"Who are all these people wearing Rockets Jerseys?"

"Trey Huguley: and I didnt know Kevin Whatshisname was that good"

"(9:59:06 AM) Trey Huguley: I like Ballinger too
(9:59:12 AM) Garrett Hargrove: Budinger?
(9:59:17 AM) Trey Huguley: thats what i meant"

Its obvious there were a LOT of changes in the offseason to our Houston Rockets. As you can see above, everybody's favorite Houston Sports Blogger even has trouble keeping them all straight. After last night opener versus the Lakers, there were some good points and some bad points. So let's meet the team and see what we know after last night's close loss.

Centers
Yao Ming (S)
He's tall. And he's not going to be a 20 point scorer ever again. Being a 7'6", 310 lb dude who runs up and down a basketball court can take quite a toll on your bones. Having missed all of last season, the Rockets have employed the 24 minute max per game strategy to maximize his production, while minimizing the risk of injury. Its to be determined how this strategy will play out, but last night it went fairly well. Yao was aggressive. He was rusty, but still looked productive fouling out in 23 minutes, but grabbing 11 boards in that time.

Brad Miller
He's not as tall. And he's the reason the Yao 24 plan might work. Last year, the Rockets got assaulted down low. This year, they filled that void with veteran Brad Miller. What you need to know about him: He's a DYNAMIC passer. He has a decent 15 foot jumper. He went toe to toe with Shaq for years as the starting center of the Sacramento Kings (coached by Adelman), so he's a tough SOB. And last night in 25 minutes, he grabbed 9 boards and had 9 points. He is going to be huge for us this year.

Jordan Hill
He's downright tiny at 6'10". He is the Rockets project child. He has the raw tools to be a dominant force in the league. But they will have to do a lot of molding on him to get him there. Don't expect to see him a lot this year unless Yao gets hurt, but they are testing him out to see if he can be Yao's successor.

Power Forwards
Luis Scola (S)
18 points. 16 rebounds. He is a beast. He's the guy that Popovich laments the Spurs trading away for nothing: "It kills me to have him on that team," Popovich said. "Enough to make you spit." We are solid here.

Jared Jeffries
He's really not going to play. We took on his salary to get Jordan Hill and a bunch of Knicks draft picks. Hope and pray they don't get Carmelo.

Chuck Hayes
The best defender on the team. If he was 6'10", he would be in talks every year for Defensive Player of the Year. He has the ugliest free throw shot in the league:

But, he's a fan and Adelman favorite who will be a big defensive stopper for us again this year. Just don't expect more than 4 points a game from him.

Patrick Patterson
He's the other project. A rookie from Kentucky they are hoping develops into Carl Landry, whom they traded away last year to get Kevin Martin. We'll see if he develops into that, but don't expect to see him on the court much this year.

Small Forwards
Shane Battier (S)
He's the guy who was the best defender on the Rockets. But, it looks like he's slowed half a step. He's still one of the top 5 perimeter defenders in the league, but its going downhill. And last night his shot looked off. Its probably just one game, but I wouldn't be surprised if Shane starts taking a step back offensively this year also.

Chase Budinger
Fan Favorite #2 behind Chuck Hayes. He's a fun, athletic swingman. He may never be an All-Star or even solid starter, but as an energy guy off the bench, he is great. I would liken him to Josh Howard, but without the bong.

Shooting Guards
Kevin Martin (S)
Who was the 17th leading scorer last year? What Rocket had more points per game than Carmelo, Joe Johnson, Amare, Bosh, Chris Paul, Yao and Dwight Howard in 2008-09? Kevin Martin. Since 2006-07, Kevin Martin has been putting up 20+ points per game. He's a tall 6'7" shooting guard, who shoots nearly 40% from 3 point land. He's a younger Tracy McGrady without the hype or back injuries. Rockets fans are going to love Kevin Martin. And I'm going to quash any notion of nicknaming him K-Mart. We need to be more original than that.

Courtney Lee
He's the only guy on the roster to START on an NBA Finals team. The Rockets tried desperately to get Courtney during the draft, but couldn't. He went to Orlando and started on their NBA Finals team against the Lakers as a rookie. Riding on high, Lee was then shipped off to the Nets for Vince Carter. And as you know, everything went wrong for New Jersey last year, but Lee's scoring went up from 8 points to 12 points per game. Now, coming off of a solid camp where the coaches raved about him, our 2 guard might be the deepest position we have. I could easily see Lee sliding in to the starting 2 spot with Kevin Martin going to the 3 when Battier regresses. He is a fun, high flying player and could be a solid starter very soon.

Jermaine Taylor
Some believe Taylor has that same Lee type upside. This team is EXTREMELY deep. Even if Lee and Martin went down, Taylor could get out there and be competitive. But unless that happens, he won't see the court much.

Point Guards
Aaron Brooks (S)
He is so close to being an All Star. And its not due to a lack of production or talent. Its just hard making the team behind Nash, Paul, Williams, Parker, Kidd, etc, etc. But he has the talent and that's all that matters. He took home the Most improved player last year after scoring nearly 20 points per game. He is fast, a good shooter (4-6 3pts last night; 39.8% last year) and sees the court well. Last night he has 9 assists to 2 turnovers.

Kyle Lowry
And there's not much drop off here. Lowry didn't play last night due to back spasms, but he will be fine for the year. He isn't as flashy or quick as Brooks, but he is a better distributor and really good at driving to the basket. I think this combo might be better than our Kenny Smith/Sam Cassell combo.

Ish Smith
He's the big mystery coming into this season. A little undrafted point guard who snuck onto the team after a dynamite summer league and playing really well in the preseason. He may flame out, but I always like these underdog stories. Seems like a good kid. Got an assist last night and missed one shot. But damn he looks fast.

So that's who's on our team. Bill Simmons argued that this team has TOO much talent to work.

My friend Daryl Morey (Houston's GM) claims that this won't be a problem and that you can never have too many assets. I disagree: NBA teams are like "Saturday Night Live" casts in that you never want to go more than nine deep or else everyone starts griping about minutes.

We're going to find out. I am excited to see what this new group can do together. Last night was a good start. Brooks and Martin started out hot, but in the end, they struggled to find the right person to put the kibosh on the Lakers run and to hit the big shot. During the course of the season, Brooks, Martin or Scola have to step up and be that selfish person to hit the big shot and make the big play to stop runs like the Lakers had at the end. But the Lakers are a VERY good team and we played very well against them. They still seem to be working out how to handle the Yao minutes. But he looked quick, despite being a little rusty. We should have no problem getting into the playoffs and possibly making some noise this season. Go Rockets!!