Subject: Shane Battier

• Rockets Win While Fans Yawn

  March 23, 2007

• Dear Diary

  April 24, 2007

• Blast Off

  May 1, 2007

• Rockets Should Improve, But Will It Matter?

  June 28, 2007

• Speculation Time

  June 29, 2007

• Rockets-Spurs from Press Row: Now with 75 Percent Less Jumping to Conclusions!

  November 7, 2007

• Q&A with Daryl Morey: Surprise! Rockets Need Better Point Guard Play

  November 26, 2007

• Rockets vs. Grizzlies: Just a Little Patience…

  December 6, 2007

• Rockets vs. Magic: Hoping, Waiting, Wishing

  December 20, 2007

• All Apologies: The Rockets Are Cursed, and I Blame Myself

  December 21, 2007

• Rockets-76ers: Night of the Living Dead

  January 16, 2008

• Supersonics vs. Rockets: Post-Game Talk with Rick Adelman, Yao Ming, Rafer Alston, Shane Battier and Tracy McGrady

  January 22, 2008

• Rockets-Warriors: Hope at Last?

  January 30, 2008

• Rockets-Kings: Steve Novak and The Shot

  February 14, 2008

• Rockets-Heat: A Pair of Pleasant Surprises

  February 22, 2008

• Rockets-Bulls: Introducing the Next... Bruce Bowen?

  February 25, 2008

• A Grief Observed: Yao Ming's Injury and the Rest of the Season

  February 26, 2008

• Rockets-Wizards: The Show Goes On

  February 27, 2008

• Rockets-Nuggets: 15 and Counting

  March 3, 2008

• Rockets-Pacers: All Aboard the Chuck Wagon

  March 6, 2008

• Rockets-Nets: Just Another Step Along the Road to Redemption

  March 11, 2008

• Rockets-Lakers: McGrady and the Miracles

  March 16, 2008

• Batman Forever: Battier Gets His Due

  March 16, 2008

• Rockets-Celtics: Requiem for a Streak

  March 19, 2008

• Rockets-Kings: The Art of Adelman

  March 25, 2008

• Rockets-Clippers: Ready or Not, Here Come the Jazz

  April 17, 2008

• Rockets-Jazz Game Five: Return of the Streakers

  April 30, 2008

• 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' Sunday magazine's cover boy this weekend was Shane Battier, the "No-Stats All-Star."Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball -- the book showing how a revolution in stat-keeping changed how baseball GMs s

  February 16, 2009

• 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' Sunday magazine's cover boy this weekend was Shane Battier, the "No-Stats All-Star."Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball -- the book showing how a revolution in stat-keeping changed how baseball GMs s

  February 16, 2009

• Rockets Fast Break: Adelman Stresses Consistency at Point

  To Rockets coach Rick Adelman, consistency trumps contrast. When fans initially heard the Rafer Alston trade Thursday afternoon, much of the immediate reaction was negative. In addition to questioning the team going forward without an experienced starting point guard, many wondered why the team would trade away Alston's size for Kyle Lowry, another 6-foot jitterbug of comparable height and style of play to Brooks. According to Adelman, that's exactly the idea.

  February 21, 2009

• 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 team, and doubt if his aggressive style can fit with a first unit full of other scorers. At least for one night, none of those fears was realized. Not even a little bit. In his debut as Houston's re

  February 21, 2009

• 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-pointers while Yao added 19 points and seven rebounds, leading to a 99-78 win over Charlotte on Sunday evening at Toyota Center. It's the Rockets' (35-21) fourth consecutive victory, three of which have co

  February 23, 2009

• 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 guards Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa together to wreak havoc on opposing defenses with electrifying speed and dribble penetration ability. But three times in the past five games, the Rockets (40-23)

  March 7, 2009

• 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 guards Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa together to wreak havoc on opposing defenses with electrifying speed and dribble penetration ability. But three times in the past five games, the Rockets (40-23)

  March 7, 2009

• 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) team that entered Thursday with the NBA's second-best record. It was by far the most impressive of Rockets' (37-21) six consecutive wins, all of which have come without Tracy McGrady. "It's awesome to s

