rock my world

the houston rockets have certainly had a long journey since they were last in serious contention for the nba title this late in the season. that's right SERIOUS CONTENTION. i ain't talking about the one (if that)-and-done rox of the stevie franchise era. i'm talking about serious, been bangin since my li'l n**** rob got killed for his barkleys, shit.

the rockets, although they may only be a five seed with no hope of catching any of the top 4 teams, let alone the other two texas teams. but while the top 3 are enmenshed in a serious battle like gandalf and the balrog falling through that mountain, the rockets just lay in the cut, waiting for the suns, spurs, and mavs to beat the ish out of each other in the first few rounds so they can come in with yao and tmac's sleepy-ass eye.

the thing about the rox is that they're not the team one might expect. yao and tmac are obviously both offensive LOADS to the point where tmac was once in best-player-in-the-league discussion with kobe and yao, if he stays healthy, is THE dominant post player in the nba. believe that. if you're about to quibble with either of those statements remember that tmac took the shitbag magic to the playoffs multiple times and once drove the pistons to the brink of elimination until tay prince busted out of his shell. also, shaq is decrepit at this point and the big german is not a post player per se, deigning to venture into that world of the large only when small bodies come his way.

the rockets are not a team defined by their superstars in those respects, as so many teams are. in some regards they are similar to an nfl squad in that they are their coach's team. jvg has to garner some love for coach of the year after he took this ragtag bunch of dudes and made them the best defensive team in the league. i would look up that stat, but i'm lay-z. they still play GOOD offense, just not at the juggernaught level one might expect given their two stars.

remember: offense wins games but defense wins championships. i'm not saying the rockets are about to win a title. (ALTHOUGH remember the 2003 pistons squad. and they had way less talent on offense.) they are capable of making some serious noise come playoff time.