Aaron Brooks

We Just Might Have Ourselves a Basketball Dynasty

Want an NBA Title? Head East, Young Man

Rockets-Warriors: Hope at Last?

Q&A with Daryl Morey: Talking Trades in the No Balls Association

Rockets-Heat: A Pair of Pleasant Surprises

Q&A with Daryl Morey: Playoff Preview Edition

Q&A with Daryl Morey: What’s Next?

Whole Offense, Hole Defense: The Houston Rockets Preview

Rockets-Mavs: Brooks Delivers Opening Statement

Aaron Brooks knows what many of you think. You fear the Rockets' new starting point guard is too small to defend big guards, like Dallas' 6-foot-4, future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd on Friday night. You expect him to be worked over in the post. You wonder if he's too young to lead a veteran playoff ... More >>

Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-point ... More >>

Rockets-Suns: Brooks, Lowry Bring Small Ball to Houston

If the Rockets needed any additional evidence to the potential success of a two point-guard system, they only needed to look on the other end of the court on Friday night at Toyota Center. The Phoenix Suns (34-28) have been the model of up-tempo basketball in recent years, routinely playing small g ... More >>

Rockets-Pistons: Can Yao Be the Closer?

Photo by Wootang01 Remember the notion from earlier this week that the Rockets' late-game offense might be better off without Yao Ming? That didn't last long. With the Rockets trailing by four late and in the midst of yet another fourth-quarter funk, Yao snapped the Rockets out of it in a major wa ... More >>

Rockets-Pistons: Can Yao Be the Closer?

Photo by Wootang01 Remember the notion from earlier this week that the Rockets' late-game offense might be better off without Yao Ming? That didn't last long. With the Rockets trailing by four late and in the midst of yet another fourth-quarter funk, Yao snapped the Rockets out of it in a major wa ... More >>

Rockets-Suns: Brooks, Lowry Bring Small Ball to Houston

If the Rockets needed any additional evidence to the potential success of a two point-guard system, they only needed to look on the other end of the court on Friday night at Toyota Center. The Phoenix Suns (34-28) have been the model of up-tempo basketball in recent years, routinely playing small g ... More >>

Rockets-Cavaliers: Yao's Revenge

Photo by Wootang01 LeBron James has a lengthy history of poster-quality slam dunks. But on Thursday night, Yao Ming emphatically turned the tables on the Cleveland superstar. Yao overwhelmed James on two game-defining plays, sparking the Rockets to a 93-74 home victory over a Cleveland (44-12) tea ... More >>

Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-point ... More >>

Rockets-Hornets: Point Guards Finally Get Defensive

Photo by Aaron Sprecher(Note: This is written by Ben DuBose. We're working on that byline  glitch, honest.) At least for one night, the Rockets answered their only remaining defensive questions in a resounding way. Since dealing incumbent point guard Rafer Alston at the February trade deadline, ... More >>

Rockets Left To Wonder What Could Have Been

Photo by Keith Allison(Note: This was written by Ben DuBose.)The next time someone tells you that early-season games in sports like basketball and baseball don't matter, refer them to the case of the 2008-09 Houston Rockets.The No. 5-seeded Rockets were one game from having a dream path to the Weste ... More >>

Rockets Playoff Preview: Yao, Rockets May Have Finally Landed Favorable First-Round Matchup

At least for now, the Rockets' stunning collapse might not be all bad.The negatives to the Rockets blowing a 14-point, second-half lead at Dallas on Wednesday night, coupled with New Orleans' meltdown in San Antonio, are of course falling from the No. 2 seed, losing home court advantage in the first ... More >>

Do You Believe In Miracles? Rockets Advance

May 17, 1997.Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer were in sixth grade. The Oilers were only a year removed from their Houston existence. The Texans were still more than five years from their birth. The Astros had yet to make the playoffs in the Biggio-Bagwell era. Then-President Bill Clinton was still eight m ... More >>

Second Round Preview: Lakers Defense May Pose Biggest Threat To Rockets

The Rockets finally got the first-round monkey off their backs  last week, so what did the NBA give them as a reward? Only a second-round date with the prohibitive title favorite Lakers, beginning tonight at 9:30 in Los Angeles. It's a terrifying matchup by nearly every quantifiable metho ... More >>

The Rockets Get Into The Ticket-Scalping Business

Photo by sillygwailoLooking for Rockets tickets as the hoopsters return to the Toyota Center after their split with the Lakers? Unlike, say, two months ago, you're now at the mercy of the scalpers. But the precise identity of the scalpers may surprise you."Basically the Rockets have created their ow ... More >>

