There are people who doubt Daryl Morey?

/beginning rant... NOW.

The NBA draft came and went a couple weeks ago... with the Rockets picking up a couple of players likely to contribute in the near future... and a third player who we'll all forget about this time next season. Today marks the true beginning of the Free Agency period. Or at least the "official" beginning to Free Agency.

The Rockets, not surprisingly, have been minor players in this market.
Very, very minor.

So, stumbling around the Chronicle this morning, I saw this interesting little post. Apparently, some people don't trust Daryl Morey to get the Rockets moving in the right direction. More specifically, I saw this quote in Mr. Campbell's column:

"a lot of fans are skeptical or downright pessimistic Morey will deliver. Is that indicative of the sentiment of thinking Rockets fans, or are you willing to wait and see?"

Really? There are legitimate, intelligent Rockets fans who think Morey is not capable of delivering?? Who are these people so I can interview them and expose them as frauds?!? We're talking about Daryl Morey... the man who brought us Aaron Brooks and traded up to get Carl Landry in last year's draft. The GM who shortly after the draft brought us this wonderful image:

Yeah, Luis Scola is a badass. And he was acquired by a badass GM... and Morey did all this in his FIRST season as GM. In a city where we've had to watch Tim Purpura and Ed Wade destroy the talent level on the Astros, I can't believe there are people out there who question and doubt Morey.

Sure, the T-Mac/Yao combination has yet to produce a playoff series victory. That's more of an unfortunate bit of timing and scheduling than a lack of talent. Does anyone doubt the Rockets would have won at least a couple playoff series if they were shifted over to the Eastern Conference?

Along those lines, what is it that we can reasonably expect Morey to do? The Rockets had the 25th pick this year -- they were actually willing to trade *up* to acquire Donte Greene (according to all reports). Instead, Morey did his homework... traded *down* in the draft... still acquired the player he was targetting AND got more players/picks in the process. That's genius-quality stuff there. I just wish more people noticed and appreciated it!

And yet...

"How much do you trust the GM who got Landry as a second-round steal — and whiffed on his acquisitions of Steve Francis and Mike James?"

Let's break this down. Francis and James were acquired for next to nothing. We dumped Juwon Howard to get James. And we gave Francis as close to the minimum contract as possible without insulting the guy. They were calculated risks... which didn't pay off exactly. Though we did turn James into BobbyJ, and when Francis was healthy last year he had some very good moments in the 4th Q. One game against the Knicks he practically willed us to victory. And Francis is still on the roster... we have nothing to lose there. It's a complete freeroll.

But I guess the simple-minded fan is just sick of seeing this:

sure, yeah, from a macroscopic viewpoint, it sucks that the Rockets haven't delivered in the playoffs. It sucks that Morey isn't exactly the Wizard of Oz who can deliver T-Mac a heart. Or courage. And it sucks that Morey isn't a doctor who can magically heal Yao's freak injuries.

To that I say: be patient. Dynasties are not built overnight. The best transactions are the trades that don't make big headlines. And sometimes the smartest thing to do is to not make rash decisions that decimate the quality and character of a team and have decades-long impacts (see, e.g., Thomas, Isiah - New York Knicks 2003-2008). Our boy wonder GM is like a genius or something. He has given us every reason to believe he is trustworthy. The Rockets are going to make the playoffs barring another unexpected fluke series of injuries. And any "moves" to be done might better be completed in February than in July.

training camp starts in a few months... and I'm certain we will like what we see come November.

/end rant.

Finally - some good news! (Rookie Team)

Resident badass Luis Scola can now add another line to his resume:

First Team All-Rookie Team (2008).

Yup, the Rockets finally put someone on the first team for something!

Not to be out-done, Carl Landry would also like you to know that he made the 2nd team.

As I've been saying all year, our rookies are better than your rookies!

The NBA Playoffs: Where Luis Landry Happens

Kiss My Ass, Carlos Boozer - there will be no sweep!!!!

Rockets try their best to blow a 7 point lead, but Luis Landry was having none of it.

