Everybody Loves Rondo
Rajon Rondo has been back for only a few games and the trade rumors are already swirling hard. Well, to be honest, there were a couple of trade rumors before he got back on the floor but now that he is back it is like gasoline has been added to the fire. This writer has seen trade rumors of Rajon Rondo being dealt to the Lakers, Kings, Rockets, Timberwolves and Knicks so far. We're sure that we have missed a few teams in that short list but clearly Rondo is going to be a hot commodity with the trade deadline coming soon.
This writer guesses the questions we would have when it comes to Rajon Rondo in addition to how effective will he be coming off of his knee injury is how effective is he going to be without Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce around him. Sometimes playing with veterans can make the game easy for a point guard. Rondo is a top five point guard, that goes without question. But is he going to be just as potent when he gets his legs under him in a different environment? Guess we just have to wait and see. It is going to be weird seeing Rondo in another uniform other than the Celtics when and if he gets traded.
Houston Rockets Tale of Two Halves
The Houston Rockets in last Thursday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder were the prime definition of feast or famine.
First let's talk about the first half feast where the Rockets were up 73-59 at the end of the first half and hit 12 3-pointers. The Rockets were getting whatever they wanted because the reality is 12 treys equals 36 points which was only half of the total points scored in the half. So you would think that, with a 14 point lead and the ability to get points in ways outside of hitting 3-point buckets, the Rockets would be able to muster enough points to maintain the lead or at least not get the script flipped on them completely right?
That is where the famine comes in. The Rockets scored 19 points for the rest of the game and never made another 3-point bucket. Wow, 73 points in the first half, 19 in the second half. You would think that would be an impossibility especially with James Harden and Dwight Howard on the floor. They are, after all, capable of getting 19 points by themselves in a half on occasion. The Rockets went on to lose the game 104-92. That is a rough way to go out.
Clearly coach Kevin McHale and the Rockets are having an identity crisis as in they don't know who they want to be. They don't know if they want to be an up-tempo 3-point shooting team or a team that throws it into the paint to Dwight Howard and let's him operate. The best thing that they could do is try to be a combination of the two. By the way, Dwight Howard seems to be the same player that he was last year and is not making the impact that people thought he would when he went to Houston in the offseason. Just thought we would put that out there.
Gaining Respect For "Swaggy P"
The Lakers are 16-26 right now and it appears that they are going to be nowhere near playoff contention by the end of this season. Amidst all the disaster that the Lakers have gone through this season as far as the Kobe Bryant injury and the horrible front office management of Jim Buss, there has been a bright spot. Nick Young has actually seemed to have matured while playing for the Lakers this year and the team is feeding off of his energy. Dare this columnist say that the Lakers have been "Swaggy P's" team in the absense of Kobe Bryant?
Nick Young has never met a shot that he didn't like, but that mentality actually has served him well this year. Nick Young is leading the Lakers in scoring at 16.7 ppg and is shooting 35.9% from 3-point range. His field goal percentage leaves a little to be desired at 42.7%, but that really is a byproduct of being the Lakers' main perimeter scoring option. If the Lakers did not have Nick Young, it goes without saying that they would not even be as competitive as they are now.
The Lakers must be making plans for next season already because this year is a total bust. But surely Nick Young has to be in those plans and, honestly, he should be a player that the Lakers attempt to use as a piece to build with for the future. This season we have been impressed with "Swaggy P".