The following excerpt is from a writer for a Minneapolis paper:
These current Rockets are a paradox. Because they share the ball, because they hustle and play committed defense, (not to mention that they easily fit the mold of scrappy, un-famous underdogs) they are beloved by "play the right way" purists. But because they feature a quirky, non-traditional lineup full of oddly shaped, idiosyncratically talented players, whose skills align only tangentially with the traditional but tired box-score statistics (their starting center is 6'6"; possibly their most famous current player has become known as "no-stats all-star"), and because they run the floor and shoot threes with abandon, they are also at the vanguard of everything new and weird and great about the current NBA.
The Rockets are somehow both conservative and radical.Actually, in many ways their conservatism is their radicalism. Because they share the ball, they're frequently called "unselfish," a favorite "right-way" buzzword. But, even in the NBA, selfishness is not the monster its made out to be. The problem is trust. Players have learned--because of the cutthroat world of elite youth basketball, because the league's salary system heavily favors dominant scorers, because they are all so phenomenally talented--not to trust their teammates, to trust only their own skills.
But for whatever reason, perhaps because none of their current team has ever been an NBA star, Houston's players know that if they all give up a little control, to trust each other to move the ball to the right spot at the right time, they'll all get better chances to score. The upshot of this is that, when they're at the best, they move the ball more creatively and dynamically than almost any team in the league. And this really appeals to aesthetes like me, who care more about the game being beautiful and amazing than just about anything else. So its this reliance on certain classic 'fundamentals'--'unselfishly' moving the ball, for instance--that has made this ragtag bunch unique and entertaining in a totally non-traditional way.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2009/11/wolves_methodic.php
These current Rockets are a paradox. Because they share the ball, because they hustle and play committed defense, (not to mention that they easily fit the mold of scrappy, un-famous underdogs) they are beloved by "play the right way" purists. But because they feature a quirky, non-traditional lineup full of oddly shaped, idiosyncratically talented players, whose skills align only tangentially with the traditional but tired box-score statistics (their starting center is 6'6"; possibly their most famous current player has become known as "no-stats all-star"), and because they run the floor and shoot threes with abandon, they are also at the vanguard of everything new and weird and great about the current NBA.
The Rockets are somehow both conservative and radical.Actually, in many ways their conservatism is their radicalism. Because they share the ball, they're frequently called "unselfish," a favorite "right-way" buzzword. But, even in the NBA, selfishness is not the monster its made out to be. The problem is trust. Players have learned--because of the cutthroat world of elite youth basketball, because the league's salary system heavily favors dominant scorers, because they are all so phenomenally talented--not to trust their teammates, to trust only their own skills.
But for whatever reason, perhaps because none of their current team has ever been an NBA star, Houston's players know that if they all give up a little control, to trust each other to move the ball to the right spot at the right time, they'll all get better chances to score. The upshot of this is that, when they're at the best, they move the ball more creatively and dynamically than almost any team in the league. And this really appeals to aesthetes like me, who care more about the game being beautiful and amazing than just about anything else. So its this reliance on certain classic 'fundamentals'--'unselfishly' moving the ball, for instance--that has made this ragtag bunch unique and entertaining in a totally non-traditional way.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2009/11/wolves_methodic.php
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