So where is the love for Rick Adelman?  Ridiculously underrated IMO.  I guess it's because he's not a sound-bite type like Jackson or Popovich.  Clearly doing a great job this year.  He took over a team that totally didn't play his style last season, got them to "buy in" (as they always say about coaches) and then made the adjustment with Yao's departure.

So where is the love for Rick Adelman?  Ridiculously underrated IMO.  I guess it's because he's not a sound-bite type like Jackson or Popovich.  Clearly doing a great job this year.  He took over a team that totally didn't play his style last season, got them to "buy in" (as they always say about coaches) and then made the adjustment with Yao's departure.

All hail the Rockets!

I have been a Rockets fan since I was a small child growing up in Houston, in the Rudy T. and Calvin Murphy days. I chafed as the rest of the world pooh-poohed their '94 championship win over the Knicks, and just about blew a couple of gaskets when they traded for Drexler and stormed back from the #7 seed to win the championship the year after that.  I almost cried as a child when they were forced to trade Moses Malone for about 60 cents on the dollar. It has not been easy as a Rockets fan, let me tell you. Those two years in the mid-90s did a lot of good, though.

As for Adelman, he's always been a good regular season coach. I am still a little nervous about this team post-season, and honestly it's mostly because of him. The reason he doesn't get the kudos Jackson and Pop get is because they are proven winners and he's a proven runner-up. I hope he shakes that off this year (and McGrady as well).

I have been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys since I was a teeny tiny kid, but growing up in Houston I also was (and am) a die-hard Astros and Rockets fan. As easy as it is to root for America's Team, it's just as hard to keep the faith with the 'Stros and Rockets. For every dirtbag the Cowboys have had on their team, the Astros and Rockets have had three decent, nice, law-abiding good guys on their respective squads. Here's hoping the Rockets go long, far and hard in the playoffs.

As a long time Sacramento Kings fan - who still maintains that Adelman got the shaft (and i'd take him back in a second by the way) I couldn't be happier for him.  No he doesn't have the ring - of course neither does Jerry Sloan, or a few other pretty fair coaches. That may just have something to do with a guy named Micheal, another named Tim, and a duo down in L.A. You gotta have the players to win it all and the one year the Kings had it all teed up, the injury bug hit them and they couldn't quite close the deal. But all Rick as done everywhere he's been is win.  The Kings are going nowhere this year so I'm rooting for Adelman and the Rockets.

"You gotta have the players to win it all and the one year the Kings had it all teed up, the injury bug hit them and they couldn't quite close the deal."

I was in the greater Sacto area at the time, and my memory of that playoff series was of an all-out battle between the Lakers and the Kings, and some "questionable" calls that seemed to go the Lakers' way (to Kings fans, itseemed more like a conspiracy by the NBA to get the Lakers in the finals). I personally believe that the Kings couldn't have won the series, mainly due to Webber not being able to stand and deliver in a pressure situation (but hasn't that always been his M.O. in his career anyway?).

From one Houstonian to another, Woody, amen. One of my first memories was going to the Astrodome and seeing the 'Stros play. George H.W. Bush threw the first pitch, and so it was my first political memory, too. Politics and baseball were hardwired together in my youthful mind; it took me a long time to disabuse myself of the notion that George Bush had succeeded Ronald Reagan as President because he beat him at baseball.

I believe I wore my 1995 Rockets "Double Clutch" t-shirt for a week.

I live in Dallas now, though, and I can't quite bring myself to like the Cowboys or any other football team, though. Part of it is my hatred for the sport in general due to early-childhood betrayal by Bud Adams. Part of it has to do with early memories of my father sitting me down at the dinner table and saying sternly, "Son, the Dallas Cowboys are evil."

Thanks, Isaac. As an ex-pat who struggles to keep up with the sense of what's going on in US sports, this is helpful. I've been rooting for the Rockets, and if they win it all it will be a perfect start for '08, following what was for me the best football season in history with championships for LSU and the Giants.

It reminds me a little of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays put together a huge winning streak under Lou Pinella a couple of years ago (though I suspect Houston is a much better team relatively/inter-sports speaking, I don't think they would have gone far in the playoffs even if Yao were available.).  I can't believe the Bulls are 1/2 game out of a playoff spot.  

Adelman’s an NBA lifer whose playing career began with the Rockets in their original San Diego incarnation. His seen-it-all wisdom plays well with the numbers-crunching personnel gaming of current Rockets’ 30-something General Manager Daryl Morey. Morey started in the Celtics’ office, then apprenticed under legendary Rockets networker Carroll Dawson. In Morey’s and Adelman’s first year, every trade and pick-up has improved on the previous move. With necessary respect to Jeff Van Gundy, especially now that he’s so brilliantly goofy in the broadcast booth, Adelman’s rotations appear more adaptable, his doghouse less designed for life terms. The loss of Yao will likely limit the Rockets’ playoff run again, but the franchise is building for success beyond their current streak.

Chotiner’s observation on the interest in this NBA season is appreciated—a high number of teams near the top but also near parity, and players seem to enjoy playing more now that coaches and rules-changes encourage fewer isolation plays for solo jumpers and dunks.

A half-game, lymon?  Jesus, the East is terrible.  

But Issac is right.  Despite the Bulls being awful, my interest in the NBA has really rekindled this year.  All the great point guards, LeBron carrying a bunch of nobodies, Kobe really establishing himself as top-5 ever, the Celts being awesome.   It has been fun.