(PBN) Rockets Set to Launch

Rockets set to launch in 2006-07

By Sam Amico

August 18, 2006

Last season, the Houston Rockets were ready for takeoff.

Yao Ming was truly beginning to emerge as the NBA’s second-best center. Tracy McGrady was completing the transition from ultra-talented young swingman to veteran superstar. Coach Jeff Van Gundy was eager to see just how far this team could go, having taken a very ordinary New York Knicks squad to the 1999 Finals.

Heck, when it came to the Rockets, even Yours Truly got in on the act. I picked them to finish second in the Southwest Division and wrote, “It’s time for McGrady, Yao and company to finally cash in.”

Well, I have found that there are two guaranteed kisses of death in life:

1. Being asked to play center for my beloved Cleveland Browns.

2. Having me pick your team to do something great. (Just ask the Golden State Warriors, who I have insisted will make the playoffs for 10 years running).

But the Rockets took the Amico Curse to a whole new level. They set the unofficial league record in important player games lost to injury. And in the few weeks everyone was healthy, the Rockets resembled a jumbled mess of elbows and knees more than they did a professional basketball unit. Understandably, team chemistry was nonexistent. They finished an embarrassing 1-15 in the division and went a meager 15-26 at home -- their worst home mark since the 1982-83 season. In 2005-06, nobody bombed like the Rockets.

But I am here to tell you that things are about to change. And it goes beyond the fact Yao and McGrady are destined to be healthy more.

This year’s Rockets will be deeper, more familiar with each other, and mostly, they'll have a better idea of what it takes to overcome hard times. They proved the latter after last year's All-Star break, coming together to finish 19-22 in the season's second half.

You can also expect Van Gundy to ease up on his philosophy of ball control and shooting only when the shot clock is about to self-destruct. And why not? The Rockets were 28-12 when they scored 90 points or more, including a 17-3 mark when they went for more than 100. That’s opposed to a 6-36 record when they failed to reach 90.

There are other reasons to be excited.

They acquired a Van Gundy-like defender and all-out hustler in Shane Battier via a draft day trade with Memphis. Up-and-coming youngsters like Luther Head and Kirk Snyder have another year of experience. Second-round pick Steve Novak proved to be one of the purest shooters in summer league play -- and the Rockets seem to have finally found a reliable backup for Rafer Alston in point guard John Lucas III, he of the great NBA bloodlines.

And let’s not forget underrated power forward Juwan Howard and cagey veteran Dikembe Mutombo, who hopes to do more backing up Yao and less filling in for him as a starter.

Does this mean the Rockets are primed to win the championship? Probably not. But this season is more liable to end up like everyone thought the last one would.

And for the Rockets, that should mean something very special. After all, overcoming the Amico Curse ain't easy.

MORE ON THE ROCKETS

• Just like last year, a big key for the Rockets will be Alston. He seems like a good person who wants to win, but he has to do better than the 37 percent shooting from the floor that he heaved up last season. On the plus side, Alston’s assist numbers have improved in each of the past five seasons, topping out at 6.7 per game last year.

• Another thing to love about the Rockets: Second-year forward Chuck Hayes. The kid signed a 10-day contract -- then compiled a double-double two days later! Hayes finished third among rookies in rebounds per 48 minutes (15.8 rpg), and had five double-digit rebounding games on the season.

• Hayes also seemed to get better as the season progressed. In an April game against Denver, he stole the ball and dunked to give the Rockets an 84-83 with 13 seconds left (they eventually won, 86-83). Not bad for a kid who was an afterthought in the draft.

• I also am excited to see how Kelenna Azubuike fares in training camp. Azubuike is a 6-foot-5 guard who fared well in the D-League this past season. Both he and Hayes are Kentucky products.

LeBRON AND COACH K

• Up until the world championships, Mike Krzyzewski was the legendary coach for whom LeBron James had never played. In my opinion, Krzyzewski is the best coach in all of basketball -- college or pro, the U.S. or overseas. He is mild-mannered yet firm, a Bobby Knight with a conscious. And love or hate Duke, it has been the most dominant college basketball program of the past 20 years.

• Back to James. He had a good basketball tutor in high school in Dru Joyce, the coach at Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary. And there’s no doubt that Brown is among the up-and-coming NBA coaches. But Coach K is Coach K -- and the Cavaliers have to be thrilled with the free advice their superstar is getting from one of the game’s all-time great minds.

