Rockets Texas Hold ‘Em: Yao Ming, K-Mart and Brooks a Flop or Trips?

July 22nd, 2010 by Euno Lee Leave a reply »
In July 2009, the Rockets received news that would have meant a death-blow to most teams.  Their star center, Yao Ming, would miss the entirety of the 2009-2010 NBA Season to surgically repair a hairline fracture in his left foot. 

The injury was described as "career-threatening," and many basketball analysts declared Yao Ming's career, at the tender age of 28, officially over. 

During that off-season, tough-nosed defender Ron Artest defected to play with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Rockets picked up a relatively young talent from said squad in Trevor Ariza via injury exception.

Finally that hellish year for the Houston Rockets arrived, and the Rockets fought like dogs, earning the respect of NBA analysts across the board as a scrappy, defense-savvy team. 

At the trade deadline, the Rockets managed to land Kevin Martin after moving a decrepit Tracy McGrady and fan-favorite Carl Landry.

Call them tough, call them defensive-minded, call them a young, developing, grind-it-out team.  Now, try this:

Call them a slowly-built, dark horse in 2011 NBA Playoff contention.

Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
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