Houston Rockets: 2019 will be 2018 part II

Time to face facts Rockets fans. Despite what almost every one of the Local media columnists are writing, Jenny Dial Creech, Jerome Solomon, and Brian T Smith as three examples, The chances of Lebron James wearing a Rockets jersey for the 2018-2019 season are slim to none, and slim just left town with today's news that James is opting out of his player option with Cleveland to become and unrestricted free agent.

His most likely landing spot is the Lakers, which makes sense because he's already got a second home in LA, and visions himself a movie mogul and mover and shaker in the NBA when his playing career is done. Few teams have been more willing to let former players take the reigns than have the Lakers.

Sure, some dominoes have to fall. Kawhi Leonard being traded from the Spurs to the Lakers would help, as would Paul George signing a free agent deal with them.  Once that happens it's a fair bet that Lonzo Ball gets dealt away, no way Mr. James wants to be attached to the Lavar clown show. But the odds on money is LA.

What this likely means for the Rockets is that next year is going to be a mirror image of last year. A team that wins a ton of games but whose playoff hopes rely on the health of an aging player (Chris Paul) with a troubling history of soft-tissue injuries. That's assuming Paul doesn't take a discount himself to play with the Lakers and join up with his friend LeBron. Stranger things have happened in the NBA.  At least Daryl Morey didn't show up at LeBron's front door begging this time around.

It's hard to fault Morey though, he's working with limited resources in a city that's generally unattractive to many of the league's best players. Houston is hot, humid, has little in the way of actual attractions and is a great place to work, but an increasingly crime-riddled and expensive place to LIVE. It doesn't have the best schools for LeBron's kids, and his wife would most probably be bored out of her mind.

But Morey, for all of his brilliance, has not been able to push this Rockets team over the top. They get close, achingly close, before falling just short.  There was the Dwight Howard mess, then the San Antonio dud, then last year the 0-27 historical run of 3-point shooting futility.  James Harden has proven himself one of the better, regular season players in the NBA, when it comes to the playoffs however he's returning Houston to Choke City more than reviving the Clutch City vibes. He's the Dan Marino of the NBA. Not that Marino is a bad person to be compared to but he never won any championships, which appears to be the fate of Harden unless he changes the results.

He'll have to do so in 2018-2019 with, presumably, almost the same supporting cast.

Whatever voodoo Tillman Fertitta can bring over from Lake Charles to bless Chris Paul's muscles, tendons and ligaments had better be shipped in now. Otherwise we'll be writing the same eulogy for next year's team that we did for this year's:

So close, yet so far away.

Don't Blame Golden State (or Kevin Durant) for The Warriors being unbeatable.

Blame the rest of the NBA.

Last night Houston Rockets fans (self included) received a tough, bitter dose of reality.


They're nowhere near as good as the Golden State Warriors.


Neither is anyone else in the NBA.  The easy road is to lay the blame on Superstar, and all-around bad guy, Kevin Durant but that's not really fair.  Durant did what any player should do, go to the team that was offering him a crap-ton of money where he had the best chance to win a title.  Golden State did what any team should do, build a roster that gives them the best chance to win.

The fault for Golden State's dominance lies with the rest of the NBA, who haven't been able to negotiate the maze of the salary cap nearly as well.

Yes, outside of Stephan Curry the Warriors are an utterly unlikable collection of players (unless you're a Golden State fan).  Draymond Green is a jerk, Kevin Durant is utterly unlikable, but every team in the NBA has players like that.  Hell, every team in professional sports has players who are the same.

As a 49ers fan I lived through the Terrell Owens days. Yes he was a prick but he was OUR prick. It's the same for Golden State fans. The rest of the NBA fans might not like their players, but it doesn't really matter because the home fans do and they're winning.

James Harden is a flopper, but he's HOUSTON's flopper.

Russell Westbrook is a Prima Donna, but he's OKLAHOMA CITY's Prima Donna.

And so on and so on.

(Of note: This doesn't mean that these players are necessarily bad PEOPLE, I'm referring to their image ON THE COURT. I don't know them in person and neither do you, they might be kind, caring sweethearts of human beings for all we know)

The biggest problem that the NBA has right now is that they are extremely top heavy.  There is a ton of individual talent but few real TEAMS, let alone teams that can compete with the best of the bunch, the Golden State Warriors.

