For some time now, Chronicle sportswriter John Lopez has been writing the most insightful pieces on the local newspaper’s sportspage. In his column today, Lopez continues that trend by expanding on the theme of this post from over a year ago — the bad management decisions of the Houston Rockets:
The reason [the 12-25 Rockets’ season] all has come apart, you might believe, is all the injuries suffered by this team, beginning the day after the opener when Tracy McGrady first strained his back.
But don’t get so caught up in the pain that you neglect what really caused it. If Rockets owner Leslie Alexander, general manager Carroll Dawson and coach Jeff Van Gundy miss the real source of the trouble, the affliction will be lingering.
While injuries might have hastened the fall and brought on overwhelmingly bad nights like Wednesday, the Rockets should face the realization that the biggest problem has been bad decisions. . . .
It’s not just Yao’s toe and McGrady’s back that needs to get better. It’s decision-making from the top of the organization on down.
As with this earlier article on the Texans’ personnel decisions, Lopez goes on to expose the Rockets’ dubious strategy of attempting to plug holes on the roster with aging players.
Thus, after being the toast of Houston a decade ago, the Rockets are now an afterthought on the local sports scene. Even though the Houston Texans football team just completed an even worse season than the Rockets are enduring, the Texans at least remain a common topic of conversation around town as they decide whether to select Reggie Bush or Vince Young in the upcoming NFL draft. Not so with the Rockets. Even on local sportstalk radio call-in shows, the Rockets are rarely a topic of conversation. In short, the Rockets have entered the twilight zone that all professional sports franchises fear most — i.e., the zone where local sports fans respond to a question about the team with a curt “Who cares?”
By the way, speaking of Vince Young, Lopez also explains in this blog post why Young is a far riskier choice for the Texans than Reggie Bush.