For Beer Pong, I Pick Yao.

Not even going into the crazy angle from 7 feet in the air or the insane free throw percentage, just look at him down this beer.

I was thinking: Yeah, he really didn't do much for us last year, but wouldn't it just be -so- nuts if Steve Francis gets back into a really good groove and helps lead us to a Championship. He's really come out as a huge Houstonian, just like JVG. Steve, TMac and Yao bringing the title back down to H-Town.

And as long as we're talking about the Rockets crossing over into other activities (beer pong), I've always wanted to see Tracy launch a driver in disc golf. I could watch YouTube's of disc golf or the Rockets any day all day. The one I linked to about "putting with confidence" could really just be a free-throw training video. If you're still confused, why don't we let this hippie explain it.

Adelman from an NBA.com article.

"I never had a team where I had four starters have surgery,'' said Adelman, starting his 18th season as a head coach. "That's been one of my major concerns, how these guys are going to come to camp, where they are physically and how we are going to monitor that as we go through this first month.''

There is a God.

Media Day (more at CLUTHFANS youtube account)



RON
"I don't like anybody!"



Yao!


TMAC! he aint scared

Chron.com Rockets Coverage

If you haven't visited yet, go check out Chron.com's Rockets section. They've got a whole slew of video and audio clips with great quotes. For the most part, I don't think anyone over there at the Toyota Center has stopped freaking out about the Shane + Artest defensive possibilities.

Oh, I almost forgot. When you listen to Shane talking about switching off tough defensive assignments, note the "it's not about trying to make the all-defensive team" line he drops. I wonder if he was asked something about it, or is he still rightfully bitter about Kobe and Duncan getting first team all-defense instead of him.

Kobe already got his lifetime achievement MVP award last season, he didn't need 1st team all defense - just because he guarded Leandro Barbosa and other dudes in the FIBA tournament last summer.
"Wow. Kobe can really play defense when he's committed." - shut up. So can Tracy. Give him an award. Shane does play defense and he is committed, every night, every game.

Yao owns Duncan on the low-block, and T-Mac just kills Bowen - no contest. I almost want to play the Spurs in the first round.

-------

I promise to post less about whatever happens on my NBA video games, but I have to comment on one lineup. The possibilities for new rotations next year are just fascinating. I had Alston, Barry and Tracy all in together at the 1, 2 and 3 spots, and they were killing people. They could all hit the open three, and they're all superb passers. Maybe a little sub par on the defensive end for each of their positions, but against the lesser teams it could really work. Think Toronto Raptors' ball movement, but with Yao in the middle.

Also, Artest at the four next to Yao at the five is looking more and more... awesome.

NBAtv - on basic cable?

While exciting to me, this might not affect too many of you.

Contracts for the league’s out-of-market package, NBA League Pass, also expire this fall, and the NBA is trying to use League Pass to induce cable and satellite operators to provide better penetration for NBA TV.

According to multiple sources on both sides of the talks, some cable operators are warming to the idea. NBA TV’s distribution has stagnated on sports tiers at 12 million subscribers. A move from a sports tier to digital basic would add between 6 million and 10 million subscribers, depending on the operator.

“It’s going to happen,” said one cable operator executive, of NBA TV’s pending move to digital basic. “It will happen in the next year.”

Shane Posts

Shane posted about his injury on his blog:

"When I started to rehabilitate my ankle, the way that I walked, ran and jumped was slightly altered. During one rehabilitation session, I believe that I tried to jump too quickly and forcefully and jarred the bones in the back of my ankle. This trauma caused the area to slightly swell.

There is not a lot of room for swelling in the foot joint, so when there is swelling in the foot joint, it becomes very painful and sore. The best medicine to treat this type of injury is rest. The doctors told me to reduce the amount of impact and force that I apply to the joint to allow the joint to return to normal. That means no training camp or preseason for me this year."

Probably for the best. Shane doesn't need any floortime in the preseason. This just means more time for Artest. While any injury sucks, this seems like some early rest for Battier. Come playoff time, let's hope all of our players are fresh and rested. Lebron and the Celtics have ensured the Eastern Conf. Champ. is going to be almost as battle weary as the West's in the Finals. Our depth needs to keep us winning in the regular season and peaking in the playoffs.

The Love Affair Continues

-The Toyota Center, Landry's first game as a Rocket-

The Rim: "Car-r-l-l... Car-r-r-r-l-l-l..."

Landry: "Huh, whu?... who said that?"

The Rim: "Carl, you know you want to jump up and hang on me.."

Landry: "Stop distracting me! I'm trying to play here, man!"

The Rim: "Carl.. Come on. Just wait around me. T-Mac will find you... He doesn't come to hang on me any more. He loves his precious 'jump shot'. When's the last time Bill Worrell's yelled, 'T-Mac to the rack!' I miss those days... But you, Carl, you know you want to dunk on me."

Landry: "Oh, you know me too well. I just can't wait to jump up and touch you in the game. I know when that ball bounces off of you, you want me to grab it and slam it back in."

The Rim: "That's right, Carl. Look. Here comes T-Mac, now. Just wait for it... wait for it..."