This was on display last night as Golden State moved the ball around with quick passing, excellent ball movement and, when need be, a great individual performance by Durant. Compare that with Houston's isolation dribble, dribble drive or shoot offense based primarily around Harden and the issue becomes very clear.

And it's not Golden State's fault.  Just like it wasn't UConn's fault they dominated women's basketball, or UCLA's fault back during the Wooden era.

In the words of the great Ric Flair: "To be the man, you gotta beat the man."

Increasingly it feels that no one in the NBA is going to be able to do that.


Bring on the off-season. (It's more fun anyway)

Houston Rockets: This team is REALLY good. (How good remains to be seen)

First all of the caveats:

 - It's regular season NBA, which means next to nothing except for actually making the playoffs.
 - Many in Houston aren't paying attention, at all, to the team in the NBA that currently has the best record.
 - Even IF they win they'll still be 3rd fiddle to the Astros and a mediocre Texans franchise.


Given all of that, the Rockets just won their 17th straight game which left them with the best record in the NBA and a narrow 1/2 game lead over the Golden State Warriors for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Chris Paul has been amazing, James Harden has been even better.  Unanimous MVP better.  In fact, if Harden doesn't win the MVP this year the award is a farce.  And I say that as someone who's not traditionally been a fan of "the Beard" in the past.

For all of the concern surrounding his hiring head coach Mike D'Antoni has done a masterful job crafting this deep roster, built by GM Daryl Morey, into a currently unstoppable force.

The only question remaining now is whether or not they can continue this charge when the games really matter, in the playoffs against quality teams when something is actually on the line.

James Harden doesn't have that bullet point on his resume yet, none of these players do.

It has to be frustrating though to realize that, no matter how good you're doing, the bulk of sports interest in Houston is going to be focused on the worst team in the city.  A brief listen to Houston sports talk radio this morning revealed the bozos at 610 talking about JJ Watt's trade value, and 790 (The Rockets flagship station) airing Josh Innes who only talks about himself while making borderline racist comments to try and drive controversy, and listeners.

As good of a time as it is to be an Astros or Rockets fan it's equally as frustrating because of the 800 lb gorilla in the room.

In even a mediocre sports town coverage of the Astros in Spring Training and the Rockets beating all comers would dominate the sports news landscape. In Houston we get talk about whether or not the Texans will pursue free agents who might have knelt during the National Anthem or not.

Blech.

To the credit of the Houston Chronicle and the TV stations, at least they're covering Houston's two best teams. Although there's precious little coverage of the Houston Cougars men's basketball team, who is a shoo-in to make the NCAA dance and my dark horse team to win the AAC tournament.

But, I digress.....

As the regular season winds down the playoffs in Houston have the potential to be really, really fun. IF the Rockets and Warriors take care of business (and they should) their match-up in the Western Conference Finals might be looked back on as the REAL NBA Finals. The Raptors and Celtics might have something to say about that bur, for right now, it appears that the Rockets and Warriors are the class of the league.

It's just too bad that few in Houston realize this.

College Basketball: Catching you up if you haven't been paying attention.

I get it, you live in Houston and you don't really follow College Basketball.  You love your Texans and all forms of football, you've been (correctly) paying attention the the Astros and you understand the Rockets might be pretty good this year but you just can't get into round ball.

But you WANT to understand the game a little.  So you turn on Houston sports talk radio and you get, conversations about who the Texans back-up QB will be next year and two low-functioning idiots arguing on the air.  Or so-called "man-talk" which doesn't resemble any conversations that males actually have.

Houston, in short, is a sports media wasteland. It's a bad sports town that really only celebrates it's worst professional franchise.

That's OK however, because we're here to provide you with some simple talking points that will place you well out in front of your fellow coffee-klatch conversation mates....


1. Trae Young (G-Oklahoma) is really (really) good.

He's averaging 30.3 pts per game and is shooting 40% from 3 point range. He's the best player in college basketball right now and it's not close.  If you've paid any attention the the NBA of late the player to whom he gets the most comparisons to is Steph Curry. His school is not too bad either, currently sitting at 16-5, 2nd place in the conference and 1 game behind perennial conference champion Kansas.


