Yao Ming hasn't played a key role for the Houston Rockets for quite some time now, but now that he is officially retired, who will become the new face of this team?
One of the big ‘non NBA Lockout’ stories of the off-season was the retirement of Houston Rockets Yao
Ming. Yao’s decision to hang up the sneakers leaves the league without one of
the true ambassadors of the game but wasn’t a total surprise especially to the
Rockets who in recent years didn’t get many minutes from him.
Yao played eight seasons in the NBA, but
missed 250 regular-season games over the past six years with feet and league
injuries. He was a constant presence at the All-Star game being selected to
play eight times. He finished his Houston career averaging 19 points and nine
rebounds per game and left the game just in time to avoid an embarrassing work
stoppage.
Chuck Hayes, despite being just 6-6, has
been the Rockets ‘center’ of record since Yao began having foot problems.
Without the ‘Ming Dynasty’ Houston has become more of a three forward offense
with Hayes joining Luis Scola and Chase Budinger in the front court. Scola
averaged 18.3 points and nearly nine rebounds per game while Budinger netted a modest
9.9 ppg.
Most of the Rockets firepower came from
the front court with guards Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowery scoring a combined 37
points per game. Martin who has never met a shot he didn’t like led Houston
with 23.4 points per game while Lowery put up 13.5 ppg while dishing out a team
high 6.7 assists.
Meet the new boss
Despite a rather lackluster coaching
resume, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey replaced Rick Adelman with Kevin
McHale. Morey has never given a plausible reason for bringing in the former
Celtic great especially with most NBA insiders agreeing to a man that Adelman
can coach circles around McHale.
Perhaps Adelman’s lack of success was
more about Morey’s failure to bring in top notch free agents to compliment
Martin and Scola. It’s reassuring to know that passing the buck is still a big
part of NBA middle management. Why fire the G.M. when you can still ax the
coach.
Youth be served
The Rockets have a solid backcourt that
got stronger with the addition of shooting guard Courtney Lee and point guard
Jonny Flynn. Houston also got younger and more talented down low by selecting a
pair of 6-9 forwards in the recent NBA draft; Marcus Morris from Kansas along
with Florida’s versatile Chandler Parsons. Those two along with Patrick Patterson
and Goran Dragic should get plenty of playing time whenever next season rolls
around.
What about veteran center Brad Miller?
Picking him up was a desperation move that backfired on the Rockets. Miller
rarely plays and even worse has a contract that no one in their right mind
would pick up. Along that same line Houston obtained 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet a
former number two overall selection who was one of the worst draft picks in NBA
history and is now draft. He was a bad selection then and is nothing more than
a $5 million dollar per year bust. He gets lots of minutes though—in the
D-league.
How do they stack up?
The Rockets are listed at 30/1 on the NBA odds boards to win
the 2011-2012 NBA title. The Miami Heat (2/1), Los Angeles Lakers (6/1), Oklahoma City Thunder (7/1) and Chicago Bulls
(8/1) are getting most of the early love from NBA bettors. Rounding out the Top
10 choices are the defending champion Dallas Mavericks (12/1), Boston Celtics (20/1), Portland Trailblazers (25/1), New York Knicks (25/1) and the Orlando Magic (25/1).
Harvey’s Take: The Rockets are maybe the eighth or
ninth best team in the Western Conference. They’re also one of the teams being
hurt the most by the lockout since most of their roster consists of young or
new players who need time to gel.