With opener a day away, Rockets still have lots of kinks to work through By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has said all 15 Western Conference teams are convinced they will be in the playoffs, and 10 of those expect to have home-court advantage in the first round. The Rockets, who open the season at Detroit on Tuesday, talk big, too, of course. It could be part of the standard players' contract. But that's about the season as a whole. For now, they talk about themselves as if auditioning for jobs writing political attack adds. "We have a long way to go, honestly," Rockets forward Jim Jackson said. "I don't think we were living in any false dreams or fantasies, imagining that we were the team to beat or where we wanted to be. "You can pick out things that are specific. But for us to get to where we want to be, we have to improve in every area." I'm Jeff Van Gundy, and I approved of this message? "I want us to start playing harder, less wasted possessions, whether it's missed assignments, lack of intensity, lack of concentration, lack of discipline," Van Gundy said. "If you look at our team and evaluate our team, one of our strengths is not team quickness. "So we have to be more ready and more alert, have better communication and have greater intensity to overcome that. We can overcome that with greater intensity and alertness and awareness and communication." So they are not quick and have lacked intensity, alertness, awareness and communication. That wasn't in any of the advertising. But they could not have been that bad against the Spurs and Nuggets last week. Actually, they were. But as willing as they have been to admit their failings, they also have argued that their problems have been expected and understandable. They began the preseason insisting that adding so many new players would not keep them from being ready to play as a cohesive, polished team. They have since argued that they can overcome "rough spots." More important, they believe that the problems of the preseason might reach the regular season but won't last. "Sometimes when you look on the floor, it just seems like two teams put together," forward Maurice Taylor said. "But at the same time, it's up to us to stay disciplined and concentrate and really focus on the things we need to get better at — the chemistry, just knowing the spots to be at on the floor." But Van Gundy has seemed more aggravated by a lack of consistent intensity defensively and focus offensively. Cohesion offensively should come with time. The Rockets were last in the NBA in scoring in the preseason, 24th in shooting percentage. But Tracy McGrady, perhaps the league's most proven scorer, made just 39.8 percent of his shots in the preseason. Take away his one effective offensive game, when he made 12 of 17 shots against the Bulls, he made just 23 of 71 shots, 32.4 percent. There is little reason to expect those struggles to last. They never have, and McGrady has not had any issues with the shots he's getting. "My preseason, I play terrible in preseason," McGrady said. "But come opening night, my game is there. It clicks." With much of the Rockets' roster rebuilt around him, it would seem that a return to McGrady's usual regular-season form would help players around him. And having shots fall tends to make teams feel "cohesive." But the Rockets also have not brought consistent intensity defensively. They have closed slowly, trapped loosely. But with so much of Van Gundy's defense, especially with a team that does not have good quickness, based on team principles, the cohesion they have spoken of might be more important on the defensive end. "I'm not disappointed," Jackson said. "I knew it was going to be tough with a lot of new guys, especially understanding the system we're in and not being used to the demands that Jeff places on each individual. "They are different. So for us as a team, continuity comes by playing together, knowing each other, and that's offensively and defensively. The system here, everything is very specific. Being in a certain place, talk through." Still, there would seem to be plenty of time for unforgiving reality. For now, NBA teams revel in their unbeaten records and talk as if reciting advertising slogans. The Rockets came up with "United We Win." But the players must not have gotten the memo. "Everybody's not on the same page," McGrady said. "We don't have that chemistry. Whether it's going to come. It's been a tough preseason for all of us, with the China trip. That kind of set us back. It's tough. Hopefully we can gather ourselves together. We are showing some positives. But it's not enough. We really do have to sustain a great effort, a great focus for 48 minutes. Right now, we're not doing that." jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets Summary Yao update Yao Ming was held out of contact in Sunday's practice but said his hyperextended left elbow had improved and that he expected to return to practice today and play against the Pistons in Tuesday's opener. "I'm much better," Yao said. "It's just a little sore, but that's it." Yao suffered a slight ligament tear against the Spurs on Wednesday and missed Thursday's game against the Nuggets. He practiced with a protective sleeve but only went through drills and a long individual workout after the team's practice. But Yao and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said Yao needs the full-team practice to be at his best. "Yao needs to grind it out every day," Van Gundy said. "He's not great at responding in games to days off. He needs to be in the fight, especially when you're going up against the best frontline in the league." Yao agreed. "To not be able to participate in all of the practice, you do lose a little time," he said. "No matter how much I run and work, if I'm, not participating in every part of the team practice, I do feel like there is a loss there." JONATHAN FEIGEN