2. Speaking of the Big XII, they're really good this year.

The conference has 4 of ten teams in the top 25, with Texas, Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas State having shots at the big dance. (granted, OSU is a stretch and will need a strong close). The best team, at the moment, is Kansas, who are ranked number 7 in the country, seem to be on track to win the conference championship yet again and should slide in as a solid #2 seed in the tournament, with a real shot at winding up a one.  Bob Huggins has West Virginia playing well, and Texas Tech is a contender in the tournament, and for the regular season title.

3. The American could be a 3-bid conference.

Since Houston is in your town, you might want to say that they're really pretty good this year. They sit at 16-5 and have good wins over Wichita State, Providence and a 34 point demolition of Arkansas. Cincinnati is ranked #5, is 20-2 and just beat the Cougars by 10.  Wichita State is a shoo-in for the tournament, but they're finding life much harder in the American than the Missouri Valley Conference, something that should make them much better come tournament time.

4. Virginia is the best team in the ACC. Not Duke or North Carolina.

If you only pay scant attention to college basketball, you might want to know this come tournament time. Because the Hoos are real, they're long, athletic and should make a deep run in the tournament.  Duke is 2nd best, but they're three games back from Virginia and just got beat (at Duke) on National television. They are also the team in college basketball that is the easiest to dislike. It's not beyond reason to think that the ACC could be a 10 bid league this year. Granted, some teams will need to finish strong, but I put them at at least 8.

5. Remember the Big East?

After they accepted a bunch of Conference USA teams to member ship the basketball only Catholic schools broke-off, kept the name and have played one of the more entertaining brands of basketball. Villanova, Creighton, Seton Hall, Xavier and Butler will be in the Tournament, with Providence having an outside chance with a strong finish. Marquette and Georgetown will be contenders in the NIT. (But you won't watch the NIT because you're in Houston).  Villanova is the best team in college basketball right now but injuries are a huge concern.

6. Arizona is good, again.

At the beginning of the season I picked the Wildcats as the eventual National Champions, they then proceeded to start off slowly and make me look a little silly, but they've righted the ship, currently stand atop the Pac-12 and are in serious contention for a number one seed.  Behind them is a good USC team, followed by Washington and UCLA.  When the season first started Arizona State looked like they couldn't lose, but they've cooled off, losing five games in conference play and while they should make the tournament that could be in jeopardy if they continue to slide.


7. The top four are.....

Here's where I see it today, with the number one seeds going to these teams:

Villanova
Virginia
Purdue
Arizona

For last four in/out and other bracketology I recommend reading Joe Lunardi of ESPN He and I are pretty much in agreement except that he has Kansas with the 4th 1-seed and I still have Arizona. (which he has as a 3-seed, I disagree with that).

So, there you go. A primer to college basketball so you don't sound totally clueless when speaking to your co-workers, friends or random people at a sports bar.

You're welcome.

March Madness: Opening Game Predictions.

Since the Tournament (sort of) starts tonight with the play-in games here are my picks for those....(Odds shown are the odds that I took when I made my picks and might not reflect current odds.)


Florida Gulf Coast (-6.5) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson - Florida Gulf Coast should win this and cover. This feels like a 10 point game to me.

Wichita State (-4) vs. Vanderbilt. I like Wichita State to win here but Vandy to cover.  I think this is a pretty even game which should be the most exciting finish of the day, possibly of any of the 4 play-in games.

Southern (-2.5) vs. Holy Cross. Holy Cross is a great story, but I think Southern is just too good for them to compete.  Southern to win and cover.

Michigan (-3) vs. Tulsa Tulsa and Michigan are both teams that I don't think should have made it into the tournament. Both teams have sub-par guard play, Michigan is better on the interior. I think Michigan wins and covers despite their injury depleted condition.

I'm still working on the remainder of my brackets, and I probably won't have them fully completed until Thursday night.  I will upload a screenshot then before the tournament proper gets started.


There are a LOT of betting opportunities in this tournament, go take the casinos for everything their worth.

Houston Rockets: About that heart transplant.

I've never been more happy to be proven wrong, but right at the same time.

Yup, I said it.

