Rockets beat Memphis - G(ood), B(ad), U(gly)

A pretty uninspiring season opening win for the Rockets. After each game I'll give you the good, the bad and the ugly.

GOOD
1. Ron Artest's debut. He opened with a couple of early steals, which led to points, he always brings energy and that rubs off on his teammates. He will get a lot open looks from 3-point land, wonder how many he'll take this year? Last night was fine, he was 2-4. Except for the 3rd quarter, he made it virtually impossible for Rudy Gay to score in the half court.

2. Yao's steady play. At no point during the game did he dominate. Yet at the end of the night, he's got 21 and 10. He made all 9 of his free throws and did not turn the ball over in 38 minutes of action. He is healthy, but obviously rusty when it comes to his offensive touch around the basket. This was an off night and he still got his.

3. 4th quarter. The game was still in doubt, up just 1 heading into the 4th quarter. Memphis took their first lead of the game in the 4th and led 65-64 with 9:07 to go in the game. Houston outscored them 18-6 the rest of the way. Memphis made just 1 of 13 shots in the final 9 minutes and had 5 turnovers - that will win the Rockets a lot of games.

BAD
1. Shooting
After making half their shots (10-20) in the first quarter to open up a comfortable lead (26-18), the Rockets made less than a third of their attempts the rest of the night (18-56, 32%). With as many good looks as they got, and will get, this should not be known as the gang that couldn't shoot straight.

2. Boardwork
They were the best rebounding team in the NBA last year, yet they got outrebounded in the second half, mainly because of Grizzlies' rookies Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur. Too many extra shots since they alllowed the Gruzzlies 15 offensive rebounds.

3. Passing
This is partly a result of their penchant for wmissing shots, but last year's season low assist total for a game was 11. They managed just ten against Memphis.

UGLY
When they win, it can be ugly. It will likely look like this for awhile to open the season. Right after the game, Craig Ackerman and I talked to Luis Scola as our player of the game guest and he described it just that way. As long as they beat all of the riff-raff in the West and there isn't much they can stay up near the top of the standings.
------------- WEX