Chrom.com: First-night glory seen as only start

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2191050

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Steve Francis let his mind wander. Of all the things everyone might have thought about at last week's R. Kelly concert, basketball was on Francis' brain.

More specifically, he thought about a night when the Rockets would fill an arena again, when the roars would be for them, when the team and crowd and city would share the electricity and excitement that had been lost and he has missed.

"That's the loudest I've heard it in (Toyota Center)," Francis said. "I was thinking about that. When I was looking around and it was packed, I was like, `Damn, this place can get loud.' That would be great."

Tonight, that sense of excitement, long missing, could finally be back for basketball. Fireworks will explode outside the building. Championship banners will be unveiled. Retired numbers will be displayed.

After a relatively dull, businesslike preseason, with momentum expected for the opening of the team's new home derailed by the strange saga of Eddie Griffin, the Rockets will be about basketball and possibilities again.

But the key after the curtain, lights and ball go up will be to make that feeling last.

"We have to win," Francis said. "That's it. We just have to win.

"I'm not saying our fans aren't supportive. But we've got a lot of people out there that are bandwagon-type people. If they see you winning, they'll jump on your bandwagon. If they see you losing, they'll hammer you with boos. We've just got to believe in ourselves."

The Rockets insist they have developed that faith through their first preseason under Jeff Van Gundy.

The regular-season opener, arena debut and the start of Van Gundy's tenure as Rockets coach will bring another taste of the atmosphere that has only briefly visited in recent seasons. But while any arena can offer blaring music and bright lights, the Rockets seem finally to have accepted that those are just hints of better things and that the trappings of success are not success.

"There's a freshness going into that first game," forward Maurice Taylor said. "We have a new coaching staff, new arena, new players. There's a newness that everyone looks forward to, playing in a new arena in front of a sellout crowd, national TV game. That's definitely what you play for. The emotions are going to be there.

"As far as basketball, we just have to maintain our focus and do what we've been practicing since Oct. 2 -- do everything that Jeff has been preaching to us. We'll feel much better after the game if we're successful and doing the things we want to do. We'll feel better about that than the atmosphere, even though the atmosphere is going to be great and the fans are going to be great. We're interested to see how we're going to play under this new system."

So are the fans. But they might not see the greatest difference. Of all that Van Gundy has preached, consistency in the team's attitude and work ethic might come first. Predictably, Van Gundy showed little interest in the ceremony or the sentiments it might inspire. The key, he said, is what follows tonight when the days become less festive.

"That one banner is going to put a pit in my stomach," Van Gundy said of the 1994 championship the Rockets won against the Knicks, with Van Gundy serving as a New York assistant. "The other part, that stuff is for the fans. Our players have been reminded quite often about the greatness of some of the past Rockets and some of the great Rockets teams. They should just be focused on playing. They shouldn't concern themselves with festivities as much as the game.

"The ability to sustain your concentration and urgency and intensity is what separates teams. We'll see how things go throughout the year."

The players said pretty much the same thing. But Van Gundy, not buying into the theory that teams take on the personality of their coach, said he would wait and see if their actions match their words.

"Every coach I've seen is urgent and desperate to win. I'm not sure there will be 29 teams like that," he said. "I know everybody says that. I don't know if it's true. I hope our team believes in the plan and the vision and the goal that I've set for them as much as I believe in them."

They even mimic Van Gundy's description of goals. Taylor said the only goal worth having is the championship. But Van Gundy has often said the goal is to win, improve and move toward a championship. Yao Ming, relieved of his role as a curiosity, has said, "We will go to the playoffs." But when asked more specifically about goals, Yao sounds like his coach.

"It's very clear what the coach wants: a championship-caliber team, to practice and play like a championship team," Yao said. "That means we need to learn from championship teams and learn from their work ethic and go out and practice like that."

In terms of goals, that is pretty much all the Rockets hear from Van Gundy. If that does not seem as exciting as fireworks and flashy lighting, the Rockets' simple goals and spectacular opening night do not have to be in conflict.

"Coach has been talking to us day in and day out that we'll get what we deserve out of this season," guard Moochie Norris said. "That's our goal right now -- to keep putting everything we have into it. Coach tells us every day we have enough talent. We have to believe in him, and the rest is up to us. Right now, all the guys believe in him. We can look in each other's eyes and know it.

"This is a great day. It's great. It's so great. It's been like watching a picture in slow motion, trying to make it to the end. It seems like it's been so long. To have a real game, an official game, the guys are so excited. It's going to be crazy."