Channel 2 in Houston has one of the longest video interviews I’ve ever seen of anyone on any Web site — approximately 13 1/2 minutes where they talk to Tracy McGrady and his personal trainer Wayne Hall about why McGrady (with the Rockets’ approval) decided to take 2 weeks off to improve his conditioning. Hall also talks about some of McGrady’s physical improvements, like his time running 40 meters decreasing from 5.1 seconds to 4.6, and bench pressing 185 pounds five times, up from 115 pounds.

Of course, it’s up to each viewer to decide if McGrady could have worked harder during off-season rehab, or if the surgeries he had on his shoulder and knee were legitimate excuses to not come into training camp in shape.

Ron-Ron and Tracy went through a light practice on Tuesday where they walked through sets without any scrimmaging.

Click here for more photos from Tuesday’s practice.

McGrady may play Sunday in Detroit or Monday in New York. It’s still unknown when Artest can play, pending results from an MRI late Tuesday and a bone scan scheduled for Sunday.

Raymond has translated an interview of the Rockets’ strength and conditioning coach, David Macha (who also has trained Yao), gave to Sohu Sports where he talks about McGrady’s progress in rehab. I found it interesting that Macha also talks about McGrady’s confidence level.

For Raymond’s complete translation, click here.

Since the Rockets-Nuggets game ended so early because it was a matinee on MLK Jr. Day, most of you already know what happened. So I’ll try to go “old school” on you and do some play-by-play on this huge victory the Rockets pulled off. They’ve now won their 5 of their last 6 games, defeated a Denver team that had won 9 of their last 12, and pulled within 1 game of the Nuggets in the Western Conference standings.

Yao Ming was outstanding with 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting. Over his past 2 games, he’s averaging 28.5 ppg and is 25-for-31 from the field. At this rate, Yao is in serious contention for Player of the Week Honors. He’s leading this team and seems to be back to the level he was playing last year before his bid to win league MVP was cut short because of his foot injury.

The refs had questionable calls against Yao most of the afternoon.
Click here for more game photos.

1st quarter:

The Rockets scored 36 points in the first quarter, a season-high. But they also gave up a season-high 36 points. The Rockets shot 57.7% while the Nuggets shot 57.1%

Von Wafer jetted fast down the court and scored on a layup to make it 25-24, Houston. Then a few minutes later, Von took an offensive rebound the length of the court coast-to-coast, took it strong to the hole, scored, and was fouled! I loved his reaction both times – a little leg kick combined with a fist pump. Von finished the quarter with 9 points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Wafer is kind of like Avery Johnson – a journeyman who finally landed with a team and became a force. You don’t see that very often. Hopefully the Rockets will keep Von as long as the Spurs kept Avery.

Rafer Alston hit his first three 3-pointers and was 5-for-6 in the first quarter for 13 points, including a sweet fake in the lane, then hoisting up a teardrop for the score.

At about the 1 minute mark, Yao grabbed an offensive rebound under the basket and threw down a one-handed reverse dunk over Chris Andersen. Yao finished the quarter with 8 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

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I’m at work today but followed the progress of the Rockets’ MLK game this afternoon against Denver. I’m glad I recorded the game on my home DVR so I can report on it later tonight, because this game sounded like a classic! Houston won 115-113, with lots of exciting moments, including Yao Ming grabbing a game-saving steal at the end of the game. Yao also dominated in the fourth quarter with 13 points, and finished with a game-high 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting. Yao is really stepping it up in Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest‘s absence.

This game was huge because with the win, the Rockets, now 26-16, pulled within 1 game of the Nuggets in the Western Conference standings.

I can’t wait to watch this game when I get home tonight so I can provide more details. Stay tuned!

Saturday night’s Rockets win over Miami was the epitome of what all Houston fans thought they were going to get from Yao Ming when the Rockets drafted him as the #1 pick in the draft seven years ago. Accurate shooting, hard to defend in the post, good decision-making to kick the ball out when double or triple-teamed, etc.

Yao played one of his best, and most consistent, games of the season as he broke a 32-year old Rockets’ team record, hitting more shots without a miss by going 12-for-12 on his way to racking up 26 points.

He actually had secured the team record at 11-for-11, but obviously no one told him before he shot — and luckily made — a baseline jumper with the game in hand with less than a minute to play.


Yao Ming was unstoppable against Miami’s short front line as he shot a perfect 12-for-12 from the field, a franchise record for shots in one game without a miss. Click here for more photos from the game.

It wasn’t like he exploded in one quarter to make all his points. He was 5-for-5 in the first quarter, 2-for-2 in the second, 3-for-3 in the third, and 2-for-2 in the fourth. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and a couple of assists, choosing wisely when to shoot over his defender and when to pass to a cutter for an easy basket.

