Improvement

John Hollinger says the Houston Rockets had the most offseason improvement:

In the big picture, the Rockets aggressively addressed their three main problems: stagant offense, point guard and power forward. Between the coaching change, the additions of James and first-round pick Aaron Brooks at the point, the pickups of Scola and Butler up front, and the de facto addition of Wells, this team suddenly looks loaded. At this point in the offseason, nobody has upgraded more than this club.

I tend to agree. Is it possible that the West now has the four best teams in the league? This sounds like a better lineup than Cleveland or Detroit can muster.

Comments

Is it possible that the West now has the four best teams in the league?

You mean as opposed to the five best teams, like last year? I suppose, though I'm not sure why the issue would come up when discussing how the Rockets have improved.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | July 19, 2007 10:00 AM

Why stop at four?

I feel reasonably confident that Denver could take Cleveland this season. Detroit would be a steeper hill to climb, but assuming that chemistry develops this regular season, I think they could take Detroit as well.

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 10:03 AM

Color me unimpressed. Between "Injury Twins" (... activate! Form of? A broken foot and 43 missed games) and the fact that none of those guys are A-level (sorry, maybe James wasn't thrilled by Minny--neither are we, lately--but he looked pretty half-***ed from where I sat last season).

Season is Spurs or Suns to lose: and, getting on one of the last for the Nash?

Posted by Joel Turnipseed | July 19, 2007 10:03 AM

If you watched Aaron Brooks trying to play point guard, i.e. making his rather talented teammates more productive, like I did in his junior year you may be less certain of how effective he will be in the NBA, even given his rather remarkable senior year in which the OU offense was set up to make him look good (and he did), plus he had Tajuan Porter there to help him get his shots. On the other hand, he certainly showed the ability to make the big play in the last four seconds.

Posted by Gene O'Grady | July 19, 2007 10:08 AM

"maybe James wasn't thrilled by Minny--neither are we, lately--but he looked pretty half-***ed from where I sat last season"

He looked pretty damn good the year before Minny...

Minneapolis is where basketball players go to die. Kevin McHale is a zombie who feeds on their brains.

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 10:14 AM

By my count the Rox now have 7 NBA-quality guards: Alston, James, Brooks, McGrady, Head, Snyder, Wells. (OK maybe McGrady is more of a "3", but still, you've got Battier at the 3) And now Steve Francis might come aboard. How will all these guys find playing time?

Posted by nbt | July 19, 2007 10:15 AM

By my count the Rox now have 7 NBA-quality guards: Alston, James, Brooks, McGrady, Head, Snyder, Wells. (OK maybe McGrady is more of a "3", but still, you've got Battier at the 3) And now Steve Francis might come aboard. How will all these guys find playing time?

I can think of worse problems to have than this. Also maybe Brooks sucks. Or maybe James can't recover to his pre-Minny days. Or maybe Wells is a total headcase. That kind of thing is why depth is a good thing.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | July 19, 2007 10:17 AM

I agree Houston has improved the most for next year, primarily because Adelman is an excellent coach, the best hire of the off-season.

Scola (who rumor has refused to come over and play behind Duncan, which is why all they had to do was also take Butler's contract from the cap-conscious Spurs to get him) is an excellent Euro veteran who could fix one of their biggest weaknesses at power forward.

And Gene, Aaron Brooks is not going to be expected to play pass-first floor-general, and Houston probably never expects him to be a starter. What he is, is a change-of-pace spark plug off the bench. They want him to come in, sprint up and down the floor, and shoot the ball, all which he does well. He could develop into an excellent role-player immediately.

But the biggest thing, of course, is McGrady staying healthy. Its a big if, but if so I think Houston would be my favorite. People forget the Spurs had a relatively easy path to the title, especially with the Suns getting derailed by the refs. Every player on the Spurs except for Parker has passed their peak. They are not going to be better next year, but most of the West will be.

Posted by Matthew C | July 19, 2007 10:21 AM

Hollinger is right, and they will be top 4 in the West. I think Utah will see some slippage, and Denver will be great, but not very deep. The No 1. and 2 seeds in the West are now even less important.

Posted by MP | July 19, 2007 10:25 AM

The crucial addition for the Rockets is Bonzi. After that, Adelman. Everything else is minor compared to those two changes.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | July 19, 2007 10:26 AM

I don't see it.

Is James a major upgrade over Alston? No. Is Scola a major upgrade over Juwon? Who knows. So why does anyone think they will be better? Because of Rick Adelman? Yikes.

Posted by Al | July 19, 2007 10:30 AM

"The crucial addition for the Rockets is Bonzi. After that, Adelman. Everything else is minor compared to those two changes."

If Scola is NBA ready, he could be a pretty big deal too.

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 10:31 AM

"Because of Rick Adelman? Yikes."

Dude hasn't won any titles, but he's had some pretty good deep runs without ever having a legitimate mega-dominant player.

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 10:34 AM

scola, like other euros (cf. oberto) may take time to adjust.

as for the spurs being worse, if parker keeps improving like he did last year, at worst they tread water, and they might improve even with everyone a year older (particularly if elson and bonner contribute more because another year of playing with the team, etc.) yes, parker plays with duncan, which is kinda like playing with shaq in terms of how it helps open things up. but loads of the buckets parker made in the playoffs were completely self-generated. and if he can shoot the 3 this year? all bets are off.

as for everyone else being better, when does nash's body start to really break down? how do the mavs have any confidence in the playoffs after last year's meltdown? and does it matter whether anyone else in the west is somewhat better? cause it won't get them near the spurs/suns/mavs. houston will be happy just to get out of the first round.

