Chase Budinger went 44th in the 2009 NBA Draft to the Detroit Pistons. Hey, things are looking good. They need some outside shooting. In the flash of an eye, Chase Budinger was a Houston Rocket. Hey, things…hey, there are not any starting spots on this team. But wait, maybe there are, at least for a while, because Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming are nursing the usual injuries and that might just open the door.

Chase put on an exhibition in the art of shooting in his second game in the summer league.

“I think the up and down pace of the game helped me,” Budinger told HOOPSWORLD after pouring in a team-high 25 points on 9-10 shooting in a 98-95 win. “That’s been my style all my life, so any time we’re running it’s to my advantage.”

It wasn’t unheard of for Budinger to fill the nets at Arizona, where he averaged 15.6 points as a freshman, 17.1 as a sophomore and 18.0 as a junior. His weakness was always the defensive end of the floor, which is what the Rockets want to see him improve on while competing in the Las Vegas Summer League.

“The biggest thing the coaches have told me to do is to play hard, play tight on my man defensively all the way up the floor, and value every minute I get out on the court.”
source

Ok, that was summer league and the defense is usually sparse and loaded with mismatches as coaches try to put young players into situations.

The real problem for Chase Budinger will be at the other end of the floor. Late in the game my Grandmother drove past Chase for a slam dunk and she was using a walker. No, really it was my grandmother.

Rick Adelman coaches the Rockets and preaches a complete game by every player. No D and no playing time. Better hunker down, Chase, or it will be a long regular season.

Photo source Newscom

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Here Ron Artest thinks he is a Rocket already and leans into take off position

It does not take a rocket scientist to tell if Ron Artest at his best will improve the Houston Rockets. He will.

Artest wanted to be reunited with Coach Rick Adelman. Rick was his coach in Sacramento when Ron started playing there.

So the trade was made…

A source close to the Kings said Tuesday a trade has been agreed upon sending Ron Artest to Houston for former Sacramento point guard Bobby Jackson, first-round draft pick Donte Greene, next season’s first-round pick and cash considerations of approximately $1 million.

source

Like a lot of NBA trades, one team is clearing out the trash or reducing salary cap or trying to get younger while the other team is picking up an aging NBA star. That is what we will call Ron Artest, an aging NBA star. Please don’t snicker.

The other NBA teams will have to perk up and pay attention to the Rockets. With Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Ron Artest in the starting lineup, the Houston Rockets will be a team to contend with in the playoffs. That is right, the playoffs.

Now that brash prediction does not hold if Ron Artest once again self destructs.

To keep Ron from self destructing will be Coach Rick Adelman’s job.

When Artest, a mercurial small forward, was traded to the Kings from Indiana in January 2006, he flourished under Adelman. The Kings went 26-14 down the stretch with Artest after starting 18-24, then pushed the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs to six games in a competitive first-round playoff series.

As recently as this summer, Artest had shared his admiration for Adelman, saying he wished his free-agency year had come that season because of his ability to play well under the veteran coach. It is an ideal reunion for Artest, who decided not to opt out of his contract by the June 30 deadline and almost immediately expressed regret for doing so.

By the way, Donte Green, the 6′10″ forward going to Sacramento, appears to have a bright future as a scoring forward. We will have to keep our eyes on his career.

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Tracy McGrady in his signature form, shooting the jump shot in Atlanta

It has to be smoke and mirrors.

How are they doing it? There is no Yao. The ultimate collapse was predicted.

Yet, the Houston Rockets rolled once again.

Houston 83 Atlanta 75

Ok, so the Hawks are not exactly prime time with Mike Bibby or not, it is still 20 in a row!

The Rockets tied the second longest win streak in NBA History and were led by Tracy McGrady.

The Rockets joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 straight) and 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) as the only teams to win 20 or more in a row.

“We did enough to win,” Adelman said.

Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half for Houston, which led only 71-70 with 5 minutes remaining. McGrady then scored five points in Houston’s 10-0 run to take control.
source

Now this gets complicated, because the number of non-contenders on the win streak schedule. Even when they faced the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki was serving a one game suspension for brutality. The experts will say that Houston has beaten no one and their playoff spot is still in jeopardy and there is some truth to that statement.

But come on, 20 in a row against Middleville Junior High would still be impressive. The NBA is a grind. You get any team at home and they are apt to shoot the lights out and beat you just for some momentary respect.

