Tonight 7:00 pm start time if anyone wants to catch it on future cast.

A little snippet into our player development since our partnership with the Vipers:

"The assignment for Thabeet is very typical of what we do with our young players. The Houston Rockets coaching staff does a great job of establishing a working foundation for their development. Once we feel the players have done as much as they can in practices and individual workouts then the opportunity to apply the concepts in game settings is a priority and is executed with the support of the Vipers coaches in the NBA Development League. We are looking for Thabeet to play a primary role in games and practices while with the Vipers in order to further support his overall development," said Vipers General Manager Gersson Rosas, who is also the Vice President of Player Personnel for the Rockets.

courtesy of RGV Vipers press release.

Let's get some extended look at the big guy!

I'm pretty convinced that the Rockets will have several international players on their board during the draft this year, but since It's the Tournament time, and I've been watch these games. I thought I look at some guy we might be interested in. this regardless of draft position .

Rocket's obvious need is at the the center position, and that's one thing we cannot deny. Unfortunately, the dance isnt exactly teeming with 7ft monster like Enes Kanter, so we will make due with whoever else is out there. The other position of "need" I think is small forward. Now before T-Will fans rise up and try to kill me, this has nothing to with hating on T-will. The truth this is a good draft for forwards, and while Chase and T-will are both talented. neither are people I can confidently say match up better against good teams(dont argue with me on this until one of them has proven to be a consistent player). It does not hurt to have another good talent for competition, and if he can possibly become a star all the better.

As long as we are talking drafting talent over need, I think the following 2 position will also receive consideration if we really saw good value that cant be passed up: Power Forward(What!?), and Point Guard(double What!?). Allow me to say that I love what we have at both positions, but the fact is this draft is also full of good looking power forwards and point guards that I would not be surprised to see us pick up one of them.

I thinks SG is a slim possibility, but it will be a very specific situation when the right guy appear at the right time, because i believe trading one of our SGs is the best chance we have to get a good center next year, but it's not necessary a priority next year.

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I am actually quite stressed out, therefore I'm doing these recaps to vent. It also helps that these are Ws.

Man, 2 best PG in the leagues on back to back nights, that is tough. I cannot blame the NBA schedule this time, since the Nets game was suppose to be soft and cushy until crazy Billy King asked "Hey, is Deron Williams available?".  To make thing even more interesting, Goran Dragic quickly followed a Houston Rockets tradition by making his mandatory trip to the inactive lists with flu like symptoms(way to beat a cold, baby Nash). Houston still coming down from the high of seeing the AMAZING Hasheem Thabeet in action with his 2 foul performance. Why Adelman didnt give him more PT, I have no idea.

Even though we are the one that played the back to back, believe me when I say, NOLA players look more lethargic, whether or not it's the infectious attitude of Trevor Ariza, I reserve my judgment.(continue my bash on former Rockets.)

Anyways, CP3 and D-West, Rocket killers this year, but Houston was able to pull it out, coming back from a 15 point deficit  to beat the team with 3 former Rockets: Softer than Huggies David Anderson, Trevor "I can defend but I cant create anything but an ugly shot" Ariza, and former 6th man of the year candidate before the SacTown Royalty disaster Carl Landry. All of them wearing possibly the ugliest jerseys I've ever seen, a mess of Green, Yellow and Purple that at time made me thought there were 3 teams on the floor. A surprisingly defensive affair down the stretch for Houston, that's 2 games in a roll where defense were played when it mattered. Indication of a possible shift in the paradigm?

Details after this.

via d.yimg.com

"Watch Ariza's SKY HOOK!" I do believe he proceed to miss that horribly.

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So, Our first game back from the blood storm that was the NBA trade deadline pitted our de-aged rockets against the hated Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets.

Subtractions: Best Role Player ever, former MIP/ disgruntle midget GIANT MAGICAL PG,and Ish Smith.

Additions:TheRealTWill#wordaapp(well, technically to the rotation), that real tall guy with his name associated with Darko Millic, Spurs playoff killer for one spectacular quarter, and whoever the hell DeMarr Carroll is

Fast pace game, All-star game-esque defense, we kind of know the drill.

