Daryl Morey

After a Successful Season, Big Questions Loom for Young Rockets

It's difficult to believe anyone outside of the most hardcore fans truly believed the Rockets would be a playoff team this year. Most, including myself, assumed they would finish under .500 and back in the lottery. Even with James Harden, an unproven starter, added before the season, it was tough to ... More >>

Five Lessons Learned So Far by the Inexperienced Rockets in the Postseason

A friend of mine has pointed out to me that "young" may not always be the appropriate term to use for the current Rockets rosters, particularly when comparing them to Oklahoma City. After all, Russell Westbrook and Jeremy Lin are the same age and James Harden has played with OKC deep into the playof ... More >>

Five Reasons The Rockets Playoff Run Isn't Generating More Buzz

I listen to a lot of sports radio and talk to people online and off about sports on a regular basis. Despite the fact that the Rockets are in the playoffs for the first time in three years, there just isn't the buzz about the team Houston has seen in years past. There are fewer calls about them on s ... More >>

A Surprising Amount on the Line Tonight for the Rockets in LA

It's always amazing that after 81 games, it can come down to a single contest between two teams. Such is the case tonight in Los Angeles as the Rockets face the Lakers in the final game of the season. For both, a win is paramount but for different reasons. The Lakers, the preseason favorite to win i ... More >>

Uh Oh, Royce White May Have Knocked Up Another Groupie #BeWell

The NBA's D-League's playoffs begin this week and, for interested Rocket fans, just know that your Rio Grande Vipers are taking on a bunch of things called the Maine Red Claws (presumably with Mr. Krabs as their mascot). Barring a last minute wager (Can you wager on the D-League?), the extent of my ... More >>

The Rockets Are Back In The NBA Playoffs! Their Complete Rebuilding Anthology

With four games to go in the 2011-2012 season, the Rockets were coming off a 117-110 loss to Dallas, a loss in which Dirk Nowitzki provided a stark reminder to last season's Rockets team that they were devoid of a superstar caliber player by dropping 21 points on them in the fourth quarter. To call ... More >>

Goooooooal Tending: Rockets Beat Suns, Make Playoffs on Bizarre Final Play

"What a long strange trip it's been." -- The Grateful Dead It is fitting in a season as crazy as this one that the young Rockets' road to the playoffs would ultimately come down to a game, a play and a call like the ones that occurred Tuesday night at Toyota Center. All season, the Rockets have don ... More >>

Rockets at Midseason: The Grades Are In

With the All-Star break on us, it seems logical to talk about where our local NBA team stands at the season's figurative midpoint. I say "figurative" because the Rockets passed their actual midpoint in January at which point they were 21-20 coming off the last game of a season-long seven-game losing ... More >>

Six Examples of How James Harden Follows in the Tradition of Great Rockets Hair

When the Houston Rockets acquired James Harden in late October, general manager Daryl Morey finally found the superstar that he longed for. Houston would go on to post billboards around the city featuring Harden with the caption, "The Beard Has Landed!" So far, Harden has delivered, as he is one of ... More >>

Good, Not Great: Why Texans Need A Daryl Morey Approach To QB Position

If good is the enemy of great, the Texans are in a lot of trouble as they map out a plan to break through their second-round ceiling. Owner Bob McNair and head coach Gary Kubiak are publically saying the happy, feel-good things. "We're very close," McNair said after the loss in New England, while K ... More >>

Royce White Versus The Ignorant Mob

Can someone please explain to me why so many people are so pissed off at Royce White? I know why the Rockets are upset - I don't necessarily agree with the Rockets being angry with him, but I get it - but I don't get why my twitter timeline and sports radio and comment sections to stories on White w ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, Helping NBA Stars With Their Finances

To exactly nobody's surprise, the Rockets and James Harden agreed on Wednesday afternoon to a five year, $80 million contract extension, making Harden the first maximum contract player that Daryl Morey has inked to a deal in his tenure as Rockets general manager, and sending a clear message that Har ... More >>

Rockets Rookie Royce White Battles Anxiety in the Brutal Spotlight of Pro Sports

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe, feeling like you are suffering a heart attack. Your first instinct is to dial 911, but your hand is paralyzed, unable to move out of fear. You lay there, completely still, struggling with every breath without the power to speak. It's da ... More >>

Toyota Center's Gigantic New Video Board Lets You Watch All The Omer Asik You Can Take

Now we know what the problem has been for Houston Rocket fans -- they just have not been able to get a clear view of the mediocrity on the court. Problem solved. The Rockets are unveiling a massive new scoreboard/video thingamajig which they claim "will be the largest indoor center-hung scoreboard ... More >>

Rockets Make Very Tiny, Almost Inaudible Splash with Asik Signing

My friends over on the ClutchFans.net bulletin board are fond of the phrase "making a splash" when discussing the team's moves in free agency and when they make trades. When a trade or signing is of a more minor variety, that phrase becomes a joke, often posted on the board in an almost unreadably s ... More >>

Alleged Teen Rape Caught on Video

Dragic Gone. Is It Time for Linsanity or Just Regular Old Crazy?

