I’m filing a late post here because I had to watch the Rockets-Mavs game twice to digest –- and enjoy — the 93-86 win all over again. After all, it’s a new team with McGrady and Rafer out of the picture, Aaron Brooks now the starter at point, and Kyle Lowry his backup. My verdict? I absolutely love this team more than ever.

Yao Ming led all Rockets in scoring with 22 points and 13 boards in a 93-86 victory over Dallas Friday night. Click here for more photos of Yao from the game.

I really think they are going to shock some people the rest of the season. They have so many weapons that play better as a TEAM now that you-know-who is out. They also have become more athletic, the ball doesn’t stop on offense, the defense is better, they play smarter, and the crowd is behind them more than ever now that the cancer and drama are gone from the headlines.

Thank you Mr. Morey. You have made watching the Rockets for the rest of the season something that every Rockets fan wants to check out now, and maybe even wipe the slate clean from all of those disappointing losses against bad teams earlier in the season.

With the “problem player” out of the locker room and off the court, it’s more obvious than ever the Rockets may be even better than the 13-6 record they have had this season when T-Lack doesn’t play.

They also didn’t fold when they fell behind by 16 points in the first quarter to Dallas, fighting hard to get back into the game late in the second quarter, and outscoring the Mavs 30-13 in the third quarter to build a nice lead. They also showed some fortitude by holding off a late charge by Dallas, something that we didn’t see very much in games before the All-Star break.

They may be less experienced without McGrady & Alston, but I say “who cares?” since they immediately upgraded their athleticism. Brooks and Lowry attack the basket more, you can already tell they’re probably better at finishing at the cup than McGrady-Alston, and for being young, you can tell they take smarter shots, especially Aaron.

Brooks finished with 19 points on 7-of-15 shots and hit a 3-pointer with less than 24 seconds remaining to put the game away. Actually, it was his 2nd three-pointer in a row, but who’s counting? He finished 3-of-5 from downtown.

Aaron Brooks reacts to a big 3-pointer he made late in the game against Dallas to seal a big victory. Click here for more photos of Brooks and other Rocket players from the game.

Although Brooks is no stranger to scoring in bunches, it’s got to help his confidence in becoming a go-to shooter in clutch time. Starting guards in this league who can score are also expected to make big shots late in games, and Big Shot Brooks delivered in front of an ESPN national TV audience Friday night.

A.B. also had 6 rebounds and 8 assists. I really think his passing ability is underrated. He can penetrate into the lane at will to draw the defense, then does a good job kicking it out accurately to a shooter.

And did you see that play in the first quarter when he blew by Jason Kidd and a couple of other Mavs for a layup? He may be at a slight disadvantage on defense because he’s small, but he makes his opponents have to play defense, too.

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As I wrote about earlier today, Rafer is gone. But the thing I liked most about today’s trade are the players who were NOT traded.

Consistent with what I had hoped for a couple of days ago, the Rockets kept Artest, Landry, and Scola, assets that other teams probably wanted more than anything. Thanks Daryl Morey for not getting rid of these guys who play hard, are effective, and I think are the Rockets’ future (especially Landry and Scola).

It wasn’t the deal I expected, even with McGrady probably not being part of the Rockets’ future. Rafer Alston was traded at the deadline in a 3-way deal with Memphis and Orlando where the Rockets will get Kyle Lowry and Brian Cook.

I remember games against the Rockets where Lowry lit up the Rockets, and he’s super quick. But he’s only 6 feet tall, not much bigger than Aaron Brooks. And Cook is another power forward that creates more of a logjam with Carl Landry, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes already there. Cooks is different in that he’s a good 3-point shooter, just under 40% for his career (44% this season), but I don’t expect him to get many minutes. Think Matt Bullard, Steve Novak or Robert Horry — a specialist.

Obviously the Magic thought they had to do something with Jameer Nelson out because of shoulder surgery, so they needed some experience at the helm.

Quite frankly, I’m surprised Rafer was traded since — despite his inconsistency — he had become more reliable over the past few weeks, just like he did last season, and when he was hitting his 3-pointers, was a very surprising weapon. He also seemed to be hitting his stride from an assist perspective, as witnessed in his last game Tuesday against the Nets with 11 and 13 against Sacramento the game before that.