Houston Rockets: The Thing that needs to be said. Me, SLAM

They're done, barring something changing in the mental make-up of this team. They can talk as much as they want about "backs against the wall" and "being back in our house" all they want. Lest we forget the win that they had at home required some of the most curious officiating of the series. Game 1?  Well, it was a blowout as well. I don't see any way this Rockets team beat the Clippers 3 games in a row. Barring a heart transplant that is.

Apparently, they had that transplant completed and it appears that they swapped with the Clippers in games 5, 6 and 7.  It was eerily similar to the Phoenix series in which a totally different Rockets team went and did the same thing.

I'm a firm believer in never saying never. You always leave yourself an out. After game 5 I was still unimpressed, thinking that the Clippers would rise up at home and put us all out of our misery.  Then the unthinkable happened. It was the Clippers who just quit.  And then, in game 7, they quit again.

Meanwhile the Rockets played with heart and drive and did everything they needed to in order to win the series and face the daunting puzzle that is Golden State and Curry.

The opening line on that series is Golden State -850 with the Rockets coming back at +575.

Despite everything that happened in the previous series I think that line is about right. During the regular season the Rockets were not competitive against the Warriors and I'm unsure if they match-up with the 1st seed well enough to ask the questions they need to ask.

All that said, at that value, I like the Rockets pick here.  If they do win however they're going to have to steal one in Sacramento and hold-serve at home. That's a hard task against a team that's looking all the world like the next champions.

Still, the Rockets have a strong beating heart now, that means a lot.

Houston Rockets: The Thing that needs to be said.

They. Quit.

Behind all of the hand-wringing and philosophizing about what went wrong with the Houston Rockets over the last two games (30 and 33 point blowouts to the Clippers) the elephant in the room is that, in the 2nd half of both games, the team just flat out quit.

Yes, Kevin McHale is a strategic liability, and yes both DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin have been killing the Rockets with great inside play.  But isn't that why the Rockets went out and obtained the services of Dwight Howard, to put a damper on great inside play?  And what, last night, did Howard do? He found a way to get himself ejected from the game. 

That's quitting, any way you look at it.

In the past I've been hard on James Harden because he scores points, but forgets that there's another, equally important, half of the game. On defense a disengaged James Harden is a liability to the Rockets. He's been a defensive liability this entire series. He's playing closer now to "sixth man of the year" status than he is anywhere near the 2nd place finisher in the MVP balloting.  If you had to revote right now would Harden even be in your top 5?  Probably not.

The Rockets are the basketball equivalent of a Lindt Chocolate Truffle. They have a seemingly hard exterior which, once cracked, exposes a silky soft interior. The thing is, it's not all that hard to break through the shell if you're a good team.

The Dallas Mavericks were not a good team. They were led by a rapidly aging Nowitzki, a 2nd-tier scorer in Monte Ellis and a male fashion model masquerading as an NBA player in Chandler Parsons. The 1st round win, and the breathless analysis that the Rockets had "progressed" from last year because of it, is nothing more than fool's gold. Had the Rockets played the Spurs instead of the Mavericks it would have been San Antonio and the Clippers going at it in Round 2. It would have been a much better series as well.

It was a brain-dead moment on the last day of the season by the Spurs that prevented that from happening. If anything, this proves that the regular NBA season still has importance, but it means nothing in terms of a team's chances of winning a championship. To win one of those, you need heart. And the Rockets desperately need a transplant. Stat.

I've no doubt that head coach Kevin McHale is going to take the lion's share of the blame for this. And that share is well deserved. At times against the Clippers he has seemed clueless about what needs to be done to turn this train-wreck around. It's very clear that, from an X's and O's perspective, he's not only overmatched but, against the top coaches, he's not even playing the same game. I think the Rockets need to seriously consider making a change in the off-season.

Some of the blame needs to be laid at the feet of GM Daryl Morey as well. While I'm a fan of Sabremetrics and the statistical approach it takes to building a roster, I also think that it needs to be blended with the human factor as well. A team needs competitors, and the Rockets have few. It's OK to have Dwight Howard and James Harden on your roster leading the team provided you have another leader who has the desire, and strength of will, to herd the cats when things start turning South. The Rockets thought that Terry would be that veteran, but he doesn't play a big enough roll to matter.