According to ESPN, Rockets point guard Goran Dragic has agreed to a deal with the Phoenix Suns worth $34 million over four seasons. The Rockets had reportedly realized last week that Dragic wanted much more than they were willing to offer and decided to pursue other options. Some reports suggest the ... More >>

Why the Rockets Have to Suck Before They Can Improve

For quite some time, I have resisted the sentiment that to improve in the NBA, you must first have a substantial downturn. I don't like the idea of losing on purpose. Calling it "tanking" only makes it worse. The entire concept feels like the exact opposite of what players, coaches and fans are taug ... More >>

Picking Rockets Team of the 2000s Not an Easy Task

Throughout the course of this frustrating season, the Houston Rockets have been allowing fans to pick their choices for the starting team of the decade beginning with the 1970s and continuing with the '80s, '90s and 2000s. They had all but one of their starting five for the 2000s on had for their wi ... More >>

Against All Odds, the Rockets Keep Winning

"Scrappy, man. Just scrappy." I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day and that was the phrase that seemed to be uttered by one of us more than once about this current rabble of players assembled by the Houston Rockets. They just keep winning despite the fact they have no identifiable star a ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 Rumors: Carmelo Anthony Is Interested In Bringing His Talents To Houston

'Melo is eyeing up the Rockets​Carmelo Anthony is interested in coming here? To Houston? To play for the Rockets? Don't be messing with us, Sports Illustrated.Supposedly it's so.SI reported that the Rockets are on a short list of teams Anthony would be interested in joining if he and his current e ... 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 >>

Game Time: Yao Ming -- My Career Advice

Yao: No sane person would retire from your gig​As NBA stars go, when healthy Yao Ming is a game changer. We all know this to be true. He's as skilled an offensive big man as there is in the league, he draws double teams, and what he lacks in footspeed defensively, he makes up for in effort and s ... More >>

LeBron James: Five Reasons Why He Will Announce Tonight He's A Houston Rocket

Forget GQ -- You can be on the cover of the Houston Press​As our Game Time blogger Sean Pendergast has ably analyzed, tonight is the big night for LeBron James. Tonight -- on a primetime special devoted solely to the specialness of him and the sheer giganticnessof his decision -- he will announce ... More >>

Game Time: Shaq And Dwight Howard Battle Over Who Is The Real Fruit Of Jor-El's Loins

​Back when I was a little kid on the mean streets of Austin (Yep, I lived there for two years during my youth) in the mid-`70's, me and a few of my fellow second-graders would play Star Wars during recess. We would pretend the jungle gym was the Millenium Falcon, the area behind the rocks was Tato ... 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 >>

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 >>

It's The End Of The Tracy McGrady Era In Houston, And Rick Adelman Feels Fine

​One lonely, awkward 4x6 picture with Bill Worrell. A Christmas card, two pieces of junk mail and a pair of tube socks. That's all that appears left of Tracy McGrady in Houston.Sure, fights followed by kiss-and-make-up sessions are nothing new to McGrady in six seasons with the Rockets. He's gone ... More >>

Game Time: The Dysfunctional Macs

​I'm sure if all of you have heard, but Tracy McGrady has set a target date to return from microfracture surgery, and that date is November 18. What he's going to do once he comes back or whether he's even ready to come back are secondary issues, because chances are if you heard this news when it ... 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 >>

Which Houston Team Has The Dumbest Front Office?

​Richard Justice actually had a decent blog post the other day. In it, he attempted to evaluate which of Houston's big three sports franchises was the smartest -- sorry Dynamo fans, he didn't include them because he says the team hasn't been here long enough, and I won't include them because I con ... More >>

Being A Fan In Houston Basically Sucks, ESPN Reports

Photo by Bukowsky18ESPN has put together another one of its Best Fan Experience lists, where they rank ballparks, arenas and stadiums for atmosphere, convenience, team success, and other highly arbitrary and pseudo-scientific categories.Houston doesn't come out too well.The top three are the L ... More >>

Is Yao Ming's Career Over? It's Possible, Insiders Say

Adrian Wojnarowski, a longtime respected sportswriter currently working for Yahoo! (oh, these modern times) has an exclusive report out that the Rockets are quietly getting worried that Yao Ming's latest injury might just end his career.Take it away, Woj: "The realization has hit them that this is g ... 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 >>

Carl Landry Shot in Leg, Not by Own Gun

Photo by dubswede Carl Landry, the second year Rockets forward, was shot in the leg while driving home early this morning. And, no, he did not Plaxico Burress himself in the leg, somebody else shot him. The shooting happened at about 2:30 this morning. Landry was heading home after getting back int ... More >>

Carl Landry Shot in Leg, Not by Own Gun

Photo by dubswede Carl Landry, the second year Rockets forward, was shot in the leg while driving home early this morning. And, no, he did not Plaxico Burress himself in the leg, somebody else shot him. The shooting happened at about 2:30 this morning. Landry was heading home after getting back int ... More >>

The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Su ... More >>

The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Su ... More >>

Whole Offense, Hole Defense: The Houston Rockets Preview

Q&A with Daryl Morey: Down the Stretch They Come…

Q&A with Daryl Morey: The Day After

Q&A with Daryl Morey: Sounding Off on Rockets Hot Start

Rashard Lewis Won’t Be Singing That Ozzy Tune Anytime Soon

Speculation Time

Where Do We Go from Here?