2008-09 Houston Rockets: High Expectations, Health Hazards and Ron Artest

Editor's note: this is the second of a three part season preview of the Texas triad. To read about the Dallas Mavericks, click http://bleacherreport.com/articles/68698-2008-09-dallas-mavericks-the-story-of-rick-and-a-kidd

"We're right where we thought we would be, but we're not where we want to get to"--Doc Rivers to his team before game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals

"Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work."--Booker T. Washington

“It's a testament to his dedication that he was able to, after six weeks off, play 32 minutes. Very few people with his injury and his natural conditioning problem, being 7-6, would be able to do that. But he's got an unusual amount of dedication to his team. He should be really commended for that.”--Jeff Van Gundy on Yao Ming

“Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something.”--Frederick Smith

'It's Time' to swat away the excuses. 'It's Time' to give Houston basketball fans something they have not seen in 10+ years: a playoff series win. 'It's Time' to forget about this 'Get Red' nonsense and realize that no marketing campaign can fix what ails the Houston sports landscape.

'It's Time' to produce to expectations or blow up a certain expensive star duo.

The Rockets' new 2008-09 slogan, 'Get Red' is cute, but it lacks in the substance department. The 'It's Time' campaign drove home what everyone in Houston was hoping the Rockets organization would admit. Rarely does a franchise confess to its loyal fanbase in such a striking way that a decade worth of costly efforts have flopped.

You want the Astros or the Texans to admit that their on-field products stink like a landfill? At least give Rockets owner Leslie Alexander credit for approving a slogan that says, "we know."

Sure, there is a respectable football team somewhere in that comedy troupe Bob McNair wants us to call the Texans. And, Drayton McLane's roster might be two starting pitchers away from World Series contention.

No Houston team is closer to winning it all than these reloaded Rockets. As the season approaches, it is difficult for many to let the excitement of this ridiculously talented roster and the possibilities that accompany it, to trump what has derailed the team each May for more than 10 years.

Not since John Stockton nailed that coffin three pointer in the 1997 Western Conference Finals have the Rockets sniffed the second round. Some of the faithful fans continue to whine that Stockton pushed off and should have been whistled for an offensive foul. It does not help their argument that a newer edition of the Utah Jazz has ousted the Rockets from the opening round for two straight years.

Or that a Dallas Mavericks team that has morphed from an almost champion to a riveting failure brimming with choke artists and mental midgets beat them in a deciding game seven a few years ago by 40 points. Yao-uch.

If the Rockets do this season what most believe they can, those few fans will quit flipping off images of Stockton and start believing again in the maniacal way they did when Hakeem Olajuwon helmed the on-court operation.

Hey guys, it's time, and you can drop the quotation marks and the billboard ads. We know.

Ron Ron arrives, but Yao and McGrady must stay healthy, lead Rockets

The addition of Ron Artest makes the Rockets as dangerous, on paper, as any team in either conference. His arrival supplies that third scoring option the team has lacked since Tracy McGrady joined Yao Ming in 2004. It also fortifies a defense that has ranked among the best in the regular season in the last three years.

It does not, however, change that this team will go as far as its original foundation can take it. Yao and McGrady's health still decides this team's postseason fate, and one more nagging injury means another early adios in the playoffs.

There is no need to research or list the number of games one or both have missed. That might matter if either played all 82 games in any of the last three seasons. The Rockets record without one or both is atrocious, and what General Manager Daryl Morey did this summer--acquiring Brent Barry and dealing for Artest--is not intended to improve that number.

Morey, Alexander and Coach Rick Adelman believe the roster they assembled can win a Larry O' Brien trophy, provided that all of its components can stay on the court.

Yao has missed a combined 62 games in the last two seasons--and much of that includes end of season and playoff games in 2008. When Carroll Dawson first spearheaded the decision to select Yao with the first pick in the 2001 draft, he told reporters then he envisioned a three-to-four year project who would need time to adapt to the NBA game. That player, he said, would produce statistically on the same level as any of the league's premier big men.

Dawson did not imagine that his prized first pick would spend so much of his still young career battling foot injuries. Every coach and player that has worked with Yao admires his work ethic and his heart. It was telling that, when he announced in February that surgery would sideline him for the remainder of the season and playoffs, his teammates told the Houston Chronicle that they were concerned less with how his injury might slaughter the team's playoff hopes and more with how it would destroy him inside as a competitor.

Yao spent those two days traversing Toyota Center to apologize to anyone who would listen. His fiercest detractors, the ones who doubt his durability and his drive, should start listening to those work closely with Yao.

But, nice and sincere as he is, the Rockets pay him to win games.

