CNNSI - Rockets Article

Yao not playing at a superstar level?? The guy's toe was about to fall off!!!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/marty_burns/02/13/notebook/index.html


Waiting for liftoff
Rockets' play anything but All-Star quality this season
Posted: Monday February 13, 2006 1:16PM; Updated: Monday February 13, 2006 1:16PM

For $30 million, the Rockets surely expected more than the 9 points and 5 rebounds per game they've received from Stromile Swift.
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images



The eyes of the pro basketball world will be on Houston this weekend for the NBA's All-Star festivities. Maybe that's why the Rockets are suddenly painting the gutters and cleaning the yard. Sunday's win over the Knicks was Houston's sixth in seven games as it tries to tidy up its ramshackle hut of a season.

Picked by many to be a top contender in the West, the Rockets instead have been one of the league's biggest disappointments. As of Monday, Houston was 21-30 and in last place in the Southwest Division. The Rockets have been particularly awful at home, where they have posted an 8-16 record at Toyota Center. They are the only NBA team with a significantly worse record at home than on the road.

Not even the selection of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming to the starting lineup for Sunday's All-Star Game can clean up the stench.

The Rockets, of course, have been devastated by injuries. McGrady missed 13 games with back problems, and Yao missed 21 with a toe injury. Throw in the loss of starting point guard Bob Sura (back and knee) who went down before the season, as well as the extended absences of Derek Anderson (right calf strain) and Jon Barry (calf injury), and it's easy to understand how Houston has fallen.

But even when T-Mac and Yao have been around, the Rockets have not looked like a serious title contender this season. Yao has not played at superstar level. Stromile Swift, signed to a five-year, $30 million free-agent contract, has been a bust. The Rockets as a team appear old and slow at certain spots. The guys who can score don't defend, and the guys who defend can't score. Most night it seems they need McGrady to be great offensively to have a chance to win.

After a dismal home loss to the Lakers last week, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy criticized himself and his team for not being able to forge an identity. "In general when you looked at our team last year, we were a hard-playing team ...," Van Gundy told the Houston Chronicle. "This year, we have no foundation. We're neither hard-playing nor are we smart. That's the responsibility of the coach."

The good news for the Rockets is that they finally are getting healthy and starting to show signs of life. While their list of recent victims includes only the Bucks, Sonics, Sixers, Jazz and Knicks (twice), the contributions have picked up from players other than T-Mac: Yao has had games of 27, 27 and 24 points in the past week; Rafer Alston is averaging 8.4 assists over his last seven games; David Wesley has been heating up from outside. On Sunday they beat the Knicks despite McGrady scoring just seven points on 3-of-20 shooting.

Through it all, their defense has been pretty good all season. Despite all the injuries, Houston ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring defense (91.1 points allowed) and third in field-goal percentage allowed (42.7).

"We're playing good basketball," Alston said Sunday. "This is a solid team effort. We just have to sustain it until the end of the year."






Houston made a big run late last year to get into the playoffs, prompting optimism among fans that the team could do it again. But this year the schedule down the stretch is much tougher. Of their 17 remaining home games, 11 are against likely playoff foes (including the Mavs, Suns, Cavs, Grizzlies, Nets and two each against the Spurs and Clippers). The Rockets also have a six-game Western road trip in early April.

The Rockets are going to need to stay healthy and develop cohesion quickly if they're going to survive that schedule. Otherwise, this weekend's All-Star festivities might be the last hurrah for pro hoops fans in Houston in 2006.

Who's up

Elton Brand
Elton Brand, Clippers

Now that he's earned his All-Star bid, he seems intent on cracking the MVP race. The 6-foot-8 workhorse had a career high-tying 44 points (on 17-of-26 shooting) to go with nine rebounds in Friday's victory over the Grizzlies. He followed with a 29-point, 15-rebound effort in Sunday's loss to the Bulls. Brand, recently named to his second All-Star team and first since '02, has now scored 30 or more points in seven of his last 10 games. Not coincidentally, the Clippers have won 10 of their last 13 overall to claim the fourth-best record (30-19) in the West.

Who's down

Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Mike Dunleavy Jr., Warriors

He has played better of late, but he still probably wishes he were playing for the Clippers (and his dad) right now. The 6-9 small forward has lost his starting spot to Mickael Pietrus and found himself on the bench for long stretches the past few weeks. A career 35 percent shooter from 3-point range, Dunleavy has managed to hit just 24.5 percent (36 of 147) from there this season. He contributed 14 points and five assists in Saturday's victory over the Cavs, but he has a long way to go to start earning that six-year, $45 million contract extension he signed last October.

Rumor mill
Derek Anderson on the block?

The veteran shooting guard has played in just 20 games this season because of knee and calf injuries. With Houston's recent acquisition of Keith Bogans, Anderson suddenly looks like the odd man out. Even Van Gundy admitted recently that the team might look to deal him some place where he could contribute. The Nuggets, in need of a shooting guard, might be tempted to take a flier on the nine-year veteran. It is doubtful, however, that the Rockets would be willing to trade Anderson within the conference. The Heat, Nets, Magic and Sixers are among the Eastern teams that might be interested. Anderson, 31, earns $1.6 million on his contract this season and holds an option for next year.
Grudge match of the week
Tues., Feb. 14: Nets at Pistons

There should be no love lost in this Valentine's Day matchup between two Eastern Conference rivals. Two weeks ago the Nets ended the Pistons' 11-game win streak with a 91-84 triumph at Continental Airlines Arena. Chauncey Billups scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to keep Detroit close, but Jason Kidd (23 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists) hit a huge 3-pointer in the final minute to seal it for New Jersey. The Pistons surely will be out for revenge as the series shifts to the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Three seconds
*The Heat finally got the proverbial monkey off their back with that win over the Pistons on Sunday. But Shaquille O'Neal had one of his best games, and it still took a last-second Dwyane Wade jumper (and some close misses by Detroit) for Miami to win at home in a game that meant a lot more to the Heat than it did to the Pistons.

*Bruce Bowen's value to the Spurs cannot be overestimated. Bowen not only guarded Raptors All-Star power forward Chris Bosh down the stretch in last week's OT win at Toronto. He also came over to block a shot under the basket that sealed the triumph. Meanwhile he's hitting 45 percent from 3-point range.

*Kenyon Martin's latest incident with the fan in Denver shows again why David Stern had to take a tough stand on Antonio Davis. K-Mart swears he didn't send a representative to silence the heckler. But he and other players will think twice about going up to confront anybody now that they know it's going to cost them.

Around the rim
Emeka Okafor will be out at least another five weeks with his sprained ankle, Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. Okafor, the '05 Rookie of the Year, already has missed more than 20 games with the injury. ... Jazz forward Carlos Boozer had two points in six minutes in his long-awaited return Friday vs. the T'wolves. It was Boozer's first action since Feb. 14, '05 ... Nets guard Jason Kidd apparently wasn't amused by Hornets coach Byron Scott's recent comments that he had been the victim of a mutiny in New Jersey. After missing a triple-double by one rebound in Monday's victory over the Hornets, Kidd slammed the ball down at the end of the game and admitted he had wanted to get one "against those guys." ... Rockets forward Stromile Swift was placed on the inactive list for Saturday's game against the Jazz because he missed the start of Thursday's practice. It was the second time this month that Swift had been held out of a game for being late for practice.