Top Three Players the Rockets have Gotten this Offseason and my Thoughts on it

     This offseason, the Rockets have been very active in trying to sign big name free agents like LeBron, Melo, and Chris Bosh. I was bummed out that we didn't get Bosh because he said that if LeBron leaves Miami then he will come to Houston. LeBron signed with the Cavs and Bosh didn't stay true to his word and re signed with the Heat. I was also sad that we had to get rid of Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin because they are two of my favorite players.We still got some good new players though. Here are my rankings and thoughts about who we got:
     1. Trevor Ariza. We needed another forward to replace Chandler Parsons and Ariza was the best one available. It's a bummer losing Parsons, but $47 million over 3 years is a little too much for a non all star. Although Parsons is a better overall player,  Ariza plays very similar to Parsons and we got him for one more year and $15 million less, so I think it was a good signing for the Rockets.
    2. Nick Johnson. He was a great draft pick for us. We needed some more depth at guard and he fits perfectly with the Rockets. He is a good shooter, very athletic (as we have seen in the Summer League), and a great defender. I hope he gets to play a lot this season.
     3. Alonzo Gee. We also needed some depth at forward and Gee will be a key role player for the Rockets. He is a great shooter, athletic, and a good rebounder. I think he will be a great fit for the Rockets.
     Overall, since we missed out on all of the big names, we either got a little bit worse or stayed the same. We might not be as good this year, but we have a lot of leftover money to spend in next year's offseason. Hopefully we can be a top 5 team in the west and have a great season. I would also like to say farewell to Jeremy Lin. He has been a great player for the rockets and it was really cool getting to meet him. I hope he does well in LA!

Rockets Playoff Picture

     The Rockets have finished the season with a record of 54-28 and because of that, they have earned the 4th seed in the Western Conference. They will be playing the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs. We were 3-1 against the Blazers this season, so I'm hoping that we can keep winning against them. I
f we win that series than we would most likely be playing the Spurs. We're one of the few teams that can play the Spurs really well because we play at a way faster tempo then them, so we can get easy buckets in transition against them which is a good thing. If we win that, then we would be playing either the Thunder or the Clippers. I would rather them play the Thunder because of how bad we play the Clippers. It would be a very tough series either way. If we somehow win that series, then we would most likely play the Heat or the Pacers. We went 1-1 against both of them, so I actually think we have a higher chance of winning this series than the Thunder/Clippers one.
       Against the Blazers, Lin, Beverley, and Howard will have to play some BIG D. If the Rockets can shut down Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, than we can definitely win this series. We cannot just play James Harden basketball and win, we have to play great team basketball to win. I'm hoping that Jeremy Lin can finally play well in the playoffs and stay healthy. The last two years, he's been hurt, so he needs to make up for it by playing very aggresive, not turning the ball over, and play great defense.
      I think that this is finally the year that the Rockets will make a big run in the playoffs. We have all of the pieces, just we have to put it all together.

My Trade Deadline Thoughts

     Once again, Daryl Morrey made a move right before the trade deadline. This time, it wasn't very major. Here are my thoughts about 3 trades on trade deadline day.
     1. Warriors trade Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks for Steve Blake from the Lakers. I thought it was a good deal for both teams.  The Warriors needed a backup point guard which they got in Steve Blake and the Lakers needed more help at guard after Kobe Bryant went down, which they got in Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks. If I were to give them a letter grade for how smart their deal was, I'd give the Warriors a B and the Lakers a B+.
     2. Pacers trade Danny Granger and a future second round pick for Evan Turner from the 76ers. I thought it was a good deal for the Pacers because they needed more depth at guard, which they got in Evan Turner. The Sixers made a horrible deal in trading for Granger. They ended up buying out his contract because Granger didn't want to play for them and they wanted to save some cap room.  Still, I don't know why they would trade one of their best players for nothing. I would give the Pacers an A- and the 76ers a D.

     3. Rockets trade Aaron Brooks for Jordan Hamilton from the Nuggets. I thought it was a good deal for the Nuggets because Ty Lawson is out and they just traded their backup, so they needed help at point guard. Aaron Brooks is very underrated, so the Nuggets made a good move in trading for him. I thought that it was a good move for the Rockets too. I've been a big Aaron Brooks fan since the first day he put on a Rockets uniform, so I was mad when I heard that we traded him. Jordan Hamilton has put up 12 and 16 points in his first two games with the Rockets, so we'll see if he can keep putting up these type of numbers. I would give both teams a B+.
     It was another interesting trade deadline with lots of interesting trades. Hopefully, Jordan Hamilton turns out to be good for the Rockets.

My Suggestions For Kevin McHale

     Last night, the Rockets beat the Blazers 126-113. We played well and all, but I have some suggestions for Kevin McHale going forward.

     For Kevin McHale, I think that he should try to make the Rockets into a more defensive minded team. We've been giving up 102 points per game which is 22nd in the league. When we get steals, we get to run in transition which is our specialty just we haven't been able to do it as much this year. We are a good enough offensive team that if we hold a team under 90 points, we will most likely win. On offense, we need Dwight Howard and Terrence Jones to score more consistently. When they are both on their games, we win most of the time because we are already a pretty good outside team and when Jones and Howard play well, they give us the inside presence that we need. So on offense, we need to work the ball inside more often and overall, we need to be more of a defensive minded team.

     To sum it up, I think we've been playing great team basketball lately. Hopefully, Kevin McHale can use my suggestions to make the Rockets a better team and that we can continue playing well.

   

Meeting my Favorite Rockets Players at the Rockets Game

     I had the most incredible time at the Rockets game last Saturday night. We got group tickets as a reunion with some of our family friends. The Yuhans from California and the Jungs from Houston. We went to the game early before the doors opened to try to get some autographs and see the players warm up. Right as the doors opened, we went straight to the bottom of the court and right when we got there we surprisingly saw Chandler Parsons, Aaron Brooks, James Harden, and Dwight Howard warming up. When they started leaving the court, I got Chandler Parsons's autograph and even got a fist bump from Aaron Brooks! Then we went to check out the store, got some food, and then went to our seats that we would be watching the game from.

     The game was awesome! We were playing against the Pelicans. It was close all the way until the end when the Rockets started pulling away. Jeremy Lin and James Harden both made huge shots at the end which got me on my feet. It was a very exciting game and fun to watch.

     After the game, my dad's friend, Uncle Peter worked it out with Josh Fan (Jeremy Lin's trainer) to get us guest passes to go down to the court. Right when we got there, we saw Darryl Morey, the Rockets GM. We said hi to him and my two brothers and I took a picture with him. After waiting there for about twenty minutes longer, we saw Jeremy Lin! Luckily, Uncle Peter is friends with him so he came right over to us. There were a lot of other people waiting in line and he wanted to see us, so he took us a few steps inside of the tunnel. We talked for a little bit and then my brothers and I took another picture, but this time with Jeremy Lin.

     I had the time of my life at the Rockets game! I'd like to give a big thank you to Josh Fan for making this happen.