His ability to play a full season and carry them deep into the playoffs will say a lot about the team's multi-millions investment.

The other part of this still questionable pairing sits in equally hot water.

Can anyone observe McGrady's mind-boggling wealth of skills--incredible court vision that allows him to drill precision passes, startling athleticism that gives him the mobility and the ups to blow by any defender, his uncanny length as a two and his limitless shooting range--and not consider him one of the five most talented players to ever wear a pro basketball uniform?

His potential has yet to see fruition, and maybe that's why his 0-8 playoff record looks so shameful. He has been too honest at times: celebrating a series victory against the Detroit Pistons before closing them out, which his Orlando Magic failed to do in the next three contests, declaring foolishly that it was on him alone to carry the Rockets past the Jazz in the 2007 playoffs, and admitting at media day a few weeks ago that he was still ailing from an injury.

As a handicapped jumpshooter, McGrady makes the Rockets a beatable squad. When he decides to attack the rim with ferocity, whether he looks to score or pass to an open teammate, the team slides up a notch on the dangerous scale.

Can Yao and McGrady stay healthy? Hey, this country was founded on firsts. It's time.

The Artest trade Daryl Morey needed to make

The Sacramento Kings shipped the mercurial Artest to Houston (in exchange for Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene and a future first rounder) less than three months ago and the hybrid former All-Star has done all the right things since. He has said in every interview, from a rally honoring his arrival to team media day, that he would willingly come off the bench if Adelman deemed that best for the team.

He has shown a committment to his teammates, a thirst to learn the Rockets system and exhibited his rarely matched passion for winning in meaningless preseason games. He earned his reputation as a locker room sniper for antics in the regular season, though, and if things turn sour, many will anticipate an Artest implosion.

I would not count on it. He wants a team to give him a long-term deal after this year and knows that one misstep might force him to sign for the mid-level with a lesser team. But more than that, give this guy credit for wanting to win, and proving thus far, that he hopes that long-term team will be the Rockets.

He has spent his short time in Houston showing every reason Morey coveted him, but should this experiment fail, nobody in management will lose sleep. In any trade involving risk, a basketball executive must weigh how that compares to its potential for sweeping success. Folks, this was a no-brainer.

Greene scored 40 points in his summer league debut but followed that with three awful outings, displaying a shaky shot and poor decision making skills. He cannot guard a tree, either, and would likely have spent most of his first Rockets season playing in the D-League.

The 35-year-old Jackson shoots erratically, defends like an average guard and is a limited minute role player, at best. The Rockets will likely pick lower than 25 in next year's draft.

If this works, Kings management will wonder how Morey fleeced them so, and if it crashes, the Rockets will know they had to try it.

Artest can play and guard four positions, but I expect him to rotate mostly between the two and three, with spot minutes at the four. He played a ton of power forward in Sacramento, but this is Houston. The Rockets need depth behind Battier and will likely shift Barry to the point for some spot minutes.

That he can frustrate the best power forward in NBA history, Tim Duncan, and also bang up quicker point and shooting guards, gives Adelman a new flexibility.

This guy's lengthy rap sheet was supposed to anger Houston fans, but the response says otherwise. Rockets ticket sales are the highest since the championship years.

Anyone who examines his complex character--the same guy infamous for animal neglect charges and punching a fan who threw a bottle cap at him also does more charity work than most athletes--can also see a decent guy who urns to erase his treacherous past. The best way to stamp out a bad rap is to win, and with this loaded Rockets team, he can do plenty of that.

There are plenty of reasons to love Artest in a Rockets uniform. He wears No. 96 and hopes his newest destination team can play at least that many games this season. It's time.

What the Rockets can learn from the Celtics 2007-08 edition

Another Bleacher Report member wondered, "why aren't the Rockets getting the same hype the Celtics did" before the 2007-08 season tipped off. There are many answers to that question--some justifiable and some unfair.

This is Houston, not Boston. The Toyota Center boasts two championship banners from the 1990s. TD Banknorth Garden's rafters sported 16 banners when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce for that famous press conference.

Any significant sports signing in Boston will always get more national attention than one in Houston, because it's, well, Boston. The NBA needs its Celtics to be good, or so David Stern thinks, and he seized the opportunity to juice up sagging regular season TV ratings with a marketing campaign that proved an easy sell.

You will not see Yao, McGrady and Artest gracing a Sports Illustrated cover with the words "Houston's new red machine" in bold print. There was no press conference in which all three gratuitously used the 'c' word.

But, also consider that Garnett, Pierce and Allen each led teams to at least the second round, and the first two whiffed the conference finals, before Ainge assembled them last year.

