Houston Rockets' Obstacle to Playoff Success Is Themselves

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.

Injury bug stings, but it's no excuse for mediocrity

Shane Battier, Rafer Alston, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Chuck Hayes, and the rest of the team's vets have all been on the injured list or played in key games when others were.

The Rockets showed bravery and resiliency in last season's 22-game win streak. What became the hallmark of that joyous near two month stretch of victories has returned.

Frustrating as it may be for Rick Adelman to have shoulder this, knee that, groin for certain, the players must understand that playing hard every night is a requirement, not an optional feat.

Maybe that's why a stink Nov. 21 performance against the Wizards, still a win, offers the gravest warning of all. The Wizards horsewhipped the Rockets for three quarters, and then fumbled the lead the minute the guys in red decided to show up.

Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston played through Yao Ming, and each drilled wide-open trey bombs. The scoring came easy, and when they decided to play defense, they found the Wizards then 1-9 record was accurate.

Morey has assembled a roster with enough talent to survive the early revolving door lineup. Sophomore speedster Aaron Brooks and dunk-a-licious Carl Landry are joys to watch and each can drop 15-20 on a dime. What the Rockets must do and understand is how that collection of talent must play if it wants more than another first round ouster.

Play hard. Play smart. Never play down to the competition. Always play up to it.

In Monday's Nets smackdown, Brooks and the rest of the guards, minus Alston, harangued Vince Carter and Devin Harris into 10-points-a-piece clang fests. When they needed baskets, they ran the offense, moved the ball, and most importantly, rode Yao when he was on the court.

Yao Ming is no Hakeem Olajuwon, but that's OK. No one confuses Tim Duncan with Mark Price at the free throw line or a former slam dunk champion. No one would accuse Dwight Howard, Wilt Chamberlain, or Shaquille O' Neal of stroking it from the charity stripe, either.

The Rockets can win 90 percent of their games when they make the effort to post and repost Yao, steady as the rain. He will throw up occasional clunkers, and he sports plenty of flaws (defending the pick and roll and a sluggish frame come to mind), but the Rockets cannot forget about him.

Great teams use what they have, flawed as it may be, and accept that a few nights' performances will smell like flaming sewage. Most of them, such as a second-half smash against the Denver Nuggets last week, will be just as the dreamers imagined.

The Rockets played with fire late against the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night, and nearly paid for it, allowing Al Jefferson to mark off the paint as his personal playground. Then, they got a clue. Brooks found Yao in the post against the out of position Jefferson, and he nailed a money jump hook. Yao then dropped his unguardable turnaround to seal the 107-102 win.

Talent? Check. The will to make the beautiful music fans expected this summer every night? We'll call it a work in progress.

The Rockets as the Celtics: When performance trumps ability

What defense aficionado would not salivate at the prospect of Shane Battier and Ron Artest as dual perimeter defenders? A team that was already amongst the best in the major defensive categories seemed more than ready to join the Celtics in the offseason. It wasn't.

Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce had each sniffed at least the second round before their assembly in 2007. Brent Barry and Artest are the only Rockets to have escaped the first round. The reasons to doubt them are obvious.

Can Yao Ming survive 82 games plus the playoffs without again destroying his glass feet? Can McGrady overcome nagging knee and shoulder injuries and play with the same passion as Paul Pierce does for the Celtics? Will the glut of undersized big men behind Yao Ming wilt when he sits?

Will Artest ever shake his yuck shooting? Will playing in a reserve role allow him to quit the niceties and insert himself? Will Alston continue his famous 20-percent shooting streaks?

Does anybody want Luther Head? Does Head have it in him to not be himself and make consistent contributions? Will the ScoLandry power forward tandem learn to play without committing silly fouls?

The Rockets have answered some of these questions with a resounding, "yes." Others will be answered in April and May.

What matters for the Rockets now is heading into Cleveland—where MVP runaway LeBron James awaits—with a purpose and a reason to believe they can win.

The Rockets play the Celtics again in 2009, and a chance at redemption against the Lakers flickers in the distance. Has this team gotten over itself and figured it out?

Will the Rockets battle toe-to-toe with the defending conference champions in late May and June?

The Rockets control their own destiny, and if they don't defeat themselves, a summer's worth of expectations will become the appetizer to the delicious main course Houston hoops fans have craved for 10-plus years.

To borrow from a former team slogan, "It's Time" for liftoff. Will you be there to witness it?