Just before the trade deadline, it was announced that the Rockets traded Kirk Snyder for Minnesota’s Gerald Green.

I love this trade. Not that Green is ready to play significant minutes, but it’s great to get an athletic local boy (Gulfshores Academy) on the roster . The Rockets have missed the chance to get other local, athletic players in the past that could have energized the crowd, like Rashard Lewis and T.J. Ford just to name a few. And with Green’s great dunking ability (former NBA slam dunk champion), he should be alot of fun to watch when he does get into a game.

For more information about the trade, click here.

Late Wednesday night the Rockets traded Mike James and Bonzi Wells for Bobby Jackson. Here are the details from the Chronicle.

The Rockets may not be finished dealing until the trade deadline at 3:00pm Eastern on Thursday. But if Jackson stays as a Rocket, I’m actually surprised Houston would trade Bonzi for a 34-year old point guard who is definitely on his last legs. I would have preferred Sam Cassell, who is older, but can still hit the big shot in the clutch. Maybe BJ can, too.

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Shane Battier and Yao Ming defend Cleveland’s LeBron James as the Rockets stingy defense limited the Cavaliers to 38.8% shooting. On the offensive side of the ball, Houston’s leading scorers of Yao and Tracy McGrady had a terrible night shooting, but Houston’s role players came through to help Houston win their 9th game in a row on the road and overall. Click here for more photos from the game.

It’s amazing that the Rockets won their 9th straight game Tuesday night, and their 9th straight on the road to tie a team record. With Yao and Tracy McGrady shooting a combined 9-for-38 (23.7%), Houston still managed to beat LeBron James and Cleveland 93-85

In the city where you can visit the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, it’s appropriate that the Rocket “role” players were the guys who stepped up as Houston’s band leaders went AWOL.

It didn’t look good as the Rockets started off the game shooting 1-for-9, getting down 10-2 early, then they made only 2 of their next 9 shots. Then before finishing the first quarter, they hit 3 of their last 5 shots to get their field goal percentage to 26%. Shockingly, the Rockets led 21-20 at the end of the quarter thanks to good defense.

LeBron was 0-for-6 in the first quarter with 3 points, and in the second quarter he missed his only shot to go 0-for-7 by halftime with only 7 points. Incredible that the NBA All-Star MVP would get shut out from the field like that. But he wouldn’t be the only highly paid player to lose his shot in his first game back from the All-Star game.

For example, let’s take a look at Yao. In his previous 4 games, Yao has been so solid and consistent, it was actually getting a little boring. How many different ways can you say a player is playing great? There really wasn’t much you could complain about during that 4-game stretch: 25 ppg, 59.7% shooting, 13 rebounds per game.

But on Tuesday against Cleveland, other than his free throw shooting (10-of-10) and rebounding (14), he played one of his worst games of the season shooting an unbelievable 3-of-17 shooting from the field. It was so bad, he was blocked a few times and even missed an uncontested dunk that clanged off the back rim to go out-of-bounds.

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Yesterday I was able to take in a few hours in New Orleans before the All-Star game, which I didn’t attend. I understand tickets in the lower level had a $400 face value, and were $300 in the upper level! A ticket “reseller” later told me on the plane back home that the demand for after-market tickets to this All-Star game was probably the lowest he’s ever seen, due to the fact there just aren’t that many people in New Orleans who have that kind of cash to throw around.

I suspect another reason had to be the limited number of flights that fly into New Orleans compared to larger cities. Still, even if I could get a ticket at face value (or even lower than face value based on low demand), I was content to watch the game on TV.

One of the main reasons why I went to New Orleans for the day was because Yao Ming’s agent invites folks associated with their athletes to attend an annual brunch they have the morning of each All-Star game. Since working on the site is more a labor of love for me than a financial windfall, it’s always nice to get a little perk like that from Bill Duffy & Associates (BDA).

When I walked into the House of Blues where the brunch was held, the first person I saw was Colin Pine, former translator for Yao Ming, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. Colin was in town for the game since he is working in China for the NBA.

Also with him was Christopher Chen and Adam Del Deo, producers of the “The Year of the Yao” film. It was great to get caught up with the guys who followed Yao so closely those first couple of years of Yao’s NBA career. It seems so much more calm now compared to the crazy days of 2002 and 2003.

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Because he had been playing alot of minutes before the break, Yao requested that Western Conference coach Byron Scott play him limited minutes in the All-Star game Sunday night. Scott obliged by letting Yao just play 13 minutes. Yao scored 6 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field, including 0-for-2 from three-point land.

Here he launches one of those 3-pointers with a smile on his face (he’s obviously having a good time):

I ended up going to New Orleans for the afternoon (didn’t attend the game) and have some interesting non-Yao stories to share. I got in so late, though, I’m pretty beat to write about it now. But I’ll post some of those stories on Monday.

Meanwhile, Raymond and other YaoManiacs has done a great job posting tons of cool photos in the YaoMania! forum from the weekend.

Click here to see the page (#2 in the thread) with photos of Yi Jianlian, as well as Yao watching the Rookie-Sophomore game Friday night.

Click here to see the page (#3 in the thread) with photos of Yao at the All-Star practice on Saturday, and cool photos of Dwight Howard during the slam dunk competition (as well as other participants from All-Star competitions on Saturday night).

Click here to see the page (#4 in the thread) of photos from the NBA All-Stars China Night attended by Yao, Dikembe Mutombo and Yi Jianlian (among others). Scroll down this page to see Yao in the locker room on Sunday before the game.