The Rockets paired McGrady with Yao nearly four years ago and neither has ever escaped the first round. Artest tasted a deep playoff run--once. The only player on this Rockets roster with a championship ring is the 37-year-old Barry.

The hype will come if the Rockets mesh in the regular season and win a playoff series in May.

The Celtics secured banner No. 17 with all the right ingredients. Ainge found Pierce two 30-something stars without a ring, willing to sacrifice individual glory to win a title. It was a brilliant strategy but few GMs head franchises prestigious enough to beckon two Hall of Fame caliber players to join another. He also lured Eddie House and James Posey, two invaluable role players, and turned out to be right in refusing to throw Rajon Rondo in the Garnett deal.

Building a championship squad takes time, resourcefulness and thoughtfulness. Rockets management had not given enough of those three to Yao and McGrady before the Artest deal. If you are willing to give Garnett, Pierce and Allen at least nine years to win a championship, why can you not extend the same courtesy to Yao, Artest and McGrady? What, you mean give them one more chance not to crash land the golden parachute? It's time.

• Projected starting lineup:
  PG - Rafer Alston
  SG - Tracy McGrady
  SF - Shane Battier
  PF - Luis Scola
  C - Yao Ming
• Key reserves:
  SF - Ron Artest
  PF - Carl Landry
  SG - Brent Barry
  PG - Aaron Brooks
  PF - Chuck Hayes
  PF - Joey Dorsey
  SG - Luther Head
• Players who will compete for a roster spot:
  SG - Von Wafer
  PG - Daryl Stawberry

Roster notes:

Morey said he will likely cut another player to trim the roster to 14 players. That means Wafer or Strawberry goes, and the decision remains tough. Strawberry has proven the better all-around player, showing an ability to defend and scrap on the pro level.

Wafer damaged his cause with hideous 33 percent shooting in a string of preseason contests. The Rockets, however, prefer to look at his game against the Memphis Grizzles two weeks ago in which he buried seven of nine treys.

Dikembe Mutombo told Morey he will likely not play for the veterans minimum, so the Rockets will look for ways to shave salary in case their lack of size requires his services mid-season. Unfortunately for Wafer and Strawberry, who have impressed me, cutting a non-guaranteed contract is the easiest first step.

The Rockets cannot dump Head because his salary would remain on the books and keep the team over the league-mandated cap. He has also demonstrated perhaps the best grasp of Adelman's offense, and coaches hope he can earn more minutes.

The guy shot 28 percent from behind the arc in two consecutive playoff series, and gave them nothing when it counted. He gets paid to shoot, and when the heaves clang, he looks useless. That hurts his cause.

Wondering about Stevie Franchise? Everyone in Houston shares your thirst for more information. Adelman hoped before last year's training camp that Francis would show up mature and ready to seal the starting role.

Instead, he arrived overweight, played with dispassion and allowed Rafer Alston to kick his ass and steal away the primary point duties.

There is hope that Francis can return and become a bench contributor, but he must survive a practice first. A foot injury and a prolonged cold continues to sideline Francis. If another team agreed to take his $2.6 million salary, the Rockets could clear up some cap space. But, since interest in Francis seems low and cutting him would keep him on the payroll, the team should see what he can do.

As for the backup point duties, Adelman intends to figure out this season just how good Aaron Brooks is. His preseason play improved markedly over several games, in which he thrilled with 20+ point outings, but his immature decision making and suspect passing still need a lot of work. A Tony Parker comparison at this stage of the sophomore's career seems asinine, but man, the kid possesses blinding speed.

Barry leads the Rockets in assists and seems like a viable option at the one when Alston rests and/or Brooks struggles.

I still believe Artest best helps the Rockets coming off the bench. After six to eight minutes of dealing with an already proven starting unit, opponents will then have to handle Artest as a physically overbearing stopper and a multi-dimensional scorer.

No other bench player can thrash a game on both ends of the court as Artest can. What matters is that Artest will play at the end of every close game. If you think coming off the bench is a relegation that limits impact or effectiveness, ask Manu Ginobili.

If you want my take on individual players, ask me below in the comments section.

Five games to remember from the 2007-08 campaign
1. San Antonio Spurs at Rockets, W 88-81
The Rockets out rebounded the then defending champions by 23, securing 58 rebounds, and showing observers an early reason to consider them a serious contender. When the champs responded with scoring runs, the Rockets fired back, and won a contest that seemed more like a blowout than a seven-point edging.