Fun part after the jump.

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After almost an entire season of brewhaha, the Melodrama finally ends with Melo getting what he wants, a trade to the NYK to form the Super Friends :NY edition. While I'm sure anyone is happy that this whole thing is finally settled, I cannot help but wonder if this might really hurt the players as a whole in the long run. NBA is slowly getting closer and closer to the "fixed" situation these recent years, with the Gasol gift that essentially created a new dynasty, resurgence of Boston(and Paul Pierce's acting), the ugly conspiracy that made the trio at south beach, and now Melo basically throwing a tantrum until he get traded to the Knick. Although the suspicion has always been in my head that star players has the powers, it has never been in such full display until recent years, with Lebron wanting out all along and never once mention it to his team and effectively started a FA storm that re-align the powers of the east, and now Melo essentially holds a perfectly good Denver team hostage until he gets traded to the Knicks. I have never seen front office so powerless and helpless. Teams are probably feeling as insecure as a 13 year old teenage girl seeing these horrid cases where teams are getting raped by player's decisions and with the CBA coming up, I dont see either cases helping the negotiation.

Will teams want protection from players who have essentially full control of when and where they want to end up? Will a NBA franchise tag be instituted? much much harder caps? More restrictions on contracts? No players wants that or will agree to that. So we have a stalemate. Is a lockout immanent? I know European money is as good(probably better than) American money, but it'll be sad if it actually comes down to that. Parity arent exactly prevalent in the NBA, and this trend of further concentration of talent will probably lead to contraction of the league. But does the league and Stern really want that? Fewer arena and fewer seats to sell? The drama is bringing in viewers, but I know I can only stand The Real World for a season or 2, and eventually the fascination may wear off, then where doe it leave the league? the players?

We need this guy

Cookie Monster (via Mr Azza)

Wait, I mean this guy

83009371RW014_WARRIORS_ROCKETS (via davidhovw)

I don't know about you guys, but I am pretty sick of the other team shooting lights out against us.

I decided to look at some defensive stats and shot chart to see if there's a way to pinpoint our defensive woes, but it turns out, we are pretty awful at almost all aspects.

For one thing, We are one of the worst in the league in defending the 3 point shot, allowing 20 attempts a game at 40% opp. 3pt%. There are teams allowing higher percentage, but only the Grizzles allow more attempts in teams that allow higher than 40%.

However, the Grizzles leads the league in opp. TOs, while the Rockets are dead last in that category. In fact, we are the second worst team in the leagues in TO differentials, a whopping 4.2 more TOs a night. That is 8.4 more easy points the other way. No doubt this plays a BIG part in our losses considering we are losing by an average of 6.5 pt a game(probably much less if you dont count the Denver game). We are also dead last in steal differentials, and pretty bad at shot blocking(well you know why).

We also lead the league in pace, so leading in opp. pts is also a given. However, no team that has Yao for 24 minutes and Scola for more should lead the league in pace(Not to mention Miller and Hill). We do have length, lets use them effectively.

Despite what it may have look like, Rockets are pretty efficient rebounders, though this is also affected by our ridiculous pace. We do pull down 0.2 more defensive rebounds(which should mean the opponent missed more shots), but whatever advantage we had are offset by the opponent pulling down 0.2 more offensive rebounds. Problem here is Chuck Hayes cant box out and grab rebounds at the same time, neither can Yao at 24 minutes, Jordan Hills dont really know what box out is, and Luis cant grab all the rebounds.

As Far as a cheap solution goes, we don't have one. The fact is nothing is solid about our defense right now. the opposing team is both raining it from 3 and not getting challenged at the rim. If one aspect is fixed, the other will be slightly remediated, but this currently a deeper issue than any one single player.The high speed basketball is doing us no good because it simplify the game for the opposing team as well, and unlike us, most of our opponents are playing with a full deck of cards on D, while we dont even use some of ours.

