Chron: 2002-2003 Rockets NBA Preview

There is a huge section of articles about the Rockets & a Preview of the 2002-2003 NBA Season at this link from the Houston Chronicle in today's Sunday paper:

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/02/nba/index.html




-Articles include-
Rockets: Francis and Yao will try to mesh for success
Robertson: Wait-and-see fans play role in transition game
Nachbar to slip under the radar for rookie season
Rockets player profiles
Rockets schedule analysis
Dominating centers are nearing extinction in the NBA
New arena for Robinson's last season shows Spurs' progress as a franchise
Mavericks determined to address defensive deficiencies
Hornets see move to New Orleans as good fit for team, city
Ranking the Western Conference
Ranking the Eastern Conference



http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/rox02/1634693

Oct. 26, 2002, 12:53PM

Best of both worlds
Francis and Yao will try to mesh for success
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
Yao Ming made himself comfortable in the passenger seat of Steve Francis' new Hum-vee, or at least as comfortable as that much passenger can be in a vehicle built to approximate a shiny tank. They talked about basketball. They talked about China. They talked.

"I love him," Francis reported just two days later. "I know he's younger than me, but I think he's my big brother already."

The Americanization of Yao Ming had begun. But in many ways, it did not start when he landed a week ago in Houston or a month ago when he arrived in North America to begin preparations for the World Basketball Championships. China has changed, and so has its exports.

When Yao met with Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich in Oakland in August -- with every member of the Chinese national team lined up on an escalator heading in the other direction but twisting around to watch -- Yao wore huge, red "We R One" shorts. He said this week he had no idea his clothes were designed and made by the company Francis, Nick Van Exel and Sam Cassell co-own. He also had no idea where he got them.

"We make them in China," Francis said. "Maybe he got them there."

Yao learned Wednesday that the clothes he wore were a source of deep pride for his new teammate. But in the universal code of locker-room ribbing, Yao added a fashion opinion for the benefit of Francis, a devoted Reebok model: "I really like Nike stuff, too."

In many ways, Yao has fit in easily. During his first minutes near his new teammates, he had Terence Morris laughing audibly, no small feat in that it might have been the first time anyone had heard Morris' voice. And players have gone out of their way to make Yao feel welcome.

But this should not be considered surprising. A similar phenomenon was seen in Houston before.

For all the differences in Hakeem Olajuwon's age, background and lifestyle and despite a manner that seemed to separate him from his teammates, Olajuwon always was a basketball player at heart and could relate to his teammates on that level.

"Basketball is universal," Francis said. "As a player, you respect talent no matter what."

But there is something else at work, something deeper. For all they might share, Francis and Yao arrive at this point from basketball cultures as different as the cultures of their nations.

The Rockets' mix of the new face of the franchise with "Franchise" himself, though critical, is not unique. Blending the best of American urban and international styles has worked and been celebrated in Sacramento and Dallas. But there is an increasing sense that as much as that mix will define and measure the Rockets' future, cultivating the best of both cultures could be a major part of the future of the NBA and the sport.

"The thing that made this country great is the melting pot," said Mavericks general manager and assistant coach Donnie Nelson, who has coached in Lithuania for 11 years. "That has happened in basketball. That's what's happening in Houston."


Steve Francis was a young boy, a wisp of an athlete, a bundle of quick-twitch muscles that yearned to explode in movement. He already loved to dunk. Much of his game was built on firing rapidly past an opponent and into flight, then finishing well above the rim and with style. His latest basketball shoes and clothing are labeled Above the Rim.

In China then, nothing was celebrated quite like a well-executed long-range jump shot. Dunking was considered, if not impolite, unnecessarily ostentatious.

An American player, especially a city player, Francis said, must be able to handle the basketball and beat an opponent one-on-one. Leaping ability is revered. Performance is respected.

Chinese basketball, Yao said, is all about the team, the system. Yao dunks, often with style. But to Yao, vertical is measured with his feet on the ground. In China, leaping is optional. Production is the performance.

Instead of being built around the gifts of athleticism, the international game is built around a system. The gifts fit in.

"It's like anything else," Nelson said. "You're a product largely of your environment. If you grow up playing in a more athletically competitive environment, just from a survival standpoint, you're going to need to excel in those areas.

"If you're in more of a traditional basketball environment -- and to a large extent the international players emanate from those kinds of situations -- you're going to have to learn how to deal with and attack zones at an earlier age. You're going to have to understand how to play five-man basketball vs. the largely one-on-one oriented game or game here in the United States for quite a number of years.

"Stevie is a product of what we become familiar with in this country. He's not only an incredible basketball player but also a world-class athlete. Stevie didn't have the luxury of playing a lot of college ball. A lot of his education has been on-the-job training for a lack of better term for the amount of time he's spent in the league developing his game. His style of play has become surprisingly sophisticated -- and in a very short period of time.

"A lot of credit goes to C.D. (general manager Carroll Dawson) and Rudy and the coaching staff there. They've done a pretty marvelous job of bringing him along and creating an environment to becoming one of the premier point guards in the league."

Yao, however, is very much a product of what was familiar in his country. As maddening as it might have been to see his Chinese national team teammates unable to consistently get the ball to their obvious star, there had never been a priority on building an offense around any individual. The idea was logical but foreign.

