Houston Vipers?

When the Rockets took control of the Vipers basketball operations, there was reasonable concern over what that would mean. And by no means is this a slight at anyone who called us the Rio Grande Valley Rockets. Honestly, I don't know if I necessarily mind that monkier because it displays how strong our relationship is with our NBA parent club.

But I have one of my own – the Houston Vipers.

Aaron Brooks
Joey Dorsey
and starting tomorrow? Will Conroy.
And sometime later this season? Jermaine Taylor.

Don't know what I'm talking about? The local media covered it on TV earlier, and the Houston Chronicle has it as well. Read before continuing.

The Rockets only have a 15-man roster, and that includes guys like out for the season Yao and will likely never put on a Rockets uniform again McGrady. So it's really 13. Taylor, even though he'll be a Viper starting Friday, will count against that 13. So of the 13 active players on Houston's roster, 31% will have experience playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Read that again. I mean, holy GATORADE Call-Ups Batman!

And by swapping out Conroy for Taylor, there will still be three active Vipers with experience playing for the Rockets (along with Mike Harris and Garrett Temple).

It's truly incredible how well this single-affiliation relationship has worked out so far for these two clubs. Both the Rockets and Vipers are getting exactly what they needed. The Vipers have a better players and coaches in all respects of those words. Today Conroy and Mickell Gladness recorded some PSAs for us. We didn't give them a whole lot of warning and it took over an hour. Not a complaint. I felt bad. They were happy to do it. We have a lot of really good guys on our team.

As for the Rockets, they get to, in effect, have a 25-man roster, with 10-to-12 (if they assign players) getting playing time they probably wouldn't get in the NBA, allowing them to get sharp and learn the Rockets systems, allowing for better integration with the big club when needed. Like Harris and Dorsey before him, Conroy should have no problem become a part of the Rockets because he's been running their schemes all along, just with different players. Once he gets used to his new teammates, he'll be good to go. I really think Conroy's going to be successful with the Rockets. I hope he sticks there. He's one of the nicest guys I have ever met and a clubhouse leader who never complains. He's earned an extended look.

--

Speaking of Dorsey, he got his first action of the season with the Rockets two nights ago. Played two minutes against Atlanta, had an offensive rebound. Good to see him get some action.

--

By the way, to answer the burning question, yes, I am watching the State of the Union while writing this post. I haven't missed a State of the Union in a really long time. At least not since I've been old enough to understand what's going on. I'm not about to get into my political orientation, that would not be appropriate here. But I do care.

Gotta multi-task sometimes.