I dont think this guy is a solution either.

via 3.bp.blogspot.com

Since everyone is going crazy with trade proposal, I thought I jump in.

I just dont understand Memphis, they handed Rudy Gay a max contract without playing the field, then turn around to play shrew with Xavier's contract . Not that I condone Henry's refusal of the contract performance threshold, but the priority seems a bit screwed up on the part of Memphis. But now they are basically at that part of the relationship that neither are willing to compromise.  If Griz are actually fielding offers, it might be a chance to field a nice talent on the cheap with just future picks/rights to international player/just random stuff.

At 6-6 210lb with a 6-10 wingspan, Henry is a physical specimen, He's got Calipari seal of approval as far as being a physically developed(though Cal bolted and he was released to sign with the Jayhawk). He'll fit the swingman category pretty well. He was basically the 4th best wing player of the draft, but is projected to be a better SF than SG, strength is shooting, defense, and strong intangibles(hmm...)

Obviously with our current team, finding PT for the guy will be difficult, as we can see from the past few years, a trip down to the RGV does wonders for our young guns, and if this is not a guy that can become a lockdown defender under Battier's tutelage, I dont know who is.

of course, the probability of this happening is about as good as any of the trades proposed on this blog for the past few days(i. e very very low) I'm just sick of the Melo talk

It's rhetorical, of course we are all selfish at times. But are Americans more so than foreign player?

While guys like Yao Ming, Luis Scola, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Anderson Varejao, Pau Gasol almost always participates in their respective country's national team ventures (Barring injuries and recovery). Almost the entire re-deem team has decided against committing to USA basketball this summer, and most of them were noncommittal before the the nightmare team happened . While nobody understand more about the toll of playing year round basketball better than the Rockets, I cant help but think patriotism comes behind capitalism sometimes for US players.

Now I understand if your body is aging, you take better care of yourself and use all the rest you can get, so guys like Kobe(though he turned down one earlier in his career), J-Kidd, Duncan, Garnett(though both he and T-mac pull out of one for marriage), they get a pass from me since they do have legitimate reason regarding the longevity of their career. I can even let D-wade(who has his own injury concern at times) off the hook, Paul just recovered from an injury. Maybe not so much Lebron and Bosh due to the fact they are young and relatively healthy and owe their unholy matrimony to the program, but for at least the media fiasco and other issues that comes with relocation, I may not agree but I can at least understand. Melo got married, which is like universal excuse for I cant play this summer. These are legit guys who already played together(3 of them will play a lot together) and some of them should all be back for the Olympics.

However, for guys like Rajon Rondo, Al Jefferson, LaMarcus Aldridge to waver and even turn down an opportunity to represent their own country really burns me. These are young man who are on top of their game, given a chance to shine on an international stage for their own country. They, for whatever reason, turned it down. Mind you , it's not even to play in the world championships, but only to practice in Vegas.

While the US is plentiful in basketball talent, I think we have seen enough to know the rest of the world has caught up. However, while our players' national spirit declined over the years due to perceived domination, others has only risen. While it's not the end of the world to no longer dominate, it's another new episode in the long running series  " The End of an Great Era", back when nationalism was at an all time high and people cared about their country's pride enough to dominate the crap out of a game

Thoughts?

Kind of hard to believe summer league play for the Rocket has already came and went. Rockets closed out summer league play with an impressive victory over the Denver Nuggets featuring JR Smith and Ty Lawson. Granted JR is probably more detrimental to the team play, but still this was a nice win.

Lets go player by player.

Chase Buddinger let loose today. He just put on a offensive show today, and he did it within the flow of the offense. He was active on defense, run some more familiar plays you often seen him does with the rockets, and was very aggressive early on. The stat sheets don't  show it, but the offense was much more fluid with him today. Chase has shown that he can be a much better playmaker than people think, and he might have an expanded role this up coming season.