And give some credit to the players that have stepped up in Yao’s absence, like Battier, Alsten, Landry and others.

And defense, did anyone tell you, Houston is playing some fine defense.

Houston allowed only 89.3 points per game during its 19 straight wins and set a low scoring pace against the Hawks.

…Houston has held two straight opponents to 75 or fewer points, following a 91-73 win over New Jersey on Monday.

So there is Houston one game away from the Lakers and the best record in the Western Conference and still no respect for what they have accomplished.

“It’s unbelievable,” McGrady said. “For me to be on this team that has accomplished 20 straight wins, that has got to be right up there with the most gratifying things I’ve accomplished in this league. … You look at the Bulls that were 72-10, they didn’t even do it. So this is pretty remarkable.”

Added Adelman: “You could see the guys, it really means something to get this and just keep not only the streak going, but keep moving in the right direction.”

The Rockets are for real and seem to have rallied around Yao and the feeling of them against the world.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will the Rockets make an impact in the playoff?

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Tracy McGrady hopes to lead Rockets to the NBA playoffs in Yao Ming’s absence

T-Mac rolls.

The Rockets fire!

How can this be?

Houston Rockets 106 New Orleans Hornets 96

This was a victory without Yao Ming over a top flight team. A contender. Although there may be some caveats to discuss on this game.

The big issue has been the lack of victories over teams that were any good, with or without Yao.

The recent victory over the Dallas Mavericks does not count, because of the absence of Dirk Nowitzki. Sorry, my rules.

Tracy McGrady could not be happier.

With two wins in three meetings with the Hornets this season, the Rockets have the third-best record in the conference. Only the Los Angeles Lakers and Spurs are ahead of Houston and that was motivating McGrady more than the winning streak before the game.

“The third spot,” said McGrady. “Once I heard that this morning, I was like, ‘OK. Let’s get it done.” source

Will the Rockets fail to fire?

We have to be a little careful here. The doubters are everywhere. Even in this game there were some missing components for the Hornets.

Both teams were short-handed on the front line.

David West, the Hornets’ second-leading scorer and rebounder, missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. Rookie Carl Landry, a key reserve during the Rockets’ winning streak, sat out with a bruised knee. source

Geez, what do the Rockets have to do?

For most analysts, that would involve a couple of hard fought victories over some contenders. Why Houston is held to this high standard remains a mystery to T-Mac and Coach Rick Adelman.

“Now, the mental challenge is there are no letdowns as we continue on,” coach Rick Adelman said. “We’ve got to stay on the same level.”

The Rockets are enjoying the win streak, but the playoffs are the goal.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will the Houston Rockets make the playoffs?

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How can this be?

It is a reach even for 7′ 6″ Yao Ming to win 11 in a row.

Tracy McGrady playing consistently good?

Houston even trades two players away, do not suit up the guy they get and still keep winning!

How can this be?

Well, admittedly, most of the teams they beat were pretty bad teams, but they did just knock off Chris Paul and the Hornets (sounds like a 60’s rock group) and there were a couple of close scrapes with the Cleveland PreWallace LeBrons led by Cavalier LeBron James, which the Rockets managed to pull out.

Still… They are winning!

And get this, they have not lost in February and finish the month with games against the Big Ben-less Bulls, the Wizards minus Agent Zero, and the Pau-less Grizzlies (get it, paw-less Grizzlies, ok, bad joke).

Sounds like 3 more wins and an undefeated month to me.

Side Note: Your intrepid author was pretty harsh on Houston a while back and is currently flogging himself.

It seems the Rockets are worthy.

When both Yao and T-Mac are on, they are pretty hard to beat. In fact, they will kill you from inside and out.

But there is a new element developing and we will have to see if it stays when they play the better clubs.

The Rockets have held eight of their last nine opponents under 90 points. source

Coach Rick Adelman is trying to get this team to take small steps towards being a top team. Right now they are in a dog fight to just make the playoffs.

“I told the team, ‘You put yourself in position to make a move,’ ” coach Rick Adelman said. “It’s our season to make what we want to make of it. Are we going to take advantage of what we’ve done to get to this point? We’ve gotten back into the whole thing. Or are we going to go up and down?” source

Hard to complain right now. Winning can breed a certain level of confidence that will improve your play once the big boys come into town.

Learning to defend your home court is almost essential.

These are the lessons the Rockets learn as they feed off of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Do the Rockets make the playoffs?

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