  February 27, 2009

• 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-pointers while Yao added 19 points and seven rebounds, leading to a 99-78 win over Charlotte on Sunday evening at Toyota Center. It's the Rockets' (35-21) fourth consecutive victory, three of which have co

  February 23, 2009

• Rockets Fast Break: Adelman Stresses Consistency at Point

  To Rockets coach Rick Adelman, consistency trumps contrast. When fans initially heard the Rafer Alston trade Thursday afternoon, much of the immediate reaction was negative. In addition to questioning the team going forward without an experienced starting point guard, many wondered why the team would trade away Alston's size for Kyle Lowry, another 6-foot jitterbug of comparable height and style of play to Brooks. According to Adelman, that's exactly the idea.

  February 21, 2009

• 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' Sunday magazine's cover boy this weekend was Shane Battier, the "No-Stats All-Star."Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball -- the book showing how a revolution in stat-keeping changed how baseball GMs s

  February 16, 2009

• 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, skeptics have wondered if the Rockets could defend at the point with diminutive 6-footers Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry. On Monday night at Toyota Center, New Orleans (49-32) offered quite a challenge

  April 14, 2009

• Shane Battier by the Numbers

  November 1, 2007

• Rocket Science: Daryl Morey Brings Hard-Core Statistical Analysis to the NBA

  Houston's pro basketball team pins (at least a part of ) its hopes on a brainiac GM

  November 1, 2007

• This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

  April 7, 2005

• 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 and second rounds of the playoffs and likely having to meet the Lakers in the second round (if they get there).The lone positive could be drawing Portland as a first-round opponent, who they'll face

  April 17, 2009

• Rockets-Portland Game 4: Hayes Takes One For The Team

  In a gritty comeback effort that epitomized a team win, it seemed only fitting that the game-winner came from a Rocket whose only contribution to the box score was a personal foul.With the Rockets clinging to a two-point lead with under 15 seconds left, Chuck Hayes read Brandon Roy's drive to the bucket, slid in and drew a charge, extinguishing the Blazers' best chance to tie the series and giving the Rockets a thrilling 89-88 win in Game 4 at Toyota Center. The Rockets now own a commanding 3-1

  April 27, 2009

• 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 months from being outed for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Oh, and that's also the last day the Rockets had won a postseason series.But it all changed Thursday night, as a long chapter of mediocrity

  May 1, 2009

• 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 method. The Rockets lost all four games to the Lakers in the regular season. Ron Artest made headlines with his constant trash talk with Kobe Bryant, but the talking was the only true competition. Bryant t

  May 4, 2009

• Five Ways To Fake Your Way Through A Rockets Conversation

  Photo by Keith Allison It's been a long time since the Rockets were of any interest to most of Houston, but now that they've actually advanced past the first round of the playoffs, the bandwagon is getting full.A Houstonian will now be expected to be able to talk confidently about the team in order to keep up with the rest of the people in the bar, at Pilates, at the PTO meeting or at a party.You should, of course, be keeping up with matters by reading Ben DuBose's reports here on Hair Balls. Bu

  May 7, 2009

• 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 Lakers missed eight consecutive shots over a three-plus minute stretch. For the half, Rockets outshot the Lakers from the field, 49 percent to 46 percent, and from behind the arc, 57 percent to 40 perce

  May 9, 2009

• 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 like so many seasons before, the 2008-09 campaign really ended when an X-ray displayed a fracture in a bone on Yao Ming's left foot.  "In games like this, it would have been nice to have a low

  May 18, 2009

• The Nine Five Movies You Must See On 9-9-09

  It's September 9, 2009, a date which has absolutely no significance to anyone except those celebrating Shane Battier's 31st birthday and people who regularly say things like, "Well of course you're having communication issues; you have retrograde Saturn in your 5th house." Today also marks the release of the movie 9 which promises to delve deeper into the world of post-apocalyptic rag dolls than any film before.We at Hair Balls have never been ones to ignore pointless calendar shenanigans, howe

  September 9, 2009