Hard core fans will point to the fact that Beverly and D-Mo are out with injuries. That's true. But would a middle of the pack NBA point guard and below-average small forward really do much to change the dynamics of the series?  Not as long as the big two decide to open up a can of quit when things get dicey.

If anything, the Game 4 result reminded us that the window for this Rocket's team has always been very narrow, and it's closing in a hurry.  Early rumors are that the Mavericks are going after LaMarcus Aldridge, which would make them a much more formidable team next year. A legitimate playoff contender. Something they weren't this year. Golden State has Steph Curry, Cleveland is still out there with King James and the Bulls are looking like a team on the come. We still haven't mentioned the Clippers, whose time might be THIS year the way they are playing.

And the Rockets?

They're done, barring something changing in the mental make-up of this team. They can talk as much as they want about "backs against the wall" and "being back in our house" all they want. Lest we forget the win that they had at home required some of the most curious officiating of the series. Game 1?  Well, it was a blowout as well. I don't see any way this Rockets team beat the Clippers 3 games in a row. Barring a heart transplant that is.

Here's the 2nd point:  If your team rolls over and plays dead, TWICE, then you as a fan are under no obligation to keep with them. They quit, you quit. It really is that simple. "Wait until next year!" is a perfectly acceptable rallying cry.

Because of that I'm going to be spending my Tuesday evening watching the sure to be more entertaining Game 7 between the Capitals and the Rangers in the NHL. For the Rockets, I'm taking the Missouri approach:


Show me.

The Biggest Sports Weekend (EVER!) that was.

If you're a fan of sports, then waking up on Monday might feel like somewhat of a downer after Saturday. There's obviously a LOT to cover but let's give it the once-over shall we?

1. Draft "grades" are stupid. Mainly because you're attempting to grade something without knowing whether or not any of the players drafted are going to play or not.  What we should be doing, right now, is grading the 2011 drafts of the teams. Those are the drafts whose rookie contracts are getting ready to roll off and we have a good idea how the teams did.

2. American Pharoah is now the only horse to have a shot at the Triple Crown. That said, were I his owners I'd run him in the Preakness, and then give him some time off to rest for the Fall card, including the season-ending Breeder's Cup.  With all of the big races later in the season running a 3 year old a mile and a half (a distance it's probably never going to run again) on the heels of two tough races does more to damage a horse in the long-run than help it. Oh, and the Woodford Reserve Turf Stakes was one of the better horse races you'll ever see.

3. MayPac was, unsurprisingly, not the super-fight of the Century that it was hyped to be. Mayweather is a smart man. He waited until Pacquiao was incapable of doing the things he needed to do in order to win the fight, before he agreed to fight him. Instead of two of the best pound-for-pound fighters slugging it out, we got a typical Mayweather dance that was overpriced, and left people with a bad taste in their mouths.

I do think that this could signal the beginning of the end of the pay-per-view era of professional boxing.  And good riddance.  As Al Hayman's Premier Boxing Champions series continues to prove: the best boxing matches could, and should, be fought on Network TV.  Also given that Showtime boxing has elevated its status to become a true challenger to HBO and you have several outlets where the biggest fights can occur, on free TV or tiered cable.  Charging $100 (or even more ridiculously, $30/head time capacity at a bar) effectively priced a large percentage of the population out of the watching the fight live. I refused to buy the PPV, and my local bar (which typically carries all of the fights) elected to not pay the exorbitant fees.  As such, I followed the fight on Twitter. I'll DVR it when either HBO or Showtime airs it on their networks and feel like I haven't missed out on anything.

4. Clippers vs. Spurs - Game 7 What was initially threatened to be overshadowed by the "other" events of the weekend ultimately turned out to be the best event of them all. This was a classic basketball game with two teams throwing haymakers at the end, and with Chris Paul, limping around on one hamstring, ultimately sinking a beautiful shot to clinch the win for the LA team.

It was also a heroic last stand for what was one of the greatest NBA runs of all time for the Spurs, who will undoubtedly have to consider finally admitting that Duncan and Ginobli are aging players and will begin the process of drastically altering their roster going forward. If you missed this game to watch the horrid undercard for MayPac, you really lost out.

