If it's been posted, lock it up. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5520501.html Instead of trade, coach, players seek upward mobility By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle There was talk about another Western Conference contender adding another star. Shaquille O'Neal would be heading to Phoenix in the latest ground-shaking change to a team the Rockets already needed to look up to see. As with Pau Gasol going to the Los Angeles Lakers, Damon Stoudemire to San Antonio, Chris Webber to Golden State and Kyle Korver to Utah, the Rockets watched a team in their way make a deal and declared that they too needed to "make a move." The move they had in mind, however, was with a look at the schedule and repairing their home-court struggles rather than to their roster. With four home games remaining before the All-Star break, beginning tonight against Cleveland, the Rockets said that how they performed in the next seven days will go a long way toward defining their season at the break. "I think I'm concerned with how we do than what's going on in Phoenix and other places," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "It's an interesting move. I'm really more concerned with what we do. We're coming home again. We've won eight in a row on the road. We have to make some kind of movement at home. "I talked to the team about it. I think when you win that many on the road, you come home and build on that. We haven't done that all year long. The excuses are over with. ... Our team, we can beat anybody. Unfortunately, we've shown we can lose, too. We have to make a move here and get right in the middle of the pack with everybody else." Winning at home an issue The Rockets' run of eight win in nine games since Tracy McGrady's return from knee injuries — with a loss only in the game Yao Ming missed — has put them within a game of the playoff pack. They trail the Warriors, who also play four home games before the break, putting the Rockets' ability to win at home in clear focus. "We didn't play well at home this year, 12-9," Yao said. "Looking at our road record (16-11), it looks like one of the best teams in the league. The home record looks horrible. It's hurting us and also hurting the fans. "This is our best chance. We played so hard and worked so hard to get this chance. We won three on the road, get back home before the All-Star break. If we win all four, we can be 12 games above .500 and we can get back to No. 8 or No. 7 seed, hopefully. If we are lucky, we can get to sixth. That's how important it is." That also is why the Rockets said they are not caught up in the roster maneuvers of their competitors, that their road success indicates what they have lacked is not personnel. "It's always us," Rafer Alston said. "We can't keep saying it's this, it's that. We have to find a way to get it done at home. Each one of us has to look inside ourselves and see what can we do to rectify what's gone on at home. "We can still play with the best of them. We've shown we can play with San Antonio. We went to Phoenix and won. We beat Utah early in the year. (The Western Conference) has been loaded, anyway. It's just getting better. We're good. We're not worried. I like our team." Still, they can't help but notice the trend. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, however, said it will not influence him to make a move. "We are always looking to upgrade the team," Morey said. "Historically, more bad deals have been made in reaction to another team than good deals." Getting help from within Besides, the Rockets point to many changes in their rotation as examples "I feel we have added, maybe not the level of a Gasol or a Shaq, but we've added pieces with (Carl) Landry, with (Steve) Novak, with (Aaron) Brooks, with (Luis) Scola's consistent improvement," Shane Battier said. "They're not going to get a lot of (publicity), but they've really helped us in this three-week stretch. "We know how important these games are. We know how average we've been at home. We know these games are very vital to making a push." Do that, and they would have made a significant move of their own.
Lame, i thought finally some news about a trade. Is DM and everybody talking about "we have to make a move because other teams are going it too" really that stupid because it's not about that. Even if nobody traded we would still need a trade to get even the slightest chance of looking at a Championship. That's what it's about, go ahead DM keep all these players and see another first round loss. Good job
I love the mentality of the players, coach, and team. Are we going to make a trade, every time another team makes a move? Especially when haven't even played the new look teams yet.
Contrary to popular belief, the sky is not falling. Develop our young players. Get Francis back and healthy. Hopefully deal M. James at some point but not necessary either. Keep practicing and hopefully he shows something in practice that Adleman can see is worth bringing him in. Alston can keep improving with his dribble drive something that was missing in the JVG years. I like our team.
Still waiting for them to actually believe they have what it takes. The fact that they (and we) are still talking about it means they aren't there yet. We definitely have not been playing up to the level of talent that we have.
Translation= No team improvements this season, this is what we are and we have to make the best of it!
talent is there. I think we should own the Suns now. We can definately beat the Spurs. Utah gives us some trouble but we can beat them too. We can beat the Lakers and i don't care if they have Gasol or not.
Don't make a move for the sake of making a move. Don't mortgage next year just to get a better chance to win this year.
The only thing standing in our way is the fact that we have so many home games left on the schedule...
This is why Morey is the GM. He doesn't go off half cocked and make a stupid trade that we would all be regretting a few years down the road. This is the Houston Rockets. Not the New York Knicks.
I don't buy it. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but I still believe we'll make a deal before the deadline. It's just the fog machine blowin' smoke, IMO.
If we do it'll be Head/James/or Snyder in any combination or individually. Frankly I don't see it. These guys are our insurance.
