http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview2003/columns/story?columnist=aldridge_david&id=1647205 Eight Questions Eight Answers By David Aldridge Special to ESPN.com It's tipoff time. You have questions. We have answers. 1. Can Steve and Jeff find common ground? Steve Francis and Jeff Van Gundy are on the same page in Houston ... for now. On Houston's first day of training camp, Jim Jackson pulled Steve Francis to the side. "He said, 'Yo, you've got to come in here and believe what coach is trying to teach us. If you try to fight it, it's never gonna work,' " Francis recalled. And thus crystallized the task for the post-Rudy Tomjanovich Rockets: trying to forge a bridge between Francis and Jeff Van Gundy. Van Gundy's penchant for disciplined, inside-out basketball -- meaning, get the damn ball to Yao Ming, would you? -- would seem to be anathema to Francis, who got the green light from Rudy for four years -- and naturally remained fiercely loyal to T up to and after Tomjanovich's resignation. "This man [Tomjanovich] gave me the ball the first day of practice," Francis said. "And when I was going through my Meniere's [the disease that produced vertigo and migraine headaches in Francis during the 2001-02 season], he still stood by me." Francis allows that the adjustment to Van Gundy's style was tough early in camp. Van Gundy made no secret of the fact that he thought the Rockets weren't in shape. They're now required to do seven miles on a bike three or four times a week after practice. "Go through a couple of 50 Cent and Jay Z CDs on that," Francis jokes. Practice is no longer run at a leisurely pace. And Van Gundy is demanding that Francis -- second in the league in turnovers last season -- take better care of the rock. He's played him some at two guard during the preseason. "I haven't tried to overburden him," Van Gundy said. "My two things to him were one, he can get the same shots off of less dribbles, and two, the great players play both ends, offense and defense, and practice well. Every great player I know has done that. And if he wants to be a championship-caliber player, which I think he is driven to be, that's what he'll be. And he has been that so far. He's made really dramatic steps forward defensively." For now, Francis says he's happy to do whatever Van Gundy asks, including being more verbal with his teammates. "A lot of people want to say 'He's going to take the ball out of Steve's hands,' " Francis says. "Yao can't bring the ball up the basketball court. So at least I've got that job, to bring the ball up. I think things have been working out great for us." I'm withholding judgment on this one, for now.
Hopefully in addition to JVGs new attitude, JJ is the veteran voice we have so lacked all these years...
Getting wins early will really help to smooth over all this speculation. Winning cures all. If we start slowly it may get really ugly until the winning comes. Heres to a 10-3 start and a 55 win season.