Houston Rockets, the most underrated team in basketball.
You always hear about the Mavericks, Suns, and Spurs as the elite 3 in the west,
the teams poised to win a title and no one in the west besides them can do it.
But that is just dead wrong, what about the Houston Rockets? This is a team built
for the postseason, they are tough, they have great inside presence, they play
great defense, they rebound, and they have the best center in the league and the
best backup center in the league. That is the definition of a team that plays its
best in a grind it out seven game series in the playoffs. They are 47-26, despite
losing Yao Ming for for almost half the season in the tough western conference. Their
inside presence, Yao Ming putting up 25 and 10, and Mutumbo coming off the bench and
grabbing 7 boards in less than 20 minutes a night, is just flat out outstanding. Only
Shaq in his prime 4 or 5 years ago beats that tandem. They have a terrific scorer in
Tracy Mcgrady, who also is an underrated playmaker and defender, remember 2 years ago
when he shut down Dirk Nowitzki in the 1st round? Shane Battier is possibly the most
underrated defender in the league, he is in that elite group of on the ball defenders.
Hes not going to get 4 steals or block 3 shots, but when Dwyane Wade or Manu Ginobli
or Kobe Bryant looks up at the scoreboard and sees hes shooting 7-20 from the field
and the Rockets are winning, don’t think that will really matter. Have you ever heard
of Chuck Hayes? A 6′6″ forward, he grabs close to 7 rebounds a night, in 21 minutes.
Thats almost a rebound every 3 minutes, for a 6′ 6″ forward, talk about being tough
and outworking people. You have great outside 3 point shooting from Luther Head (42%
from 3), Battier(43% from 3), and Alston(37% from 3) to complement Mcgrady’s slashing
ability and Yao’s inside dominance. You have Bonzi Wells coming off the bench,(sometimes
when he actually is alowed to play, whether thats his fault or Van Gundys is your opinion)
another tough guy who rebound very well for his size and his offense comes from taking it
to the hoop and drawing fouls. He is a poor free throw shooter (55% this year), but put him
in a playoff game early in the 4th quarter when Shaq has 5 fouls and ill take missing 1 of
2 free throws when Shaq is kicked out with 6 fouls. If theres one weakness on this team, it’s
that they dont play much fast-break basketball, but everyone says you have to slow it down in
the playoffs to win, like the Rockets always do, so why isnt anyone giving Houston a chance
to go to the chosen land in June?