Patrick Patterson once again had little shot attempts, but he was effective when he does, including a couple of good post looks. While He didnt really back down anybody(to be fair he didnt have much opportunity), He shown very nice touch on his post moves. On defense, Patterson was given extended time today, even played a bit of 5 at times. The Patman is looking more and more like an excellent role player pick. Just great understanding of the game, knows his defensive assignment  and just really have improved over the course of these 5 game. His rebounding has gone up every game, his defensive intensity has gone up every game. While havent hit a 3 since that opening game, He still shown great range. He is looking good.

Jordan Hill finally shown some focus and worked hard today on both the glass and the post. Much less hesitation, also very actively asked for the ball. Still much to improve, he shown some great post move, but he still need to add some weight and strength to effectively post and get his position. Excellent rebounding and much better on defense today. Like Chase, Jordan Hill also got to play a much more familiar game today than most of the summer league, and you can see his comfort level was much higher. Still need to keep the opponents off the boards better, but this also goes back to the strength issue and his unfamiliarity with the 5.

Jermaine Taylor  was much more reserved today, still a bit limited on the passing, but had another good offensive outing. Like most of his summer league games, lots of offense, good defense, but sloppy at times. he was less of a focal point today, possibly due to a more extended display of Ish Smith's skills(Who also had a marvelous game).

Overall, another good summer for the good guys, coming back with a 3-2 record. Not a dominating performance like we used to, but this year, we were experimenting with some different things and were heavily reliant on the guys that will definitely be on the roster next season, but I think most player came away with some valuable experience and some key points to improve upon before the season starts.

http://www.khou.com/sports/Rockets-name-2010-Summer-League-roster-schedule-97894124.html

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/rockets_reveal_summer_league_r_2010_07_06.html

includes

18 Blake Ahearn, G, Missouri State

10 Chase Budinger, F, Arizona

7   Gary Forbes, F, UMass

27 Jordan Hill, C/F, Arizona

3   Trevon Hughes, G, Wisconsin

30 Alexander Johnson, F/C, Florida State

25 Maarty Leunen, F, Oregon

21 Dwight Lewis, G, USC

2   Kelvin Lewis, G, Houston

14 Chas McFarland, C, Wake Forest

54 Patrick Patterson, F, Kentucky

12 Ishmael Smith, G, Wake Forest

8  Jermaine Taylor, G, Central Florida

Expect the player you know to start, but look out for guard play in particular. Most of the guards on our roster are know for one thing : score. We already seen Bud lit up summer league last year, so it should not be a problem for him. It's all about evaluation of talent for the end of the bench.

Guys you know

Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, Jermaine Taylor, Patrick Patterson

No need introductions, 3 of them we already know and pretty much loves, top pick Patterson should've been analyze to death already.

Things to watch for:

Jordan Hill will be give time at the 5 and post touches to evaluate his development. Jermanine Taylor will be tested on his combo guard ability and possibly running some offense. It'd also be our first peak at how Patterson will fit in with at least most of our bench players

Guys you kind of know

Kelvin Lewis

Hometown UH product, part of a dynamic scoring duo with Aubrey Coleman. at 6-4 190, he's not the greatest physical specimen at guard, nor does he have supreme athleticism. He does however, have a very well rounded game. Not the most athletic guy out there, but he's not afraid to mix it up inside for rebounds. Shoots lots of 3 pointers, but makes lots of them too. His senior year 3pt% was .397. Dont know how well his game can translate, but it's nice that we're taking a look ate UH boys again.

Alexander Johnson

Ridiculous Upside already has a good profile on him. link

The "potential" junkies at RU calls him the most NBA ready big man in the D league. He certainly have the ability to make a NBA roster. He's made NBA roster on 2 separate occasions, and has an NBA ready body at 6-9 240.

