The case of the Houston Rockets vs. Tracy McGrady appears to be nearing its end. Read the full story

Tracy McGrady is back.

With his expected return thought to be no sooner than early December, at best, the Rockets swingman told Yahoo! Sports that he will make his return to the court on Nov. 18 against Minnesota.

For the past eight months, McGrady has rehabbed his surgically repaired left knee.

In an email to Yahoo! Sports, McGrady wrote, “Excited to get back and compete at a high level again. For a full year I had to play on one leg against the best and I couldn’t compete with anybody the way I was feeling. It’s gonna be a relief to get out there and play knowing what I went [through] last season and this summer.”

McGrady played in 35 games last season before undergoing microfracture surgery.

He averaged 15.6 points on 38 percent shooting from the field and was clearly hindered because of the knee, relying more and more upon the jump shot.

McGrady was expected to take another MRI on the knee on Nov. 23, but the play of rookie wing Chase Budinger may have led him to move up his return.

Budinger has averaged 10.6 points on 52.5 percent shooting this season and is undoubtedly the Rockets’ swingman of the future due to his athleticism, shooting ability and savvy offensive ability.

The bottom line is, at 4-2 so far, including wins against Utah and Portland, the Rockets have surprised and have played at a high level even without McGrady, a fact that probably doesn’t sit too well with the seven-time All-Star.

With Budinger one of the Rockets’ top bench players, McGrady’s return would likely mean either Trevor Ariza or Shane Battier get sent to the bench.

It would likely be Battier. The Rockets didn’t spend their mid-level exception to have Ariza as a glorified sixth man, plus the professional and team-oriented Battier would not complain about the move.

Either way, it would make sense for the Rockets to see what McGrady can do before February’s trading deadline.

He is in the final year of a contract which reportedly pays around $20 million this season, and would likely play well to showcase for a new suitor and earn one last, big deal.

If he doesn’t play up to par, and he provides no aid at all to the Rockets, the team might consider dealing him, considering it’s a buyer’s market in these hard economic times for NBA teams.

At best, McGrady is a No. 1 offensive option that would allow Brooks and Ariza to assume the complimentary roles that fit them best.

McGrady is a playmaker, and with a Rockets team that struggles in the halfcourt and has no true, legit lead player, he would help immensely in that area as a scorer that could demand a double team and make plays for others.

However, at worst, McGrady is a ball-stopper who settles too often for jump shots, particularly the aggravating kind that are just a step inside the 3-point line.

Yahoo! Sports reported that, while McGrady is awaiting final clearance from team doctors, Rockets sources don’t expect there to be any problems.

- Dennis Silva II/The Katy Capsule

For the first time in a long time, the Houston Rockets have a pair of difference-makers on the bench.

Not since the days of Kevin Willis and Eddie Johnson have the Rockets had as potent a pair as rookie wing Chase Budinger and point guard Kyle Lowry.

That case especially bodes true in the case of Lowry, who was acquired last season in the three-team trade for Rafer Alston, as the Rockets have not had a quality backup point guard since the days of Sam Cassell. Read the full story

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

ESPN photo

ESPN.com is reporting that women’s basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman will be the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks’ D-League affiliate team in Frisco, Texas.

Marc Stein reports:

Lieberman, an ESPN television analyst, is poised to become the first woman to be a head coach the D-League, which sent 20 players to the NBA last season and is widely regarded as the most scouted league in the world outside of the NBA.

Nelson’s ownership group has secured approval from the NBA to hire Lieberman to coach the yet-to-be-named team based in Frisco, Texas, which will serve as the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate next season.

A news conference is scheduled Thursday to introduce Lieberman as the first coach of the team that will begin play during the 2010-11 season in Frisco, a suburb about a half-hour north of downtown Dallas.

All coaching hires in the D-League have to be approved by the NBA, which owns and operates the 16-team league.

Here’s a link to the story: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=4623545

Now, I’m not sure what made the Mavs come to this conclusion. Perhaps Mark Cuban just wants to be in the limelight some more. Maybe it draws more female fans.

Do I think this will work? No.

Not to be gender bias, but I don’t see NBA athletes affording Lieberman the proper respect. I don’t see it at all. As it is, only a few NBA coaches get the adequate respect necessary. Now we expect Lieberman to win them over?

I credit Cuban and Mavs GM Donnie Nelson with doing something different. It is a curveball in every sense of the word, but in terms of drawing more female fans and spicing up the league a bit, it’s ingenious.

I would expect nothing else from Cuban, though I can’t help but think there are more qualified male candidates.