"Chinese basketball culture is a lot like international basketball, like FIBA basketball," Yao said. "You have to understand that I feel I am a part of the team. If the team loses, I am responsible for that. I only feel I have done my job if the team wins. My only goal is to help the team win if I can do it."

That is, of course, the NBA goal. But to get there, with the caliber of NBA athletic talent, there has to be an ability to defeat an individual opponent, perhaps even a taste for it.

"Studying their culture, they don't want the individual to separate from the group," Rockets vice president for basketball operations Dennis Lindsey said. "There's a lot of merit to that. Our league celebrates and promotes stars. They think stars sell the league."

It has not taken long for Yao to experience firsthand how much the NBA is about its stars. From print advertisements for ESPN to a Sports Illustrated cover, he has been separated from the group. Though his humility is intact, he also has embraced the new world he has joined in a whirlwind.

"If I want to become a better basketball player in America, I have to understand the culture and become part of the culture in some ways," Yao said. "This is very important to me. I'm the one who came to the United States. I have to become more accustomed to it. That is important for improving my basketball skills, too."


Rudy Tomjanovich always loved turning individuals into a team. He loved it when he and Calvin Murphy were odd-couple roommates who became lifelong friends. He loves it now.

"It's always been like that," Tomjanovich said. "They just happen to now be from different countries. But basketball has always been mixing different kinds of people and trying to make it work. This just happens to be international guys now. I think it will continue to be that. But it's not that different."

Chemistry has always been irreplaceable in any team sport, an obvious coaching objective. Life in the NBA is often 12 players in 12 Mercedeses heading in different directions. But given the enormity of Yao's leap to the NBA and the attention it has drawn, the reaction of his teammates will be more important than ever.

"The culture and environment is a huge factor in an international player's success," Nelson said. "The kind of locker room that Rudy and C.D. have established, guys enjoy playing with each other; they're supportive of each other. Collectively, it's pretty clear they understand that they need to achieve the next echelon in their development. They see Yao Ming as a pivotal piece to that end.

"The biggest hurdle a lot of times is, are teammates open to his contribution? It sounds like everyone is really excited about having him there and looks forward to incorporating him and providing an environment he can be successful in.

"That is probably the single most important factor. When a foreign player comes to a new environment, he wants to be accepted, wants to be loved, like any other human being in a new environment. He's going to have enough pressure because of his draft status and the things on his shoulders. You try in the locker room and as franchises to alleviate as much pressure as possible. I can't think of a better situation in the league or any coach that creates a better environment for that kind of situation than Rudy."

Nelson said one of the keys to Dirk Nowitzki's rapid development was the support and friendship offered by Steve Nash and Michael Finley, especially when Nowitzki and Nash struggled together.

Francis has not only seemed to accept Yao; he has appeared to make a point to demonstrate his support. He asked Yao about the Chinese basketball system and training. He has embraced the idea of Yao's style of play.

"A lot of teams are winning with international players and different styles," Francis said. "A lot of teams have seen that the only way to win is to pass the ball. New Jersey did it. They won. They passed the ball around and went to the Finals. Even Boston, even though (Paul) Pierce and (Antoine) Walker scored a lot of their points, they won because they were passing the ball better than they did before. The Kings, same thing. The Mavericks have gunners. But they drive and kick. They do that all the time.

"At the end of last year, I tried to drive and kick every play. Even now, my shoulder is fine, and I like dunking, but if there is a short shot, I think I'll take that instead of going all the way. Or I'll drive and kick. As long as we win, I don't care what it takes. I don't care who. I don't care about what style.

"And I don't think anybody will be jealous of that attention (toward Yao). It's so big. The guy is coming from China and is supposed to be the best player ever in China. It's supposed to be like that. Like me. I'm supposed to develop into a leader. And he's supposed to come to the United States and play in the best league in the world. If he's the best player ever to come out of China, he should play in the best league."

Yao does not yet consider himself Francis' peer or partner, just a teammate. But he understands that how they mix could become the high-profile key to the latest experiment in mixing cultures.

"Steve Francis is already a very successful player in the NBA and has a lot of experience," Yao said. "If I can get help from him, I think it would be a great help for my game. It would mean a lot to me.

"It's important for us to be good friends, but I don't think I'm qualified to be a leader on this team. I'm only a rookie."

That, however, is certain to change. And Yao will change with the influence of a new life.

His background and its influences will not, any more than Francis' have. But Yao does have a modest proposal, a plan for the Rockets.

"Maybe," he said, "we can create a new culture together."

 

We got 45 wins out of Dale Robertson.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/rox02/1634391
Should they stay healthy, the fatal variable a year ago, the Rockets have 45 wins in them. Unlike the unfortunate aberration of two years ago, that will be sufficient to return them to the playoffs. As to whether it will be enough to safely remove them from last place in the attendance standings ... we'll see.

 

Just get the front page of Sunday's Sports Section and blow it up at some copying place. Its already pretty large by itself and may not need to be enlarged. I am about to add it to my Rockets shrine surrounding the big screen tv... Yes I said Rockets shrine!