Yao is out for the season and playoffs because of a stress fracture in the worst possible area of his foot. China will force him to play in the Olympics, healthy or not, buy apparently he should be fine by then.
So what does this mean for the team? Well, we can pretty much count ourselves out of the championship race. We now have no chance to compete with the Lakers and Spurs. But we do have a very good chance to make the playoffs, in fact, we are almost assuredly going to make the playoffs because of our weak schedule.
Carl ROY Landry is going to emerge as a candidate for rookie of the year, Scola is going to continue playing well and put up bigger offensive numbers, and our beloved Dikembe will get more minutes (especially tonight against Brendan Haywood). We may have trouble getting Brent Barry now that we don’t have much of a chance for a ring, and Dallas is probably going to sign Jamaal Magloire.
So this may be the season that T-Mac rises to his former MVP-like play, which I wouldn’t be surprised and hey, we have been unsuccessful in the playoffs with Yao, maybe we can play without him…This is now a season to improve the rookies, restore T-Mac’s confidence, learn Adelman’s system, and play some fast, exciting basketball. This summer we’ll have plenty of money to add someone and the Rockets will be the team to look out for…next season…
So it’s been a couple days since I’ve posted something, but I’ve been behind on some reading and had to study for a couple tests. ANYWAYS, lets get started…
So the Rockets’ effort on Friday was simply outstanding. In the 10 years or so that the Rockets have consumed my life I’ve never seen them work so hard for the ball, play tough defense, and pass the ball so fluidly on offense. We came into a hostile Hornets sell-out arena on a back-to-back night against a team that has been feasting on the top teams of the west like Charles Barkley at a donut buffet. The Hornets had been averaging a 20-point margin of victory in their last eight home games and were playing smooth as butter.
I told you how T-Mac would come to play in the playoffs, and he gave us a taste of that last night. From tip-off Mcgrady had an obvious swagger and you knew he was gonna kick some ass. Yao had a normal Yao night and Landry and Scola couldn’t be kept off the boards.
Rafer Alston, on a bad shooting night, stifled Chris Paul. I never understood people’s criticisms of Alston’s defense, but have always seen him as a smart, effective defensive player. And Yao proved in this game what a dominant defensive force he has become. Sure, he only had one block, but he has become so adept at using his size that no one, including Chris Paul who killed our guards and Yao in the past, can get to the basket without being contested.
Tonight we have Chicago at home and if everything goes our way we have a chance of being tied with Dallas for sixth place and only 2.5games away from the first seed. By the way, did you notice the Suns went from first to fifth today in their loss to Detroit? The west is TOUGH, the Suns are 1-2 with Shaq, and Detroit now looks like the favorite in the east.
I have one more rant…the Miami Heat and Pat Riley are dropping games purposely for the #1 pick. I hope to god that they do not get it and a much deserving team like the Wolves (one of the worst NBA franchises in history) does.
