Houston Rockets 2013-14 season preview
By Josh Sanchez
The following post was contributed by Michael Ma, FanSided’s editor for the Houston Rockets site, Space City Scoop. Be sure to visit SpaceCityScoop.com for all of your Rockets news and rumors.
In a span of a year, the Houston Rockets have gone from a team full of unproven players, to one of the most hyped teams in the NBA. A franchise that chose to invest and move towards using analytics in 2006 when they hired MIT graduate Daryl Morey as general manager, the Rockets are coming close to building the picture perfect team that they envisioned after the departures of both Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.
At this time one year ago, the biggest off-season moves that the Rockets made were prying away restricted free agents Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. But just days before the regular season was set to begin, Morey pulled off a blockbuster trade that brought in James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Harden immediately signed a max contract with the Rockets worth around $80 million for 5 years, and didn’t disappoint in his first season. He finished 5th in the NBA in scoring, averaging a career high 25.9 points, and lead the Rockets to a 45-37 record, and a playoff berth where they would lose to the number 1 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Aside from Harden’s rise to stardom, the Rockets were able to develop a few other young players, as they were the youngest team in the NBA. Chandler Parsons established himself as a player on the rise, as he averaged 15.5 points and 5.3 rebounds. Parsons showed out in the playoffs and caught the eyes of many, as he finished with 18.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in the 6-game series against the Thunder.
Omer Asik showed that he can be a starting center after being a backup with the Chicago Bulls, averaging 10.1 points and 11.7 rebounds while starting all 82 games. Jeremy Lin recorded a fairly productive season after bursting onto the NBA scene with the New York Knicks. Lin started all 82 games, and averaged 13.4 points and 6.1 assists. An injury in the playoffs cost him his effectiveness, which lead to the rise of rookie Patrick Beverley, who averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in the first-round series loss.
Unfortunately for Beverley, his great play was overshadowed by being involved with the play that resulted in Russell Westbrook suffering a torn meniscus.
The Rockets won the biggest free agent prize this past summer, by signing Dwight Howard. Morey’s ideal foundation of building a championship team is to have 2 top-10 players in the league, and that has been accomplished now with Harden and Howard pairing up.
Howard’s addition immediately fills several holes. While the Rockets finished 2nd in the NBA in points scored per game last season(105.5), there was no low-post presence on the offensive end. Howard’s ability to finish at the rim will allow for perimeter players to attack the rim even more ferociously, as they now have a safety outlet to dump the ball to if defenders step up to help.
The Rockets also finished near the bottom of the league in every major defensive statistic, and Howard’s commanding presence in the paint will fill that void. Add in Asik, who was a top-10 defensive center, and the Rockets should see some improvements defensively.
Depth and bench production was a bit of a weak point last season, but should not be this year. The Rockets have plenty of capable players such as Francisco Garcia, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, Omri Casspi, Greg Smith, Ronnie Brewer, and Reggie Williams. The Rockets have the ability to play an effective 10-man rotation, which could pay huge dividends with the rapid pace that they play at.