Houston Rockets Press Conference

[Pelicans78]

Hello everyone. I will be brief. Last season was very successful winning our first ever divisional title and winning our first playoff series eventually getting to the western conference finals. Unfortunately we ran into a deeper, more experienced Lakers team allowing us to learn what to improve on in the process. We had a alot of cap space and wanted to address needs. We resigned Manu Ginobili to a four year contract, Aaron Mckie to a one year, and Todd MacCullouch and Samaki Walker to one year deals. We also welcome Joe Smith, James Posey, and Mateen Cleaves to our team and think they can complete our roster and help us compete for a championship. Signing those 3 will give us flexibility in the regular season and playoffs.

At center, Emeka Okafor will start. He's the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and also our MVP from last year. He provides defense and rebounding and can score which shows by him averaging a double-double last season.

At power forward, we have Joe Smith starting. He gives us versatility with his scoring, ball-handling, and elite defense. He and Okafor are both A defenders which will allow us to defend the paint very effectively.

Carmelo Anthony will start at small forward. He gives us scoring on the perimeter and frontcourt. He's one of the most elite scorers in the game.

Manu Ginobili is the starting shooting guard. He improved his outside scoring and defense in the offseason. He's a versatile scorer and one of the league's best in getting steals. We feel he will score much more this season with his improvement.

Aaron McKie is the starting point guard. He did a great job in the playoffs starting for an injured Damon Stoudamire and provides outside shooting, defense, and a high IQ. He has championship experience as well.

Al Jefferson will be the backup center and power forward. He's still developing as a player, but proved last season he can be a force in this league averaging 21/10 per game. We love his scoring off the bench while he continue to improve as a defender and rebounder.

James Posey will be the backup small forward and shooting guard. He provides elite outside scoring and defense. He's good enough to start if needed. He can help us defend the elite wing players in the game while providing another scoring option.

Shaun Livingston is the backup point. He's a great handler/passer and is improving as a defender. We feel he's not far from becoming a full-time starter in this league.

Todd MacCullouch, Samaki Walker, Mickeal Pietrus, and Mateen Cleaves will get minutes as well and provide quality production off the bench.

Questions?

[DarthVegito]

Do you think McKie will hold onto the starting point job all season and are you planning on possibly rotating those PGs a bit to see if any take a step ahead of the rest?

And who are you biggest threats to come out of the West and of those threats how do you think your team will be able to overcome these challenges?

[BallSoHard]

With Jefferson being such a disappointment, will his name be floating around the rumor mill during trade time ?

[BeeBall Reasons]

Hi Zach Lowe, will Jefferson see time at the center spot? Or will Joe Smith rotate over? All of those guys need minutes.

[Pelicans78]

Do you think McKie will hold onto the starting point job all season and are you planning on possibly rotating those PGs a bit to see if any take a step ahead of the rest?

And who are you biggest threats to come out of the West and of those threats how do you think your team will be able to overcome these challenges?

The plan is for McKie to be the guy full-time when available. Livingston and Cleaves are better play-makers, but McKie brings superior outside shooting and defense. He started the entire series at the point last year against CP3 and helped us win that 7 games series. Very valuable to our team.

Alot of good teams in the conference. We respect them all. What we can do is outgun teams with our scoring and defense. We can score and stop other teams from scoring. We have frontcourt scorers and scorers on the wing and those same guys can all defend too. Its that simple.

[Pelicans78]

With Jefferson being such a disappointment, will his name be floating around the rumor mill during trade time ?

No. He's still very young, he's on a rookie contract, and an elite scorer and very good rebounder. We don't trade guys like that on their rookie contracts. We could start him and he would average 20/10 like last season where he helped us win the division and get to the WCFs, but we're ready to take another step to win it all and we feel having Joe Smith start and having Al come off the bench gives us that best chance.

[Pelicans78]

Hi Zach Lowe, will Jefferson see time at the center spot? Or will Joe Smith rotate over? All of those guys need minutes.

Yes. Jefferson will get minutes at the center spot and power forward off the bench. We plan to give him 20+ minutes a game backing up Okafor and Joe Smith. Not many bench players can guard him especially when he was an efficient 20 point scorer as a starter.

[Xist2inspire]

Hello, J. Felders from SI.com here. Great to be back in Houston, I love this place. The shopping's awesome. Galleria 4 lyfe.

Anyway, with the loss of Stoudamire, is it safe to assume that Shaun Livingston could be the future at PG? Have you liked his progress up to this point?

[Pelicans78]

Hello, J. Felders from SI.com here. Great to be back in Houston, I love this place. The shopping's awesome. Galleria 4 lyfe.

Anyway, with the loss of Stoudamire, is it safe to assume that Shaun Livingston could be the future at PG? Have you liked his progress up to this point?

We're hoping for Shaun to develop into that guy. He's improved each season on the defensive end and is a strong playmaker. He's not gonna bring alot of scoring from the perimeter, but he can penetrate and attack the bucket while setting up teammates too. We've focused on improving his defense which he has done and with more improvement could be a starter in the near future.

Luckily we have alot of indoor malls in the Houston area because the heat is intense during the summer, but much better at the start of the regular season.