The Houston Rockets

Tracey McGrady and the Houston Rockets started off their season with a win over the Sacramento Kings last night. Jon Barry led the team in scoring; that won’t happen very often especially for someone who doesn’t start and only plays about half the game. Regardless of who was the scoring leader, the Rockets put up points on the board. The scoring was spread around with everyone on the team scoring at least 2 points except Bowen, who was held scoreless. McGrady had 23 and Yao Ming had 22. This is the type of scoring the Rockets need to be successful. They have to spread the ball around more.

I know I’ve said this before (although it’s my first time saying it on this blog), but I think this is the year for the Rockets. If everyone can stay healthy, they can challenge the Spurs for the top spot in the west. They would have last year had Juwan Howard not missed so much time. Yao Ming and Howard both put up some nice rebound numbers, especially on the offensive side. The Rockets need Yao to be more aggressive. Everyone has knocked him and the organization for being so soft. They have Patrick Ewing for a coach and they still can’t toughen him up. This has to be the year for Yao to break out. I mean he’s still only 25 so he has some time. But we’ve been patient long enough. It’s time for Yao to get aggressive and start throwing some bows. He looks so goofy out there on the floor. There’s no question he is a threat on offense, he just needs to step up his defensive game. Blocks aren’t good enough, we need boards!

My bold prediction of the year – The Rockets win the West !

picture is from bballone.com