Learning From The Lakers and Magic

What the Rockets can glean from the last two teams standing

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - In the end, the two best teams are playing for the NBA title. Not the two most hyped, mind you, but certainly the pair which proved to be head and shoulders above the rest. It’s fitting. It’s fair. It’s how it should be.

The Lakers and Magic were tested and doubted on their way to the Finals yet both clubs managed to tap into their deep reservoir of talent in order to overcome the obstacles placed before them. And though their respective styles of play may vary, both teams displayed an identical ability to rise to the challenge and perform at the highest level when circumstances demanded nothing less. That’s what champions do.

So while LA and Orlando prepare for their ultimate showdown, the league’s other 28 teams are already busy planning and plotting in an attempt to ensure that they will be the ones left standing next June. Let’s face it: For some clubs, that goal is nothing more than a pipe dream. But for others, it’s absolutely within reach. And fortunately for Rockets’ fans, their team falls firmly in the latter group.

In many ways, this particular Finals match-up serves as a reminder of just how close Houston is in its attempt to stand shoulder to shoulder with the NBA elite. The Rockets stretched Los Angeles to the limit in the second-round – despite playing with only $25 million of its payroll for the final four games of the series due to the absences of Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo and Tracy McGrady – and swept their season series with Orlando in very convincing fashion. Clearly, then, Houston can hold its own when facing the toughest competition. The question is: How can the club better position itself going forward so that it’s not merely giving these teams a run for their money, but actually surpassing them come playoff time instead?

That’s the puzzle which Daryl Morey and his crew are constantly attempting to solve. Like a Rubik’s cube, they seem to have many of the colors properly aligned, but those nagging few misplaced squares offer proof that a solution has not yet been reached. So in the meantime the shifts, turns and tweaks continue until everything else finally falls into place.

It’s a delicate science to be sure; one made all the more difficult by the fact that there’s no such thing as a perfect, one size fits all, guaranteed-to-work solution. But there are certain guidelines to follow, particular patterns which can be mimicked, and that’s where a closer examination of the Lakers and Magic can provide some helpful hints while the Rockets plot their path this summer.

None of what follows should be considered groundbreaking, nor will it come as any great revelation to Rockets’ fans who watch the team closely. That said, it’s a fairly safe bet that unless Houston improves in at least two of the following three areas, it will probably be doomed to also-ran status again next year.

We begin, as one always must when discussing this Rockets’ roster, with the sensitive subject of:

Good Health

Houston lost 179 man-games to injury last year, though that number tells only part of the story. More painful is 65 – the number of games missed by the threesome of McGrady, Yao and Ron Artest. Factor in the 22 contests Shane Battier watched while rocking his red blazer (and nursing an injured foot) at the start of the season and it’s borderline miraculous Houston managed to ascend the lofty heights it eventually reached this season.

By contrast, Orlando’s three best players (Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu) missed only 11 games, while LA’s top trio (Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom) missed a mere 5. That’s not to imply the Magic and Lakers were injury-free – the serious ailments suffered by Jameer Nelson and Andrew Bynum clearly stung their respective teams – but there’s no question both clubs were better-equipped to overcome those losses thanks to the near perfect attendance records of their best players.

Of course, injuries to a team’s stars result in an adverse effect which goes far beyond a great player simply missing a game. When the injury bug strikes, more minutes are demanded from everyone else – inflicting additional wear and tear on those who are healthy – and members of the supporting cast tend to get cast in roles which they might not be comfortable with or ready for.

Then there’s the dreaded issue of inconsistency; something Rockets’ fans witnessed firsthand during the first few months of the 08-09 season. With players shuffling in and out of the lineup seemingly on a daily basis, Houston was unable to establish much in the way of positive momentum early on, resulting in a steady stream of disappointing losses and uneven play. Little surprise then that the Rockets produced their best ball of the season once the injuries subsided and Coach Adelman was finally allowed to settle on a consistent rotation. Houston established itself as a force to be reckoned with during the final two months of the season, but a better, more consistent beginning would have almost certainly propelled the Rockets to the West’s No. 2 seed, instead of the No. 5 spot they eventually settled into.

Again, there’s nothing new about this phenomenon. One must only look at the defending champs to see how critical a factor injuries are to a team with title aspirations. Just one year after riding a relatively clean bill of health to a title in 2008, the Boston Celtics were beset by injuries this season and succumbed to Orlando in the second round as a result. The league is simply too competitive and the season too long for injury-riddled clubs to have much hope of surviving until the very end.

Of course, staying healthy isn’t exactly something you simply learn how to do. For sure you take preventative measures – and it should be noted that the Rockets have indicated they will continue to try to ease Yao’s workload in an attempt to ensure the big man stays healthy – but at the end of the day you need your fair share of good luck, too. So here’s hoping fortune smiles on Houston in 09-10 while the injury bug allows a reprieve – goodness knows it’s been awhile.

Up next on the list – finding a go-to:

Offensive Creator

The Rockets pretty much have the defensive thing down pat these days. For three straight years they’ve ranked among the league’s best defensive teams. Simply put: This club flat out knows how to get stops.

