Rockets have some Work to Do

October 25, 2005

I am not, for one second, pressing the panic button regarding the Houston Rockets and the 2005 - 2006 NBA season. In fact, after watching the Rockets' play six preseason games (thus far), I still feel confident saying the Rockets are, potentially, the second best team in the NBA's Western Conference (behind the San Antonio Spurs). However, the Rockets have shown a few things I believe they need to correct soon.

First, Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy, has twice told the media his team is old. Granted, Jeff made the statement after the team played on back-to-back nights this preseason. Point of fact, JVG is correct. The Rockets are old; however, the core of the team: Tracy McGrady, 26; and Yao Ming, 25; are not old at all. Add forward Stromile Swift, 26, to the Rockets' dynamic duo; and, the Rockets' core is not old.

However, if you remove the three rookies currently on the Rockets' training camp roster (Luther Head, Chuck Hayes, and Keith Langford), the Rockets only have two players (Yao and forward Lonny Baxter) who have been in the NBA less than four years. As a result, I'll describe the roster as experienced (re: veteran) instead of old. If the team struggles this season, then, I'll refer to the squad as old.

The Rockets play 19 sets of back-to-back games this season; so, the deeper bench will have to play better and more consistently to lessen the wear and tear on the veterans.

The age of the team is not much of a problem; but, defending the perimeter and keeping guards and wing players out of the painted area is a concern. I've seen the guards (Rafer Alston, David Wesley, Jon Barry and rookie Luther Head) struggle with quicker counterparts far too often this preseason which results in breakdowns of team defense resulting in lay-ups, foul trouble for the big men; or wide open perimeter shots due to the collapsing defense.

Yao Ming has improved his defense away from the basket. He's done a much better job helping (hedging) on the high pick-and-roll this preseason; however, Yao cannot stay with the quicker players for more than a few seconds. His teammates need to do a better job recovering and returning to the ball handler instead of leaving Yao on the lurch to defend players like Damon Stoudamire, Allen Iverson, Chucky Atkins, Caron Butler, etc. The longer Yao has to stay with quicker players, the more likely he'll pick up cheap fouls trying to keep up with their quickness. The Rockets must react quicker and rotate quicker to avoid those difficult situations.

Stromile Swift has displayed his athleticism in preseason; and, his leaping ability has been as advertised. Stromile can jump quickly; dunk with force; and block shots most players simply cannot touch. But, his low post game needs work. Stro looks very uncomfortable in the post. He threw up an air ball Sunday night versus the Wizards from the low post because he didn't seem sure of himself. If he can't post up effectively, teams won't feel the need to double team him which could limit the open looks the Rockets perimeter shooters will get while Stro is on the court.

I don't like Derek Anderson dribbling the ball up the court. DA has struggled against early ball pressure from opponents in the preseason. The ball pressure has resulted in turnovers or poor shots by his teammates because the offense started slower due to the pressure defense. Therefore, I'd rather see the ball in Rafer Alston's hands or even Moochie Norris' hands in order to combat the full court pressure. I don't want T-Mac dribbling the ball up the court against pressure defenses because that's too much unnecessary work for a superstar to have to start the offense; create; and score night in and night out.

Luther Head is much more comfortable shooting spot up outside shots than running the offense. While he's made more perimeter shots than I thought he could, Luther's time on the court this season will probably be limited until he improves his ability to effective run the Rockets' offense and limit his poor decisions and his turnovers.

As long as the Rockets have Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, the Rockets will have success. T-Mac's ability to score from anywhere on the court is truly spectacular; and, Yao Ming continues to improve his offense in the post.

The Rockets have players who can score in transition this season; and, just as important, with Rafer Alston on the team, Houston has someone who likes to quickly push the ball up the court and force tempo and create easy baskets in transition. This year's Rockets team is much better than the Rockets squad that started the 2004 - 2005 season. The talent upgrade from the team which started last season is huge! The 2005 - 2006 Rockets squad is talented. The sooner this team can iron out a few of their problems, the sooner the Toyota Center will be an exciting (and winning) place to be.