Blinebury lays smackdown on Rockets again

Now he's calling Rudy out...

At least they talk a good game

By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

There are hamsters running circles inside their cages that have made more progress. Fat men plodding on treadmills who have gained more ground.

The Rockets arrive at the NBA All-Star break with two members of the Western Conference starting lineup and without an apparent clue.

It isn't consecutive losses at middle-of-the-road Minnesota and bottom-of-the-barrel Cleveland that should have the alarm bells ringing. They are merely the latest symptoms to rise like a bad rash.

The disease is chronic cockiness, overconfidence, a self-indulgent sense of entitlement that pervades their locker room and spills frequently onto the court.

"We bad."

Yes, they can be.

That is especially true on the road, where luxurious charter jets deliver the talent to each city but not the drive to compete or the wherewithal to thrive.

With Yao Ming, Steve Francis and Eddie Griffin, the Rockets have No. 1, No. 2 and No. 7 overall picks from the last four drafts and little indication that these riches will take them anywhere except back to the NBA lottery for the fourth straight year.

They are the basketball equivalent of Thurston Howell III, sitting with suitcases full of fortune inside his grass hut yet just as helpless as Gilligan in getting off the island.

Which brings us, naturally, to the Skipper.

After 10-plus seasons -- and, we will never forget, two championships -- coach Rudy Tomjanovich may be running out of answers, if not rope.

Consider again Rudy T's own comments following Wednesday night's desultory effort in the Rockets' loss to the Cavs, the worst team in the league:

"That's a characteristic, if I had a scalpel, I would dig it out. We've been working on it. We're trying to get this team smarter and (to have) respect for the league. But that's been a battle. It's been a challenge."

It is a battle that the coaching staff -- the entire front office -- is not only losing, but likely has contributed to with more back patting and coddling than a day care center.

Each time the Rockets add another piece to the puzzle, team owner Leslie Alexander begins to talk of championships. Plural. OK, he writes the checks, is an avid basketball fan and is entitled to a bit of overexuberance.

However, it is Tomjanovich who has hung the "potentially best to ever play at his position" label on Francis before determining whether the high-flying wunderkind would -- or could -- ever understand the basics of the game or the responsibilities of leadership.

It was Tomjanovich who several seasons ago sang hosannahs about Cuttino Mobley's first step to the basket, wondering out loud if Michael Jordan in his prime could have stopped him.

Is it a surprise then that the two players who were supposed to provide direction often could not be more full of themselves if they took Botox injections to their egos?

Yao is the real thing, to be sure. Francis has perennial All-Star talent, for certain. But for all of the plays he has diagrammed on clipboards and napkins, for all of the grand images he's conjured up for their doing great things together, Tomjanovich has not yet found a way to maximize this team's ability, make it play up to its capacity.

It could be simply the state of today's NBA, where kids will always be kids. Or it could be that not enough is being demanded and no one is being held ultimately responsible.

Following the celebrated win over the Lakers three weeks ago, Rudy T said he was so happy for his players, for all they had overcome, for all they had accomplished.

And what truly had the Rockets accomplished? A feel-good win over a struggling, sub-.500 team at home on a Friday night in January, when championships are not decided.

It is time, as the hyperactive blonde fitness guru on TV used to say, to stop the insanity.

Too much has been made of mileposts along the road to mediocrity rather than everyone demanding more of each other and themselves.

Since that latest "we've arrived" moment, the Rockets have gone 3-7, and the Lakers have crept within a whisper in the standings of the No. 8 seed -- and last spot -- in the playoffs.

Once the Lakers pass them, how and where will the Rockets climb back into the postseason picture? Will they simply wait for somebody else to collapse?

Two seasons ago, the Rockets finished 45-37, the best record ever for a club that did not make the 16-team playoffs. Now having added -- by their own descriptions -- the best player in each of the last two drafts, they are taller, more talented, more intriguing, but no better.

It would take a 19-15 record the rest of the way for the Rockets to even hit the 45-win mark. Seemingly doable. Except when you consider that 20 of their last 34 games are on the road, where the lack of effort, intensity and professionalism is most evident.

Is this progress? More important to the bottom line, is this any way to sell tickets and luxury suites for a new arena?

"The question is, `Are we ready?' " wondered Rudy T.

It seems that when you have to ask, you already know the answer.

 

Not the Chronicle, just Blinebury.

Feigen has to travel and be with the Rockets all the time so I don't look for him to blast the Rockets.

Blinebury can write his articles from the safety of his home.

 

Here's the other Chron article of the day...some interesting facts about Francis:

Rockets' flaws reverse improvements
Defense excels; offense uneven

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

ATLANTA -- Cuttino Mobley was stumped. He had 48 games' worth of evidence to consider, but it led him nowhere.

