Fox Sports Houston: Rockets Press Conference.

[Pelicans78]

Rockets78: Just wanna thank everyone here. I won't take long.

1)Wanna first thank Etan Thomas for his contributions here. He was a steady producer and better person off the court. Wish him well in Minny.

2)Last season was a surprise. We expected to improve, but not sure if we expected winning 19 more games and tied for the 2nd best record in the West and just one game back of the top seed. Really want to give credit to coach Jeff Van Gundy. Felt he really kept the team going despite missing Manu for a third of the season. No way we are successful without him.

About our offseasons move.

3) We drafted two guys in Johan Petro and Alan Anderson who we hope can become steady contributors in the future.

4) We resigned Brad Miller and Eddie Griffin to provide good depth.

5) We signed Aaron McKie because he is a quality backup. He provides great leadership and production.

6) We traded Etan Thomas to relieve cap space for the future and we felt that Al Jefferson could start if needed.

7) We signed Samaki Walker to be the backup PF because of his defense and rebounding. He will get plenty of minutes with Al being the backup center. We trained his defense after training camp. Gonna leave the floor to coach Van Gundy.

Jeff Van Gundy: Thank you. Hello everyone. Really ready to start the season. We made alot of strides last year, but we feel we can be better, especially in the playoffs. Anyway, here's our depth chart and gameplan.

1) Okafor will start at center. He brings defense and rebounding. Should be even better this year in his second season. Jefferson will be the backup center and Brad Miller will be 3rd string.

2) Jefferson will also start at PF. He will bring inside scoring and rebounding. He's improved his defense as well. Samaki Walker will be the backup and bring defense and rebounding. Eddie Griffin will be 3rd string.

3) Carmelo will start at SF. He was an All-Star last season and one of the best scorers in the league. He's improved his defense this offseason. Rodney Rogers will be the backup while Eddie Griffin is the 3rd string.

4) Manu will start at shooting guard. He brings scoring and defense. We expect him to have a big year. Aaron McKie will be the backup. He brings scoring, ball-handing, and defense. Tim Pickett is expected to improve in this 2nd season and will be 3rd string.

5) Damon Stoudamire will once again run the point. He's been a strong player in his time with the Rockets. Aaron McKie will be the backup and Shaun Livingston will get minutes as well and hope to improve from his productive rookie season.

6) We're gonna put the two rookies, Petro and Anderson on injured reserve. But they will be called upon if needed.

7) Gameplan. We're gonna go at a fast pace again. We're going to trap off and on. Not too often, but more than sometimes. We're only gonna press sometimes because we feel we can defend well in the halfcourt. And we will have an inside focus offensively.

8) Scoring options. With an inside focus, we're gonna give the ball down low to Al Jefferson. We feel he will be a premier inside scorer. Carmelo will also get plenty of touches as he can score inside and from the perimeter to compliment Jefferson and Manu Ginobili will also get touches.

Thank you and I'm gonna give it back to Rockets78 for one final statement before questions begin.

Rockets78: Ladies. Gentlemen. You've eaten well. You've eaten the Sim-League's wealth. Its spirit. From this moment on, none of you are safe.

[BallSoHard]

Bill Plaschke: Bill Plaschke here from the L.A. Times. A lot has been made this offseason of your bravado and confidence of your team. What's with the seemingly concerted effort to be so brash lately?

[Pelicans78]

Bill Plaschke: Bill Plaschke here from the L.A. Times. A lot has been made this offseason of your bravado and confidence of your team. What's with the seemingly concerted effort to be so brash lately?

Hey, aren't you that guy from Around the Horn? I remember you! You speak 100 mph sometimes. I'm assuming this question is for me and not Coach Van Gundy. He's got as much bravado as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

Anyway, we feel we have a formula for success. That formula is adjusted from time to time, but in the end, the equation results in oxygen. We learned alot in the regular season and then playoffs was the best thing that happened to us. We feel we won't be as rigid as much and will make our formula as flexible as possible when it comes to playoff time, making gameplan, roster moves, etc. Basically, its like we found a new religion and striving to the best we can be.

[Conroy]

SportsGuy Bill Simmons here how do you feel about starting two second year players at PF and C. Manu and Carmelo are still on rookie contracts as well. You can't say you've got a young team, but you don't necessarily have a veteran squad either is there a good way to balance youth and experience?

[Pelicans78]

SportsGuy Bill Simmons here how do you feel about starting two second year players at PF and C. Manu and Carmelo are still on rookie contracts as well. You can't say you've got a young team, but you don't necessarily have a veteran squad either is there a good way to balance youth and experience?

Hey Bill. Love your column on ESPN.com. Good stuff. Thanks for the question.