All of that and I still haven't mentioned the Stanley Cup Playoffs or the fact that the Houston Astros are currently playing out of their minds. I also didn't mention that Rory McIlroy is pretty good.

All in all it was a great weekend to be a sports fan. One of the better ones in recent memory.

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game

Current Odds:  Wisconsin (-1) [Game opened as a pick 'em]

I realize that I've taken a few months off from this blog, partially due to health reasons (neck surgery) and partially due to just some normal time off from College Football that I usually take every year.

If you're one of my one (or two) regular readers however fret not. The blog with the most mediocre sports takes in the business is back, and I'm planning to lay out some fairly serious baseball and NFL draft analysis in the coming months.

First though, the game tonight.

While Wisconsin is the trendy pick I'm leaning toward Duke in this game because they are currently playing a stellar brand of basketball.  They haven't won a tournament game by less than 15 points and they steam-rolled a very good Michigan State team.

Yes, I'm aware that Wisconsin beat the unbeatable Kentucky and I, like most, kept starting at the television at the sports bar wondering when in the hell the Wildcats were going to realize they were more athletic than the Badgers. It never happened, Kaminsky is a very good College basketball player and, in the end, I think we got the match-up that we should have after what was a pretty solid, if unremarkable, tournament.

That said I think that Duke has the coaching edge as well as a huge edge in overall team athleticism. Against Kentucky I think Wisconsin had the edge in coaching, but was facing a much more athletic team in the Wildcats.

Without further ado......


Duke: 65  Wisconsin: 61

At the end of the day men's college basketball teams still need to learn how to score.

The Rockets Question that has yet to be asked (by the media anyway)

After Damien Lillard pierced the heart of Houston sports fans the excuse making by the media began.

"It wasn't McHale's fault" they tell us because the Rockets were told 'no threes' in the huddle right before Lillard shot himself to super-star status.  Today, Jerome Solomon wrote a column that seemingly asked for participation medals to be handed out across the board, you know, lest someone get offended and a chron.com scribe lose access to the team.

It already appears that the curious condition of Houston teams that prohibit them from looking deep within will continue as it seems the decision to bring McHale back next year has already been made.

This is too bad because I still haven't seen anyone ask the question of McHale that needs to be asked. Namely, what in the world was Harden doing on the court during the last .9 seconds when the situation obviously called for defense?

That Harden is one of the worst defensive players in the league is beyond a doubt. I've said here before that I view him as an ideal sixth man, but not as a "star" or a team leader. The leader of the Rockets is Dwight Howard, he did everything that could have been asked of him during this series.

The fact is Harden should have been on the bench during the end of the game, and then we probably wouldn't be asking why he made the decision to put Chandler on the much-quicker Lillard.  However, in true Houston sports style we've already decided that McHale is coming back to right the ship.  The real problem is there's not an understanding of why it's taking on water.

What we did learn in last night's Rockets win.

After last night's 108-98 Rocket's win over the Portland Trailblazers Chron.com beat writer Jonathan Feigen provided his now customary 5 things we learned listicle supposedly to provide some analysis and context to the Rockets fairly easy win.

Feigen touches on James (Sixth Man of the Year) Harden, Jeremy Lin, Dwight Howard, Pat Beverley and how to stop LaMarcus Alderidge. He also reads way too much into one win.

The true lessons learned from the game last night are much simpler.

1. A team that's down 1-3 plays with much, much more urgency than a team that is up 3-1.

2. The Houston Chronicle desperately needs a writer on staff with some basketball knowledge.




On to Portland for Game 6.

Yes, we HAVE learned a lot from the Rockets, but no one is ready to say it.

Down 3-1 in their series against Portland we're starting to hear rumblings from media that perhaps this incarnation of the Rockets are not as good as previously reported. My problem, however, is that the Chron's Jonathan Feigen doesn't go far enough.

For starters, this is a poorly coached team. Especially at the end of games where Kevin McHale seems to be all out of ideas as the clock gets closer to zero. I've long had a feeling that, should the Rockets not get out of the first round, McHale is a goner since GM Daryl Morey is seemingly incapable of admitting that he has not put together the strongest of teams.

