Mike Harris & Bonzi Wells

Here is a link to the Asia-Basket website. If you look at the league leaders on the right, you'll see Bonzi and Mike averaging something like 30+ points. (Harris: 32 pts. 15 reb.)

nba.com recap mia vs. hou

Alston didn't realize Yao didn't miss and criticized himself for not getting him even more looks.

"That's a bad job by myself. I took too many shots,'' said Alston, who went 9-for-17 from the field. "But that's tremendous. I wish I could have a day like that.''

Thanks to...

Wafer for having a name that impossibly rhymes with Rafer and for the game winning three @ Boston.

Aaron Brooks for improving his game and playing with passion.

Tracy McGrady for taking some of the pressure off of Yao during this crazy first half (or so) of the season.

Yao Ming for being in-shape and injury free.

Carl Landry for sticking around and maximizing his role at back-up PF/C.

Ron Ron for playing hard against 'bron 'bron and everything else he's tried to bring to the team - especially grabbing teammates by the shoulders on the bench when they're pissed off.

Rafer for being Rafer. (p.s. please do not take any more buzzer beater/last play attempts even if you have a mismatch. please find your teammates)

Luis for not shooting the referees.

Brent Barry for improving his shooting from the beginning of the season.

Luther for hitting some threes and playing good D on Chris Paul in a win over NO.

Dikembe for re-signing as a cheerleader/shot blocker.

Daryl for sticking to the plan.

Rick for maintaining his sanity.

Sikma for making his wild and angry faces from the bench.

Elston for always talking to Rick during timeouts with his eyebrows raised and his hand over his mouth and his arms crossed.

Hope I didn't forget anyone.

Chuck on Garnett

from chron.com & clutchfans:

By the time Chuck Hayes was given one of the NBA’s toughest assignments, matched up with Boston’s Kevin Garnett on Wednesday, the job had become even tougher. Garnett was already on a roll before Hayes got in the game. Hayes, however, slowed Garnett long enough for the Rockets to turn things around in a performance they later called a key to the win.

“He came in in the second quarter, and he just battled Garnett when he really had it going,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “I can’t give Chuck enough credit. He hasn’t been playing, and he took on the challenge. He kind of set the tone in that first half for us.”

Though Hayes has often been used as a defensive specialist against the top-scoring power forwards, Garnett is a particularly tough matchup because the shots Hayes usually forces opposing big men to take — jumpers often a step or two deeper than usual — are the shots Garnett covets.

“He does such a good job of not bringing (the ball) low so I can’t swipe it down,” Hayes said. “He has a high release and a fade to his shot. My best position is if he is going to fade and shoot that shot, try to get him as far away from the basket as I can and try to do what Shane ( Battier) does so well and get a good contest of his shot.

“I did my best. He started off the game tremendously hot. He had them on fire. He was in rhythm. When I got in there and got on him in the second quarter, they tried to get him going again. I did everything in my power to try not to let that happen again.”

Ron Artest - Celtics Post Game

It was left to noted hoop mind Ron Artest, who got in a couple of good whacks on Pierce before fouling out, to deliver yet another blow to the Green.

“Yao Ming is the best center in the league surrounded by some good players,” he said. “But sometimes we forget that hard work is more important than talent. Last year Boston had hard work and talent. That’s why they ran through everybody.”

So close

We are so close to having our full team hit the floor together. And while this is more of a rationalization than a legitimate excuse for not posting anything, I've had a hard time putting into words the mixed frustration and hope I've felt while experiencing these first 28 games with a depleted roster.

It hurt watching months go by with Shane sitting on the bench. Jeff Van Gundy's said on multiple occasions that Yao is a performer that thrives on consistency and repetition. Without that 6'9 three-point shooter standing in the corner, without that wise and unselfish 6'9 passer setting him up, how is Yao supposed to get his rhythm and dominate?

Then T-Mac leaves us and Artest snaps his ankle.

Now Skip's out.

And Barry.


I feel like I'm becoming one of those ESPNish dudes who can only talk about injuries when they cover the Rockets.

