HOUSTON ROCKETS Thread '14/'15 - Offseason - Picks (+ Jason Terry)

http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/mavs/2013/11/howard-ready-to-defend-nowitzki.html
 HOUSTON -- With Omer Asik getting his way and penciled in as the starting center for the Houston Rockets, that means center Dwight Howard is the team's starter at power forward.

That also means Howard has the task of guarding Dallas power forward Dirk Nowitzki when the Rockets (1-0) and Mavs (1-0) face each other at 7 tonight at the Toyota Center. It's a job Howard hasn't done -- other than an Oct. 21 preseason game against the Mavs -- since his rookie season with the Orlando Magic during the 2004-'05 campaign.

"My first year I checked him a lot, but I haven’t checked him since,'' Howard said. "It’s just going to be an adjustment.

"Instead of running back to the paint I have to run back to the three-point line. That’s tough for me,
because I’m used to being the first guy to protect the basket.''

Nowitzki provides challenges for Howard unlike any power forward he'll guard, because the Mavs' 11-time All-Star can pull Howard away from the rim with his deft three-point shooting touch. Or if Howard floats too far from the basket, Nowitzki can put the ball on the floor and dribble past him and attack the basket.

"Well, I think this will be a challenge,'' said Howard, who had 17 points and 26 rebounds Wednesday against Charlotte. "I’m on board and I’ll do the best I can.

"I’ve watched his game. He’s 7-foot, he’s shooting three's, he’s doing everything. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m up for it.''

In addition to studying film on how to defend Nowitzki, Howard had some fun repeating how Rockets coach Kevin McHale describes Nowitzki.

"Coach calls Dirk, Dirty Dirk,'' Howard said. "So I’m up for the challenge of going against Dirty Dirk.

"I guess I’m Clean Harry against Dirty Dirk.''
I think we should have Chandler switch out on Dirk instead of Howard on Dirk
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Dirk will feast on Howard, as he can't close out for s***
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Houston Rockets ‏@HoustonRockets 22m

RT @JasonCFriedman: Patrick Beverley out for 10-14 days. Partial tear of muscle in midsection.

RT @JasonCFriedman: James Harden (wrist, back), by the way, will play tonight.  Lin to start...
[h1]Pat Beverley out 10-14 days with torn muscle [/h1]
http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2013/11/pat-beverley-out-10-14-days-with-torn-muscle/

Rockets guard Pat Beverley will be out for at least to 10 to 14 days to begin rehab on a partially torn muscle in his mid-section. Beverley’s injury, suffered in the first half of the season-opener on Wednesday, returns Jeremy Lin to the starting lineup with Aaron Brooks moving up as the primary backup at point guard.

“I’m taking precautions to make sure I’m 100 percent all right,” Beverley said. “If this was the playoffs, I would play tonight for sure. I’m going to go crazy over here sitting like I’m a coach with a suit on, but I can root my team on and look at the game differently, maybe see some things that I don’t see while I’m out there and try to add to my game when I get back.”

Beverley could be out longer because the team said that he will be reevaluated after the rehab period.

Rockets guard James Harden, who struggled on Wednesday and missed Thursday’s practice with a sore back, thought he would be able to play against the Mavericks on Friday.

“I got treatment (Thursday) and this morning,” Harden said. “I feel good. It loosened up a lot. So hopefully I’ll be ready to play tonight. I got some shots up at shootaround and feel pretty good.”

Harden said his sore wrist was “all right, as well.”

“It seems like everything is going wrong,” Harden said, “but you still have to fight through it and find away.”

Lin scored 16 points in 31 minutes off the bench on Wednesday, despite missing time to get three stitches to close a cut on his chin. He sat out part of Thursday’s practice with “bumps and bruises and minor stuff.” He had bruised his right ankle, but called it “little stuff.”

“I’ll still be the same player,” Lin said of his return to the starting lineup. “Obviously, we need Pat and we need Pat to play at a high level for us to be where we want to be. He has to get healthy. Other guys have minor injuries, too. Everybody needs to get healthy.

“Things change so fast. Just keep playing, stay focused on what you’re doing, what you’re supposed to do. For me, we were communicating throughout the whole process. They explained to me what made more sense. At the end of the day, we’re all going to play. I’m going to play, he’s going to play. As long as we play well when we’re out there on the floor, I think our team has a high chance of winning.”
 
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Will have to catch a reairing of it or something tonight cause I'll be out of commission for a bit, but let's get this W. that article made me a lil furious. **** Cuban, **** the Mavs. **** those bitter basketball wive scorned bleeding LAL fans/Howard detractors.
 
team is looking good so far. dwight with them rebounds! :smokin
 
terrible finish. terrible ft shooting. first half was good, but that zone really slowed us down and it was boring as hell sitting through the hack a Howard. glad we won though and harden played real solid. looked like he did all preseason.

tomorrow at Utah hopefully they get enough rest.
 
For a team that had 20+ turnovers, they were still up by double digits, damn near 20, which is a great sign.

Granted that their strength is their super saiyan-like aggressiveness, turnovers will be a byproduct of that but

It's scary to think that once they tighten up unforced errors how good they will truly be.
 
Another sloppy game. Played well defensively. They hacked Howard which really screwed with the flow of the game. I knew harden was playing well, then I looked up and he had 34. Lin played very well. Chandler is in a slump. I'll post more later
 
I see that Dirk fouled out at almost the exact time he did in the preseason :lol: and those turnover numbers are brutal :x
 
Tale of 2 halves and boy did we play $hitty the 1st half..

@clutchfans: FINAL: Rockets 104, Jazz 93. Huge comeback from down 19 in 1st half. Parsons (24p-12r-6a), Lin (9 of his 20p in 4Q) came up big. Harden 23p.
 
