Rockets headed in wrong direction
There are dents in the obsession. As badly as the Houston Rockets want to take down Golden State, they seem to have put their vehicle in reverse.
So far, their offseason is all about loss, and the crazy pursuit of a player best known for wanderlust. The Warriors may not be laughing — hardly appropriate, as they prepare for the serious business of DeMarcus Cousins — but they can’t possibly be worried.
There were two crucial elements to the Houston blueprint that produced 65 wins last year: The James Harden
Chris Paul dominance in the backcourt and players who combined defensive intensity with an ability to hit the threepoint shot. With two of those components bailing out in free agency — Trevor Ariza to Phoenix, Luc Mbah a Moute to the Clippers — P.J. Tucker looms as a rather lonely figure in that regard.
Finances have become an issue in Houston, and it doesn’t help that center Clint Capela is seeking a four-year, $100 million deal similar to those earned by Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Oklahoma City’s Steven
Adams. The Rockets don’t like the sound of that, but Capela is a restricted free agent, and if he gets an outside offer, they’ll have no choice but to match it.
The new faces hardly inspire optimism. Guard Michael Carter-Williams has some defensive ability, but over a five-year career with four teams, he hasn’t shown the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Forward James
Ennis is a 28-year-old journeyman who has played for four teams in four seasons. Rookie guard DeAnthony Melton (USC), taken as the 46th overall pick, has some potential as an open-court playmaker but is unlikely to be of immediate help. Then there is forward Carmelo Anthony, whom the Oklahoma City Thunder are desperate to unload. His burdensome salary makes that a maddening proposition, but sources indicate it will happen — either through a complicated three-way trade (Chicago is in the mix) or outright waivers — with Houston a near-certain destination.
So many complications come to mind. Anthony is a liability on defense, he won’t be able to handle a diminished role (that drove him nuts in OKC), and he famously clashed with coach
Mike D’Antoni during their time together in New York in 2011-12. Anthony’s career numbers speak to elite-level shooting and a Hall of Fame election, but Houston’s interest carries the hint of desperation.
It goes without saying that there are more transactions ahead, and it’s conceivable the Rockets landed a gem in Ennis. “I love defense,” he said upon signing. “I love hustling. I run the floor. I shoot the ball. I can finish . ... I’m a great player . ... I have to show it.”
He will definitely get his chance. When Willie Mac went deep
The All-Star Game is Tuesday, returning to Washington, D.C., for the first time since 1969. The National League won that one, 9-3, on a day Willie
McCovey will never forget. Facing the A’s John “Blue
Moon” Odom in the third inning, McCovey hit a titanic home run to center field at the old RFK Stadium. As recalled by the Washington Post’s
Thomas Boswell, “It smashed through the face of the big Longines clock in the scoreboard, leaving a hole the size of a baseball at the five o’clock mark. The hole stayed there for decades.” An inning later, McCovey faced Tigers ace and scheduled starter Denny
McLain, who nearly missed the game entirely (it was postponed a day by rain, and McLain insisted on keeping a dentist’s appointment that morning in Detroit). McLain showed up just in time to start the fourth — and give up McCovey’s second homer . ... Here’s a huge thumbs-up to the
Brandons, Crawford and Belt, for their hilarious series of Giants promo ads on NBC Sports Bay Area. Masterful timing by both . ... How quickly can a young catcher reach the big leagues? The Giants drafted
Buster Posey out of Florida State in June 2008 and assigned him to their rookie league team in Arizona. By the end of ’09 he’d passed through San Jose (high Class A) and Fresno (Triple-A) for a late-season stint with the Giants. The following year, he was the starting catcher on a world championship team. This comes to mind because catcher Joey
Bart, the Giants’ 2018 firstround draft pick, crushed six homers in his first seven games at Salem-Keizer (short-season Class A) and is likely to reach San Jose, at the very least, by season’s end. Nobody’s chasing Posey out of his starting position, at least not any time soon, but this kid looks the part.
There’s something to be said for two men gutting it out for 6 hours and 36 minutes on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, and credit Kevin Anderson not only for his 26-24 triumph in Friday’s fifth set but his gracious tribute to the defeated
John Isner. But it reaches the point of tedium when neither man can break serve (there were 48 straight holds in that set). And it becomes an unfair proposition when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, waiting to play the second semifinal, are forced to play under the roof to the point where their match had to be suspended. The beauty of Wimbledon’s no-tiebreaker rule comes into play when a couple of true artists are at work, crafting creative points and breaking serve with some regularity. But it’s a drag when the tennis resembles that grim period in Wimbledon history when big servers dominated and the points lasted about eight seconds (someone emailed Sports Illustrated’s Jon
Wertheim during Friday’s marathon and asked, “Which one’s Richard Krajicek?”) John McEnroe said it best on ESPN after Anderson finally pulled it out: “For the sake of the fans, the players and the final, we need a fifth-set tiebreaker. Make that rule change, please. This year.”