July 29, 2003, 10:49PM Rockets become TV darlings Arena opener with Nuggets one of 22 national telecasts By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle The Rockets might not be considered championship contenders, but the NBA clearly thinks of them as being as popular as the teams that are. Not only will the Rockets move into a new arena this season, but the NBA schedule released Tuesday places them in a spotlight they have not seen since they last reached the playoffs. The Rockets will begin the season on national television -- with their first game in Toyota Center Oct. 30 against the Nuggets -- and will maintain a regular presence there. The Rockets will be featured on 22 nationally televised games, including four on ABC. Last season, 10 Rockets games were chosen for national TV, with none over the air on ABC. The Rockets' 22 national TV games this season rank behind only the Lakers and Kings' 24 and the Timberwolves, Mavericks and Spurs' 23. "I love the fact that we're TV darlings," said Rockets vice president for marketing Tim McDougall. "It's a good indicator of interest in the team." With the NBA's television partners hoping to catch the Yao Ming-Shaquille O'Neal ratings magic ESPN found with the centers' first meeting, all four Rockets games against the Lakers are scheduled for national television. Yao vs. Shaq Part III is scheduled for Christmas Day in Los Angeles and will complete ABC's first day of broadcasts. Though the Rockets' schedule finishes with a stretch run of 11 road contests in 16 games, it generally is more forgiving than last season's. The Rockets have 19 sets of back-to-back games, down from 21 last season. They have one five-game trip instead of the two of last season and most seasons. No other trip is longer than three games. The Rockets might have to pay for whatever breaks can be found in the schedule in the final four weeks of the season. But even in that stretch of 16 games, only seven are against teams that made last season's playoffs. Still, when Rockets officials were given their early look at the schedule, they did request that the end of the season not be as loaded with road games. "I was surprised by that," general manager Carroll Dawson said. "You always try to tinker with it. We have a lot of home games in February and the beginning of March. I asked them to try to balance it out a little better. But they usually can't do much to change schedules." Among other features of the schedule: ·Tipoff for home games will remain 7:30 p.m. as a rule. The team considered moving the start of home games to 7 p.m., but unless changed for television, game times will remain at 7:30. Rockets officials said 86 percent of respondents to a poll conducted at several home games last season indicated they prefer 7:30 starts. "We wanted it to be a fan-led decision," McDougall said. "We did research in January about what time to start. It was overwhelming that people preferred 7:30. That surprised us that it was that overwhelming. People live fairly far out. It's a spread-out town. Lots of people said 7:30 worked out better. "We're going to redo that survey during the season and see how people feel with the arena downtown." ·New Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy will get his first visit back to the New York area in the Rockets' first trip. The Rockets will face the New Jersey Nets in their second road game of the season Nov. 4. His only trip back to Madison Square Garden is Jan. 8 for the Rockets' first meeting of the season with the Knicks, Van Gundy's former team. ·The Rockets' first meeting with the defending NBA champion Spurs will be Dec. 11 at Toyota Center. Their second meeting will be the next game, Dec. 13 in San Antonio. ·The Rockets' only home game against LeBron James and the Cavaliers will be Feb. 25, pitting the first player taken in last year's draft, Yao, against the first player taken this year. ·The Rockets will face an unexpected ticket-sales challenge. Largely because they are on 18 ESPN or TNT weeknight broadcasts, the Rockets went from 24 weekend home games last season to just 17 this season. ·The Rockets will host a second New Year's Eve game, starting a Dec. 31 home meeting with the 76ers at 9 p.m. to facilitate a postgame New Year's celebration. ·Though they are showcasing a new arena, new uniforms, new colors and a new coach, the Rockets' new season will not begin until the third night of the NBA campaign. They wait to play a Nuggets team that tied for the worst record in the NBA last season. But the Rockets saw that part of the schedule as a positive, because it gives them a chance to sell out for an opponent that usually would not be a large draw. "We feel pretty confident we'll sell out the opener anyway," McDougall said. "Not using up a big opponent on opening night probably helps us a little bit. That first game, the arena is going to be the draw more than any opponent." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2018342
I'm glad they're on TV so much. Except that means staying up till 1:30 in the morning stressed out about the game! I lose a lot of sleep being a Rockets fan!
Yes! People around the nation are gonna start seein the best team ever assembled a lot more often, I like it.
No sh**! I have that jingle on my pc... Man i am so happy to see this many games on National tv...i miss not seeing them. If it hasn't happened already, i hope they get a contract with FSSW this season...it sucked watching only spurs and mavs games...
Looks like it's going to be a good year. Yeah, I miss that NBC theme song as well, the new one is hard to get down with. It sounds ok, but it just doesn't seem timeless.
you can still hear that theme on the nba tv channel sometimes. But NBA TV is stupid, so I doubt anyone wants to watch it.
just please don't take away the CH 51 midnight rebroadcasts! i loved watching games late, esp if it's a win.
Without Yao, Rockets would never get this much attention. Do you think Mobley and Francis have gotten the clue that Yao is not only the future of this franchise but also the most popular player on the court. It's only a matter of time Mobley get shipped out if he doesn't change his game.
Hmmm, I'm really interested in that New Year's matchup. I would love to see a game go to triple OT at 1 in the morning. Maybe I'll make it down for it. Then I could request a vacant courtside suite from Tim. We'll negotiate.
xtx, I think you're definitely right. Yao also got Toyota for the new arena. Everyone, including me, wants to see Yao. Thanks to the NBA gods!
Wow, I never would've guessed by your name that you wanted to see Yao. Oh, and for the record, I'm still there to see Steve!
The best part about all of this was that Yao created it with the domination of Shaq in the first period. Although there was some hype. It was Yao who put us on the map with his play.