2. Rockets at Philadelphia 76ers, L 88-100
76ers at Rockets, L 111-107
These two contests displayed the Rockets' at their worst, playing pathetic defense at every important juncture. This team allowed the young Sixers to score 37 points in both fourth quarters and coughed up double-digit leads. Many Rockets players cited these inexcusable losses as the turning points that sparked the improbable 22-game win streak.

3. Detroit Pistons at Rockets, W 80-77
How do you brick 16 of 22 free throws and still beat a five time Eastern Conference finalist by three points? If the perimeter shooting by both teams was ugly, the foul shooting was unwatchable. The Rockets lucked out here and those unguarded misses did not cost them the game. Later down the road, against the Jazz in the playoffs, every free throw clang, especially the ones by McGrady, further slashed the underdog Rockets' hopes. I remember announcer Mark Jones cringing every time a Rockets player headed to the line in this late fall contest. "Oh goodness, can they finally make a free throw? Yuck."

4. Atlanta Hawks at Rockets, W 108-89
Yes, it was the Hawks, but still, for several minutes in the opening period, you could see what this roster could do with full health. Scola opened the game with 10 straight points, getting them all off Yao double teams. The role players made defenses pay for suffocating Yao and T-Mac and the ball movement forced bad switches for the Hawks that led to easier scores for the Rockets. The offense seemed to click and the defense, when the starters were playing, was phenomenal.

5. Washington Wizards at Rockets, W 95-69
The day of this game was the definition of bummer. Just as things were looking up, with a 12 game winning streak in the books, and Yao playing the best basketball of his career, the star center announced a foot injury would sideline him for the rest of the year, again. The Rockets made up for any lacking physical strength with brute mental toughness by crushing a capable Wizards squad the evening of that dreadful news. Mutombo stamped the game early with three swats, one of which sent a Caron Butler drive into the first row. I cried when I watched Mutombo say with a few finger wags, 'we're not ready to give up on our season and you better not be, either.'

Five questions that will determine the Rockets' postseason fate
1. Can Yao and McGrady ever finish another full season together?

2. Does Alston play heroically like he did in last season's second half or does he bless the Rockets with more of those 29 percent shooting streaks?

3. Will the lack of size when Yao rests leave a defensive minded team in dire straits or will hustle topple height?

4. Can the Rockets learn enough of Adelman's offense to use it in important games or will they have to call set plays as they did for much of last year's playoff run?

5. Will Alston and the other guards finally quit bounce passing the ball to their 7'5" teammate and throw it up high where the midget defenders cannot catch it and Yao can?

Prognosis

The Rockets have murdered Adelman's free-flowing, instinctive offense in the preseason. It looks more like impossible chemistry than improvisation. Two-fifths of the Rockets starting lineup have played a combined 12 minutes thus far. Battier will likely not see action until the season opener against the Grizzlies and recovery from knee surgery has inhibited McGrady's abilities.

Still, with nearly two weeks until the season begins, and a roster loaded with players who should know how to adapt, there is reason to believe they can grasp Adelman's schemes and learn on the fly.

Alston may not be Chris Paul, but his low assist-to-turnover ratio and heady decision making allow his teammates to play their natural positions. Give him this, too. When it comes to jacking up shots, Alston always obliges. I would rather have a streaky shooter who defends adequately than a wuss who lacks the guts to take a big shot.

The point play remains the team's biggest question mark, outside of Yao and McGrady's health woes, but Alston beat out four other point guards for the starting spot last year, and his resiliency should win over the faultfinders this season.

This team arguably has more talent than either of the two squads that won back-to-back championships in the 90s. Yet, to catch those special teams, this one must prove it can exhibit the same chemistry and heart.

Evaluating the Rockets among the NBA's elite is difficult. To do that, one must decide what they were last year. Winning 22 games in a row, the second most in league history, and 10 of those without the team's best player would qualify by some standards as elite. By other measures, the streak is laudable and nothing more.

Rockets fans should appreciate that their team has a plan and identity. Adelman knows that a continuation of the stingy defense Jeff Van Gundy instilled a few years back with offensive tweaks gives this franchise a potent game plan.

However, the Rockets success will come down to whether Dawson got it right with Yao and McGrady. The team will go as far as its stars can carry it, now with the added help of a juiced Artest and a revitalized supporting cast. If injuries destroy the team and it falls again in the first round, the Rockets will have given Yao and McGrady enough time and talent to prove the experiment did not work.

Alexander, Morey and Adelman all signed off on the Artest trade because they believe his addition will spur the Rockets closer to a golden June. If this squad avoids serious affliction for the entire 82 game season, anything less than a Western Conference Finals berth will be a disappointment.