(as for the refs derailing the suns, this has been beat to death, but please, the spurs have had the suns' number(s?) for a long time, the suns got soundly beat with everyone back, the spurs tried mighty hard to give away the suspension game, and it was raja bell who caused the ruckus, not the hard foul.)

Posted by dj superflat | July 19, 2007 10:49 AM

Well, no question, re: McHale's zombie status (why we got rid of Droopy Dog and not McHale: there's a question Taylor will have to answer in Hell), but: I think James had a career season in 2005 & that last year was much closer to his career numbers: he's a 4-6 assist, 10-14 point guy, with an occasional light-it-up game. Sounds pretty 6th man to me.

Is Adelman an upgrade? Not sure. Maybe. But the key is keeping Yao and McGrady healthy for 70 games in the regular season and fine-tuned for the playoffs. Getting past Utah, GS, Denver, PHX, Dallas, Spurs and the one or two other lucky teams in the West is going to be a tall order for the Rockets.

Posted by Joel Turnipseed | July 19, 2007 10:50 AM

"and (the Spurs) might improve even with everyone a year older"

Ron Paul might be the GOP nominee.

Peace might break out in Iraq.

And San Antonio might improve as their players edge towards 40.

I agree with you entirely on the universe of things that might happen.

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 10:55 AM

"the key is keeping Yao and McGrady healthy"

Additional guard depth should allow McGrady's minutes to be better regulated.

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 10:57 AM

Of course I'm biased, but I personally think the Bulls are the best team in the East. I would put Phoenix, San Anton, Dallas and Houston ahead of them.

Personally I think the key to a Rockets championship run is if Yao can develop as a rebounder to match his considerable offensive talents. And they need to avoid having him play shooting big men (the Jazz were perhaps the worst possible matchup for him last year.)

Dude hasn't won any titles, but he's had some pretty good deep runs without ever having a legitimate mega-dominant player.

I think you're undervaluing just how good Chris Webber was far awhile. He was a legitimately great player before he was wrecked by microfracture.

Posted by Freddie | July 19, 2007 11:06 AM

"I think you're undervaluing just how good Chris Webber was far awhile. He was a legitimately great player before he was wrecked by microfracture."

No, I think Webber was a helluva a player, just as Drexler was a helluva player. But Adelman has never had a Jordan or Shaq or Olajuwon or Timmy or LeBron, and he's still come close to a title several times.

And importantly, some pretty marginal players on the Blazers and Kings have looked pretty damn good under Adelman's system. That's one of the marks of a good coach, I think.

And besides, Adelman doesn't aspire to be compared to Hitler. That's gotta count for something, no?

(I've missed being able to post links.)

Posted by Petey | July 19, 2007 11:18 AM

JVG had some good runs without a major talent also. Who knows, maybe a better offensive coach will be what they need. But I seriously don't see a major upgrade in talent there, unless Scola turns out to be an all-star level player (and if he were, would RC Buford have let him go for nothing?).

Posted by Al | July 19, 2007 11:20 AM

Who knows, maybe a better offensive coach will be what they need.

How can you doubt that an improvement in their offense will be an unqualified good?

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | July 19, 2007 11:25 AM

I think Adelman will be a great coach for Yao. Yao could be a deadly high-post guy once in a while, with his shooting and passing skills.

Also, it's not just that Mike James is better than Alston (he's not that much better). It's that he's a better fit. The rockets need a steady pg who can shoot more than they need a playmaker from the And1 league. Besides, if they decide they need the And1 approach, Alston is still there.

Posted by too many steves | July 19, 2007 11:26 AM

JVG did a great job with what he had, but he rode his starting five very hard. The Rockets had a chance to win all of the games they lost against the Jazz (except the first), but they looked worn out. They had to hang on to win the games they did take. The failure to make use of his roster and using McGrady as a point (Petey is right on that account) probably led to his replacement. It will be interesting to see how fast Adelman can get it to gel.

The only disagreement I have with the above is the Jazz's prospects. They added a pure shooter in Almond, which can only help in their system.

Posted by paperpusher | July 19, 2007 11:38 AM

but I personally think the Bulls are the best team in the East.

I actually think I agree with this, but I didn't want to cloud the issue and I overestimated the Bulls last year so I'm now a bit gun shy about making this call.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | July 19, 2007 12:49 PM

I agree on the most improved label.

Of course all that goes down the drain if they are crazy enough to go after Francis.

Posted by Davebo | July 19, 2007 1:38 PM

I overestimated the Bulls last year so I'm now a bit gun shy about making this call.

The Bulls utterly fucked themselves when they lost that last game of the year, giving the 2 seed to Cleveland. I do believe Cleveland would have beaten Detroit, and then the Bulls would have beaten Cleveland in the Eastern Finals. They would have been killed by the Spurs, but I do think they would have made it a 5 or 6 game Finals.

Posted by Freddie | July 19, 2007 3:08 PM

Looks like they just signed Steve Francis.... I don't know if I like it for them.

Posted by Freddie | July 19, 2007 4:19 PM