Time to preview the 2010-11 Houston Rockets
Music to listen to: Tush by ZZ Top
Last season/offseason changes: Houston had an interesting last season.
The Rockets in essence traded Ron Artest for Trevor Ariza and saw the former win a tite with the Lakers.
Yao Ming missed nearly all of last season with foot injuries and there are major questions about his effectiveness for the future.
The Rockets went 42-40 despite Ming’s absence but missed the playoffs after being in the Western Conference finals the year before.
Strength: The Rockets have a nice balance of inside/outside play.
Aaron Brooks has become a good point guard for the squad and has combined with Kevin Martin to form one of the more productive scoring backcourts in the NBA.
Martin joined the Rockets mid-season and will probably be more productive in their system with a full training camp under him.
I also like Luis Scola, who in Yao’s absence became one of the better post players in the league. Having Yao back will only enhance his skills.
Weakness: With Yao’s absence, teams were able to score more effectively against the Rockets last season, especially around the rim. While the Rockets get their star player back, he’s playing limited minutes so the entire team needs to improve their efforts and not just rely on Yao.
The overall health of the squad has to be an issue. We already know about Yao but Kevin Martin is injury-prone as well. The Rockets are already a thin squad and an injury to their top six or seven could make them a squad with a losing record.
Most important player: You already know who that is.
Celebrity crush from the city: Quick story time. I was flying back from Los Angeles one time and saw my crush at the airport. She was one of the five most beautiful women that I’ve ever seen in person. I wanted to talk to her but she was with her baby and married at the time. However, Solange Knowles, if you’re reading this now, holla at your boy.
Coaching: Rick Adelman has had three successful stops in his coaching career yet is still not mentioned when talking about top coaches in the league.
He took Portland to two NBA finals, had the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference finals when they were one of the worst franchises in the NBA when he started there and now has had the Rockets in a competitive form.
Furthermore, Adelman had one of his better coaching jobs last season and gets his best player back.
First memory of the team: Despite the Rockets beating my favorite team in the NBA, the New York Knicks, back in the 1994 Finals, I did respect Hakeem Olajuwan and enjoyed him beasting David Robinson in the 1995 Western Conference finals. Look at it below. The Dream Shake was in full effect:
Best case: Western Conference finals
Worst case: Missing the playoffs
Uniform grade: The Rockets made an excellent move to return to the red and white uniforms. They had arguably the worst uniforms in the history of the league when they had an actual animated rocket on the uniforms in the late 1990’s. Don’t believe me…
Anything compared to that would be an improvement. For that…Grade: B+
Overall outlook: It comes down to Yao. If he’s healthy, the Rockets can make the playoffs and maybe get a round or two to make it back to the conference finals. If he’s hampered in any way, than Houston will go another year without making the playoffs.
Those are my thoughts, what about yours?
2010 Backdoor Cut Previews:
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
The Sports Inquirer 
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