Obviously our starters are very young, but they can play and play very well. We do have a veteran PG in Damon Stoudamire who does a great job running the team. We've added veterans Rodney Rogers and Aaron McKie to bring more leadership. This is the NBA. Guys have to grow up quickly. Fortunately, Manu and Melo have started their whole careers while Okafor started every game last season. Plus, these guys got playoff experience. Those guys will be fine. Obviously we will see more pressure being thrusted upon Jefferson. We were hoping to have him be the 6th man and have a veteran PF start whether it was Etan or a FA, but that didn't work out so we're going with the kid. He will score and rebound and we've put effort into his defense. However, we may go with Samaki Walker starting at PF just for defensive purposes and let Al be the backup center and PF. Time will tell.

[coltsguy510]

Josh Robbins from the Orlando Sentinel here. How are you gonna feel when the puny Rockets get their MUTHA******* ******** destroyed in their opener against the Magic after they talked so much S*** this offseason?!

[Pelicans78]

Josh Robbins from the Orlando Sentinel here. How are you gonna feel when the puny Rockets get their MUTHA******* ******** destroyed in their opener against the Magic after they talked so much S*** this offseason?!

Hey John. You tell me how it felt when we came to Orlando late in the year and won 103-70 without Manu and with you having Shareef back?

[coltsguy510]

Hey John. You tell me how it felt when we came to Orlando late in the year and won 103-70 without Manu and with you having Shareef back?

Fades into the back............

[Pelicans78]

Fades into the back............

I'm kidding my friend. I like your team in Orlando. Curry is a beast down low. Shareef is a warrior and you have some good young pieces. Interesting to see how we perform in the first game of the season.

[coltsguy510]

I'm kidding my friend. I like your team in Orlando. Curry is a beast down low. Shareef is a warrior and you have some good young pieces. Interesting to see how we perform in the first game of the season.

I know haha. I just need to not get bored and trade everyone this season. Your team will have one of the best back courts in the league this year. I envy Okafor's defense in the middle. Can't wait to see what happens in the game.

[TrayWithAnA]

I think a majority of ownership in this league would happily trade their starting five for yours. I am not sure anyone would say the same about your bench though. Can you speak to what the Rockets' focus was going into free agency and why it was largely considered a bust?

Have you been seen by a medical professional for your split personality disorder? What is the final stance of the Houston Rockets this year? Is it Championship or bust?

[Pelicans78]

I think a majority of ownership in this league would happily trade their starting five for yours. I am not sure anyone would say the same about your bench though. Can you speak to what the Rockets' focus was going into free agency and why it was largely considered a bust?

Have you been seen by a medical professional for your split personality disorder? What is the final stance of the Houston Rockets this year? Is it Championship or bust?

Honestly, we had no plan in FA other than to sign Aaron McKie which we did. We were content with our entire roster even with Etan. How I always maintained I was willing to dump Etan's salary to free up future cap room since Big AL was the future at PF. So when the opportunity came to make the trade we did it. That opened up more cap room and we went all in to go after Rasheed. Hindsight, should have gotten either Lamar Odom or Keon Clark with the capspace we did have. When that didn't happen, it was a blow. But we signed Samaki Walker who brings defense and rebounding and may start so we can have Big Al score off the bench. Aaron McKie was a great pickup for us. He will be the backup SG and PG and we had productive rookies in Tim Pickett and Shaun Livingston backing him up. Rodney Rogers was great off the bench last year and will spell Carmelo when needed. Our bench is still in the top half of the league and we may even move Jefferson to the bench and let Walker start to defend the top PFs in the league. And we have over 30 million in cap room next season with Carmelo, Jefferson, and Okafor signed.

About this year's chances, training camp hurt a bit. The bench outside of McKie and Livingston regressed. Manu regressed as well and he's supposed to be our number two guy. But Okafor, Stoudamire, Jefferson, and Carmelo improved. So we definitely expect to win a ton of games and win the division and battle the Lakers for top seed in the West. As far as championships, we need to win a playoff series first. That formula is different from the regular season.

[IamQuailman]

Will Maukie, Bucks Nation (d0t) com.

Do you envision Okafor and Jefferson swapping back and forth between starting 5 and starting 4 depending on the matchups for the week?

[Pelicans78]

Will Maukie, Bucks Nation (d0t) com.

Do you envision Okafor and Jefferson swapping back and forth between starting 5 and starting 4 depending on the matchups for the week?

Not in the regular season. We envision Okafor protecting the rim with his shot blocking and Jefferson being more versatile with his scoring. Question will be whether to start Samaki Walker at PF due to his defense and let Jefferson come off the bench as a scorer.