To know that the Rockets were down 19 to the Jazz going into the second half :x :x....but to win by like ten :pimp: Parsons was clutch, #PopIt4Parsons
 
I feel like we had games like this last year. one half would be atrocious, but we'd come back the next half...or we'd start off strong and finish terribly. we gotta put an end to that. that 3rd quarter made me feel like we can be a legit contender this season and will always have the ability to get right back into games or blow games open at any moment. the intensity has to be there though and they have got to learn to take care of the damn ball.

cp played solid in the first half. i feel like he refuses to shoot a 3 unless it's WIDE open though. wish he'd be more like garcia sometimes and just shoot his shot even when someone's on him when he knows he'll have enough room to get it off.

Dwight has got to start finishing on his post moves. he played a lot better the second half though and glad to see he has the ability to hit his ft's. he started off 0-2, but then hit 7 of his last 8 which is awesome.

good game against the clippers coming up Monday night. we get to see how we stack up against one of the teams we'll be competing against for playoff seeding toward the end of the season.
 
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XXL spoke to a number of basketball stars about their love for hip-hop and some of their favorite albums for the league’s opening week this week. We looked at a rising NBA star, Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, who plays in one of hip-hop’s hottest hubs. Now in his third season, the Florida native finds himself as the leader of the NBA’s most talked-about team. XXL got Chandler on the phone to discuss Drake, Houston’s and Florida’s hip-hop scenes, what made him a hip-hop fan and Dwight Howard joining the Rockets. -Emmanuel C.M. (@ECM_LP)

Who are you listening to now?
I really like Drake, I’m really into his whole new album Nothing Was The Same. Like a lot of the things he raps about, whether it’s from this album or the albums he’s done before, I feel like I can relate to them. I feel like, lyrically, he’s the best. [My favorite song on the album is] probably “The Language.” I really like “Started From The Bottom”-pretty much every athlete can relate to that-but I feel like that kind of got outplayed fast. But “The Language” is probably my favorite. Overall, “Shot For Me” is really good. It’s a little slower but I love that. “I Do It,” “Ignorant ****,” “November 18” is great. Those are probably my favorites. Now, anything Drake, Take Care, Nothing Was The Same; I love Fabolous. Fabolous is probably one of my favorite rappers of all time. I like The Weeknd.

What is your favorite album of all time?
The Chronic definitely my favorite of all time. I just liked it. There’s a lot of Eminem and I just thought the songs were great. I got [MMLP2] downloaded onto the computer. I can’t wait for it to come out. I’ve always have been a big fan of his. I’ve always been into hip-hop just cause I played, like, travel baseball and AAU basketball. So I always listened to hip-hop before games to get me into the right mind state. I would say probably age 12, maybe 11 [I started listening]. I listened to everything back in the day, like Diddy, DMX, Mystikal, Mobb Deep, everything.

What’s the hip-hop scene like in Orlando?
Not really anything. There’s a kid named Caskey that got signed to Cash Money who’s from my hometown. He got two big songs that blew up on WorldStarhiphop. One is called “Words,” one is called “Keep It On The Low,” and he’s pretty much the biggest rapper to come out of Orlando.

When you attended University of Florida, what are some of the music y’all listened to before games?
Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye, Jay Z, all the same stuff that I listen to now. [Now] I listen to “Started from the Bottom” pretty much every time. I listen to Meek Mill’s Dreamchasers a lot, I love that. Pretty much anything Drake.

Describe the Houston hip-hop scene.
It’s different; a lot of it is chopped and screwed and slow. Kirko Bangz is actually a good friend, he lives in my building and I’m a big fan of his music. And Slim Thug, Bun B and Paul Wall. I feel like it’s different but it’s definitely huge in Houston.

How far do you see the Rockets going this season?
I think we have a great chance, we have had an unbelievable preseason and everybody got better. The chemistry on the team is so good. Everybody is gelling so quick and so fast right now that I think we’re just as good as anyone out there. I know it’s just preseason but we beat Memphis easily, we beat San Antonio easily and we didn’t even play in the second half with these types of teams. Obviously it’s different when the lights are on and it’s the regular season. But we’d be selling ourselves short if we didn’t think we couldn’t win a championship. We’re not just playing with each other because we have to. Everybody is friends, everyone is similar in age, everyone enjoys each other. Dwight [Howard] is so outgoing and personable that everyone attracts to him.

Is Houston’s starting 5 one of the best in the league?
Yeah, and I think our bench is very underrated; depending who starts at the point, you either having Pat Beverly or Jeremy Lin off the bench. We pretty much have two starting point guards, so we can’t lose there. Francisco Garcia is a knock down shooter. Greg Smith, Omer Asik are great bigs coming off the bench. Omri Casspi I feel like is going to have a great year playing the four with mismatches. Our starting 5 is great with me and the best shooting guard in the league and the best center in the league, we’re going to be every talented. But I think our bench is just as good as anyone in the league.

You are the longest tenured Rocket right now. Are you the leader of the team?
Yeah, I’m definitely the leader of the team. It’s not going to take one individual, it’s going to be everyone, but as far as every time we get new guys, I’m telling them what spots are around town, where to live. On the court, just knowing the system, I’ve been around coach McHale the longest here so if any questions that these guys have I’m a good resource that’s been that for two years now.

Via XXL.com
 
Nice vids, pics, and article! Keep me coming!

I know we're barely getting started, but 3-0 feels good!! :pimp:
 
first time this season I get to watch the rockets on tv :smh:
Neutralize cp3, control the boards, and limit the damn turnovers and we'll handle em :smokin
This will be a great test for our guys, hopefully we come out with a sense of urgency. Let's get it :pimp:
 
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