Early Season Observations: Beard Edition
The 2012-2013 incarnation of the Houston Rockets has played only three games to date.Given the early stage of the season and the roster turnover since last year, year-on-year team comparisons will be...
View ArticleHow Has Houston’s Offense Fared So Far?
Through seven games, the Rockets have not had much success on offense. Houston is scoring only 98 points per 100 possessions, putting them at 22nd in the NBA.[1] While this lack of offensive punch may...
View ArticleSearching for Linsanity
When Daryl Morey offered Jeremy Lin a back-loaded 3-years $25 million contract this offseason, the move generated both controversy and excitement amongst Rocket fans. Were the Rockets getting a bargain...
View ArticleChandler Parsons, Breakout Candidate?
Friday night’s game was undoubtedly the best of Chandler Parsons’ young career. The previously unheralded second-round pick of last year’s draft impressed himself on the Knicks’ (and indeed, the...
View ArticleExamining the Rockets’ Defense
Nearly a quarter into the NBA season, the Rockets stand at 9-11, two games behind 0.500. As a team, Houston ranks 10th in offensive efficiency, scoring a robust 103 points per 100 possessions but ranks...
View ArticleIn Greg Smith, Rockets Find Another Hidden Gem
Greg Smith, a previously unheralded and undrafted second-year player out of Fresno State, entered the realm of NBA relevance with a crucial role in Houston’s 107-105 win over the Lakers on December...
View ArticleA Holiday Wish List for the Houston Rockets
In keeping with the holiday spirit, I have compiled a wish list for the Houston Rockets. Some of these wishes are more easily granted than others; but isn’t that usually the case with wish lists?A...
View ArticleMarcus Morris’s Improvement
The Rockets selected Marcus Morris with the 14th pick of the 2011 NBA draft, one spot behind his twin brother Markieff, who was drafted by the Phoenix Suns. Due to the Rockets’s roster configuration at...
View ArticleChandler Parsons, Power Forward?
In a recent column for ESPN’s Truehoop blog, Kevin Arnovitz highlighted the effectiveness of lineups in which Chandler Parsons plays power forward. Indeed, according to 82games, in the three most...
View ArticleComparing Houston to Other Young NBA Teams
According to Basketball Reference, Houston is the fourth youngest team in the league, with an average age of 24.5 years. Even among young teams, however, Houston’s is a special case: the Rockets are...
View ArticleThe Rockets’ Recent Struggles
On Monday night, the Rockets finally broke out of their losing slump with a six-point win over the lowly Bobcats. Prior to this victory, Houston had lost seven consecutive games and squandered much of...
View ArticleAssessing the Rockets’ Playoff Odds
Houston currently owns a 25-22 record and would be the 8th seed in the Western Conference if the playoffs started today. As previous years have shown, the West’s playoff race is often extremely tight,...
View ArticleHow is Houston Faring in the Clutch?
So far this season, the Rockets are 4-3 in games decided by five points or less. The fact that Houston has played only seven such games over a 50-game sample points to the great variance and...
View ArticleHouston’s Offense Revisited
In the past eight games, Houston has averaged nearly 118 points per game en route to a 5-3 record. During this stretch, the Rockets won two games of historical import, beating the Jazz by 45 points on...
View ArticleWhich Rockets Players Have the Best Contracts?
Over at Hickory High a few weeks ago, I looked at a little metric I created called value ratio to assess the best and worst contracts in the league. In simple terms, I looked at the ratio of a player’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Will Dwight Howard Integrate with the Rockets?
The acquisition of Dwight Howard marks a turning point in the Rockets’ fortunes. At last, Houston has two bona fide stars, two potentially top-10 players that can form the foundation of a championship...
View ArticleDwight Howard + Houston Rockets = Elite Defense?
Last week I addressed the benefits that Dwight Howard would bring on offense; this week’s column looks at how Dwight will help on the other end of the floor. The Rockets were a middle of the road...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Filling Out the Roster
With Dwight Howard securely ensconced as a Houston Rocket, the front office has lately turned its attention to filling out the rest of the roster. Of last season’s players who are no longer with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lin or Beverley: Who Should Start?
I want to piggy-back off of a post of Michael Pina’s from May, in which he evaluated Patrick Beverley’s contributions to the Rockets. In that post, Pina asked whether Beverley could realistically start...
View Article