Click here for the page (#5 in the thread) of photos of Yao playing in the All-Star game Sunday night.

Thanks for the pics Raymond and folks!

We take a break during this NBA All-Star break to bring you more news about the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. It was announced yesterday that Olympic athletes will be able to blog, but the rules are so restrictive, it looks like it might be more trouble than its worth.

On a similar note, here’s an article about the issue regarding free speech at the Games.

Even though it’s about a week old, this article provides a great recap on where things stand with Olympic preparations.

Below is one of my favorite pictures of Yao from Friday’s All-Star events in New Orleans. Not him being interviewed by the press (although he had to do that earlier in the day) which we have seen time and time again. Not reading a children’s book with just as many photographers as kids around.

No, it’s of Yao outside in cold rainy weather getting his hands dirty lifting and planting sod with actor Jet Li. It’s so representative of Yao’s hard work ethic to take on this assignment. Bravo, Yao.

Click here for more photos of Yao with Jet Li volunteering. Scroll up on the following page to see Yao and other NBA players getting interviewed.

Thanks go to Raymond for the pics!

Yao Ming, Shane Battier and other Rocket teammates congratulate Steve Novak after he hit a game-winning 3-pointer to save the game for the Rockets. Houston had blown an 18-point 4th quarter lead before Novak’s shot. Yao led all Houston scorers with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game.

The Rockets narrowly escaped disaster Wednesday night and an All-Star break where they would have been torn up inside thinking about one of their most devastating losses of the season. Also…

Thinking about how their recent hot streak might have been a fluke.

How they were chokers when it came to winning close games.

How they weren’t really that good after all, despite winning 7 games in a row coming into the game.

That maybe some trades need to happen before the February 21st trade deadline after all to change the chemistry on the team so that nothing like that happens again.

That’s what they might have been thinking if they had lost Wednesday night. After all, when you’re leading by 18 points against a sub-500 team, you’re expected to close the deal if you’re a good team. Especially after the Rockets had lost in similar fashion to the 76ers at home on January 15th when they had blown a 16-point fourth quarter lead.

But the Rockets miraculously pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat when seldom-used Steve Novak rescued the Rockets “Robert Horry style” by hitting a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining to give the Rockets an 89-87 lead. It was one of the biggest shots hit by a Rocket at Toyota Center in years.

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Yao gets a hand on Portland’s Lamarcus Aldridge’s shot Monday night in Houston. Yao would lead all scorers with 25 points as Houston won its 7th game in a row, 95-83. Click here for more photos from the game.

Although the Rockets won their 7th game in a row Monday night against a team they are battling for a playoff spot, there are still enough issues the Rockets need to correct considering how they played in a 95-83 win in Houston.

Not to be a spoil sport, let’s first talk about the things they did well Monday night. Yao was the force in the middle we expect him to be against a smaller front line of Joel Pryzbilla and Lamarcus Aldridge, leading all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 11-of-13 from the line, and grabbing 7 boards. Just another day at the office for Big Yao.

Houston’s defense was great in the second half, holding the Blazers to 15-of-34 shooting. Shane Battier really put the clamps on All-Star guard Brandon Roy, holding him only to 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting (it didn’t hurt that Roy missed 5-of-10 free throws).

The parts I didn’t like about this game, even in victory, were the following:

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Yao Ming scores two of his 28 points (12-of-17 shooting) Saturday night in Houston against the Atlanta Hawks. Houston beat the Hawks easily, at one time holding a 33-point lead. The Rockets have won 6 in a row to get their record to 30-20 and are in the thick of the hunt for a playoff spot. Click here for more photos from the game.

Coming into Houston on Saturday, the Atlanta Hawks were on the second night of a back-to-back (losing at home to Cleveland the night before), and had lost 9 of their last 10 road games. But the Rockets showed no sympathy by playing one of their most complete games of the season, drilling the Hawks 108-89 to win their 6th game in a row and go 30-20 for the season. After the Rockets were a mediocre 13-15 just 7 weeks ago, it’s getting really interesting in Houston these days.

The Rockets had 29 assists against Cleveland on Thursday, and Saturday night they racked up a season-high 32 dimes while scoring 44 field goals and shooting 54.3% from the field. They shared the ball so well and had guys cutting to the basket for easy shot attempts, it reminded me a lot of the Sacramento Kings during their heyday under Rick Adelman. Or dare I say it, the Spurs during their championship runs.

It’s very rare when a team achieves that level of chemistry where the Rockets get as many assists as they’ve had the past two games. I remember back in 1994 and 1995 when the Rockets won their championships, a lot of it was the result of unselfish basketball like what we’re seeing now. It’s still early yet, but if the Rockets keep this up, it going to start getting really fun in H-town.

While everyone was passing the ball, Yao Ming was being his dominant self by scoring 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting (10 in a row at one point), 4-of-4 from the line, and blocking 2 shots. He also had 3 assists to join the passing party.

The Hawks had no answer to the Big Man, either down low where he scored multiple times with left-handed jump hooks off the glass (he seems to really have perfected that shot). And they could only watch in awe as he hit two long jumpers from the top of the key to finally break his shooting slump from out there.

And did you see that play where Yao got the ball behind the 3-point line, then dribbled it a couple of times toward the basket taking giants steps to get all the way to the basket for a layup attempt? Although he missed the shot, it showed yet another move in his arsenal that has to keep opposing defenses guessing.

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