In an era of basketball where individualism is king and the King is its scene, the 2009-2010 Houston Rockets, through the first five games of this season at least, are a throwback to yesterday.
Only, if yesterday was three decades ago, when teamwork, ball movement and passing graced the NBA during the days of Bird and Magic.
Yesterday, as in back to the days when the give-and-go was as sexy as the alley-oop.
The Rockets are 3-2 so far, with two of the three wins coming against Portland and Utah, two projected Western Conference powerhouses.
One of the defeats was in overtime to the defending champ Lakers.
These Rockets – without their top three scorers from last season – are currently playing .600 ball, when many thought they’d be fortunate to sniff .500 at any point of the season.
Whowouldathunkit.
For old-school basketball enthusiasts, this year’s team is a joy to watch, and further proof that sharp passing, ball movement, and hard screening and cutting are not completely lost arts.
There is no lead star. There is no assured go-to talent. There is no legitimate interior threat, superstar wing and/or blazing-quick point guard … err, scratch that, the “blazing-quick point guard” still does apply.
No, this is a collection of superior basketball energy and unselfishness; a collection that refuses to let up and understands the sum is greater than its parts.
Need proof?
Five Rockets are scoring in double figures. Eight average at least 8.2 points per game.
This is a team that assists on 60 percent of its field goals, and shoots 46 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from 3.
In today’s game, numbers such as those are unheard of.
This is a team whose heart and soul is an undrafted, 6-foot-6 power forward out of Kentucky; an undersized post player who serves as the team’s starting center and, entering this season, had averaged no more than 5.6 points per game – and that was two years ago – and 6.7 rebounds per game.
If you need one player who embodies the heart and soul of these Rockets, it’s Chuck Hayes, human proof that if you pursue the ball, defend and play for your teammates, everything will fall into place.
“We can score,” Hayes said following Wednesday’s heartbreaking OT loss to the Lakers. “As you can see from these last three games (of which the Rockets scored 102, 111 and 113 points, respectively), we can put the ball in the basket. We don’t have one guy who’s going to go for 30 or 40 except maybe every now and then, but everybody can put the ball in the basket when we play well together.”
That, in a nutshell, is the Houston Rockets, and the game is better off for it.
In a league that grossly sensationalizes its superstars and enforces the individual over team, the Rockets are spitting at that message and paving a new path back to the glory days of hoops.
Back to the days of physical screens, hard cuts, quick ball reversal and finding the open man.
Many figured the Rockets to be left for dead this season. Charles Barkley, I’m looking at you.
And, who knows, that may still be the case.
The Western Conference is no cupcake, and you can thank the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets for that.
But if the Rockets are headed toward a subpar this season, and if this early start is nothing but another cruel arrow into the hearts of Rockets fans, know this much: The Rockets will keep fighting, playing the way basketball is supposed to be played.
Somewhere, the NBA gods are smiling.
“When you lose your star players, people don’t expect very much from you but we’ve had the attitude that we’re going to play hard, compete and we’re going to see what we can do with this group,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman told Rockets.com following the team’s 113-96 win over Utah on Monday. “That’s how these guys have approached every day and that’s what makes them fun to coach because they do compete.”
- Dennis Silva II/The Katy Capsule
