After beating the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder each by double-digits to kick off the 2008-2009 season, the Houston Rockets met their first major test on Tuesday as they squared off with the defending champion Boston Celtics. In one of the chippiest November games you will ever see, the Rockets lost in a tight game with the Celtics, 103-99.

While there is no shame in starting the season 3-1, or losing to the defending champions in a very close game, the defeat does raise some questions and concerns about just how good this Rockets team is, and what they have to do to make a serious run this post-season. Don’t get me wrong, one loss does not expose all of a team’s weaknesses, and this article may come off as a Rocket fan jumping the gun, but the game did confirm some glaring problems people have had pertaining to the Rockets.

So, based on what we already know about the team’s roster and their performance in the first three regular-season games, here is a list of five things the Rockets must do to improve the team as the season progresses, and my proposed solution:

1) The Rockets need more height. While the Rockets are generally a very good rebounding and defensive team, they simply lack the size necessary to have much success against a team like the Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers. With only one player over 6′9” (bet you can’t guess who that is), the Rockets are an extremely small team when Yao Ming is on the bench. Against the Celtics, the Rockets only were outrebounded by 5 boards for the game, but too often they were manhandled down low. From the 6:35 mark in the 1st quarter (when Yao was called for his 2nd foul) to his return at the 10:42 mark of the 2nd quarter, the Rockets were outrebounded 11-4. To no one’s surprise, the Rockets went from holding a 3 point lead to being down 8 points. If the Rockets are going to seriously contend for an NBA championship, they simply cannot be bullied around in the paint because of their lack of size.

Solution: Sign Dikembe Mutombo. Seems easy enough, right? Well, it is. Mutombo said in an August interview with Click2Houston.com that he wants to postpone a retirement, and wants to return to the Rockets once he gets his offer. Unfortunately, the Rockets will need to clear up a bit of cap space before this can happen. So, we are likely looking at a similar situation as to the Celtics last year signing PJ Brown midway through the season. On the basketball court, Mutombo is still in incredible shape, and is a terrific defensive player down low that will clean the glass and be the leading cheerleader on the bench. Deke, the Rockets need you…

2) The Rockets’ starting point-guard needs to shoot better than 20.9% from the field, and 21.9% from 3 point range. While I am generally a fan of Rafer Alston, and do appreciate his ballhandling ability and defense, he is absolutely a buzz kill in the starting lineup. When you have three guys in Tracy McGrady, Yao MIng and Ron Artest who will attract double teams and suck people into the lane, you need the other two guys to hit their spoon-fed open looks. Luis Scola has done this very well so far this season (and for that matter, last season), but Alston and his career 38.6% shooting pecentage continues to be the achilles heal of the Rockets’ starting lineup.

Solution: Give the Rafer Alston experiment a few more weeks, and if there is no improvement then a change must be in order. I am sure that change would be starting Aaron Brooks, who has dazzled Rockets fans and coaches during the preseason and first few games of the regular season. While Brooks’ size hurts him on the defensive end of the court, his ability to get into the lane and knock down open 3’s, as well as his limitless energy, would work extremely well with the starting lineup of McGrady/Artest/Scola/Yao.

3) The Rockets need to maximize the effectiveness of the “Big 3.” If you have been watching a lot of Rockets basketball this season, and have taken note about how the “Big 3″ plays together…it isn’t very pretty. When they are all out on the court together, they look indecisive, and their talents really don’t feed off one another. This has been a problem in year’s past, as Yao would play his best ball of the season when McGrady missed games, and McGrady would play his best ball when Yao missed games. The reason is because those two players, and now Artest, all need the ball in their hands to be effective. They are not very comfortable moving off ball and ultimately are most effective when they are creating their own shot and are the focal point of the offense.

Solution: I know it goes against what most believe to be common sense, but I feel that Artest should be the Rockets’ sixth man. Having your three man guys being primarily isolation players is a recipe for poor ball movement and offensive chemistry, and that has been seen thus far this season. As a scorer, Artest actually compliments Yao a bit better than McGrady, but McGrady’s passing and ability to initiate the offense is ultimately what has been the engine of the team’s offense the last 4 years. Therefor, have Artest brings his offense and toughness/hustle off the bench and constantly keep the pressure on the opposing defense from opening tip.

4) If Yao is to be the #1 option, Rick Adelman needs to design a system in which he can counter fronting defenses. Much discussion over the past summer was that the Rockets are now Yao’s team, and that he, not McGrady or Artest, will have to be the leader for this Rockets’ team if they are to go anywhere in the post season. While it is certainly a very valid statement to say the Rockets’ big man, who happens to be their most efficient scorer, should take leadership of the team and be the focal point. In an ideal world, it is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, stats don’t always translate to how a certain system works. As we saw against the Utah Jazz in the 2007 playoffs, and last night against the Celtics, if Yao is fronted, then he is almost a detriment offensively. Without much athletic ability, and without the Shaquille O’Neal mindset, a team that utilizes the front technique (basically the defender putting his entire body in the passing lane to the postup player) force Yao to move to the perimeter, where he is far less efficient and effective. With Yao being the focal point, it also makes for teammates forcing the ball into Yao and getting the TO, which happenned quite often against the Celtics. When your focal point can’t get the ball in effective positions, and clogs up the paint because he can’t be effective outside of 12ft, that is a major problem.

Solution: Adelman has to watch tapes of how Jeff Van Gundy used Yao. As bad of an offensive coach Van Gundy was, he did have two primary principles of how to use Yao; A) Never, ever bring Yao out of the low post unless it is to set a pick for McGrady, and B) When defenses front Yao, set a downpick for Yao on one block, have Yao cut to the other block, and swing the ball on the perimeter and get the ball to Yao just as he’s reaching the second block. That is how you beat fronting defenses, and it is something Adelman simply hasn’t figured out. Adelman must adapt a system to combat the fronting defenses.

5) Transition defense needs to improve. With McGrady still not healthy, and Shane Battier hurt, the Rockets’ transition defense has been horrific to start the year. While Artest is a tremendous defender, he doesn’t have the team-defensive awareness that Battier has, and where as on a loose ball Artest will go for the steal, Battier will tread back defensively and take the charge and discourage a fast break oppertunity. McGrady’s inability to catch up with guards leaking out on the fastbreak has been a huge problem so far. There has been countless times already this season where his man has gotten the easy transition dunk because McGrady couldn’t get back on defense. For a team that prides itself on defense, and its offense is predicated on a slowed down tempo, this is a crippling weakness at this point.

Solution: Very simple, T-Mac needs to get healthy and Battier needs to get back on the court.

Overall, Rockets fans should be encouraged about how the team looks thus far, and the potential they have to do some serious damage come May and June. But, the team is not perfect, and with many new pieces still trying to gell, there are going to be some growing pains early on. It may not hinder them from starting the season with a terrific record, or it could mean a similar start to last year (15-17). Who knows. What is a fact is that they still have a ways to go before they can seriously contend for a championship. Luckily for them, they have the talent, coaching and most importantly TIME to get it all together.