What they haven’t quite mastered, however, is the art of top notch offense. Houston isn’t bad, mind you, but a middle-of-the-pack standing with regard to offensive efficiency means there’s still plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to dealing with a team like the Lakers; a club which ranks in the Top-5 in both defensive and offensive efficiency.

It’s important to note that the Rockets don’t need a video game offense like that of the Phoenix Suns to be championship caliber; a move into the Top-10 would almost certainly suffice provided the club continues to make suffocating defense its calling card. That is,

after all, essentially what Orlando did this year on its way to balancing the No. 1 ranked defense with an offense that placed in the league’s upper third.

So how do the Rockets get there? Finding a player who can consistently be counted on to create for both himself and his teammates would go a long way in solving the problem. It would also come with the added benefit of seriously negating the fronting defenses which at times gave Yao and his teammates fits this past season. Of course it’s one thing to know the solution, quite another to find it; especially given the fact Kobe Bryant and Hedo Turkoglu aren’t likely to be donning Rockets uniforms next season.

In an ideal world, the answer would already be stashed somewhere on the Houston roster. And, in truth, it just may be. A return to form from Tracy McGrady would be a godsend and he has stated on his website that he hopes to be ready to go by training camp. That said, it’s still far too early to tell how he’ll be able to bounce back from microfracture surgery and when he’ll actually be NBA-ready again.

The other obvious option is Aaron Brooks, a player who certainly showcased his immense talent and potential during the Rockets’ playoff run. When he rose to the occasion so, too, did his team, demonstrating just how effective this group can be with a dangerous playmaker running the show. For Brooks, the key is consistency and developing into a player who delivers primetime performances on a regular basis. That’s putting a lot of pressure on the diminutive point guard’s shoulders, but if can make a similar leap this summer to the one he made between his first and second year in the league, it’s not unrealistic to think he might just be able to handle that responsibility.

If he can’t, however, the onus will fall on Morey to find someone who can. Again, easier said than done, but given his track record and the unique opportunities which might present themselves in this depressed economic climate, it would seem foolish to think Houston’s GM is not capable of pulling another rabbit out of the hat.

Speaking of which, that leads us to the final point: The Rockets’ search for another:

Back-up Big Man

Both Morey and Rockets’ owner Leslie Alexander have stated the team’s desire to acquire an athletic center to back-up Yao now that Dikembe Mutombo has drifted into retirement. Seems sensible enough, given the team’s dearth of real frontcourt size when Yao is out of the game. However, it’s worth pointing out a few things before moving forward:

1.) Everyone in the NBA is looking for athletic bigs. There’s a reason they come at such a premium – it’s called supply and demand and the ugly truth is that the supply of qualified big men comes nowhere close to meeting the demand. That’s why a seemingly marginal player like Erick Dampier will be depositing $10 million in salary next season and a whopping $13 million the next.

2.) Morey and Alexander are well aware of point No. 1 and, as such, are not about to abandon fiscal responsibility and common sense simply to say they have a 7-footer on the roster. If the guy can play, that’s one thing. If not, it’d be wise for everyone to reacquaint themselves with the film from the Rockets-Lakers series in which Chuck Hayes issued a stern reminder of just how devastatingly effective he can be as Yao’s backup, despite his vertical limitations.

3.) The primary reason the Rockets want more size is so it can afford them even more flexibility from a lineup standpoint. Last year, Houston boasted one of the more versatile lineups in the league thanks to the likes of Hayes, Shane Battier and Ron Artest; players who are able to both play and defend several different positions effectively. Their versatility allowed the Rockets to make the relatively seamless transition to small ball when Yao got injured against the Lakers and it served them well. What Houston could no longer do, however, was play big and, ultimately, it cost them.

The Rockets aren’t likely to find a player like Pau Gasol who can slide over to man the center spot when Andrew Bynum exits the game but, once again, Orlando offers a blueprint of sorts in the form of the surprising Marcin Gortat. The Polish Hammer hasn’t played a great deal this season (he averaged 12.6 minutes per game during the regular season while playing 11.4 in the playoffs), but when he has he’s more than held his own, and all while coming at the bargain basement price of $711,517 (he also happens to be a free agent at the end of the year, by the way). Not too shabby for a guy selected 57 th overall in the 2005 draft.

Of course, the Rockets have their own second-round post player – last year’s No. 33 pick Joey Dorsey. But while he possesses a plethora of athletic gifts, injuries to both feet plagued Dorsey’s progression during his inaugural NBA campaign, so he still has great strides to make before becoming a legitimate factor in next year’s rotation; hence, the need for Houston to do its due diligence in pursuing other options at the 5-spot this summer.

Make no mistake, the Rockets are not at all far removed from the likes of Orlando and Los Angeles. True, the step from perennial playoff team to true title contender is the toughest one to take. And there’s no question some big decisions await Houston’s brain trust this summer in both the draft (the Rockets do not currently own a selection in this year’s draft but have stated their interest to buy their way in) and free agency. But with just a few tweaks, and a little luck, the puzzle might be complete and all the colors could be aligned.

And if that were to happen, fans would then be able to bear witness to one of the most satisfying sights in sports: a team transforming from burgeoning power to true powerhouse.

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