The Houston Rockets cut guard Daequan Cook to open a roster spot for guard James Anderson Wednesday.

Anderson arrived to the Rockets in time for the morning shootaround. His time spent with the Rockets D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers has given Anderson a head start to learning the Rockets’ system. Some of the terminology is different, but the Vipers run many of the Rockets’ sets and many of their out of bounds plays. Anderson won’t get much practice time to adjust. The Rockets’ practice on Thursday will likely be their only practice for several weeks. But as he began cramming studies of the Rockets’ system, he found it familiar given his brief, otherwise forgettable stint with the Vipers.

“It definitely helped out a lot being that they run some of the same stuff and some of the sets,” Anderson said. “I got to pick up on it a little quicker and transition when I got up here.”

Anderson played in 87 games in parts of three seasons with the Spurs, who had selected him with the 20th pick of the 2010 draft, averaging 3.7 points per game. As much as the Spurs play an up-tempo style similar to the Rockets’, to Anderson there was an emphasis on defense that he hoped to bring with him to get on the court and stay there with the Rockets.

via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle