If you hadn’t heard yet, Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire is out for at least four months (maybe even longer) because of a microfracture in his knee. Obviously, that injury is not only important to fans who follow teams in the highly competitive Western Conference, but is also important to fantasy league players. Without question, Yao will move up one rung in fantasy league drafts for centers, right behind Shaq.

As much as I didn’t like Stoudemire during his cocky rookie year…the NBA suffers during his absence.

In case you didn’t see it yet, there’s a great article about Yao in today’s Houston Chronicle. Click here to check it out.

I just heard that point guard Mike James is gone, traded straight up for Toronto’s Rafer Alston. My initial reaction was shock and disappointment.

I really liked the energy James brought to the game, his quickness getting past defenders, and his ability to light it up a la Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson, or even Bobby Jackson. Remember that playoff game against Dallas on May 5th (7-for-11, 22 points) when he was the only guard the Rockets had, other than T-Mac, who could give the Mavericks problems defensively during that series? I thought James would really be able to create some matchup problems in 2004-05.

Despite Alston’s controversial run-ins at Toronto (click here for a story that references it), his stats are impressive. Last season he was 11th in the league in assists (6.4), while James only had 3.6 assists per game. Here are some other 2004-05 statistical comparisons:

Minutes per game: Alston – 34, James – 25.1

Points: Alston – 14.2, James – 11.8 (give James 9 more minutes per game, and he would have matched or exceeded Alston’s PPG)

Steals: Alston – 1.48, James – .88

FG%: Alston – .414, James – .441

3-point %: Alston – .357, James – .386 (second on the Rockets bench last season).

In summary, the Rockets get more steals and assists (isn’t that what we got Derek Anderson for?), but they lose in scoring and shooting accuracy. The loss of James will make the already-struggling Rockets’ three-point shooting even more suspect (see story written below in “Are you ready for some basketball?”). Alston sounds like a Jeff Van Gundy type of player to me: low scoring (not always fun to watch), but a solid passer and defensive player. I liked the speed and flair that James brought to the game. I hope the Rockets know what they are doing. They usually do.

See what others are saying about the trade in the YaoMania! Fan Forum.

Read the Houston Chronicle article about the trade by clicking here.

Yao, T-Mac and Rockets owner Leslie Alexander pose for a traditional photo on Media Day at Toyota Center on Monday, October 3rd. Click here for more photos from the day’s events.

by John

TUESDAY, 10/4/05 – Yesterday was Media Day at Houston’s Toyota Center. Every player attended, including Bob Sura who came in on crutches after having knee surgery last week. According to Sina.com and Raymond, our correspondent in Hong Kong who translated the Sina.com article, players like Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were accompanied by more senior Rockets executives, while the rest of the players were led by less senior staff.

Every player was interviewed individually, with Yao being the last one to be interviewed. As expected, Yao’s former interpreter Colin Pine has moved on to greener pastures, and Yao fielded all of the questions himself.

When asked what his biggest improvement was since his rookie season, Yao responded, “My English,” which drew laughs from the crowd. He politely asked some of them to repeat their questions since many reporters in attendance were from all across the USA who had different accents that were more challenging for him to understand. He wittily put aside his embarrassment by asking, “Do you now miss my interpreter, Colin Pine?”

Yao vowed that he will be the new players’ role model for the new season, and a good role model will be absolutely obedient to Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy. When asked what he needs to do personally to improve this season, Yao said, “Do what coach says.”

When asked about the progress of his off-season ankle surgery, Yao said, “I am 100% fully recovered. No problem whatsoever. I think I can play with full strength in the new season with my new feet.”

Yao went on to say, “I had sufficient rest throughout the summer. The feeling was great. This was my first summer that I had that much of rest. I am now full of energy, and I am at 310 lb. My bosses (officials and coach at the Rockets) are all saying great things about me. I look forward for better results for the Rockets in the new season.”

MONDAY, 10/3/05 – Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the opening of Rockets training camp! As we approach the new season, I’m sure every Rocket fan is excited about the addition of Stromile Swift, Derek Anderson, the return of Dikembe Mutombo, Yao‘s new 5-year deal, and T-Mac doing his thing once again.

The only downer is that there is one player the Rockets didn’t retain this off-season that worries me, and that’s backup power forward Scott Padgett. I know Padgett can easily be overlooked because he isn’t that flashy of a player, but he shot a team-high 39.7% from three-point territory last year. There were several games last year where Padgett was incredible from downtown to pull out victories.

Mike James was the next closest Rocket bench player with a 38.6% 3PT average, but James may be starting at point guard this season since Bob Sura‘s future is questionable after undergoing a second off-season knee surgery last week. So James will most likely be handling the ball more this season, and probably won’t have as much stamina to reliably hit the trey like last year. The same could be said for newcomer Derek Anderson, who shot 38.4% from behind the arc. Like James, he didn’t play that many minutes last year and will probably see his percentage drop with more playing time.

Jon Barry was respectable with a 39.2% average, but he probably won’t play that many minutes since this is most likely his final season before retiring. David Wesley hit 37.5% of his three-pointers, but he hit several cold spells that were costly to the team. T-Mac shot only 32.6%, and with a percentage like that, should not be relied upon as their primary three-point threat given how much he handles the ball.

So that’s a breakdown of all the long-distance shooters playing guard or small forward who had any material playing time last year. With Padgett leaving, there really isn’t any threat from the power forward spot. The Rockets have always wanted one of their PFs to drain treys (e.g., Matt Bullard, Robert Horry, Kenny Thomas, Eddie Griffin) to stretch the defense. Now with Padgett gone, they will need to find someone during training camp who can fill the void, or the media will soon be lameting the fact the Rockets are pitiful from long range.