Game totals

Luis Landry - 23 points, 21 rebounds, 10 fouls, 2 steals and 2 blocks. The last block being HUGE. Lose tooth... block shot... save the game. It's a zero sum game.

Defense, defense, defense. The Rockets finally boxed out and stopped going underneath the picks... and all of a sudden, they started winning. Amazing how that works!


Stat of the Day

Tracy McGrady - 0-0, 3 pt. FGs

The obligatory Tracy McGrady commentary: see what happens when you stop taking outside shots and drive the ball to the basket?!?!? Good things happen! All good things. Of course, T-Mac forgot this rule with 1:40 left to go and stopped driving the ball and started taking those off-balance 18 footers again (missing badly, I might add), but he made up for it with a big block and a big defensive rebound.

Hey, guys, in Game 4 - could you do me a favor? Stop leaving Ashton and Memo open for clean looks at 3-point shots. When a 7 point lead turns into a 1 point lead in less than a minute, that's hard to sit through. Let's not do that again. Next time, push the lead into double digits. Step on their necks. Crush their spirit. Deal?

(Meanwhile, I'm going to ignore the fact that McGrady was nearly scoreless again in the 4th Q... waiting until 4 minutes left to go. And he still has only 2 FG over 3 4th Qs so far. It remains a concern going into Game 4.)

Go Rockets!!!!

*note: For Utah Jazz fans, "Luis Landry" is the combination of Carl Landry and Luis Scola. I figured you might need the explanation. Our rookies are better than your roookies.

The Houston Rockets - revisiting bad habits

The Houston Rockets' 2007/2008 season really is divided as such.

The 2007 (October through December 31st) Rockets were a team unsure of themselves, prone to turnovers, sloppy defense and a healthy tendency to stand around and wait for Tracy McGrady to do something. With Tracy mirroring that effort and refusing to keep the ball moving. (We did have Yao, and he's a badass, but Tracy was a black-hole for most of December. And don't get me started on the '07 version of Rafer.)

The 2008 Rockets, i.e., the post-January 2nd Rockets, were a completely different animal. And yes, stick with me - I used the term "were" intentionally for the moment. T-Mac got hurt, Yao was getting angry and the proverbial light bulb came on. The Rockets started winning. By the end of January, the Rockets had their shit figured out. 22 times in a row as evidence of that. Tracy had returned to being T-Mac. Rafer sucked slightly less than was expected of him. We found a way to jettison Bonzi and Mike James. Carl Landry was allowed to come out of the locker room and actually play. Scola forced his way into the lineup. It was a beautiful thing.

And why?

Because -- on both ends of the floor -- the Rockets were hustling, moving the ball and making the other team work for everything. We were getting good shots and preventing the bad guys from taking good shots. That's usually the formula for success, and we owned a strangehold on it for over two months.

Now? Now I'm not so sure.

Losses in the past few weeks to Utah, Denver, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Phoenix (the 3/22 game)... not good. As Marv Albert would say, "the Rockets are showing some signs..." -- just not the good kind of signs. No. T-Mac turned back into Tracy, which is to say the unnecessarily contested three-pointer in transition became a staple of our offense again. The ball movement slowed, or wholly disappeared. The defense was there, but we all of a sudden stopped getting all of the loose balls. Dikembe's finger wag only appeared once or twice a week, instead of once or twice a quarter.

I wrote it off as post-Streak blues. It was to be expected, right?

Today? Well, now that the Rockets blew a chance to be the #1 seed, and now can't get any higher than the 5th seed, is definite cause for concern.

I watched about half of last night's game (hey, I have a trial this week - I'm busy!!). But aside from the constant effort put forth by Scola and Battier, the Rockets look burned out. The NBA has a scouting report on Carl Landry now. That and he doesn't seem 100% healthy. McGrady's bad body language is back. He scowls at everything now and has become stand-offish. Not good!! Rafer is sucking again. Luther Head is shooting better, but still can't make a post-entry pass.

(Of course, our rookies are still kicking ass. Rookie wall my ass!)

