Rockets find two players to help out Yao, Francis Nachbar, Norris lead way to 88-72 victory over Kings By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schedules: • Rockets schedule • NBA preseason schedule -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • ROCKETS: Complete coverage ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jeff Van Gundy kept saying he was searching for a few players, and he wasn't talking about Eddie Griffin. The Rockets just needed a few players around Steve Francis and Yao Ming that could fill a few requirements, including making some shots. Then there in the second half, he found two players suddenly making plays and hitting shots right in the middle of the Rockets offense. Wouldn't you know it. It's always the last place you look. Bostjan Nachbar, well into a 16-of-53 preseason in which he has received more playing time than all but three NBA players, suddenly hit an open trey. Then another. Then another. He finished his sudden run with a drive and a slam that almost reminded of the Gerald Wallace dunk in his face on Tuesday. Moochie Norris broke down the lane with a drive. And then another. Then hit a long trey of his own. With that, the Rockets more than beat the Kings 88-72 at Toyota Center. They demonstrated that if someone could just make a few shots besides Yao and Francis, their struggling offense might just work. "We need to surround our best two players, Yao and Steve, with dependable, reliable, tough-minded, good shooting, smart players," Van Gundy said. "If we do that ... we'll have a heck of a year." "Those guys are always going to attract attention and a lot of it. if we space correctly and pass on time and on target, we'll get good shots. For a lot of the game, we didn't make any shots. Then Boki got on a bit of a roll and Moochie made a couple." Until the Rockets shooting made its second half arrival, the shooters around Francis and Yao had been inept. Jim Jackson has been unable to hit from the perimeter. Nachbar had not hit from anywhere. Griffin has gone from unable to find his shooting touch to not being able to find the arena. Jackson continued to struggle with his shot, making just two of 11 attempts, though Van Gundy said he had no doubt that a 10-year career offered ample evidence that Jackson's shot would come around. "If you look right now, Jimmy Jackson's shooting 29 percent, but I have no doubt he's going to be a huge part of what we do because he is all those things I talked about," Van Gundy said. But other than Francis and Yao, however, the rest of the Rockets came into Thursday's game having made 99 of 271 shots (36.5 percent). "If you're a perimeter player," Van Gundy said, "If you can't shoot, you can't play, especially on a team that has a player like Steve and a player like Yao. Francis and Yao combined to make 18 of 30 shots on Thursday. Francis had 23 points and Yao had 20 and 14 rebounds. But on Thursday, however, Nachbar made 6 of 13 attempts for 15 points. Norris made 7 of 11 for another 15 with four assists. The Rockets 46.6 percent shooting, and 42.9 percent 3-point shooting was by far their best of the preseason. The Rockets still felt a dozen points shy of giving away free fast food, but they seemed to show the 9,539 at Toyota Center far more than they had in their horrid first night in their new home. "We were disorganized, uninspired, lacked passion and the last two games ... we've been more professional, more intense and more organized so that's a positive step," Van Gundy said. There is still a long way to go. Other than Francis and Yao, Van Gundy said every spot in the rotation is open. Jackson would seem likely to continue to get minutes. Kelvin Cato has earned Van Gundy" praise and had 12 rebounds in his second consecutive start with Griffin unavailable at power forward. But Van Gundy said with just two preseason games remaining, little is certain. "There's a lot of assumption that go on here that maybe don't go on in my mind," Van Gundy said. "I came in with a clean slate. I told them, I have an idea about a couple starters, but no more than a couple. The rotation is up in the air, there's a lot of minutes to be had on this team. A lot of minutes. The people that are the most reliable, dependable and professional and also provide what we need to complement Steve and Yao, those are the guys that are going to get the lion's share of the minutes. "We're continuing to search. Guys have been set back with injuries, so it's really hard to know because I haven't had as much chance to work with them. There's no guarantees where that goes. You can only control what you can control. The only thing I'm concerned about is not who's playing, but how we're playing. I think we did a good job moving the group forward. Everybody has to realize the train's moving. You have to hop on board. The Rockets preseason has shown that it's difficult to catch a moving train. But on Thursday a few players began to run faster. "It's hard to win, too," Van Gundy said. "Hop on anyway." Good game.
Many nice quotes by JVG. It is all coming together now. Steve_Yao and the Band. The return of Motay, Mobley and Piatkowski will only make The Band berra. How sweet it is!
i totally forgot that mobley was out. along with piatowski that's some good shooting we could use. mo taylor can hit the little jumper as well.
we've been playin without... Cat EG Piatkowski Mo T A. Griffin Cat and Piatkowski can shoot and Mo T has got major offense. AG can play strong D and then EG is the young athletic talent that can hopefully pull it togehter this year. I think with some time we can put together a great year. Still too early, but I think we're not in bad shape.
Its good to see Boki and Yao r good friends but lets see boki dunk on som people in tha game that would kick butt !!
