Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Steve Nash and... Soccer?

I know none of my friends dig soccer, but this is pretty cool to see.

Check out Baron Davis' goal. (He's the one wearing a hat and sunglasses, holding a cup of water)

The cheesy spanish guitar music doesn't help, but check out Nash's chest-to-volley goal at the end of this clip.

Limited cap room around the league could set up favorable sing-and-trade situations

Rockets' biggest offseason concern will be re-signing Landry, but there's no doubt that Houston's roster will change before the trade deadline next spring.

Don't look at this list of Top Free Agents eyeballing any straight pick-ups, but do take note of teams that are not fully committed to keeping their players around. The Rockets would love to move a few players and their newly acquired 2009 Draft Pick to get a veteran scorer in return. (I see you out there Corey Maggette / James Posey)

. . . .

Chad Ford gives the Rockets a B+ for the draft night, exposing his lack of insight into the mind of Daryl Morey:

"Then they turned around and sent Arthur to Memphis for Greene. Why they didn't just select Greene at No. 27 is a mystery."

Watch the Press Conference inducting the new draftees on the Rockets' website to hear Morey's explanation for the picking order (10 min. 30 sec. into conference)- as well as a preview into Dorsey's personality as he cracks on Les Alexander for answering a phone call during the conference (move over Rudy Giuliani) and gives DM an 'A' for his Draft Night performance.

Daryl Morey's dedication:

"We're here to improve the Rockets. Sleep comes later."

Horry? Rockets?...never thought I would hear those two words together again.

alright.... Horry wants to come back blablabla... The article does not seem very clear. He says SA first but if they don't want big shot bob then he wants to play for the Rockets?? I am having a hard time really taking all this in.

If there is a basketball dictionary... I think it would look something like this.

Rockets - Clutch City Champs, Hakeem, Yao, Heart of a Champion, HONEST!

Spurs - Dirty River Walk City Cheaters, David Robinson(OWNED SEE BELOW), Duncan(pussy), CHEATERS!!


wow, I feel alot better now after watching that...I know next year will be our year if we stay healthy. There is no doubt. So is Horry the missing piece?

i....dont.....know...... The dude has a great game, but still needs to show that it is there. I can't blame him for last season numbers because the lifeless spurs probably sucked his heart out of the game. He is probably tired of being a puppet and flopping all over the court and hacking any one who steps in the paint. well, maybe not tired of hacking....

but if this is one of those Steve Francis, " i love houston, my quad hurts, i dont like passing too much" bullshit excuses cause he loves the city(cant blame him, houston is great!) then count me out.

I think morey will handle this off season perfectly, his draft picks seem like bait, that he is gonna throw out there for some trade, but either way we will have to see.

Horry Wants to be a Rocket

ESPN Article

Horry would be huge with Yao. If you had a Dikembe/Horry front court, you could injure every all-star that drives to the hoop.

But if we did get Horry would we move one of our young PFs?

Scola PF/C
Hayes PF/C
Landry PF/C
Dorsey PF/C
Greene SF/PF

and kind of..

Battier SF/PF

Thats six that can play the four, four of which can slide over at the center.

I liked Scola and Hayes or Landry and Hayes when we went small last year.
I don't think Scola and Landry have the defense covered enough to protect the basket without Yao/Dike/Chuck at the five. Landry can jump out of the gym, so he gets some blocks. Scola is quick and has good hands, but he doesn't really stop any bigs rolling to dunk.

Maybe Dorsey can come and play a Chuck Hayes role, but I don't want to see Chuck pushed out of the line-up.

Live Draft Blog

While at work I'll be doing a play-by-play of the Draft.
(much like.. this one by Rob Peterson)

9:00 (final post)


Nicolas Batum at No. 25
The Rockets have gone international..











7:40

Sac: Jason Thompson?, Portland: Very Helpful Brandon Rush, GSW: Athletic SF/PF Anthony Randolph
Here we go: Sacramento, Portland, Golden State, Phoenix. Western Conference movement coming up.

From Rob Peterson at the Draft:

"Ha! The crowd has struck up the Jeff Van Gundy chant again, and Mark Jackson is egging them [on]."

7:30

Wow, D.J. Augustine is going to Charlotte to back up Raymond Felton.
Eric Gordon going to the Clips. Do they trade this for Westbrook?, or is the Seattle trade not going down?

6:54 p.m.

Derrik Rose going to Chicago, where will Kirk Hinrich ($10 mil. salary) end up?
Westbrook going to Seattle (the Clippers) at No. 4
Memphis with.. Bayless, Lopez, Love, Gallinari? Draft Bayless and trade him & Mike Miller with Miami for Beasley?

6:00 p.m.

Craig Ackerman taking over as the sports610 Rockets Radio Commentator?
Give me Matt Bullard!

Here is what Chad Ford's updated Mock Draft has at No. 18

"At this point in the draft, the Wizards seem content with trading their pick. They're talking to the Rockets and others about potential swaps. The Rockets are looking at Courtney Lee here."

