Latest Sportingnews report...

Return of Francis, Thomas is welcome gift
December 29, 2001

The Rockets found a few extra -- though somewhat late -- gifts under the tree when Steve Francis and Kenny Thomas were both cleared to play.

The return of Francis, who watched the team go 1-14 in his absence because of ruptured plantar fascia tissue, is especially welcome, because he will help the Rockets make the plays they have not been making in close losses.

Since getting pounded by 28 points at Detroit on Dec. 9, the Rockets have had a stretch of winnable games in which they usually came up short -- a five-point loss to Cleveland, an overtime loss at Indiana, a last-second 76-73 loss to Miami, a nine-point loss to Portland and a 107-101 loss to the Lakers. A victory over Milawaukee was followed by a six-point loss to Phoenix.

Of their 21 losses, 11 have come by six-or-fewer points. Think that has something to do with their ability to make plays down the stretch?

Not that Francis is ready to walk in and play savior right away.

Quite the contrary -- the Rockets are being extremely cautious with their young star, playing him only 15 minutes Friday in their 100-93 victory at Golden State. Still, Francis showed he hasn't completely lost his touch, finishing with 10 points, two rebounds and a couple of assists.

Getting Thomas back gives the Rockets some much-needed muscle up front.

Now comes the “problem” of integrating the two back into the lineup. Francis should be no problem. Moochie Norris understands his NBA lot, knowing that his role is backing up Francis.

Thomas, however, is a different breed of cat.

It is clear that Eddie Griffin is the future for the Rockets, as evidenced by his string of outstanding games vs. the Lakers (25 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks), Milwaukee (24, 10 and one block) and Phoenix (19, 13 and three). Griffin is averaging 19 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.25 blocks in his four starts.

But against Golden State on Friday, Griffin was back on the bench. Thomas has been working to be the Rockets’ starting power forward, interning behind Charles Barkley and expecting to inherit the position when Sir Cumference retired. But the Rockets went out and signed Maurice Taylor, putting Thomas back on the pine, and he wasn't happy about that.

So after battling a groin strain, along comes Griffin, the Rockets' big draft-day acquisition, and the kid turns in a series of outstanding performances. But in order to keep Thomas in a relatively healthy mindset, the Rockets think it's better to put Griffin back on the bench and allow Thomas to keep his starting job.

The move paid off against Golden State when Thomas turned in one of his best performances of the season, rolling up 20 points and 13 boards. Griffin obviously struggled with his shot, making only one of seven shots before fouling out with just over a minute to play.

But he did tie his career high by pulling down 13 rebounds, the third time in four games he has reached that number off the glass, and five blocks. You can't keep that kind of shotblocking on the bench for long.

ANALYSIS

Point guard: Norris has been playing well, averaging 10.3 assists in his past four games. He had 19 points and 14 assists in the streak-busting win over Milwaukee and had 19 points and eight dimes against Golden State Friday. Grade: A

Shooting guard: Cuttino Mobley seems more relaxed knowing Francis is back, stitching together three consecutive games of at least 31 points. His 39 points helped the Rockets beat Milwaukee, he had 33 in a six-point loss to Phoenix and 31 in the win over the Warriors. Grade: A

Small forward: Walt Williams had nine points against Golden State but chipped in with eight boards. And his 22-point game against Milwaukee, including six three-pointers, was a big factor in the Rockets’ breaking a 15-game losing streak. Grade: C+

Power forward: Kenny Thomas made an impressive return to the lineup, outdueling Golden State's Danny Fortson in the Rockets' win over the Warriors. Thomas had 20 points and 13 rebounds while limiting Fortson, the NBA's leading rebounder, to 14 points and eight boards. Welcome back. Grade: A

Center: Kelvin Cato continued his up-and-down season, finishing with only seven points and four boards vs. the Warriors, which matched his effort Thursday in a 97-91 loss to the Suns. Cato, who has no other responsibilities on the floor, has blocked only five shots in his last 10 games. Grade: D

Bench: Finally, the Rockets have a few subs, and one of them is Francis. Not bad. Francis and Griffin provided most of the bench punch against the Warriors, with Francis contributing 10 points and Griffin 13 rebounds against one of the league's more physical front lines. Terence Morris still can't shoot (2 for his last 16, 12.5 percent), but he did have five boards against Golden State. Grade: C

Coaching: Rudy Tomjanovich is still working to put everything together, but two wins in their last three games is a significant improvement. Grade: A

INJURY REPORT

SF Dan Langhi: ankle tendinitis (Dec. 28)

Analysis: With Francis coming off the injured list, somebody had to come down with a convenient injury. Langhi drew the short straw.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

With the recent play of Griffin, perhaps the Rockets should consider a smaller, quicker, more athletic lineup that would have Griffin at center, Thomas at power forward, Williams at small forward and Mobley and Francis in the backcourt.

Griffin is not big enough and strong enough to wrestle with Shaq, but who is? Going with an athletic lineup like this would force opponents to match up with the Rockets rather than vice-versa.

And since there aren't many centers left in the NBA, Griffin could develop into a Theo Ratliff-type center (especially with his ability to block shots). But Griffin is showing that he has far more offense than Ratliff has ever shown, who he would create incredible mismatch problems -- and Tomjanovich lives to see mismatches.

They might not start games this way, but you can believe that they will finish plenty of games with that lineup.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/rockets/index.html

Hurry up and heal (again), Kenny.