.  A better question would be to ask either Adelman or Morey do they believe they can compete for a championship with this roster as currently constructed.  And if not, what are their plans short-term and long term to make it so?  I ain't holding my breath waiting for Justice to ask.   Jordan couldn't win without Pippen and Grant, Kobe couldn't win without Shaq or Pau, and Odom,  but for reasons that are completely idiotic, they( Houston media ) hold Tracy to a different standard.  Even before he made that inane comment, they blamed him for the first round loss to the Mavs, despite his numbers.  All he needed was for somebody to step up when the inevitable happens.  The game plan to beating Houston prior to last year with McGrady;  force somebody else to beat you at the end of the game.  Take the ball out of Tracy's hand.  Nobody could, not Yao, not Wesley, not Battier, not Barry,........nobody could do it. 

     Last year the Rockets advanced without him solely due to the fact that the TrailBlazers had no clue that they had the better talent of the two teams.  Experience counted.  The Lakers?  Without Tracy, they came into that series sleepwalking, totally underestimating the Rockets.  And had a fight on their hands for most of the series. 

     Now I said all of that to say this,  the Rockets, in all that time frame, failed to find a big man to adequately fill in for Yao.  Of course we are now hamstrung by the contracts of the injured stars.  We have maybe 2 players on the roster worth trading.....Landry, and Scola.  Landry who's stock is rising quickly, and Scola a blue collar hustler that could complement either a second unit for a contender (San Antonio), or start for almost anybody except Orlando, La, or Boston.  The rest would be relegated to the bench, where they belong.  And they would be excellent bench players for the right team. 

      If we had a serious glass eater and shot blocker, Scola would be so much more effective.   Sean Williams comes to mind right now.  New Jersey is having a fire sale, and he might be easy to get.  or Josh Boone...another young big man, with a lively body.  I believe that Morey is working to make the team better, but as the Rockets are currently constructed, there is no reason to be satisfied with a .500 team (for now) if competing for a championship is the goal.  Some deals don't require you to wait until big contracts expire, some you make constantly.  You think San Antonio is going to stand pat if they see an opportunity to improve the team??  If their core defense is suffering, Duncan will get some help.  And they've gone thru some players trying to find an able complement to his game. A Nazr Mohammed or Oberto doesn't/didn't have that much game, but they had enough to help the Spurs get a ring,  because they had 3 studs in place already.          

      I refuse to believe that Pops Mensah couldn't help this team.  He certainly performed well during the preseason, then he was cut.  But Brian Cook can help you get rebounds, and play defense?  Speaking to another old coaching buddy of mine, he has said that the Rockets do not care about winning a championship just by the type of players they keep, and give meaningful minutes to.  I see his point.  I wish I couldn't see it.  I want to look up and find that Morey is churning the roster and adding size, and talented players.  I want to read that he has hoodwinked some team and brought us some stud for nothing.  I want the talking heads on Espn, (Legs I'm talking about you!) to be up in arms about how Morey fleeced some other GM.