Lee is a 6'5 gaurd. Thats exactly what we need to back up T Mac at the two.

5:45 p.m.

T Mac & Yao vs. Vince Carter and Yi... now thats a matchup.

5:30 p.m.

Predictions:
Brandon Rush goes in the top 20.
Chris Douglas-Roberts goes before the Rockets' pick at 25.
Jazz will pick 7'2 Roy Hibbert. (the polygynists will get a big body to bang down low w/milsap)
Miami will -keep- Michael Beasley, despite speculation.
D.J. Augustine will be drafted in the 10-20 range, not a lottery pick at 5'10.
Lakers trade someone somewhere for something.

mike miller plead! SHIT!

The NBA Draft starts tonight, and Managment, Coaches and players are all skeptical about what players might end up on their team. Morey has proven himself as a man that really knows what he's doing, and if you don't agree with that, then he atleast has proven to be a man who knows what he wants. I say, look for Morey to steal someone in the draft that a team might want/need, and trade for a swingman or backup center for Mutumbo's dinosaur ass. Someone who I feel would fit great in white and red would be Mike Miller.

He is a great shooter that plays pretty damn good defense, and cares about the game. He has been soaking in Memphis since his buddy Pau 'theostrich' Gasol left him.(not that they had a chance with him.) and I believe he would be a great addition to our team. People have been hating on Luther Head lately, which I dont understand really, I personally think he has alot of talent and had trouble gettin it going against the Mormons due to matchups. Anyways if Morey buys into this shit talking on luther and decides to trade.... TRADE FOR MILLER... i mean, SHIT, WHY NOT?

Mike miller is obviously better than luther head... but SHIT! if they wanted Kwame 'shit-stain' Brown so bad to trade one of their studs... then why wouldn't this trade work...? Memphis is never going to win a championship. NEVER. MARK MY WORDS.

Ye, I haven't checked out Miller's contract or Luther's, but I will later.

J. O'Neal Heading North of the Border

First trade of the '08 Offseason.

Jermaine O'Neal for T.J. Ford, Nesterovic and 17th pick.

Pacers now won't need a PG at No. 11 in the Draft and they get an extra pick at 17.

Calderon is now a starting PG. Bosh and O'Neal, that's a nice frontline.

: : : : : : : :

Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian for Richard Jefferson? The Nets gotta get another draft pick or something out of that.

Rumor is that R.J. is a salary-dump situation, freeing up space for a bid at Lebron when he hits free agency.

USA Basketball & Nike

I can't find the article that had mentioned it earlier, but there is something more than coincidental about the number of USA Basketball players with Nike shoe contracts. Seeing as Nike is already directly involved in USA Basketball, you've got to be a little put off if you're an American under contract with Adidas or Reebok. (see any relevant quotes from Gilbert Arenas)

USA Basketball & Nike Documentary Series

Here's what Mark Cuban had to say on his blog.

"In the sports marketing world, advertisers usually have a set sports marketing budget. Each advertiser gets pitched by all the different sports entities competing for those dollars. Among those competitors are both the Olympics and NBA. One of the beauties of the NBA pitch is that our athletes are so recognizable, personable and respected. The ability for an advertiser to connect their products to KG, Tim Duncan, Shaq, Dirk, etc, individually, or by buying sponsorship or commercials in game, is a huge selling point for us. It should be a huge selling point exclusively available to the NBA, but unfortunately that is no longer the case."

Trade Rumors?

The Heat are apparently not down with Michael Beasley.

The Rookie: Michael Beasley Episode 1
The Rookie: Michael Beasley Episode 2
The Rookie: Michael Beasley Episode 3

Are they tired of D Wade? Is Marion going to stay more than the one year left on his contract, or will he be traded?

Will Mike Miller, Tyrus Thomas, Larry Hughes or Derrik Rose sport some Miama Heat jerseys next year?
Who cares? The Heat suck.

Here's a pretty good summary of the Draft night trading situation.

Rockets' Draft position summary with a pretty useless quote from Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice.

Anybody who watched today's Germany vs. Turkey Euro Semifinal knows via ESPN's scrolling ticker that Joe Dumars is interested in dealing 'Sheed and Chauncey for Baron Davis.

Click the Rocket's logo on this page for a thoughtful discussion of the Rockets.

Offseason '08

Luis Scola and Carl Landry get the most acclaim for their rookie campaigns, and deservedly so.

But another '07 - '08 rookie standout is looking to make some improvements as a second-year pro. (and no I'm not talking about Aaron Brooks)

Daryl Morey came in with a plan and a purpose. He reinvigorated the team with a new coach (who brought in a new offense) and three ready-to-contribute rookies.

So what is on Daryl Morey's mind lately?

"We feel like we're a good player short of being where we want to be," Morey said.

"We're probably going to have to upgrade through trade," Morey said, "as opposed to free agency."