The problem is that we now face a very strong likelihood of seeing San Antonio or Utah in the 1st round. The same two teams that have destroyed this incarnation of the Rockets recently. And we won't have the homecourt advantage. Utah is only 37-4 at home after last night. San Antonio isn't much worse - at 33-7. The Rockets will probably have to win at least 2 road playoff games to have a chance. Yikes. Two weeks ago, I'd have said "no problem." Today... color me concerned.

I know the Rockets can do it, but they are feeding off Tracy's negative energy right now. Kinda like Ghostbusters II.
So, who ya gonna call? Well, uh, we can't exactly call Yao Ming. Or Hakeem.

We have less than one week to figure this out. Let's get it together, guys!

Rockets/Wolves - Lee is too kind to Minnesota

Here's what Lee's game preview should have said:

Minnesota is bad at basketball.

The Rockets are not.

The end.In all seriousness... check out TWolvesBlog for a, uh, different perspective on the Wolves' chances against Luis Landry tonight.

Welcome back, Carl Landry!!!

Carl Landry - oh, how we missed you!

Yes, we did manage to win the first five games of the seven that you missed. And we were all introduced to Mike Harris in your unexpected absence. And Luis Scola is still the resident starting badass PF. And the Rockets are still on pace to make the playoffs and win 55+ games.

But we missed being able to use "Luis Landry" jokes. A lot.

And we missed your 24.67 PER rating.

And as much as I like Chuck Hayes... it was obvious we needed you Carl. And I like winning more. Watching Chuck shoot free throws was just painful. Then again, watching most anyone wearing a Rockets jersey shoot free throws is painful. Unless that person is Yao.

While I was away in Vegas, Mr. Landry returned for the Warriors game. And he was beastly as usual. 17 points and 8 rebounds in 19 minutes. Landry even threw in a steal and an assist for good measure! The Phoenix game was a bit tougher - but it was the back end of the completely unfair back-to-back. And yet Landry still had 9 points and 5 assists in limited action. He even made his free throw!

Big game tonight against the Sacramento Kings. A must win.

Damn it's good to have "Luis Landry" back 100%!

Carl Landry: ROY?

I knew Carl Landry was like good and stuff, but...

Wow.

and Holy Shit Wow!

Note to self - do not try to dunk or shoot on Carl Landry. He will hurt you. Even if you are an All Star. Ask David West.

Mr. Landry (for all intents and purposes) was introduced to the NBA on January 11th. The Rockets beat down the Minnesota Timberwolves bad. And I mean really, really bad. Like we were Secretariat and Minnesota was everyone else at Belmont. So, Ricky decided to give Landry some run.

In those 20 minutes of action, all Carl did was score 15 points - without missing a shot - grab 11 rebounds (6 offensive) and serve notice to Chuck Hayes that his days are numbered and that Chuck might want to re-read the terms of his soon-to-expire Chinese shoe contract. Landry was here to stay.

(and, consequently, "Luis Landry" was born.)

Since that fateful day, the Rockets have lost exactly three games. Two because Landry didn't play enough, including the Philly debacle. And the third to Utah, which just so happened to be Carl's only "bad" game so far.

Wages for Wins says that Landry is the best shooting, scoring and rebounding rookie forward (per 48 minutes). Landry also leads in WinScore and WP48. And while I do have a degree in applied mathematics (surprise, surprise), I'm too lazy to break down the formulas today. Just go here.

While Kevin Durant is giving us consistent 7-21 performances (in losing efforts), Mr. Landry is giving a workmanlike 62% FG shooting, a PER of 22.71 - which leads all rookies. He's also Gorilla Dunking on anyone who gets in his way. [edit: Here we go!] Ask Cleveland for verification. For some reason his dunk isn't on YouTube yet. Durant will win the ROY probably, but he'll be watching Luis Landry play in May and hopefully June.

Now, if only I/we/someone could get Scola and Landry to actually make free throws, we'd be absolutely unstoppable. Two non-first round rookies. Having more of an impact than anyone taken in this year's 1st round? Daryl Morey is like a genius or something.