They were playing at a high level without Yao Ming because of an injury but as you recall, Rafer Alston was out of his mind hitting for over 30 points. There were many people asking me if the Rockets were a better team without Yao. There were all sorts of conversations going on around town about trading the "big guy". The Rockets were cruising without him and many fans thought it was the perfect time to put the Yao Ming era behind them. I told them, they were crazy and he is showing, right now, why I was right. Yao is getting more dominating every time he plays and should be good for at least the next five years.

So with the teams' recent success, here come the questions once again. Many of my friends are saying the Rockets should find a taker for an injured T-MAC and move on without him ever wearing a Houston uniform again. I've been explaining to them, that NUMBER ONE, nobody is going to just take his injury and his salary and NUMBER TWO, T-Mac is still an incredible talent and if he were healthy, this team would be more incredible than it is right now. When you have an asset like McGrady, you don't dump and run. He is not a good member of the team when he's injured but when healthy, the guy is amazing!

Sometime fans don't look at the big picture. We are accustomed to living in the moment in today's world and if you are not in the "for the moment plans", you are expendable in the eyes of many. That is so short sided. If T-Mac's knee responds like doctors say it will, he could get back to his All-Star form and then look at what you have! Of course, there are so many things that need to fall into place for a team each year to be successful but an asset is an asset and you can't have too many of them in the long NBA season.

Last year it was the players picking up for the injured Yao and this year they are playing hard without MaGrady. That is what you call depth and it is a must if you really want to win! Don't ever forget about #1.