• Krzyzewski has tried to get James to stop tilting back on his jump shot, which comes as no surprise. Every coach James has been around has tried to improve his shot -- so far, to no avail. As it stands, LeBron’s outside jumper is fairly reliable. But could you imagine if he developed a J.J. Redick-like release, or anything close? How many points would James average then? 40? 50? There’s really no telling.

BUCKS START HERE

• Of all the underrated moves made by Milwaukee this off-season, signing free agent point guard Lynn Greer was particularly coy. As Bucks GM Larry Harris told the media, Greer has been one of the top guards in Europe the past few seasons, “and has shown that he knows the value of both hard work and teamwork.” I’ve liked Greer since his days playing for John Chaney at Temple. He’s steady and intelligent, having averaged 22 points in Italy last season. As an added bonus, Greer is automatic from the free-throw line (91 percent).

• The Greer signing follows last season’s pickup of Charlie Bell, another guard who flourished overseas after a strong college career. Bell became a solid contributor off the Bucks bench, often providing relief for Michael Redd. Bell averaged 8.4 points in 59 games.

• In other words, it appears Harris is really onto something by signing American players who have had a chance to get some seasoning in Europe. All of which leads to my next shameless plug of ProBasketballNews.com: To find out where many Americans are playing overseas, check out PBN.com’s Morning Shootaround page.

• Other than Greer, the Bucks landed point guard Steve Blake and swingman Ruben Patterson in deals with Portland and Denver, and Charlie Villanueva in the big T.J. Ford trade with Toronto. I have to tell you, based on the off-season roster, I’m really liking this team. Harris has done a magnificent job of blending experience with youth, and talent with role players. And don’t forget, the Bucks still have Redd and Andrew Bogut -- and Terry Stotts, who got my vote for coach of the of the year after leading the Bucks to the playoffs.

• One final Bucks thought: I can’t wait to see how second-round pick David Noel fares. Noel never did much at North Carolina -- until last season, that is. He’s a real hustler with a great attitude, and has gained a reputation for being very coachable. Word is that Noel really wants to improve. I can see him becoming a Bobby Simmons-type.

NEWSAPER ARTICLES

• Former Cavaliers guard Dajuan Wagner is working on a comeback after having his colon removed. You should check out Celeste E. Whittaker’s excellent story about Wagner in the South Jersey Courier-Post: Wagner working out with hope of returning to pro basketball.

• I also urge you to read New York Daily News reporter Michael Obernauer’s piece on Lenny Cooke. As you may remember, Cooke entered the draft straight out of high school and was once considered an equal to LeBron James. But as Obernauer wrote, “Cooke has long been known as a sort of LeBron James control experiment, the working example of what happens when kids lunge too quickly at NBA riches.” You can read the entire article here.

NEWSLETTER NOTES

• OK, kids. I really don’t want to write this entire newsletter by myself. So just like the good old days, start sending in some decent questions and/or comments for me to post -- and respond to in the newsletter. Just make sure to include your name and hometown with your questions. And when I say “name,” I mean your real name. Not a nickname like “BevLovesMavs4.” That has no chance of getting posted, or even replied to.

• I promise that once the season gets closer, the newsletter will return to its regular weekly format.

• Also, if you haven’t yet subscribed to the newsletter, make sure to do so soon. It won’t be long before it is exclusive to subscribers -- meaning it won’t be posted on the Web site. You can subscribe by sending your e-mail address to amico@probasketballnews.com.

• Finally, my mother begged me to put a picture of my son, Brady, in the newsletter. Brady just turned 2, and here is the first of many pics to come:

PBN.COM NOTES

• On top of the newsletter and my regular columns for the Web site, I’ll be keeping a blog during the season. I have already made a couple entries, which you can find here.

• Mark Steinberg is PBN.com’s lone Canadian columnist, and I kind of consider him to be our Steve Nash. Check out Steinberg’s dead-on assessment of the ridiculous contract given to Seattle forward Chris Wilcox: Wilcox deal is out-of-this-universe outrageous.

• Former Basketball Digest writer David Friedman returns with Part II of his interview with former NBA guard Mario Elie. Read it here. Friedman has also interviewed Rod Thorn and Oscar Robertson for the site.

You can check out all of Friedman's columns and Q&A’s in his archives.

• Finally, assistant editor Matt Caputo goes one-on-one with Joe Newman, the CEO of the new ABA. You can check it out here.

Copyright 2006 ProBasketballNews.com. All rights reserved.

 

Here's an original, "Houston, we have a -------."