That will be just fine and let Cat take a breather and let him rehabilitated his elbow, cause otherwise he will just throw some brick after brick like he did against the Lakers. ------------------ Rudy T. will find and fulfill Rockets destiny.
From Saturday's Chronicle: Mobley's loss hurts Rockets' reserves By SCOTT KAISER Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle If a three-game home losing streak wasn't frustrating enough, the Rockets will play tonight's contest against Golden State without guard Cuttino Mobley. The Rockets' spark plug off the bench has been battling a sore left elbow, but the problem has reached a point where the team will hold him out of the lineup with the hope four days off will get him ready to face San Antonio the day after Christmas. "That is a big loss," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He provides a great lift to our team by coming off the bench, so it will put a burden on our offense. We just have to find some other ways to create some offense, which I'm working on (Friday night)." When asked if this move was a precautionary measure, Tomjanovich said, "He just can't play." Mobley's running buddy in the backcourt, point guard Steve Francis, knows it won't be easy making up Mobley's 17.3 points. "We're really going to miss his scoring and spark off the bench," Francis said. "We're going to have to have other guys come in and step up. It's going to be imperative because he's a good defender for us, too." The good news is Francis, who missed Tuesday's game against San Antonio with a tender ankle, declared himself ready to go after playing 36 minutes against the Lakers on Thursday. "I didn't sit out practice (Friday), so I'm expecting to play," Francis said. With Mobley out, some of the scoring load will have to be picked up by the frontcourt trio of Maurice Taylor, Walt Williams and Hakeem Olajuwon. "It changes things a lot because he's one of our primary scorers," Taylor said. "Other people are going to have to step up with Cat being out. They're not going to stop the game for us, so everybody will have to be ready to play." The Rockets come into tonight's game having lost three straight to Denver, San Antonio and the Lakers by a combined 14 points. "We're still trying to gain consistency and become more mentally tough," Tomjanovich said. "Don't let little things that can be dealt with easily build into a loss of focus. Adversity comes in a thousand different forms and it could be because of a play I called or the way I correct something, or the way one guy passed the ball or didn't pass the ball to another guy. "Once we get through that kind of stuff, we'll start to grow. As much as I and everybody wants them to be there, maybe part of it is that you go through the pain." Francis admitted the players were scratching their heads about their inability to take care of business late in games. "It's kind of tough when you can't close games out late in the fourth quarter," Francis said. "You have to be mentally tough because things can get bad, but you have to realize there's another game to play. "A lot of people want to say that this team is still rebuilding, but we can't be satisfied with that. We have to be a force, and I think we have the right material, but mentally we have to be prepared for the good times and the bad times." When asked if he was frustrated with what has transpired in the last week, Tomjanovich said disappointed was a better word to use. "We've been close in every game," Tomjanovich said. "We went from a tie in second place (in the Midwest Division) to the 10th spot (in the Western Conference) in one week with close games that could have gone either way. They're good teams, but we have to try to bounce back and we have a big challenge trying to do it short-handed." ------------------ I voted YES!
