Category: Houston Rockets Blog

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Al Horford, Luis Scola win Rookies of Month

The Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford and the Houston Rockets’ Luis Scola today were named the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played in February.

Among rookies, Horford is ranked first in rebounds with 10.6 rpg and double-doubles with 16. He set career highs of 20 rebounds on Feb. 6, vs. Lakers, and 20 points on Feb. 29, vs. New York. In addition, Horford recorded seven double-doubles, including three straight to finish the month.  He also became the first Hawk to grab 20 rebounds in a game since Alan Henderson did it on Nov. 26, 2002.

While helping lead his team to a 13-0 record for the month, Scola led all rookies in field goal percentage with .629 percent. He is ranked 15th overall in the NBA this season in field goal percentage with .530.  In addition, Scola was ranked third among West rookies in scoring with 11.7 ppg and recorded a career-high five steals vs. Memphis on Fe. 29, 2008, setting the most by a Rockets player in a game this season.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month were the Los Angeles Clipper’s Al Thornton, Philadelphia’s Thaddeus Young, Seattle’s Kevin Durant and Toronto’s Jamario Moon.

Flip Saunders, Rick Adelman win Coaches of Month

The Detroit Pistons’ Flip Saunders and the Houston Rockets’ Rick Adelman today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in February.

Saunders guided the Pistons to a 9-3 (.750) month, which included wins over a trio of top Western Conference teams – Dallas, Phoenix and Denver. The Pistons recorded a 3.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio for the month, dishing out 20-plus assists in nine of 12 games and committing less than 15 turnovers in all 12 contests. The Pistons outscored their February opponents by 9.5 ppg. In a 90-67 win over Dallas on Feb.3, the Pistons held the Mavericks to 23 field goals. In a 116-86 win at Phoenix on Feb. 24, the Pistons recorded 26 assists on a season-high-tying 46 field goals.

Adelman led the Rockets to a perfect 13-0 record in February, marking the second time in team history that Houston recorded an undefeated month (14-0 in Nov. 1993). The Rockets are currently riding an NBA season long 15-game winning streak. The streak, which began on Jan. 29, ties the Rockets’ franchise record which occurred twice before (1992-93 and 1993-94). Houston outscored its February opponents by 12.6 ppg, while limiting them to a .414 field goal percentage.
                                                          Other nominees for the Coach of the Month were Boston’s Doc Rivers, Cleveland’s Mike Brown, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Phil Jackson, Philadelphia’s Maurice Cheeks, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Utah’s Jerry Sloan.

Yao Ming having season-ending surgery Monday

Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming will undergo season-ending surgery on Monday, March 3rd  in order to repair a stress fracture in the tarsal navicular bone in his left foot.  The surgery will be performed at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center by Rockets Team Physician Tom Clanton, who is regarded as one of the nation’s top orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons.

Injuries have really messed Yao and the Rockets up for years now. It’s tough to say how Yao can ever stop getting hurt, considering how huge he is. Hopefully he can somehow stay healthy eventually.

Reaction to Yao Ming being out for season

Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming has been lost for the remainder of the 2007-08 NBA season due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

I feel sorry for Rockets fans. They don’t deserve this. Between Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady the team over the last few years has had more injuries than the local hospital.

Here’s what they should probably do now:

– Give Luis Scola a bigger role. If he’s good enough to carry top international teams to victory, he can do more for the Rockets than he’s been asked to so far.

– Tell Rafer Alston to bust out some streetball moves during games. It may make the team lose, but it’ll entertain. He should bounce the ball off Dikembe Mutombo’s head, while moonwalking.

– Put Gerald Green out there and let him try to dunk three-pointers.

– Tell Luther Head to make like Leandro Barbosa and try to score 20 whenever possible.

– Let Mutombo give inspirational speeches to the fans during halftime while dressed like the cookie monster. It’ll amuse the kiddies.

Rockets sign Bobby Jones to 10-day contract, waive Adam Haluska

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract. To accommodate the signing, Houston has waived guard Adam Haluska, who was acquired by the Rockets via trade with the New Orleans Hornets on Feb. 21, 2008.

Jones (6-7, 215, Washington) has averaged 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 76 career games (seven starts) with Philadelphia, Denver and Memphis. Jones was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (37th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft before having his draft rights sent to the Sixers. Jones averaged 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 44 games (five starts) during his rookie season in Philadelphia. Traded by the Sixers to the Nuggets on Sept. 10, 2007, Jones averaged 3.3 points and 1.4 boards in 23 outings this season with Denver. Jones, who was waived by the Nuggets on Jan. 7 of this year and signed to the first of two 10-day contracts with Memphis on Jan. 10, averaged 4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in nine contests (two starts) with the Grizzlies in 2007-08.

Jones will wear jersey #15.

Dwight Howard speaks

Here’s Dwight Howard talking to the media at All-Star weekend. He’s one of the four dunkers in the upcoming Slam Dunk contest.

Q: Have you talked to the other contestants about their dunks at all?

Dwight Howard: Well you know, we talked, but nobody is going to tell their dunk secrets to anybody. It’s just going to be a lot of fun, I just can’t wait.

Q: Is it safe to say your dunks will be things we’ve never seen before?

Dwight Howard: I think about three of my dunks have never been seen before. Well, all of them have never been seen, so hopefully I get a chance to do it. If not, I do have two of my dunks on Youtube.

Q: What’s your favorite Bourbon Street memory here in New Orleans?

Dwight Howard: Ah, man, I haven’t really been out on Bourbon Street, but I did go to a restaurant and they had some fried barbeque oysters and they’re awesome.

Q: Are things easier for the Magic now with trades sending players to the West?

Dwight Howard: No, we still got a tough road in front of us. We’re fighting to be a great team and some teams that we look up to as far as the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics, you know, they’re great teams and we want to be right there in the mix. I think people always forget about the Orlando Magic when they talk about good teams in the East, so we really want to build on becoming a good team.

Q: Do you think there will be years ahead of Yao versus you, two true centers?

Dwight Howard: Oh yeah, I think there will always be that between me and Yao. Like everyone says, big men are like dinosaurs, they’re becoming extinct. Me and Yao and Andrew Bynum, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, there’s not a lot of us. We’re trying to keep centers going and let everyone know you still need a good center to win basketball games.

Rockets-Kings team connections

Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman stands as the winningest coach in Kings history, recording a 395-229 (.633) mark in eight seasons (1998-2006) as head coach of Sacramento.

Elston Turner also spent six seasons as an assistant coach on Adelman’s staff in Sacramento.

T.R. Dunn joined the Rockets coaching staff after three campaigns as an assistant coach for the Kings.

Rockets Assistant Coach R.J. Adelman served five years as a scout for Sacramento, including the final three seasons as assistant video coordinator.

Houston forward Chuck Hayes, who was born in San Leandro, California, attended Modesto Christian High School.

In his solo season with the Kings (2005-06), Rockets guard/forward Bonzi Wells averaged 13.6 points, 2.8 assists and a career-high 7.7 rebounds in 52 games (41 starts).

Maloof Companies previously owned the Rockets from 1979-82.

Kings President John Thomas is a former Senior Executive Vice President with the Rockets.

Sacramento forward Kenny Thomas was drafted by Houston in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft, playing the next three-and-a-half seasons with the Rockets.