Game 3 Preview: Rockets Need More From Wafer, On And Off Court

Photo by Jeff BalkeThe Rowdies get rowdy for the playoffsVon Wafer was a hero in the first round, scoring 21 points in 27 minutes in Game 2 and sparking the Rockets with an emotional return in the series-clinching Game 6 just two days after suffering a bulging disc in his lower back. He was suppos ... More >>

Game 3: Early Missed Opportunities Haunt Rockets

The box score to Game 3 shows the second period as the only frame in which the Rockets weren't outscored on Friday night at Toyota Center. But in reality, it proved pivotal in Houston's 108-94 loss, which allowed Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The normally dynamic La ... More >>

No Yao, No T-Mac, No Problem: Hayes Sets Tone As Rockets Tie Series

Photo byJeff BalkeThe opening to the Rockets' player introductions sounded as unlikely and frightening as the task of defeating the vaunted Lakers without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Somehow, "a 6-foot-6 center out of Kentucky" didn't deliver the same punch and energy as the booming "7-foot-6 ... More >>

No Matter Game 7 Outcome, These Rockets Have Heart Of Champions

Photo: Jeff BalkeScrapper Chuck HayesThirty-seven million of the Rockets' approximately $70 million payroll sits on the bench in luxury suits instead of basketball uniforms. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady sidelined, the Rockets counter the Lakers' top scoring option -- only one of the best players ... More >>

Despite Loss, These Aren't Same Old Rockets

Photo by Katharine ShilcuttThe ending was all too familiar, but the ride was so, so different. Sure, history will show another Rockets season concluded without a title, this time on an 89-70 second-round, Game 7 loss to the Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And ... More >>

Game Time: Woke Up This Morning, Got Myself LeBron

​Those of you who listen to my show know that I am fond of placing the "occasional" friendly wager. While handicapping the day-to-day and week-to-week ebb and flow of a football, basketball, or (if you're really sick) baseball season can be enjoyable and, at times, lucrative (especially when betti ... More >>

In Make-Or-Break Year, Rockets' Landry Looks To Fill Low-Post Void

Photo by Jeff Balke​There's a popular belief in NBA circles that the third year is when a player makes the transition to stardom, if he's going to make it. Among point guards, that worked for Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and much has been said about Aaron Brooks making a similar - though sma ... More >>

The Top Ten Rockets Moments Of The Decade, For Better Or Worse

Photo by Daniel Kramer​For the Rockets, the decade of the 2000s began with Hall of Fame legend Hakeem Olajuwon starting at center. It finished with 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes, the shortest listed starting center in NBA history.It started with promising rookie sensation and No. 2 pick Steve Francis at po ... More >>

Game Time: Rockets Midseason Report Card

​I grew up as the oldest child in a family with three boys. There was me, two years behind me was my brother Kevin, and then six years behind him was my brother Ryan. While all three of us were, and for the most part still are, pretty intelligent fellows, report card time meant different things to ... More >>

Why Wait On Prospects? Morey Opts For Star As Rockets Acquire K-Mart

​Daryl Morey, as always, had us all fooled.We assumed the Rockets' general manager had little on the table for the dead carcass of Tracy McGrady, save the Bulls' and Knicks' offers centered around future draft picks that could later be used as assets to trade for a star. The offers weren't bad ... More >>

Game Time: Sure I'll Grade The Texans' Draft, Just As Soon As I'm Done Tweeting With Peter King

Tweet this: The Texans are stone junkies for tight ends.​I admit I'm a total mark for Twitter. I'm not one of those people who has to tweet every little thing that happens throughout the day (unless there is some semblance of comedic value, and then I become to Twitter what Travis Henry becomes to ... More >>

Common Leaves Us Hanging At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marco Torres​8:00 p.m.: There is a female behind the decks onstage. Aftermath loves seeing females who can hold it down on the 1s and 2s. She has a bedazzled Macbook and goes by the name of DJ Superstar. Go on with your bad self, girl. 8:10 p.m.: The audience is a bona fide rainbow ... More >>

Game Time: Okay Rockets, It's Your Move In The "Summer Of Trying To Be Moderately Interesting" In Houston

Photo by Daniel KramerYou're on the clock, Morey. Entertain us​"Can you really not be aware we've been building a RICO case against Tony Soprano for five f**king years? And then you blow this popcorn fart?" -- Federal agent to local prosecutor in Sopranos episode "Soprano Home Movies""Popcorn fart ... More >>