Lieberman is a great ambassador for the game of basketball. No doubt. She has proven she can coach and she obviously was a terrific player.

But I do think she’s out of her league, literally. She hasn’t even so much as held an assistant’s position for a men’s team. Not sure what sense this makes, honestly.

But we shall see. Cuban and Nelson are both smart basketball people who are passionate about the game. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, and, heck, I hope Lieberman proves me wrong.

I just don’t think this will work. At all.

Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

As I’ve mentioned, this blog is something I keep up with in my free time.

My real job is Sports Editor of a daily newspaper in South Texas, where one of my beats is the local NCAA Division II college basketball teams.

I cover both the men and women pretty closely, and every now and then I’ll do some features which I think merit attention on this blog.

One of my early ones was on a sophomore guard who is making a return to the court after sitting out last season.

She’s a local kiddo, and those stories are usually my favorite, as it offers the public a chance to get to know kids playing at the next level.

Anyway, here’s a link to the story: http://godzilla.lmtonline.com/lmthosted/LMT956Sports/110309ErikaRosas.php

The college hoops season is about two weeks away, so there will be more player profiles as we get to that point.

A week into the season, three undefeated teams remain.

In the East, the Boston Celtics are 5-0 (surprise, surprise) and look every bit as dominant and overwhelming as many thought they were going to be.

In the West, Denver and Phoenix are two huge shockeroos. Both are 4-0.

For the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony is simply playing at another level. He is the first player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in his first three games, and he just looks on another level right now.

He’s determined. Focused. Inspired. Efficient. All but the last one, you would have never associated with Anthony, who seems ready to assume the leadership mantle and carry the team on his back.

For Phoenix, it’s a matter of a team playing cohesive, team basketball in a style of play that is fun to watch and extremely dangerous.

They’ll come back down to earth though. When Jared Dudley is one of your primary reserves, you are a very flawed basketball team.

Of the three, I consider Boston the lone legit threat. I like what I see out of Denver, especially considering they’ve pulled out two tough wins against Portland and Utah, but George Karl teams have a history of beating themselves a year after they’ve experienced great success.

So I’m still taking the “wait and see” approach on them.

The Nuggets aren’t shooting at a high percentage (41 percent) and are giving up way too many points (107), which means their offensive firepower has been solid, and they force a lot of possessions to where eventually their offense becomes too much to handle.

I reeeeeally like Boston, however. A great mix of efficient offense and stingy defense, and their depth has proven to be a heck of a lot better than last year.

I’m not convinced with the Lakers right now. Their depth, or lack thereof, is troubling, and Artest has been so-so. They can be beat if you’re long, athletic and quick, and that’s the direction many of the teams are going these days.

LA would be unstoppable if it slowed down its pace and played more halfcourt ball, but the fact that it likes to run and get out more often than not means more possessions in the game, and it’s transition defense is not very good.

Jury’s still out on them.

AP Photo

What in the name of Jeff Hornacek is going on in Utah?

The once proud franchise has been horrific defensively this season, and the result is a 1-3 start, including an embarrassing loss at home to Houston, a team Utah has historically owned at home.

The culmination of such gross basketball came tonight, when the Jazz let a 67-52 lead slip away in the fourth quarter and surrendered 44 POINTS to Dallas in the period en route to an 11-point defeat.

44 points. In one period. 27 of which came from Dirk Nowitzki, which set a franchise record.

Offensively, Utah is fine. Entering tonight’s game, they were shooting 47 percent from the field for 104 points per game.

But defensively, where coach Jerry Sloan is said to a mastermind, the team was surrendering 108 points per game on 47 percent shooting entering tonight’s game.

Those numbers were set to take a drastic turn downward tonight before Utah forgot it takes four quarters to win a basketball game, not three.

Can it be assumed that this team has tuned Sloan out? It’s safe to say that Sloan has stayed past his welcome, because the defense and energy has been lacking for quite some time now for Utah.

And that’s a reflection of a desire to play and compete for your team and coach. It has nothing to do with talent.

In a game that is becoming more wide open and spread on both ends of the floor, it’s possible Sloan’s halfcourt, flex and physical style is outdated.

One can only wonder what would happen if he completely loosened the reins on Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko, as well as shove away his distaste for the 3-point shot.

Sloan’s penchant for physical, defensive-minded team ball was successful for plenty of years, resulting in two NBA Finals trips and countless appearances deep into the postseason.

But it’s likely the game has passed him by. As an old-school hoops enthusiast, that pains me to say.

But it also pains me to see a Jerry Sloan team playing this lethargically on the floor.