But Skip will be back before we know it, and Aaron Brooks played out of his mind last night against Chauncey. Aaron seemed to assume the persona of Billups: coming down and swacking a three while guarded, getting into the paint, basically dominating. I was worried about how he'd hold up against Billups on the other end, but our team defense was ridiculous enough to overcompensate. Billups couldn't hope to beat us by shooting long contested jumpshots. He's played on Detroit long enough to know that you need to get your teammates going to beat the really good ballclubs, but therein lies the dilemma - how do you get your teammates going when you've got Shane Battier, Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady closing out and switching on almost everything? Then you add in that Yao has dramatically improved his ability to just fucking stand there and be 8+ feet of Chinese in the paint. There's no where to go.

"shot, shot, shot"

Here's a quote from a Blazers Edge interview with Brandon Roy following that ridiculous Portland-Houston game. (found on TrueHoop)

Blazersedge: When Barry was on you, were you thinking "shot, shot, shot"?

Nah, I was thinking "be aggressive" every time. Make a play. I was able to make some. Miss some. Normally it's about playing 48 minutes.

Tonight it was 53 minutes.

And I was finally able to make some plays.

I've really laid the Chuck on thick lately, but I can't resist:

This is from Jason Friedman's article and interview with Sam Hinkie, Houston Rockets Vice President of Basketball Operations

"Chuck Hayes, to me, falls into that category as a 6’ 5’’ big who doesn’t block many shots or play above the rim, but uses his lateral quickness in a way to be a tremendous help defender. He’s already an excellent individual one-on-one defender, but he’s also proven to be a tremendous help defender for his teammates in that, when you get beat on pick-and-rolls – and everyone does – and when you get beat off the dribble by these great players in our game with tremendous speed – and everyone does – to have a guy who can physically get there to defend or take a charge is huge."

One more note on the Mavericks game. The big 3 that Artest knocks down at the top of the key to close out the game (3 minutes left in the game, puts the lead over 10) - the execution of the stagger screen was flawless. And guess who had to make the critical second pick? Chuck Hayes. Josh Howard went under the first screen thinking he could cut back to close out on Artest's shot, but then Chuck finds the right position to send Howard deeper inside so that Artest had, as Fratello would say, "plenty of space." Watch it on ClutchFans at like 7:30 in the clip.

Mavs game

That game was so much fun to watch. Artest is doing exactly what he needs to do for us to win: knocking down 3s, playing D on J-Ho and Dirk, taking it in and making his free throws.

Aaron definitely outplayed Jason Kidd when he was on the floor. He guarded Jason Terry fairly well, too. The PG position can finally be considered adequate if not strong. Barry and Aaron and Rafer, one of them can get the job done if the others aren't feeling it.

It's not a perfect comparison, but if you look at the Texans' running back position (Slaton the rookie is quick but inexperienced, Green is less explosive, but you want him in there to give the rookie some rest and to do what veterans do) this is just how I see Aaron and Rafer working out their minutes together. Both of them benefiting from the rest, and the team benefiting from the diversity of talents.

As for Luther, if he was 2 inches taller he'd play the back-up shooting guard for us. But he isn't, so I will regretably have to agree with these nutjobs.

Oh yea. Yao was perfect.

Boxscore Highlights:

Ron Artest: Free Throws 6-6
Chuck Hayes: Minutes - 25:18
Tracy McGrady: Minutes - 29:56
Fast Break Pts: Hou - 11 Dal - 37
+/- Hayes: +21, Barry: +21, Brooks: +22

Adelman via Jason Friedman's AWESOME POST GAME ARTICLE WITH SO MANY QUOTES IT WILL MAKE YOUR HEAD EXPLODE:

"You can’t say enough about the second group. Aaron gave us a huge lift and Brent (Barry) and Chuck Hayes was terrific defensively in the second half. Just showed we can be pretty good if we just stay with it. We’ve got a lot of guys that can help.”

"Ron was terrific the whole game," said Adelman. "Took some big shots, defended well. It was a great team win... And all along I was hoping to play Chuck. I didn’t even worry about Chuck getting three fouls in the first half. I had to put him in. He’s got to do the best job, he’s got to stay solid. He does so many things for us when he’s on the court.”

From Jason Friedman:

"And 1's: Last year, free throw shooting was a constant thorn in the Rockets' side. And while it's only been two games, Houston is showing signs of marked improvement from the charity stripe this season. One night after hitting 21-of-25 (84%) against Memphis, the Rockets knocked down 29-of-31 (93.5%) versus Dallas."