Really?! The Rockets are 3-1? How the…

November 3, 12:57 PMHouston Rockets ExaminerDavid Hartnett

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Rockets center, David Anderson, battles Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap in the paint.
AP Photo/Steve C. Wilson

Dampened expectations and pre-season prognosticators claiming this season for the Rockets would be met with heartache and disappointment were what was being shouted from the rooftops before the season even began.

Yet with the first week of the 2009-2010 regular season complete, and the Rockets standing atop the Southwest division at 3-1 with two wins over perceived playoff teams (the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers), it’s time to believe that maybe all the doom and gloom expressed a week ago maybe was unnecessary.

Sure, it’s a small sample size to determine how good in fact these Rockets are, and possibly their early-season success can be attributed to essentially a surprise attack. That teams are unaware how to properly defend these Rockets whose offensive and defensive philosophies have dramatically changed without the inclusion of Yao Ming in the starting lineup. However, with three wins over the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs, and with three wins this season, maybe it’s time to begin to believe that these Rockets aren’t so futile without Yao.

So far this season every game has been different, yet at the same time there is one common denominator that have tied all these games together: second-half success.

Be it the fact despite a terrible first half in their opening night game against the Trail Blazers, the Rockets managed to turn an otherwise brutal game, into a respectable outcome. Or the fact the Rockets — on the backend of a back-to-back — turned a ten point halftime deficit into a one-point win. Or the idea that despite Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge doing everything in their power to overtake the Rockets in the second half, the Rockets wouldn’t lose their home opener. Or the fact the Rockets managed to outscore the hated Jazz by 20 on their home court, these Rockets are resilient and they won’t quit.

Though maybe the most fascinating aspect of these three wins is each one is unique. There is no definitive recipe for how the team gets a win. In year’s past you could point to the fact that either Yao, Tracy, or last year, Ron would carry the team to a win. This year, there is not that “one guy” to carry, rather it seems every time there is at least one person to carry the rest.

In their win over the Warriors it was Luis Scola to carry the team. In defeating the Trail Blazers it was Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza. While against the Jazz, it was the eight Rockets who scored ten or more points, without one surpassing 20. They are the definition of what a team should be.

This year’s squad is essentially the Three Musketeers. And with the musketeers battle cry of “Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno” or “One for all and all for one”, the Rockets seem to epitomize that.

So if you’re trying to find an explanation for this early-season success, it’s hard to offer one. Maybe it’s the fact they’re a collection of individuals who seem intent on not letting their teammates falter in the face of adversity.