The Drubbing

Yao serves up a pork fried facial

During the first round of the playoffs I felt that few outside of Houston believed that the Rockets could give Mamba all he wanted in the second round. I believed. I spoke to several people (including The Drubbing’s own Ryan), all of whom believed that Portland, not Houston, could beat L.A. in the second round. The argument continued “L.A. can’t win in Portland.” My response to these statements was that they were, unequivocally, nonsense.

Any team featuring Kobe Bryant has an abundance of toughness. Nobody who watched Team U.S.A. play Espana in Beijing can question the toughness Mamba. I believed that Kobe alone could handle Portland in a maximum of five games.

However, L.A., as a team isn’t that tough. Houston is different than Portland. Houston is tougher than L.A.

On or about July 29, 2008, the dynamic of the Houston Rockets changed. Houston acquired toughness… Houston acquired Ron Artest.

Pau "Softer than Chuck's Krispy Kreme gut" Gasol

Any team featuring Ron Artest instantly has the opportunity to become one of the toughest teams in the Association, if not the toughest team in the Association. If you need a big shot, Ron has your back. If you need a hard foul, Ron will commit it. If you need a player to play in your face man defense, Ron is the player you want on your team. All of these attributes are indicative of toughness. Ron Artest brought all of these attributes to the Houston Rockets.

However, Ron’s toughness alone would not instill a Bad-Boys era Detroit Pistons-type toughness into the Rockets without a coach to make that toughness contagious in the locker room and a stable of players who already oozed toughness.

The artist formerly known as the Houston Rockets is dead. This formerly soft team featuring perhaps the softest player in the NBA, Tracy “I can’t make it out of the first round” McGrady, no longer exists.

Rick Adelman made a living in Sacramento by featuring a free flowing system with Princeton-Offense principles, great shooters including Peja and Bibby, and two of the greatest passing big men of all time in Vlade and C-Webb. Rick Adelman has embraced Ron’s toughness and passed it along to his team. Rick Adelman exudes toughness.

Yao Ming is tough. Game 1 of the series was a snap-shot into Yao’s toughness. Returning to the game after a knee-to-knee collision with Mamba is impressive for a 7’6” athlete. Knocking down a 20 footer moments after taking that collision is tougher. The sample size of Yao’s toughness is much greater. Yao dunks hard, clears space after he boards, and intimidates when the opposing team ventures into the paint. Yao played in the Beijing games months after surgery. Yao has been cultivating his toughness for years.

The role players on the Rockets bring toughness every day that they come to work as though it were a lunch pale. These players include the following:

• Chuck Hayes, schooled in Tubby-Ball, Chuck Hayes is tough;
• Carl Landry, matured while playing football on the hardwood in the Big 10, Landry is tough;
• Aaron Brooks, a 6’ point guard, 160 lbs. point guard who gets knocked down, gets up, and then knocks down shots, Aaron Brooks is tough;
• Luis Scola, won a Gold Medal for Argentina, will knock you down when you come to the rim and then knock down a jumper on the other end, Scola is tough;
• Kyle Lowry, schooled in the Big East, will harass opposing point guards for ninety feet on defense, Kyle Lowry is tough;
• Shane Battier, all Duke jokes aside, he will get in your face defense and then knock down open threes on offense, Shane Battier is tough;
• Von Wafer, battled in the D-League to have the opportunity to get a sip in the Association, Von is tough.

When you add Ron Artest to the equation, all of these players become tougher. As a whole, the players that comprise the Houston Rockets roster are tougher than Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmer, Shannon Brown, Adam Morrison, Lamar Odom, Sasha Vujacic, D.J. Mbenga, and Josh Powell. As a result, the Houston Rockets are tougher than the L.A. Lakers.

Don’t be surprised if the Rockets not only push the Lakers to the limit, but do the unthinkable and knock the Lakers out of the 2009 Tournament. The NBA Playoffs are where toughness happens and the Houston Rockets only know one way to play the game—with toughness.