Landry: "Oomph!" -catches pass- "Rrrrahhhkakaka!" -dunks-

The Rim: "No! Don't let go! Just hang on me a little more. Ahhh, that's nice. Swing your legs around and hit everyone else with your knees. Perfect."

Landry: "I won't ignore you ever again. I'm going to try to dunk every play, even if I blow my knee out."

The Rim: "I love you, Carl."

Landry: "Wait for me, I'll come back to you!" -runs back on D-

-end scene-

Landry's dunks as a Rocket

Most Dunks in 07-08

Carl dunked more in his limited playing time than the likes of Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, David West, Chris Kaman and many more big-time finishers.

I was so ready to hate Landry for leaving. Now that he's ours again, and the more dunks I see, the more the joy starts to seep in.

If Dike re-signs, God help the other teams.

Here's a prediction: Just like what we ran with Bonzi, our third unit is going to wreck other team's third units. Last year we had Aaron Brooks, Luther Head, Bonzi, Landry and Scola all subbed in to play the other team's bench. They'd come in and either keep our ten point lead solid, or actually make a run against the other team. This year it's going to be Ron Ron in there instead of Bonzi. Artest, Landry, Scola is such a killer front court. And we can throw in Dorsey, Chuck, Shane, Brent - whoever. But man, oh man, Landry just makes us that much better.
Cool. Our first link!

Q&A with Dorsey

Jason Friedman interviews Joey Dorsey


JD: Well, the Texans were actually at my basketball workout.

JCF: Really? Did they ask you to do any football drills?

JD: Yeah, they gave me a couple football drills...

--

JD: You know, my mid-range jumpshot is coming along pretty well. We had a [shooting] drill today where it was me, Brent Barry, Mike Harris and DJ Strawberry against T-Mac, Luther Head, Chuck Hayes and somebody else, I can't remember who it was. But they thought the teams were even by having Chuck on one side and me on the other (laughs). They didn't know I could shoot the ball like that. We were shooting threes and mid-range jump shots and we beat them 4-1.

--

JD: I would have to say Carlos Boozer. Yeah, I like Boozer; I like his game. He's more of a power guy and he can shoot the little 18-footer, so I like Boozer's game. I'm a rebounder. I love rebounding the ball and getting in there and doing the dirty work, but a lot of people don't know I can score the ball, too.

The Landry Dilemma

It is one week before training camp and we still do not have Carl Landry locked up. The reasons are understandable for both sides, and it’s really going to take some honesty and compromise to solve it.


LANDRY'S SIDE

Buddy Baker, known for being a relentless money grabber, feels the Rockets owe Landry (and him) lots of money for Landry’s second-half run last season. Landry would box out huge centers, rebound and dunk all in the same motion! He had a decent outside shot and used it properly. His personal passion can be used to ignite any team. This is the Landry that Buddy Baker is trying to sell, but it may not be the Landry he has.

THE KNEE DILEMMA - March. 8th




Daryl Morey really looked like a genius picking this guy up in the second round, but there are risks that come with genius picks, and Landry's major knee problem was enough for 30+ teams to pass on him. Landry missed his entire Junior Year at Purdue because of knee surgery, but had a resurgence in his Senior year - with a big brace on his knee. At first it seemed we had won on our gamble, but then, 17 games into the streak, he was gone. We went on to win five games without him, and he was back two games after that. Landry all of a sudden was not Baker's Landry: He was tentative. His dunks turned into layups. His offensive boards became kick-outs instead of put-backs, and his And1's became jump shots. Although still effective, he was not the player he was before the injury. Landry depends on his athleticism and his spring and is merely average without them. He came through at times in the playoffs, but it was a spotty showing at best.

MOREY’S SIDE

Daryl Morey knows how good Landry can be, and that is why he has Landry restricted and there have been no deals made yet. However Baker is asking for a lot, and it may be too much for the Rockets to afford, given the risk. Morey challenged Buddy Baker, asking Landry to get a complete scope on his knee. Baker denied the request, claiming it was a desperate attempt to scare other teams’ offers away. It is obvious that he is as worried as the Rockets are about Landry's health and he was trying to belittle the issue to make other teams offer more money that the Rockets would have to match or Landry would have to take. Smart for business, but if you don’t have a product it will be tough to sell. Daryl does not want to pay big bucks for post-March 8th Landry, and Baker is making the original gamble too much for Morey to risk. On this issue, and almost every issue, I am on Daryl Morey's side. No matter what jersey Landry has on next year, he will have A LOT to prove. Can he use his aggressive attitude and his immense athletic ability in a way that doesn't risk his whole career? Who knows!??!?!?!?!?!?

Chron.com Story

Submitted by Earnie Banks

Artest Youtube Account

I think this is Ron's youtube account. He only has one video, unfortunately it is not about basketball. He talks about mix tapes and what not if you want to save some time and not watch it.

The account said he is 28 and he just started it on september 22nd. On top of that, there is a webcam picture of him and the webcam video. So ye, it is his account. Hopefully, when the season starts up he will start posting videos of him talking shit. That would be great. Maybe Shane can get in on it too since he likes technology so much.

"MY FIELD IS DEFENSE AND SCORING" -RONRON-

VIDEO OF THE DAY




This dude is kind of annoying but whatever. Ron Artest makes up for him.

I am sooooooooo giddy.