He also became more of a team leader than anyone else. Just last night I was impressed listening to him on the radio doing an interview during the Tux & Tennies event. He always made himself available to the press and called it like he saw it. He even told the interviewer last night that he didn’t mind being interviewed even more, and would make himself available at any time.

My exposure to him in person was always professional. Even though I got on him since he became a Rocket , he had won me over with his grit to pull himself up by the bootstraps and make a contribution considering all the criticism he received from the fans, something that McGrady had a hard time dealing with.

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Raymond has posted lots of pics in the forum from the Rockets’ annual Tux & Tennies Charity Gala!

Here Yao and his wife Ye Li appear on stage.

Click here for all the photos and Raymond’s coverage!

By the way, McGrady wasn’t there. Surprise, surprise.

After clearing their head during the All-Star break, the Rockets won in impressive fashion over New Jersey 114-88 at Toyota Center Tuesday night, showing again that without McGrady in the lineup, they are a tougher team to beat. The numbers don’t lie. The Rockets are now 13-6 without him around. More to come about the game after our daily drama report about McGrady.


Yao prepares to throw down a vicious one-handed dunk over fellow countryman Yi Jianlian. Yao would lead all Rockets in scoring with 20 points. Click here for more game photos.

It was reported by ESPN late Tuesday night that McGrady said he would have to get season-ending microfracture surgery on his left knee. This is after all of the confusing messages that have been coming from him over the past few weeks, but with Rocket doctors still holding firm that nothing is structurally wrong with his knee. Someone isn’t telling the truth. You can probably guess who isn’t, but I guess we’ll all find out soon as more tests are conducted over the next couple of days.

I’m thinking there has been a big delay in everyone understanding the real story because 1) the Rockets aren’t really motivated to have McGrady play because they are playing well without him, 2) McGrady is a nut so why embarrass him, and 3) the Rockets’ annual Tux & Tennies Gala is Wednesday night, and if the Rockets made a major announcement before the event, it might taint the entire evening, and maybe even make some big-time contributors unhappy that they can’t sit next to the players they were expecting to see. So if a big trade happens, expect to hear about it on Thursday after Tux & Tennies.

I won’t get into the timeline of what has been said by McGrady over the past few weeks that has made this whole drama such a cluster. I’d be writing about it forever. You probably already know most of it, so no need to report it.

The latest confusing part of the plot is Rockets’ owner Leslie Alexander saying late Tuesday night that McGrady was NOT going to be traded, and that McGrady is “a superstar” and “a great competitor.”

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Yesterday in Phoenix before the All-Star game, Yao Ming was recognized by his Team Yao member Bill Duffy and his agency BDA Sports for the first annual BDA Giving Award for Yao’s philanthropic efforts over the past year. Steve Nash‘s foundation was also recognized.

Duffy also contributed $5,000 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the memory of Leandro Barbosa‘s mother who passed away recently. Barbosa is represented by BDA Sports.

Raymond has posted tons of photos in the forum from the All-Star game. Below Yao Ming shares a laugh with Dirk Nowitzki on the bus headed to the arena.

More photos in the forum include:
– Yao Ming and Sun Yue at NBA China Night (Saturday)
– Yao Ming at the arena (pre-game, in the game, and post-game)

Raymond has posted in the forum photos of Yao at the Saturday practice for the West team.

Below the photos is a link to a video interview that Yao conducted with Craig Sager on Saturday.

Sorry for the brevity, but I’m writing this blog on my iPhone as I make my way to Phoenix for some All-Star activities on Sunday. More to come on Sunday.

Raymond has posted lots of photos in the forum of Yao and other NBA players, including Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks, in Phoenix for All-Star weekend events.

Click here for more photos of Yao and other players in Phoenix.

Here Yao Ming works with one of many university exchange students from Sichuan at a Phoenix school in some cleanup work as part of the NBA Cares program. Raymond has written a nice write-up of how this student was selected to come to Phoenix.

I’m trying out a new polling platform to see if it’s something the Yao Mania community likes. Take the survey below and if you have any negative feedback about how it works, let me know in the comments at the bottom of the post (not at the bottom of the widget).