Kenny Smith is hatin’ on the Rockets in this video that looks like it was recorded sometimes over the past couple of days. He says there is no way they can win a championship without Yao, are a 6th seed in the West “at best,” and he doesn’t even think their chances of winning a playoff series this year is possible, shaking his head emphatically when asked the question.

Sorry, Kenny, but you might end up looking really bad on at least 2 of those predictions. If the Rockets prove you wrong, I hope Charles shows this prediction to the world on your TNT show like you guys show when the Chuckster is wrong.

In cased you missed it, I wanted to bring attention to a translated interview that Raymond posted in the forum with former Rockets’ coach Tom Thibodeau conducted during All-Star weekend last week.

Thibodeau is now with the Celtics, and in this interview he talks about the similarities and differences of Yao to Kevin Garnett, how Rick Adelman has adapted to Yao’s game (not the other way around), where he has seen Yao improve this season, and much more!

With the Rockets right in the thick of things in the Western Conference playoff race and how tightly packed the top 8 or 9 teams are, it’s starting to get fun to watch what the other teams are doing. So occasionally I’ll reference what they are doing to get a better sense of the Rockets’ potential playoff opponents. Not that it really matters, though, because whatever the matchups end up being, they’re all going to be tough.

On Saturday night, New Orleans played the Spurs in San Antonio, and the Hornets came back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game with 7:05 remaining in the game, but couldn’t pull out a victory. Both teams are now tied at the top of the Southwest division at 37-17. I was pulling more for the Hornets since I think the Spurs will be a tougher opponent.

In that game, new Hornet forward Bonzi Wells played 19 minutes and made only 1-of-7 shots for 2 points. Ouch.

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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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It was announced by the NBA today that Yao was named the Western Conference Player of the Month (LeBron was the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month). As this press release states…

Yao led the Rockets to a 10-4 month averaging 22.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists. In a 111-107 win over Golden State on Jan. 29, Yao tied his season-highs in points (36), rebounds (19) and free throws made (14). He matched his career best with five consecutive double-doubles (Jan. 19 – Jan. 29) and is the only player in the Western Conference to be averaging at least 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks this season.

Here’s a recap of Yao’s best games in January:

Jan. 5 vs. New York: Had 30 points, eight rebounds and a season-high six assists in a 103-91 win over the Knicks.
Jan. 9 @ New York: Had a season-high 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a 101-92 win over the Knicks.
Jan. 19 vs. San Antonio: Recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds in an 83-81 win over the Spurs.
Jan. 21 vs. Seattle: Scored 30 points and grabbed 17 boards in a 96-89 win over the SuperSonics.
Jan. 29 vs. Golden State: Had a season-high 36 points and 19 rebounds in a 111-107 win over the Warriors.

If Yao gets another couple of Player of the Month awards, along with leading his team to the playoffs, then Yao could get serious consideration for NBA MVP honors. But we’ll take it one step at a time.

After the 76er game on Tuesday in which the Rockets played so poorly down the stretch, it motivated me to start thinking about what the Rockets should start doing to win games in the clutch. After almost letting another game slip away because of missed shots and free throws against San Antonio on Saturday, it just confirmed my thoughts about what needs to be done.

Yes, Yao Ming missed 3 free throws in a row late in that game that could have spelled disaster for the Rockets. That has been a trend for Yao lately. He missed 3 shots in a row against Philadelphia, he missed an open look late in the New Orleans game, and also had two turnovers late in that game.

It’s obvious to me that Yao is not the guy who should be shooting shots late in games. I think his abilities are better served crashing the boards if, and when, other players miss shots. To not have him underneath the rim for rebounds — like he showed how valuable he was Saturday night against the Spurs — is just too valuable an asset to give up. Yao has shown he’s a better rebounder this season, and that he’s very capable of scoring on put-backs after other players’ missed shots.

There’s just something about Yao’s confidence that doesn’t give him the ability to hit those late-game shots. That’s okay. I don’t slight him for that. Although he’s more of a scoring center, I’m perfectly content with him taking shots for the first 44 or 45 minutes, and letting someone else take the big shots in crunch time. There’s no shame in that.

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Just a note — I won’t be able to write anything or review any of your comments starting Monday night because of the surgery I’m having on my shoulder early Tuesday morning. So if you provide any comments, I apologize in advance I won’t be able to review them until Wednesday at the earliest (hopefully). They tell me I’m going to be out of it for a few days because of the drugs, but I should be able to watch the following game on Saturday against the Spurs.

Rafer Alston answered some questions in this SI.com article regarding the issues brought forth as Tracy McGrady soon returns to the team while the Rockets are playing so well. I like one of the things he said (highlighted in bold below), but I didn’t like another thing he said (highlighted in italics):

“He lines his guy up and goes into his move and then sometimes he’ll go on the low blocks and work on his game down there. So we’ll tell him we want to get up and keep moving, I think that’s how Rick Adelman’s style is. We want to move the ball, move our bodies and I think down the stretch we’ve always come to him and just give it to him and tell him to take us home.”

My problem with the part I italicized is that I don’t think McGrady’s got that great of a track record of “taking them home” down the stretch. Remember Game 7 against Utah last season? Someone please tell Adelman to not be tempted to try that strategy. We tried that under JVG, and it hasn’t turned out that great.

Thankfully, Rafer ends it with this encouraging quote:

“Now when Tracy comes back, we’ve got to keep our rhythm, got to keep the same tempo. Guys got to continue to be aggressive.”

Here’s an interesting read from ESPN’s John Hollinger on the definition of a true center in today’s NBA. I respect Hollinger as a writer, so I liked what he had to say about Yao’s hall of fame ‘trajectory.’

Small point: Although the article posted today on ESPN.com, he must have written it before Alonzo Mourning retired.