After a rather uninspiring effort against Utah on the road to start the season, the Houston Rockets open their 2006-07 home schedule tonight at Toyota Center against the Dallas Mavericks.
As noted here and here, the Rockets have performed poorly for the better part of a decade now and have been far surpassed during that time by Texas’ two other NBA teams, the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks. After waiting too long to do so, Rockets’ owner Les Alexander finally hired some new blood earlier this year for the Rockets’ front office in the person of Daryl Morey, who is effectively taking over this year for longtime Rockets GM, Carroll Dawson. As this Wall Street Journal ($) profile explains, Morey represents a new wave of NBA executives who base their player evaluations primarily on statistical analysis of a player’s contributions to his team’s performance.
The early indications of Morey’s effect on the Rockets are positive. The roster has been re-tooled since last season’s disappointing 34-48 record, and such NBA experts as the Wages of Wins bloggers believe that the Rockets are primed for a good season, albeit still below the Spurs and the Mavs. Given the Rockets’ decade of deterioration, I remain skeptical that the team will be much better than a .500 club this season — the team still has glaring holes at power forward and point guard, which will result in rebounding and turnover problems. However, there is no doubt that Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Bonzi Wells and Shane Battier are a solid core of key players that is capable of turning the Rockets into a playoff-caliber team once the latter two players are integrated into the team’s style of play. I will take the under on the current over/under of 46 wins, but it will not be shocking if this Rockets team surpasses 50 wins if Yao and McGrady are reasonably healthy and can play for 70 games or so.
Just don’t expect the Rockets to have a better record than either the Spurs or the Mavs.

Don’t miss this superb Jay Winick/Opinion Journal op-ed on tennis icon, Andre Agassi, who retired gracefully this past weekend after after putting on a stirring performance during the first three rounds of the U.S. Open tournament in New York.
I’ve never met Agassi, but I have followed his career with interest because of our mutual friendship with prominent Las Vegas attorney, David Chesnoff. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a morning with Agassi’s parents while Andre’s father gave David’s son a tennis lesson at the Agassi’s Las Vegas home where they have lived for several decades. Andre’s parents are wonderfully down-to-earth folks who are a joy to be around, so it’s no surprise to me that their son has matured into a fine man.
By the way, although probably not the greatest tennis player of his generation, Agassi nevertheless is one of the most remarkable athletes of this era. A case in point is a golf game that he played several years ago with David in which Agassi faced a daunting recovery shot around trees to a small green protected by a lake. Agassi grabbed a 3-iron, sized up the situation and then hammered a 200 yard shot that sliced around the trees on to the green, stopping 15 feet from the cup. Agassi calmly put the club back in his bag, jumped into the golf cart, looked at David and asked with a wink:

“So, David. What’s so tough about this game again?”

This NY Times article continues its excellent coverage of the recovery of Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro from a life-threatening injury suffered in the Preakness Stakes (previous posts here). The article does a good job of explaining the tremendous resources that are being deployed to attempt to save the horse’s life, which could still have great financial value if the horse can recover sufficiently to be leased as a stallion for breeding purposes.
Although Barbaro’s health is still at great risk, the thoroughbred no longer needs the sling that was used immediately after surgery to keep weight off the horse’s legs and the epidurals that he required for pain have not been necessary for several weeks. Moreover, Barbaro is now being walked outside each day in a field and being allowed to graze. As a result, the horse is appearing to become stronger by the day. Stay tuned.

This NY Times article provides an update on the rehabilitation of Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro’s injured leg and related complications. Previous posts on Barbaro are here. The bottom line is that Barbaro is not out of the woods by any means, but is showing progress. Interestingly, the biggest problem that the horse faces in his fight for survival is not the original injury, but an infection to the hoof that often occurs after such an injury.

I don’t follow soccer closely (previous posts here), but I’ve come to appreciate the sport during this World Cup season and I particularly enjoyed Chronicle sports columnist John Lopez‘s World Cup reports from Germany.
Now, Bill Simmons passes along this video of star Liverpool, P.C. midfielder Steven Gerrard‘s ten greatest goals, which is well-worth the seven minutes it takes to view it. Gerrard is the English soccer equivalent of Reggie Bush, so take a moment to marvel at this wonderful talent.
By the way, the comments of the British announcers are priceless!

It’s beginning to look as if Barbaro may not make it (related, subsequent stories on Barbaro’s increasing health problems are here, here, here and here).
The condition of the Kentucky Derby champion who broke down at the beginning of the Preakness took a turn for the worse late Saturday when veterinarians had to remove the plate and some of the screws from his injured right hind leg to stave off infection. Although Barbaro’s leg appears to be healing reasonably well, the horse is having a hard time shaking off an elevated temperature, which is an indication that attempts to control infection are failing.