Team success puts some Rockets in mix for hardware

Houston's incredible run might cause voters to take a second look at Tracy McGrady's MVP candidacy. AP

POLL Which Rocket has the best chance to win an award? Tracy McGrady (MVP) Rick Adelman (Coach) Daryl Morey (Executive) Rafer Alston (Improved) Luis Scola (Rookie) Shane Battier (Defensive)  View Results

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A rising tide lifts all boats, John F. Kennedy and assorted economic experts have told us for decades, just as surely as a subprime mortgage tsunami can swamp everything from the dinghy of the guy who used to live next door (oops, foreclosed) to the yachts of Wall Street.

It is the rising tide part that applies here, in the way the Houston Rockets' astounding team success might soon translate into individual acclaim for their players, coaches and front-office personnel.

Everybody loves a winner, and the surest way to show it in the NBA -- once the contracts are signed, the paychecks are cashed, the media requests are handled and the applause dies down -- is to hand out hardware. Thanks to Houston's attention-wrenching and homage-demanding 22-game winning streak (ended Tuesday by Boston), the league's longest in 36 years, several Rockets contributors who might otherwise have gotten overlooked will get votes, in some cases lots of votes, for the various annual awards.

Already, Rick Adelman is living every NBA head coach's wildest fantasy. They preach it and preach it and preach it -- how everything and everyone looks better through the prism of winning -- but the Rockets since Jan. 27 have shown that to be so. By going undefeated for the better part of two months, a team considered strong but hardly a Finals favorite when it relied primarily on two healthy superstars found itself perched atop the mighty Western Conference standings. This with one star down, the other showing resilience and character to match his talent, and a supporting cast rapidly earning a promotion to "ensemble.''

And it all comes back to winning. Tracy McGrady would tell you he is the same guy, same player, as he was before center Yao Ming's season ended with a stress fracture in his left foot. But we all look at him differently now because of the results on the court.

Rafer Alston still, by and large, is the point guard who has made past coaches chomp down on their neckties and who could have been had back in training camp for the proverbial potted plant. But he seems more legit now, more (dare we say it) mature, a player whose strengths get noticed ahead of his weaknesses.

It is like that deep into the Rockets' roster now, and it all flows from 22-0.

"They were really playing well before Yao went out, and I figure they've just been able to carry it over,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said Monday. "Sometimes you're able to get a little momentum, and they're following through with that.

"They're leading with their defense, so they're able to keep games close. And they're finding someone to win at the end. Yeah, they've got a guy like McGrady who can put up huge numbers, but they're getting it from a lot of other guys who are playing with a lot of confidence right now.''

In a spotlight that has grown so big, we cannot help but recognize them. Here are the Rockets most likely to get consideration for major awards:

Tracy McGrady: MVP?

Four of McGrady's teammates scored more points than he did (11) on Sunday in Houston's victory over the Lakers, and the winning margin, 104-92, suggests T-Mac could have been shut out (which he was in the first half) without snapping the streak. The Rockets are 8-7 in games he has missed this season, including a 7-4 stretch soon after Christmas when he was sidelined with a bum left knee. And McGrady's primary stats for 2007-08 (22.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.6 apg, 43.9 FG percentage) are virtually indistinguishable from his career numbers (22.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.7 apg, 43.9 FG percentage).

Yet no one questions the impact he has had, both as the focal point for every opposing defense and for his ability to involve those supporting players. "McGrady can get his shot off whenever he wants, and that is what makes him so tough,'' Charlotte's Matt Carroll told the Houston Chronicle last week. "He gets the perimeter guys open shots.''

Let's not forget that McGrady, the Western Conference Player of the Week earlier this month, has scored at least 40 points in four games this season and 30 or more in 12; the Rockets are 9-3 on those nights. Whether he has done enough to push ahead of the current favorites for MVP consideration -- Boston's Kevin Garnett, Cleveland's LeBron James, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and New Orleans' Chris Paul -- likely will depend less on the unbeaten streak now than on Houston's spot in the standings after 82 games. Which is how it should be.

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