There were wins against the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Timberwolves and Kings (twice), but losses to the Bulls, Grizzlies, Hawks, Cavaliers and Clippers (twice). It did not add up to a conclusion Mobley was able -- or willing -- to reach.

The Rockets had reached the All-Star break having shown a dizzying mix of possibilities and pitfalls. Mobley, having been with them longer than any other current player, was asked what he thought of the season at its traditional midseason break. Statistically, the Rockets are the league's most improved team. But are they any good?

"I don't know," Mobley said, head down, speaking barely above a whisper. "I just don't know. We need to grow up as a team, mind-wise. That's what Coach (Rudy Tomjanovich) told us. When we go on the break, we need to think about that."

But maybe there is little mystery about what the Rockets have been. A work in progress, they have been talented but flawed, capable of fine moments but unable to sustain them, inspired at home but lost on the road.

The Rockets (26-22) have been a team of stunning extremes. Theirs has been a season loaded with Yao Ming's unique scene-stealing, merchandise-moving powers as the NBA's charismatic photo op and with Steve Francis' sensational athletic excesses. The Rockets have drawn the second-largest cable television audience ever to watch a basketball game. They are the only team with two All-Star Game starters.

But their most remarkable feat might be becoming a compelling curiosity and an ordinary team at the same time. It is little wonder Mobley struggled for an answer.

A middle-of-the-pack team, the Rockets have in many ways made remarkable strides, but they also have taken steps in the other direction. They have gone from three consecutive lottery seasons to a playoff position. But the team in the rearview mirror is closer than it appears; the Lakers won titles in each of those seasons the Rockets were in the lottery and are closing fast, having moved within 1 1/2 games of Houston.

"You have to look at playoff position," Maurice Taylor said. "The Lakers are on us."

The Rockets have improved but done only enough to have their season determined by what will come, rather than what happened.

"We made some changes," Tomjanovich said. "We made a trade (dealing Kenny Thomas to bring in James Posey), and I didn't know how much (Yao) was going to play. We felt real good about him, but we also knew it was an adjustment. His strides have been tremendous. If there is a word above strides, he's done it since he's been here. Then we got another guy in Posey.

"Generally, we've been a good defensive team, which is so hard to get new teams to do and young teams to do. That's every coach's biggest challenge.

"That's the whole thing about this season. It's been an ongoing process in finding out who the heck we are. Who could have predicted that Yao would be starting in the All-Star Game and what our lineup would be? A lot of things have happened in a short amount of time. That's the accomplishment. I think we're trying to define ourselves.

"We've got to grow. We've got to improve. That's the biggest thing."

The biggest player changed expectations for himself and the Rockets. But as with so much about the Rockets' season at the break, successes are mixed with concerns. It is not a coincidence the Rockets have been at their best when Yao has been remarkable. But just as they did not go into the season expecting him to lead them, they cannot move to the second half of the season expecting him to conquer the usual rookie inconsistencies and his unusual burdens.

Francis has conquered most of his health problems of last season and will go into a second consecutive All-Star Game start as one of the NBA's most productive players. Francis is on pace to join Elgin Baylor as the only players ever to increase their scoring in their second, third and fourth seasons after averaging at least 18 points per game as rookies. Only Francis, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Phoenix's Stephon Marbury rank among the NBA's top 15 in points and assists. Only Francis and Bryant average six assists and rebounds.

But Francis also leads the NBA in turnovers and is the point guard for a team 27th in assists. He has gone to new lengths to become a reliable leader off the court, but he has been unable to lead the Rockets past their immaturity on the court.

The most obvious sign of progress has been on defense, where the Rockets have gone from dreadful to one of the league's toughest defensive teams. They have made the change with their own style.

Unlike in their last two games before the break, they defend early and front well in the paint. They play percentages with help defenses, and when they are right, they shift help for the helper. The Rockets rank second in opposing field-goal percentage and blocked shots. They seldom force turnovers but have committed the fewest fouls in the NBA because they don't gamble on defense.

But offensively, they have done nothing more than tantalize. They have spoken about moving the ball and sharing the wealth, and when they have, as in their last two wins before the break against Minnesota and Sacramento, they have been a prolific offensive team. But in the first game of the season, they had just nine assists and repeatedly have reverted to that shoot-first tendency, particularly on the road or when struggling.

They rank in the bottom third of the NBA in scoring, field-goal percentage and assists.

"We have the formula to beat a lot of teams," Taylor said. "We have to get consistent. Nobody is going to give us anything. But if we can consistently play the way we've shown we can play, we'll be all right."

So as strange and exciting as the season and unique pairing of All-Star starters Yao and Francis have been, the Rockets head to the break focused on an ordinary sentiment.

"We could be better," Francis said.