The Houston Rockets are coming into the 2013-14 season with very high expectations after signing Dwight Howard as a free agent and one of their former players is thrilled with the move, as Hakeem Olajuwon said he loves the combination Howard has with point guard Jeremy Lin.
According to ESPN.com, Olajuwon spoke about the two with Fox 26 in Houston and said that the combination of Lin and Howard together on the floor could be "deadly" and that he is excited to see what his team can bring out this season. The Rockets made it into the playoffs as the eighth seed last year and now Olajuwon is working with the team in the offseason to help with workouts and he said that Howard is looking great as the offseason is going on and he is expecting big things in the regular season.
Olajuwon spoke about the combination of Lin and Howard, adding that he has the chance to be very good in the offense with Howard. Olajuwon also spoke about James Harden and chandler Parsons, saying that the ingredients are there for the team to play well and make a run in the postseason. Olajuwon of course won two titles with the Rockets and he has also been mentoring Howard about his post-game and has been trying to improve his skills down low.
The Rockets won 45 games last season with Harden leading the way and they added Howard to a frontcourt that already had Omer Asik, who averaged a double-double last season while playing in all 82 games. The team plans on using both players on the floor and rotating them as well and there is a good chance that the team will be one of the best defensively and on the boards this season.
Last year the Rockets were one of the highest scoring teams in the league and ranked number two in points per game and they also were one of the most consistent rebounding teams, ranking seventh in the NBA. The team ranked 28th in the league in points allowed and that will have to improve heading into this season.
"Just the little offense I saw, that combination is very deadly," Olajuwon told Fox 26. "You can see that both of them are very excited, seeing that 'Wow, we bring the right ingredients together.'"