2009-10 NBA preview: Houston Rockets

How now, without Yao? That is the question for the Houston Rockets and their fans. Of course it is not like Yao Ming has been all that healthy since he came to Houston in the 2002 NBA draft. While he missed just two games in his first three seasons, Yao has been anything but healthy since then. Now, after having undergone bone graft surgery to repair his foot it now appears that Yao will be gone until training camp of next season. That means the Rockets are minus the player that their franchise has been built upon. They also lost Ron Artest in the off season, and the future looks very dark indeed.

Of course the news was even worse, when the team found out about Ming’s surgery they already knew that Tracy McGrady recovering from micro knee surgery would miss at least the opening part of the 2009-10 season. In fact there is no guarantee that he can recover from this kind of surgery and play the same game he played before hand.

The plan at the moment is to retrench the team without Ming at its center. They will look to implement Coach Rick Adelamn’s wide open offense that leads to easy buckets off fast breaks, and creates open shots in the passing game. Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola will be the lead men on the floor. To help replace Ming the Rockets signed Australian Center David Andersen, while he is clearly not Yao he can run, and the Rockets are looking to be a much faster team.

This team is also looking for veterans Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry can step up their games as they continue to develop youngsters Brooks and Carl Landry. It is a long step from being among the contenders in the west, to what looks to be a very long NBA campaign for the Rockets and their fans.