[CHRON 10-30-06] Rockets' Novak shooting for more playing time/Rockets Summary

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SHOOT FOR THE MOON


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

From the first week of training camp, Rockets forward Scott Padgett raved about Steve Novak's 3-point shooting touch with the appreciation that comes with expertise.

"He will never lose a 3-point shooting contest," said Padgett, no stranger to the 3-point arc.

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has not hesitated to throw around praise.

"He has one great skill," Van Gundy said.

Tracy McGrady went from calling Novak "probably" the best shooter ever on his team, to removing the "probably" to last week calling Novak the best shooter in the NBA.

But even as the Rockets marveled at Novak's smooth stroke and deft touch, there was something he seemed unable to do with that shot: Guarantee playing time in the regular season.


Starting considered
That seems to have changed. Van Gundy went from considering Novak out of his rotation, to working to get him on the court, to thinking about starting him.

"Maybe Steve individually may not be ready, but maybe it's still best for our team," Van Gundy said. "He may get thrown out there."

On a team that was last in the NBA, tied with Golden State and Charlotte, in field-goal percentage last season, Novak's shooting touch, acquired with the second pick of the 2006 NBA draft second round, was welcome.

But from the start, he was considered a long-term project in need of improved technique defensively and tenacity on the boards.

"He doesn't want to have to rely on that one great skill," Van Gundy said. "He's got to get better at the other areas of the game so on those nights he doesn't shoot particularly well, he can still play well.

"It's important for his development, not to buy into everybody's hyping him up about his shooting and not base his game strictly on one skill. His individual defense has been better than his team defense, and I expected it to be just the opposite.

"I'm not really concerned with people going at him because we can give him more help. But it's hard to cover up the team defensive mistakes that are made because those lead directly to layups and directly to wide-open 3s."

When the Rockets drafted Novak, they thought he would become a power forward when he was not too great a liability on the low blocks. He has played almost exclusively at power forward in the preseason and improved in the final three preseason games.

But Novak said coaches have effectively drilled him on defensive fundamentals since he signed.

"There's never been a span of time I've made as huge strides as I have defensively," Novak said. "The coaches have put a huge emphasis on it. You really feel like when you're out there with the guys, you really want to play good team defense because you don't want to let the guys down."

There is work to do offensively, as well. He has improved at making the next pass, but has been so concerned with his progressions, he has not made the one-dribble moves he showed in Las Vegas.


Room for Yao, T-Mac
Now that teams will scout thoroughly and place greater emphasis on defensive game plans, he likely won't be left open as often as in the preseason.

But that might not matter. If Novak, who made 47.1 percent of his preseason 3-pointers, can keep a defender 24 feet from the basket, he will have brought the spacing needed to help McGrady and Yao Ming operate.

"Steve has shown against preseason preparation and preseason defenses that he will make (shots)," Van Gundy said. "Now, I would suspect that in regular-season preparation there would be more attention paid to him so maybe his opportunities would be less, but I'm not so sure the team wouldn't function as well. If they're taking somebody away, somebody else is getting (opportunities)."

But that somebody might not be as much of a sharpshooter, negating the benefits of spacing Novak brings. If the idea is to simply offer spacing for Yao and McGrady, then Padgett, a more seasoned player, could bring the same benefits.

The sure thing seems to be that shot, a talent good enough Van Gundy might not be able to resist taking a look.

"Padgett is a good shooter. He's not nearly the shooter of Novak, but he also can play well if he doesn't shoot well," Van Gundy said. "Steve, I have a hard time envisioning him playing well at 2-for-7 (shooting), but maybe the team plays well. If you put him out there and he flops, you're kicking yourself. But if you never put him out there, you'll never know."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4296371.html
ROCKETS SUMMARY


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle


Sleepless night
Forward Scott Padgett signed with the Rockets because he believed there was a roster spot to be won, even a chance at the rotation. But Thursday night, after the Rockets completed their preseason schedule in Orlando, Padgett could not sleep, instead thinking about the upcoming cuts.

"I slept less than three hours," he said. "I didn't shoot a shot in the Orlando game. It's one of those things, if you are going to go down, you want to go down swinging. I didn't get a shot up. I had a turnover late in the game. I didn't do anything to stand out. If I was going to get cut, I would have liked in 12 minutes to have seven points and five rebounds and play good defense.

"He ( Jeff Van Gundy) told me I made the team. It was something I thought I could do, but I needed things to work in my favor with 15 guys already under contract when I came. But I thought this system played to my strengths. If I was going to beat out somebody already on the roster, this was the place I thought it was going to happen."

Padgett was told in a 10:30 a.m. meeting that he had made the team, worked out, and then went to sleep.


Wells an option
With one practice remaining before the Rockets' season opener Wednesday, guard Bonzi Wells left any opinions about whether he would be ready to play to Jeff Van Gundy.

"It's all on coach," he said. "If he thinks I'm ready, I'll play. If he doesn't think I'm ready, I'll continue to practice and work hard. He knows what he wants to do and how he wants the chemistry to be.

"I feel all right. It's all about coach. If he feels I'm not ready, I'm all right. If not the first game, hopefully the next couple."

Van Gundy would not put a timetable on Wells' availability.