Welcome Back Carl!

OK, he's not completely back, but Carl Landry made an appearance at practice yesterday for the first time since March 18, and this time not just to say hello. He actually stretched with the team and participated in a shoot-around. Neither Carl nor the Rockets had a timetable for his return to the active lineup, though. It seems gunshot wounds are not listed in the "how soon will they return" guidebook for trainers. Regardless, it's good to see him back on the court for any reason.

My question of the day is, where are the Landry detractors these days? After ending last season early with an ankle injury, public sentiment seemed almost split down the middle before this season as to whether or not the Rockets should match Memphis' offer sheet and keep him. I saw comments on web sites that said, "He's damaged goods. Don't take the chance!" and "Landry is nothing more than a high-flying kid that will never make it big in the NBA." Personally, I agreed with the Rockets' decision to re-sign him.

This is my opinion for the record. Carl Landry is a bargain that will pay off for many years to come. The only reason Landry is a backup is that he plays behind forwards (Shane Battier and Luis Scola) that should be on the all-star team. Carl Landry would start for 80% of the teams in the league and as Shane ages, Carl's role on the Rockets will become even more important.

Carl Landry is just one more in a long line of good decisions by GM Daryl Morey. I promise that when Morey makes a bad decision that he could have foreseen (he cannot predict injuries - especially gunshot wounds), I'll call him on it. But based on past performance, that may be a while.

Pobrecitos Los Clippers

On Noche Latino at Toyota Center, the woeful Los Angeles Clippers proved to be mere whipping boys for the rock-solid Rockets. Before slacking off in the fourth quarter, Houston beat the Clippers soundly in every aspect of the game. This was to be expected, since the Clippers are without Baron Davis and Marcus Camby, their only two formidable players.

Regardless of the opponent, full credit goes to all of the Rockets' starters. They were hitting on all offensive cylinders tonight and deserved the easy 110-93 win. Well-done!

Practice Time

The Rockets have had three days of practice time to resolve the issues that cost them a win in Utah. Coaches and players all say that it's done a world of good, both to get back on the same page and to rest their tired bodies after a month of training camp and 73 tough games. I have no doubt they needed it.

Fear not that I have been lax in my blogging. I, too, have been practicing. I used the time to develop a new move. I call it crossover alliteration: I'm pushing past basketball's boundaries. Pretty impressive, huh?

Big Bad Loss

The Rockets lost an important game tonight in Utah. Notice that I said "The Rockets lost..." Not any one player, the entire team. A few players were only mediocre, but most were just bad. Poor shooting, turnovers, missed opportunities, sloppy defense... If the Rockets had not hit 10-26 from beyond the arc, it would have been a massacre.

The standouts were Luis Scola, Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks. Scola has been the most consistent Rocket all year. Shane Battier hit 4-7 threes and had 18 total points - an offensive explosion for him. Aaron Brooks was the game's high scorer with 20. Brooks led the team well and was the only starter with a positive +/- stat.

The goats were Ron Artest (5-22), Von Wafer (2-7) and Yao Ming (6-16), though Yao had 13 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Oddly enough, Houston outrebounded the Jazz by 10, but it's hard to find positives when the Jazz blocked 12 shots, indicative of the forced shots the Rockets settled for all night. The Rockets did not play as a team and the final score showed it.

Rockets Show Heart in the Heart of Texas

The Rockets won an exciting back-and-forth game in San Antonio today 87-85 by playing tough, smart defense and remaining cool, calm and collected at the end of the game on offense. Twice in the last minute, Yao took the pass at the top of the key after setting a strong pick for Aaron Brooks, then found Luis Scola wide open under the basket for an easy two.

Houston held the usually potent combination of Parker and Duncan to only 39% shooting for the day. Kyle Lowry played a good game and even though Aaron Brooks was held to 2-10 shooting, the Rockets' two-headed point guard harassed Tony Parker into taking enough bad shots to secure the win. Yao Ming was again fronted down low and was only able to take eight shots in the game, hitting six, but he was strong on defense against the Spurs' big men.

Ron Artest was the game's leading scorer with 24 and played under control the entire game. Special kudos also go to Luis Scola for a well-played game. He had 19 points and 17 rebounds in 37 energy-filled minutes.

The most important aspect of this game for the Rockets, though, was the composure they showed in the fourth quarter when they were down by six with only 3 minutes to play. They stuck together, listened to their coach and kept the faith. With that in mind, the game ball goes to Rick Adelman for this one. He called the right plays at the right time and managed to convince the entire team of the soundness of his defensive strategy. Good job, guys!

Advertising

Some of you may have noticed a few hyperlinks in my recent posts. These are links to a reputable company that sells Rockets tickets. In defense of this practice, I will say that the company helps support this site and that I never based any comments or posts on these links. I slipped them in where I was using those words anyway.

If anyone finds these links offensive, the floor is open to discussion.

Beating Up on the Underdogs

The Houston Rockets kicked the Minnesota Timberwolves' proverbial butts tonight. It was never even close. Who would have thought? Minnesota was only 24 games behind the Rockets in the conference standings going into the game. Even with Yao Ming getting off to an uncharacteristic 1-9 start, the rest of the team picked up the offensive slack, turned up the defensive pressure and took the Wolves to school. That's three cliches in one sentence. I'm an overachiever.

Ron Artest was strong on offense with 20 points. Both point guards played with confidence, committing zero turnovers, but only had 3 assists between them. The entire team played lock-down defense in the first half, allowing the T-Wolves only 37 points.

Highly touted Minnesota rookie Kevin Love continued to collect double-doubles with 18 points and 12 rebounds and second-year sub Craig Smith hit for 19, but the rest of the Wolves seemed impotent against the vastly superior Rockets.

James White, the Rockets' D-League pickup, finally got a chance to get on the court for the final 3:42 of the fourth quarter and proceeded to hit two quick shots for 5 points, but committed three turnovers and two fouls in the same stretch. I get the feeling that he will be an offensive force, but every possession will be an adventure.

Hopeful

I hope I get my point across with this one. Got that? I HOPE. Not HOPEFULLY. That is the most misused word in sports interviews. When someone says, "Hopefully, we will win the game," they are actually saying, "We will win the game, and while we are winning, we will be hopeful." It is putting an adverb where a verb should be. What they mean to say is, "I hope we will win the game." Equally correct would be , "I am hopeful that we will win the game." Also correct would be "We are going into the game hopefully." As a test to see if you are using the word correctly, substitute the words "full of hope" for "hopefully" and ask if the sentence makes sense.

I know, the incorrect use of the word is listed in the dictionary as an option, but it is considered non-standard English. A word of advice to all athletes and coaches: Keep it simple. Don't use the word hopefully at all. It is rarely correct and just makes you sound like you never cracked a book in school. Just say "I hope."

I hope you all will get the message. :)