Ironically, Yao attempted a difficult offensive move where he probably wouldn’t have made the shot, but he was called for traveling even though both Yao and coach Rick Adelman complained he had been held by a defender who caused him to travel. If the refs had let that travel go and Yao had put up that difficult shot, then we might not be talking about the team record that Yao broke.

We all know what Yao is capable of doing. The guy who continues to exceed all expectations over the past 7 games, who received lots of attention during the Miami TV pregame coverage, was a big part of the Rockets’ offense in the first half Saturday night, is Von Wafer.

Quick as a cat, Wafer was aggressive going to the hole a couple of times for layups or dunks, and tied Yao for high score in the first half with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and played the most number of minutes by far for any Rocket in the first half – 22:46 of 24.

He would miss all 7 of his shot attempts in the second half, maybe because he plays “all out” when he’s in the game, and because he played so many minutes in the first half. He finished with 17 on 7-of-18 shooting. I love watching his game. His confidence is really skyrocketing, and if he continues playing like this, he will continue to get big minutes even after McGrady comes back (if he does).

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It’s tough to write up this one. The Rockets had every chance in the world to pull off a big upset given both Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest didn’t play to rest their injuries.

Yao Ming battles Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom for a rebound.
Click here for more game photos.

But two of Houston’s veterans couldn’t come up big in the clutch while the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant did.

After Shane Battier hit a huge three-pointer to give the Rockets a 100-99 lead with 47.9 seconds remaining, Kobe hit a cold-blooded three-pointer over Shane that was a dagger. Lakers 102-100.

Rafer Alston was fouled on the following play, but he missed both free throws. A veteran point guard needs to make those. The Rockets fouled Pau Gasol intentionally, who missed 1-of-2 free throws, to give Houston a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer.

But the Rockets’ offense broke down. Aaron Brooks fed the ball to Yao in the post. The ball was tipped away from Yao, who gathered it and put up a 2-pointer with just a few seconds on the clock. Oops. Not good.

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Big news is that the Rockets have decided that McGrady needs rest without all the uncertainty of when he would play and when he wouldn’t. It’s about time. Here’s more detail in the Chronicle about it.

Meanwhile, we all wait additional test results of Ron Artest‘s ankle (Monday’s MRI bone scan was inconclusive). Raymond found some interesting photos of Artest during Saturday’s game wearing a special protective shoe.

Click here for more photos of Artest’s boot.

Hopefully the final diagnosis won’t be as serious as it looks.

In case you missed it, Kenny Smith is interviewed in this Yahoo! Sports video about the injuries the Rockets have experienced this season and in recent years. There’s not much new here, but it’s interesting the national media recognizes that the Rockets on paper are better than their current record indicates.

Also, I have a slight beef with Rick Adelman. I can’t remember the game when it occurred, but I remember Ron Artest injuring his ankle, or at least making it worse, late in a road game that was clearly out-of-hand when starters should have been pulled. It was in the final minute of a game as he drove the lane, dished it off, and came down wrong on his ankle. He has played some games since that injury, but he’s never been the same. Now there’s a chance the “area of stress” in his ankle could be much more serious as we await word on more tests.

This kind of reminds me of last year when Yao was having routine tests done on his foot, and then he ended up missing the rest of the season, dooming the Rockets’ playoff chances.

No one in the media is bringing up the coaches’ no-no of playing a starter like this during garbage time because of the risk of injury, but I thought I would bring it up. What do you guys think?

Saturday night’s 96-76 blowout win against the Knicks is the kind of game the Rockets should have had in Oklahoma City Friday night: a convincing victory against an inferior team. New York at 13-22 is much better than OKC. They average 104 points per game and can be dangerous. But the Rockets caught them on the second night of a back-to-back. However, the Rockets were on a back-to-back, too, so they both were on even footing. The way they handled them, though, you wonder why they couldn’t do that the night before against the Thunder.

It didn’t start off as a blowout, though. The Knicks got off to a good start, shooting 56% at one point. The Rockets led only 26-24 at the end of the first quarter, and the Knicks actually led 33-28 with 7:55 remaining in the second. But then the Rockets picked up the tempo and ended up taking a 46-45 lead at halftime.

The thing that concerned me was the Rockets jacking up 19 three-point attempts in the first half, and making only 4 of them. That’s way too many.

Luis Scola was benefiting from all the attention that Yao Ming was getting in the first half as he was double-teamed and fronted.

Yao Ming is double-teamed by David Lee and Jared Jeffries,
making it easier for Luis Scola to do some damage.
Click here for more game photos.

Scola scored 8 points in the first quarter. Yao checked out in the second quarter, obviously dragging because of all the running his team started doing. He only had taken 3 shots near the end of the first half, but finished the second quarter strong with 10 points.

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