Houston Rockets Team Analysis - Projected Starters

Houston Rockets Team Analysis
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Rockets Power Dancers!!




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CENTER - Yao Ming

Look at how tough this fucker looks! The pride of China and Asian Male athletes everywhere. Yea, baby. 7 foot 5 inches of All-Star Center. The best center in the West, probably the second best center in the NBA, and still getting better every season. This handsome fella gets double-teamed in the post before he even gets the ball, creating shots for teammates even when he doesn't touch the ball.

Role on the team - This team is built around Yao and T-Mac, giving the Rockets two of the best young cornerstones in the league. The Rockets will be built around these two for the forseeable future. Yao's role offensively is to provide the low-post presence in the post. Defensively, he was the primary shotblocker for the Rockets last year. Any rebounds that bounce high and close to the rim is a rebound for Yao.

Strengths - 18.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.0 blocks. Yao ranked third in the NBA in field goal percentage last year at 55%. His overall numbers will improve as he continues to build up strength and stamina onto his relatively lean NBA frame and gains more experience. Hasn't missed a NBA game in his career. He's one of the few reliable post scorerers in the NBA, moves his feet well for a big man, good shotblocker, plus rebounder, excellent shooter, good passer. Stupid Chinese non-basketball fans who say that Yao is overrated based on watching 10 minutes of a Rocket game can shut the hell up and let me punch em in the FACE!

Weaknesses - Limited Stamina. Relatively short arms for his size. Needs to be more assertive offensively. Yao needs to work more on establishing position, cut down on the number of fadeaways, and make more aggresive post moves to dunk on opponents and draw fouls. He also needs to demand the ball from his teammates more. Defensively, he tends to get into foul trouble, but the addition of Stromile Swift next season should help. Playing with the defensively sissy Juwan Howard exposed his lack of quickness. Needs to stop trying to draw charges on defense; he's most effective with a controlled aggression defensively. If Yao can address these weaknesses, he should become a top six player in the NBA. Basically, the skills are all there, he just needs to play more aggresively overall. For one summer, the Rockets should just dump Yao off at a court on the ghetto, with Sura and Barry to watch his back, and let him learn how streetball is played.
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SF - Tracy McGrady
Imagine Kobe Bryant if he wasn't a selfish little punk-ass brat. Dominant offensively. This guy plays like superstar in a video game. Can take anyone one-on-one. An athletic freak. Can drive or shoot the ball, three point range, great ball-handling, and he makes it look all so smooth, like he's sleepwalking. And on top of all that ability, he also has great vision and is willing to make the extra pass, unlike Kobe, who passes only when he feels like it. The best SF/SG in the game.

Strengths - As stated above. Also, during the playoffs "sleepy" will wake up to, in his own words, "impose my will on the game."

Weakness - Doesn't play defense all the time. He does during the playoffs though. Sometimes, when trying to impose his will, he'll take too many bad shots, but shit, we're nitpicking here.

I can't belive the Rockets got T-Mac for Francis and Mobley. Addition by subtraction, if you ask me. It isn't a coincidence that the Rockets have the best team chemistry and ball movement I've seen since the Hakeem/Drexler championship days after they got rid of those two.

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PF - Stromile Swift
What the hell? Who is that freak dunking over Yao? That is, luckily for the Rockets and Yao, never going to happen again. That is, Stromile Swift.

This guy was the #2 overall pick in the NBA draft 4 or 5 years ago. He's one of those athletic freaks. Every time I watch him I marvel at his athleticism and wonder why he isn't dominating in the NBA. Maybe a change of scenary and playing beside Yao and TMac is all he needs to showcase his talent. The Rockets are betting that it is.

Strengths - Excellent defender. Grabs a lot of rebounds due to his huge jump. Ally-oops are an option with him on your team. Averaged 2 blocks a game last season off the bench for Memphis. Can hit the mid-range shot.

Weaknesses - According to scouting reports, he can hit the mid-range shot but he takes too many of them. Low basketball IQ.

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Shooting Guard - David Wesley

Acquired via trade midway last season, Wesley helped spark the Rockets second-half run with his wily veteran play, defense, and three-point sharpshooting.

Role on the Team - Wesley is the Rockets best perimeter defender. Usually, he ends up guarding the opponents best small guy. Van Gundy constantly raves about Wesley's defensive skills, devising entire defensive schemes off of Wesley's perimeter defense. Offensively, Wesley simply passes the ball to Yao or T-Mac, and picks his spots to launch open threes. Great system player. Always makes the right pass and is accurate from the arc. Quick release to his shot.

Weaknesses- Wesley came into the league drafted by the Celtics and was a scoring point guard early in his career. In Charlotte, he switched to shooting guard, and was their second leading scorer behind Baron Davis for the bulk of his career there. Now in Houston, and a bit past his prime, he's a system player for the Rockets but luckily still an excellent defender. But for how much longer?

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Point Guard - Bob Sura

A flurry of mid-season trades received the bulk of the credit for the Rockets rebound from an average team to a top team in the West. Actually, the Rockets began to win once Bob Sura made his Rockets debut. Before, the likes of Charlie Ward, 40 yr old Rod Strickland, and little rookie that couldn't shoot Andre Barret manned the point guard position. Yuck. Once Sura came back, healthy, athletic, energetic and feisty as ever, the Rockets experienced a surge to team chemistry.

Role on the Team - Feisty White Guy. Sura, the little guard, is the team's best rebounder. It's hard to believe, but he is. He's also a triple double threat when healthy. Looks to pass before he shoots. Not good at feeding the post. Seeks to attack the rim on offense and then dish out to open shooters when defensive help comes. Not a great shooter, not a great ball-handler, not a true point guard, sometimes a little bit too crazy. But he's a player that brings all the intangibles that last year's team lacked. Feistiness, speed, chasing loose balls, talking trash, toughness, energy, hustle - the intangibles are what he brings to the team.

Strengths - In the playoffs against the Mavericks, Josh Howard fouled Yao Ming from behind, knocking him to the ground. Then he taunted Yao by walking over Yao, who was lying on his back on the floor, and staring at him while bumping his chest like a gorilla. Yao, startled and insulted, quickly dashed to land a flurry of blows to little Howard's stupid little head. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Yao, he was in such a hurry to go pound Howard that all the big guy ended up doing was falling back on the ground before he got up. Once Yao did get up, he wanted to go after Howard, who was hiding behind Dampier, but Tmac, with an amused smile on his face, shielded the gentle giant from getting into trouble. Sura, however, watching from the bench, was incensed. Once he finally got back into the game, which was maybe an entire quarter later, everyone had forgotten about the incident... except Sura. The next time Howard touched the ball, Sura immediately tackled him and tried to instigate a fight, talking smack and bumping chests the entire time, conveying the message that "if you mess with my teammate, you mess with me, motherfucker!"

If Yao, or any Rocket should ever go psycho and run off into the stands to fight a fan, Sura will be the guy who backs him up. On a Rockets team that is older, more professional, and more polite than most any other team, Sura provides the toughness and the gritty competitiveness that every contender needs.

Weaknesses - By the playoffs last season, Sura was playing on a bad back and one leg. He shouldn't have been playing, and as soon as the season ended he was scheduled for surgery on his knee. He tried to play through it, but was just a shadow of his former self. Sura has been injury prone throughought his career. The Rockets need him to have a healthy season next year.

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This concludes my commentary for the Rockets. I had hoped to do the entire team today, but shit man now I'm tired. I wrote a lot! Who is gonna read this shit anyway? I'll do the rest whenever i feel like it. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment on this post and tell me what a genius I am.