Dash

Holy shit I'm heading over to my cousin's place right now to watch. LETS [expletive]ING GO

So we're 5-7 now...I'd say that is very manageable considering the schedule and injuries.

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/01/12/all-star-ballot-results1/?ls=iref:nbahpt2 I love Rubio but there is no reason for him to be up in the top 3 for West guards. Glad to see Lowry getting some love, 6th among guards and 5th among point guards and he's not that far behind Westbrook (17,000 votes) and has a decent lead over Monte Ellis (27,000 votes).

Dalembert couldn't miss a thing, it was kind of scary how we was making awkward looking bank shots from 10-15 feet deep go in. That said I hope he doesn't plan on taking those shots in the future. 6th among guards in the first All-Star ballot returns and he falls right where we pegged him as the 4th best point guard in the West. Only one shooting guard (Kobe) was ahead of Lowry and I'm not going to take Ricky Rubio being in the top 3 serious, so he's right there at #4 in my mind.

I'm still kind of pissed that we passed up on Leonard for Marcus Morris, would have been like having Battier back on the team (without the three point shooting) but I can see Leonard being redundant to Parsons. I guess I'll have to hold my judgement until Marcus is brought up from the D-League and finally gets some minutes.

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-120113-15/where-dwight-howard-land

Parsons at 8th is pretty amazing considering that we took him with a second round pick. Depending on how Marcus Morris does after he gets back from the D-League, Parsons may or may not be the starting small forward in the later parts of the season. Even if Morris outplays Parsons, I can see the Rockets using Morris as a sixth man ala Carl Landry. Glad to see Vucevic is playing well too, really wanted him at draft night.

Done.

Yeah besides the Clippers game where we were just flat out destroyed, we looked alright and managed to keep most of those games close. Unfortunately for us those teams have superstars while we don't and we were unable to finish out on top.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/01/28/sports/28morey.1.600.jpg

He needs to be able to create his own shot at an elite level for me to able to consider him a superstar, he's added a few more post moves to his arsenal but I still don't trust him as a go-to-guy down the stretch. I think its a testament of how great a coach Rick Adelman is because a lot of Love's shots are coming through the flow of the offense (offensive rebounds too) and lets not forget that Adelman was able to squeeze 24 points a game from Kevin Martin as well last season. Then again it was just a few years ago when Dwight was getting hammered for lacking a strong post-up game and most considered him a clear-cut star back then too.

Question: 1) How does this affect the Raptors rebuilding plans? The Raptors are currently 4-5 and will likely be 5-5 later tonight after playing the Wizards. As someone who also roots for a fringe playoff team and I do love the what Casey has done with this team (wish we hired him over McHale but McHale has been okay so far), but is this really the direction the Raptors should be heading? 2) Should the Raptors sell high on Andrea Bargnani or do they keep them?

Flip needs to go and I would love to see Sam take over as the interim head coach. I was a big fan of bringing in Cassell back to the Rockets as an assistant during the offseason and I know he interviewed for the Rockets' head coaching vacancy and was apparently very confident about getting the job albeit he didn't make the Rockets' top 3. Anyways the Wizards seriously need a breath of fresh air and promoting a young coach that the players can connect with (especially John Wall considering Cassell played the same position) and maybe bring some positivism to this team might be the way to go.

So according to Hollinger, the Rockets have had the toughest schedule in the NBA so far. Just something to chew on.

Like I said if Martin and the Rockets continue to struggle then he is gone. I'm sure Kevin would love to reunite with Rick Adelman in Minnesota.

Getting to the free throw line was a huge part of Martin's game for the majority of his career but I don't think it will continue to hurt him as much as the season goes on and he adjusts. Right now its his shot that is holding him and this team back. I hated the Dalembert signing because I honestly never really liked him but the Rockets had already exhausted all their remaining options. Dalembert brings size and shotblocking, two things the Rockets haven't had since Yao Ming, but overall I'd consider him a downgrade from Chuck Hayes. Dalembert was excellent at the beginning of the season though and I have hope that he can get back to that level once he gets more into shape and realizes that he is potentially in a contract year (Houston has a team option for the 2nd year). They were ready to move on from the Martin/Scola duo to a trio of Pau/Nene/Lowry that could have propelled them into a top 4 team in the West. However, that isn't an option anymore and the Rockets plan to keep Martin/Scola for now in hopes that they can bring in an all-star or heck even a superstar to pair with them. Also if Houston could somehow make the playoffs and push a series to around 6 games and Kyle Lowry continues to play like an All-Star that could help make Houston a desirable destination again for top free agents. Think about it Houston is a top market that still gets endorsement deals from China (ex. Scola has a shoe deal), a front office that is well known by now as top notch, an All-Star caliber point guard in Kyle Lowry (assuming he continues to dominate this year), two very good-borderline all-stars in Kevin Martin and Luis Scola, a glut of role players and not to mention this is one of the youngest teams in the NBA and they did just make the playoffs (only in this scenario) so they could be viewed as a team "on the rise". I have to say that sounds like a damn good pitch. Or we could just rebuild and making the playoffs would at least increase the value of our players. The problem is making the playoffs first.

True but can you really blame the Rockets for being 2-6 though? The Rockets have played 25% of the season without their best player, half of it without a key reserve in Courtney Lee who usually has to nullify Martin's shortcomings on defense, Kevin McHale has coached in the past but essentially is a rookie head coach since he's never coached for a FULL season before, we're in the middle of a very tough schedule that included games against the Thunder twice, Kevin Martin is in a slump and struggling to adjust to the new rules, our starting center (Dalembert) is currently out of shape and seems to regress after every game, the Rockets also had a trade rejected that sent the team into turmoil for most of the offseason, and last but not least we didn't have a full training camp and at times it feels like it is still the preseason for the Rockets. Frankly I would be surprised if the Rockets weren't struggling. Right now Houston is just figuring things out and trying to get healthy already, this team has a ceiling of making the playoffs as a 7th seed and had one of the BEST records after last year's all-star break. Its too early to give up on the season now. By the trade deadline depending on where Houston stands, we could either be buyers and aggressive in acquiring an All-Star or we could be at the bottom of the West and looking to sell high on talent. In which case Kevin Martin and Luis Scola instantly become the top Rockets on the market and I know the Timberwolves would be more than willing to pay top dollar (Wesley Johnson, Anthony Randolph and the Jazz protected first round pick) for a guy like Kevin Martin. My issue with rebuilding is even if we do move our veterans (Dalembert, Martin and Scola), I don't think we are that bad of a team and will probably finish outside of the top 8 in next year's draft.

http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/01/07/drummond-says-he-plans-to-return-for-sophomore-season/ There is still plenty of time for him to change his mind but if he opts to return for a second season then this is a HUGE blow to this year's draft, Drummond was supposed to be the best center prospect we've seen in quite a while.

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/218146/Howard_Trade_Request_Stands#ixzz1iwGBYIWU

32 points (12-20 from the field, 1-4 from three) and 12 rebounds in his second game.

Sure did.

I love this team.

its day to day i think.

I'm not going to comment any further since we don't know the whole story, but Kyle isn't the type to lose his cool so easily and the furthest thing from a thug.

I hope Lee and Lowry can get back soon.