[CHRONIC] Rockets 96, Celts 90: Plenty of tape for David Stern, Rockets to consider

http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/10/rockets_96_celts_90_plenty_of.html

David Stern never gives me credit for the ideas he steals from me.

I normally don't mind, though my week in the Valley does remind me that he got that whole D-League idea from one of those Sunday notebooks I used to do.

That's OK, though. And he does not need to even admit that he is reading this right now. He just needs to follow this advice.

Get back to the bargaining table.

Yeah, I know. The refs reneged on an agreement. Or maybe they didn't. I really don't know. I also don't care.

We just watched 75 fouls and 102 free throws in one basketball game. OK, it's preseason. If you pay full price to watch these games, you're not too picky, anyway. But just as the teams learn all that must be corrected in time for the season, so must the league.

'Replacement refs' should become a euphemism for "preseason refs."

The league cannot go through real games like this.

This does sometimes happen in the preseason. Young guys trying to make teams try to do too much, take needless fouls. Officials, with fresh reminders of points of emphasis, call more fouls. Preseason games are not often works of art. This, however, was awful. And as many fouls as were called, there were a bunch missed in the first half.

David doesn't need to remember where he heard it, but we'll know. This game was enough to make it clear. Get back to the bargaining table.

• • •

The Rockets got some valuable tape, too. That first six minutes was very rough.

They did better later. And they will do better when Luis Scola plays. But the Rockets offense was badly choked off when the Celtics were inspired.

Some of that will be corrected. The two point guard thing works when the Rockets run. They might be better served when stuck in the halfcourt to have a shooting guard to give the offense a finisher. Chase Budinger (who seems to have some training camp legs going) leaps to mind.

A lot of that will be corrected. Some was corrected with the Rockets' second chance against the Boston starters.

Trevor Ariza, however, needs to relax and play. He got the gig. The Rockets believe in him. He will keep getting shots. He doesn't have to prove anything right away.

He was definitely pressing when things went poorly. The Celtics can do that to teams, as Ariza might recall from Game 6 in 2008.

Rockets coaches told him after the game to keep shooting. That should help him relax a bit. And besides, if things don't change, he can take his turn shooting free throws by the dozen and score that way.