Maarty Leunen

ABZ's fellow alum from the pacific coast. The 6-9 220 tweener forward played well for the good guys in summer league when he was drafted, but was sent to Europe to further develop his game. Ranked 27th in Draftexpress's NBA right held list. Leunen spent the past season in the Italian league, where he was able to post 12.4pt  5.6 reb and a 42% 3pt% while playing 34 minute a game and apparently was a stud for Cantu on their way deep into the playoffs. Already developed and settle in as a role player, dont be surprised to find Leunen on the roster comes training camp as a supplemental wing and power forward. (On a side note. The Chinese media sees the call back of Maarty as a sign of David Andersen's departure)

The Rest

Well,. I dont know much about the rest. Only Ish is fast but small, Chas is big but slow. Gary Forbes can score in bunches, Dwight Lewis and Trevon Hughes were good guards from respectable programs, and Blake Ahearn is a solid floor general in the D-league. I leave that to the RU guys

if you want some sort of basketball fix over the summer, buy the NBA broadband package for 14.95, it is worth it since Rockets summer team always wreck, and you can catch a glimpse of players like Bud, ABZ really excell

I know ! I know ! Another undersized guard? Blasphemous!

I am a UT product, but I am not making this case because of my orange blood.

I still think the Rockets should draft a big man, but not necessarily at 14.

Draftexpress had us drafting Bradley at 14 in their last mock, that has since changed to Cole Aldrich, who is probably a better fit. However,after some consideration and research, I found that Avery Bradley has some intriguing values that may make him a better fit than I originally thought.

The Rockets have some depth at 2. After Kevin Martin, there's Taylor, and Bud as a swingman can play shooting guard. We also goes with Lowry and ABZ from time to time, but as far as defense goes, only Lowry qualifies as a decent defender, and he usually defend point guards. Bud has the tools, but has not shown great ability at the defensive end. I have no idea how good of a defender Taylor is since he had limited time, but his reputation were of the offensive nature as well. Let's face it, our perimeter defense often hinges entirely on Ariza and Battier's shoulders.

Enter Avery Bradley, one of the few higher NBA guard prospects that not only play defense well, he excels at it. Usually, a guard marked with defense as one of their greater strength means he has some glaring weakness on offense. Not the case with Bradley, who is very refined shooter who excel at running off pick and screens, and who runs plays a ton of screens and picks? The Rockets !( Well technically everyone, but we certainly dont run any less). He has the ability to create for himself and can be tremendous scorer. He's measure in at 6'3 which is short for SG, but he makes up for it with a ridiculous wingspan of 6'7 and excellent athleticism, and being a only 19, he may still get a couple inches (may). Because of his inconsistent year wit UT, people may forget  he and John Wall were both touted as the best guards coming out of high school. Obviously, John Wall had a much more impressive year, but I think Bradley can be a pretty strong prospect himself in the mode of Ben Gordon with defense.

Bradley's size is what's hurting his stock, if he were 6'6', people would be all over him. Many teams wants to convert him into a PG, but he seems to lack the vision of a playmaker. I wouldn't know since Barnes never tried him out as a point guard, and he seems to be pretty effective at playing off the ball most of the time. He does have selfish tendencies at times, but the Texas chemistry last year fell apart early, and was never rekindled. I dont see him as a starter in the NBA unless paired with a special talent with great vision, I.E. a Lebron/Kobe/Wade/Roy(yes, I put Roy here), but he would be a fantastic option of the bench with his scoring ability and defense (I like to think of him as a better JJ reddick, or a Eric Gordon). Not to mention if he learn to play the lead guard a bit, he may be an option as the 3rd PG.

But still, He's no where near a Rockets rumor and does not seem to be on our radar, why am I making a case for him? Well, here it is, Avery is a midround prospect in every sense of the word. Too small and limited to gamble on in the first 10 pick, too talented to pass on later. Pacer is taking a look at him, Raptors is taking a look at him, and the Blazers are taking a look at him. Some of these team may be willing to talk to us for that 14th pick. Maybe Pacer wants to swap that 10th pick with us so that Avery will get less money. The Raptors can pick him right before us, but maybe they are prepping for a certain big guy to leave their team, and wants a Hassan Whiteside for insurance. Blazers might be willing to talk a trade down scenario with us(say your 22nd and 44th pick?). Even if no draft day deals materialize, Avery can still be an opening day contributor, or a solid back up plan if Battier departs and Bud has to slide to the 3.

Interesting enough thought?