Game Time: NBA Free Agency -- Watch Me Compare Daryl Morey to Bobby Baccala

Like Baccala, Morey's got an unpopped cherry​Okay, let me get this out of the way... Daryl Morey knows what he's doing. In Daryl we trust! In Morey we trust! Daryl Morey is the NBA GM version of William Wallace with an undergrad degree from the Jedi academy and a PhD in ninja skills! I love Da ... More >>

Game Time: Kyle Lowry -- Party On, Daryl Morey

The party starts​Anyone who went to a college with fraternities, sororities, or even just big-time football weekends knows what it's like to live on that row of houses or apartments where every Friday and Saturday is a parade of different keg parties.It's loud, it's raucous, and usually pretty dam ... More >>

Game Time: Trevor Ariza Trade -- Instant Analysis

Good trade for the Rockets​I was not writing for HoustonPress.com when the Trevor Ariza signing went down last year so you'll have to take my word for it -- I was very skeptical and surprised by the signing at the time. (Note: There are megabytes and megabytes of sound from me on the internal arc ... More >>

Houston Rockets: In Yao We Must Hope, Pray And Trust (Or Use As Drinking Game Material)

Power walkers are tough to pick out of size 18s.​'Melo ain't coming. Rockets Nation has to resign itself to that fact.But that should be all right. With the current roster, we're young, we're quick, and we don't have a scorer (we'll discuss Kevin Martin later). But you heard the young and quick pa ... More >>

NBA 2010-2011 Preview -- Reconstructing LeBron

Please, no more operations on Yao Ming​"What should I do?" -- LeBron James, over and over and over again his new Nike spot The fact that LeBron James is posing the question in his new Nike spot perhaps tells us that he is not completely devoid of self-awareness, as he appeared to be last summer. ... More >>

Randy Moss: The Worst Timeshare Ever

The more things change...​"It was a rare opportunity for us to be able to take advantage of a guy that's arguably a potential Hall of Fame player, and still, I think, has pretty good tread on the tire. I don't think any of us thought this guy was going to be available." -- Brad Childress, 10/06/ ... More >>

Five NBA Love Stories (For Valentine's Day)

The NBA: Love is in the air​Let me be the millionth to say that I hate Valentine's Day. It's a sham. It's a farce. It's a fabrication designed to stimulate the economy and jump-start jewelry, flower, restaurant and sex toy business for a random day in the dead period of February. And yet, as ... More >>

Rockets Trade -- Hasheem Thabeet Scouting Report (It's Not Good)

Your newest Rocket is tall​The NBA trade deadline came and went today and the Rockets managed to muster up some activity. The good news is (stop me if you've heard this before) General Manager Daryl Morey appears to have gotten the best of both deals. The bad news is the Rockets are no closer ... More >>

Houston Rockets -- Screwed City

Daniel KramerDaryl Morey needs to go big time​It's no surprise that Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey has a Facebook page. And it's not one of those aloof "Fan" pages, either, where all you can do is click "Like." Morey has one of those "regular guy" Facebook pages where you can send him me ... More >>

Rockets Playing Well Under the Radar

Photo by Jeff BalkeFinally, the Red Rowdies have something to actually cheer about.​Houston's three major sports franchises have spent the last few seasons in the equivalent of purgatory. None have been good enough to contend for a title, but none have been horrid enough to elicit the types of ... More >>

Cover Story: For Love of the Game

​When working on this week's feature story, I was surprised at just how much help my background as a musician would help me, especially since I was writing about a sports radio station. Over the last 25 years, I've spent a lot of time in bars, recording studios and rehearsal spaces with other ... More >>

NBA Lottery -- Where Houston Rockets Point Guards Go to Die

I see disaster in your future.​"So you're saying there's a chance..." -- Lloyd Christmas Yes. 1.82 percent, to be exact. Those are the odds that the ping pong balls will fall the Houston Rockets' way tonight at the annual NBA Draft Lottery and they wind up with a top three pick. After finis ... More >>

2011 NBA Draft -- A Reminder of the Rockets' Purgatory

NBA Draft: Do Rocket fans have anything to look forward to?​In the second season of The Sopranos, after getting shot in the abdomen and nearly dying, Christopher has dreams while in a coma about going to a place where people die every day the same painful way they died on earth. Convinced that ... More >>