Oct. 24, 2003, 11:15PM Rockets make coach beam Van Gundy likes what he sees in win over Spurs By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle SAN ANTONIO -- Not meaning to disparage, and certainly with no offense intended, but it has to be said: There were times Friday that Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy seemed happy. The best indication of this might have come with timeouts. As they have through the preseason, timeouts brought immediate feedback. But now, he had to praise. He clapped cheerfully. He talked to Kelvin Cato about his strong play at power forward, and against Tim Duncan no less. He got in the face of Torraye Braggs to mark Braggs' flurry of offensive rebounds. When San Antonio Spurs reserve Devin Brown crashed into an immovable Yao Ming, Van Gundy and Patrick Ewing even shared a laugh. There would be plenty to correct as well. But that only served to make the Rockets' final preseason game everything Van Gundy could want. The Rockets beat the Spurs 84-62 before 16,143 in the SBC Center, showing how far they have come. "We're just getting better," Cato said. "We're buying into the system. The stuff Jeff's putting up there we're starting to understand. In training camp, same old team, new coach, which is hard. Now everybody is starting to understand what he wants from his players." Van Gundy said the Spurs missed shots they normally would make, but allowed that the Rockets defense had something to do with it. He said the intensity still needs to improve, but said he was "good." He still wonders about certain matchups with Cato playing forward, but liked the way it worked Friday and especially likes the way Cato plays with Yao Ming. This could be considered a rave review. "We did some good things," Van Gundy said. "Knowing that they are missing two starters, (guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili), we'll temper our enthusiasm. But we did some good things." For the Rockets, any win in San Antonio is valued. The Rockets had lost their past eight preseason or regular-season games in San Antonio, and still have an 11-game regular-season losing streak on the road against the Spurs. In Duncan's six previous seasons, the Spurs have beaten the Rockets in 19 of their 23 regular-season meetings. Van Gundy would not say that a 21-point preseason win would chase any demons or even that the Rockets have any emotional issues about playing the Spurs. "I don't think anything that's happened previously has anything to do with what happens in the future but winning helps," he said. The Rockets have come so far since their slow-motion start of the preseason, by the time Duncan, the Spurs' two-time league MVP, sat for the night with 6:34 left, the Rockets lead had grown to 21 on its way to 27 before Van Gundy cleared his bench. The Rockets not only trailed for just 17 seconds against the defending NBA champions on Friday, it was the only time they trailed in the last three games of the preseason. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rockets had lost their past eight preseason or regular-season games in San Antonio, and still have an 11-game regular-season losing streak on the road against the Spurs. In Duncan's six previous seasons, the Spurs have beaten the Rockets in 19 of their 23 regular-season meetings. Oh the sweet nectar of REVENGE!!
We're just getting better," Cato said. "We're buying into the system. The stuff Jeff's putting up there we're starting to understand. In training camp, same old team, new coach, which is hard. Now everybody is starting to understand what he wants from his players." Very encouraging. Nothing speaks louder than results, and with tonight's result, I'm sure anyone on the team who wasn't sold before is now buying like hugh grant at the bunny ranch...
Well, everyone except Francis and Mobley. As we all know, they're far too stoopid to play basketball. Jokes, dude!
Later in the "Rockets' Summary" part of the Chronicle, Van Gundy stated that the starters from this game are more than likely the ones hes going with for the season when it opens on Thursday. To recap: 1- Wink 2- CAT 3- J-squared 4- Cato 5- Ming Yao Again it shows that Cuttino Mobley , who is greatly unappreciated on this BBS, is a desired commodity as stated by everyone he has ever played for.
The thing I like most about the past four games is that the team has gotten big leads early on and kept big lead throughout the game. No getting lazy or complacent. Van Gundy has finally turned us into a diciplined team.
Very astute observation. Now that I think about it, I don't remember ever being to say that about the Rockets while Rudy was here.
