Interest Article from ESPN:national recognition

davidxhz · Apr 7, 2013

Nice article from espn, thought it worth sharing with you guys, it's too long, i didn't put it all down here, if you are interested, you can go to the link
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9...houston-rockets-became-nba-most-exciting-team

You'll find it hanging from the chins of children barely old enough to walk and on Twitter, where it has more followers than dozens of NBA players. You'll find it nodding on commemorative bobbleheads and in pun-laden headlines. Yes, James Harden's beard gets all the attention.

And why not? It speaks to the delightful eccentricity of Harden's story -- the onetime sixth man who got his shot and, as he so often does on the court, took advantage of the opening.

But beneath the preternatural skill and the goofy grooming is something rarely associated with entertainment: cold efficiency. Harden's appearance and swagger belie a game that is as mathematically sensible as it is thrilling to watch.

In that way, Harden's unkempt face-warmer is a tidy metaphor for the Houston Rockets' unique rise into the national conversation. Yes, they play a fast-paced, ventricle-bursting style, but it's not some happy accident. These aren't kids on a playground. This is big business. This is the numbers telling you unexpected things your eyes might miss. This is analytics in action.

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The prologue of this story stretches back a few years prior, but 2011 is when the Rockets began working in earnest toward their current incarnation. When Kevin McHale was hired to replace Rick Adelman as head coach of the Rockets, it raised more than a few eyebrows around the league.

That a living legend like McHale would be hired by an NBA team is nothing unusual. But the man who hired him, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, has made his living by exploiting just these sort of conventional decisions.

Morey, dubbed "Dork Elvis" by Bill Simmons, has been the face of advanced statistics' ascent into the NBA mainstream. He is a former statistical consultant with STATS Inc. who rode his development of statistical analytics up the ranks of the Boston Celtics organization and later with Houston. Perhaps as much as anyone, Morey has promoted the notion that a deep understanding of sabermetrics can yield sports success.
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Bp1170 · Apr 7, 2013

I think it is funny the national attention came the same day the rockets were playing on their network. Let's just hope the attention continues.

GIGO · Apr 7, 2013

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=236578

Rockets12 · Apr 7, 2013

GIGO said: ↑

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=236578
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And I believe there was another thread with this article that got locked up.

Lock it up

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