[Chicago Tribune] Rockets' numbers may not add up

Wow...even Sam Smith is starting to show some love!

article link

Rockets' numbers may not add up
19 straight wins is grand, but do Rockets have what it takes to win a title?

Sam Smith | On Pro Basketball
1:24 AM CDT, March 12, 2008


It's a feeling few athletes ever have in their careers, the absolute certainty they are going to win the game, a confidence bordering on arrogance grounded in relentless success.

The Los Angeles Lakers once had it like no one else ever had it in the NBA, and now it's the Houston Rockets, winners of 19 consecutive games to tie for the third-longest winning streak in NBA history.

"We just felt we would win the game," recalled Gail Goodrich, the leading scorer for the 1971-72 Lakers, who set the all-time mark with 33 straight victories. "There were a couple of occasions we had to come back in the fourth quarter. But then your confidence builds game to game. You're confident bordering on cocky.

"One day we're 6-3, and then it seemed the next time we look up we're 39-3," said Goodrich, currently broadcasting for NBA TV. "It really was then that we began to look back and say, 'Look what we did.' "

Now the mouths are agape about the Rockets, who with games this week against below-.500 Atlanta and Charlotte have a good chance to extend their streak to 21 games, which would surpass the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks for the second-longest streak in league history. The Bucks' 20 straight ended at the Chicago Stadium against the Bulls in overtime.

The Rockets' unexpected streak, with Yao Ming out for the season because of a stress fracture and the Rockets 6-0 since then, is perhaps the biggest head-scratcher in a season of surprises around the NBA.

How does this middle-of-the-road team lose its best player and even increase its level of play, winning its last 10 by double digits?

"Defense wins ballgames," Tracy McGrady told Houston media Monday night after win No. 19 over New Jersey. "That's what we're great at."

This year's Rockets are somewhat comparable to the Bulls of recent vintage, with the big exception of McGrady. They are active, work hard, hustle and help one another on defense. They are fourth in points allowed, second in opponents' field-goal percentage, second in rebounding and fourth in blocks.

It's a wonderful regular-season formula for success, particularly if you have an offensive star like McGrady, the piece the Bulls long have sought. He has had big games when the Rockets have needed them. He scored 41 points last week against the Hornets and 31 against the Mavericks.

On paper, other than McGrady, it's a team of role players. Many observers assumed they would miss the playoffs once Yao went down. Now many are wondering if the Rockets can win the Western Conference in the regular season with a big faceoff coming Sunday at home against the Lakers. After that it's Boston and then a trip to New Orleans, Golden State and Phoenix. That means, things could crumble quickly—although people have been saying that for a while now.

The Rockets constantly chase on defense and rotate well to cover for one another. They are relentless and challenge every shot. They figure to be weaker in the playoffs without Yao, but now teams can't pick-and-roll to try to pull Yao away from the basket. The Rockets generally play quicker big men who can switch the pick-and-roll. They are more active on offense and freer to move without Yao in the middle.

Their defense is a holdover from Jeff Van Gundy's tenure, and Yao being out has given new coach Rick Adelman a chance to use some of his offensive techniques that didn't work well with the slower Yao.

Adelman likes his big man to pass from the high post with cutters and back-door movement. The Rockets aren't built that way, so Adelman had to adjust. That accounted for the Rockets' slow start. But the seeds were planted, making the post-Yao transition somewhat easier.

Matters were helped when the club moved the somewhat disruptive Bonzi Wells and Mike James for Bobby Jackson. There's also the emergence of second-rounder Carl Landry from Purdue, this year's surprise undersized big man.

Yet with the strength of the Western Conference, the Rockets still could be out in the first round of the playoffs. If the Rockets don't win the NBA title, they will be the first team in NBA history with a winning streak as long not to do so.

Only eight of the 19 teams they have played during the streak had winning records. But there have been a few tough games, notably against New Orleans twice.

But the Rockets played Dallas with Dirk Nowitzki suspended as well as Golden State and Denver, who are fighting for the final Western playoff spot. Plus, 13 of the 19 games have been at home with road games against losing teams Indiana, Milwaukee and Minnesota and Dallas without Nowitzki.

Still, it's not easy to win 19 straight, even playing in your back yard.

"Houston would have to go to the end of the month and a few more to beat our record," Goodrich said. "They didn't lose in February. You don't think of going two months without losing. But they won 19. That's not too shabby."

sasmith@tribune.com