In short, this Rockets roster is deeply flawed, consisting of several players whose strengths do not complement the others' weaknesses.  Their star, inarguably Dwight Howard, has been OK, but lacks a true point guard to feed him the ball while in the post and their 2nd best player is really nothing more than an instant-offense sixth man (ironically: the role in which he excelled for OKC) playing the role of team leader.

That's not to say that James Harden is no good.  He is very good, and would be very good, coming off the bench for this Rockets team, filling up the score sheet, and then heading back to the bench when defense needs to be played. To call Harden a defensive liability is an understatement. He's a defensive black-hole.

At point guard, the situation is even more dire. While Patrick Beverley would make a nice change-of-pace 2nd string point guard for a contending team he's not near versatile enough of a player to take the full-time reins.  Jeremy Lin is just not an NBA caliber point guard and has no self-control in the clutch.

Chandler Parsons is a good role player, but he should be limited to that as he tends to run very cold in the areas where he's not hot. I think the sample size is too small on Troy Daniels but what he's shown so far has been promising.

In all however there's not enough defense to go around while the offense is manned by selfish players who need someone to get them the ball to get off a good shot. Unfortunately, the Rockets don't have the quality needed at the point position to complement them.

I'm not sure what Morey will do in the off-season but I would have to think that finding a new coach, and working on a trade for a real 2nd star would be on the top of the list. At minimum, I would give Minnesota a call and see what would be required to get Kevin Love.  Yes, I would even tell them that Harden is not off-limits.  They also need to find a point guard, which could be addressed in the draft, most preferably (in my eyes) by Shabazz Napier.

One thing is for certain, the current crop of players has zero chance at making a deep run in the playoffs, they're too undisciplined, too selfish and too flawed defensively to play in the half-court game that the NBA playoffs demand.

The NBA Playoffs

As promised, here are my playoff picks for the Association:

Round 1:

Western Conference:

San Antonio (1) vs. Dallas (8) - I haven't seen anyone credible picking a Dallas upset. San Antonio in 5.

Houston(4) vs. Portland(5) - I really enjoy watching this Rockets team. Given that injuries are an unknown I'm taking them in 6. 

Los Angeles Clippers(3) vs. Golden State(6) - Ironically, I think the Clippers would have gone deeper in the playoffs had they fallen to four.  Clippers in 5.

Oklahoma City(2) vs. Memphis(7) - OKC is one of my favorite teams to watch right now. Thunder in 4.

Eastern Conference:

Indiana(1) vs. Atlanta(8) - One of the weakest #1 seeds in recent memory.  If only Atlanta were stronger I'd pull the trigger on the upset. Pacers in 7.

Chicago(4) vs. Washington(5) - To see just how BAD the Eastern Conference is this year compare this matchup with the same seeds in the Western.  No matter who wins, we all lose. Chicago in 6.

Toronto(3) vs. Brooklyn(6) - Not a believer in Jason Kidd. Give me the Raptors in 5.

Miami(2) vs. Charlotte(7) - At some point the Heat are going to turn it on right?  Miami in 4.


Round 2:

Western Conference:

San Antonio(1) vs. Houston(4) - This is a match-up call. I like the Rockets in 6.

Los Angeles Clippers(3) vs. Oklahoma City(2) - Had the Clippers played San Antonio in the 2nd round, I'd pick the upset.  Against OKC?  Thunder in 7.

Eastern Conference:

Indiana(1) vs. Chicago(4) - Indiana is a mess, Chicago is not that good. I'll take not that good over a mess in 6.

Miami(2) vs. Toronto(3) - Every fiber of my being wants to take Toronto here except one, my brain and memory.  Miami in 7.

Conference Finals:

Western Conference:

Oklahoma City(2) vs. Rockets(4) - Here's where the Rocket runs out of fuel. Horrible match-up and OKC is just a better team. Thunder in 6.

Western Conference:

Miami(2) vs. Chicago(4) - Easy. Heat in 5.

NBA Finals:

Oklahoma City vs. Miami - Yes, we've seen this before and yes, people are going to be saying it's the Heat again.  I'm not so sure.  This OKC team is better than the team in 2012 and they seem to have answered the loss of Hardin.  Give me Oklahoma City in 7 games.