Chron: Alexander supports coach

Alexander supports coach
Rockets owner backs Van Gundy, saying aim wasn't to question ethics of NBA or officials
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES



Les Alexander loves the fight, the "toughness" as he called the quality that makes Jeff Van Gundy so maniacal, so driven.


There is no battle from which Van Gundy will shrink. If he had to burn his eyes dry searching the tapes for an edge hidden there somewhere, he would. When he decided he had to rage against the NBA machine, he did.

But now, Van Gundy finds himself fighting on two fronts, with the Rockets seeming increasingly overmatched on one and Van Gundy suddenly forced to battle with no chance of winning on the other.

"He's a tough guy," Alexander, the Rockets' owner, said admiringly. "He's always willing to battle as hard as he can. That's why the city loves him."

But Van Gundy's charge that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's complaints to the league have led to greater scrutiny of Rockets center Yao Ming than other players led to a $100,000 fine, a record for a NBA coach. By saying he had been tipped by an officiating friend with access to the league's Web site for officials, and his refusal to reveal the official to the league, Van Gundy found himself pitted against a seething commissioner David Stern.

Stern was so livid that he said the league's investigation will resume after the Rockets' season ends. He added that if Van Gundy, whom Stern called a "perpetrator," did not cooperate and that additional sanctions — including suspensions or even a ban from the league — could be in order.

So while the Rockets' loss in Dallas on Monday dropped them within one defeat of elimination heading into Thursday's Game 6, Van Gundy also faced a battle with a commissioner seemingly determined to exert his authority.

And Alexander was left to defend his coach without saying anything that might agitate the already piqued Stern.

"My concern is that I don't want to say anything that might cause more problems," Alexander said, also declining to discuss his conversation with Stern. "I called Jeff. In no way were his any of his actions meant to impugn the ethics of the league. He was making the point that big men in the league, all big men, are not treated the same way as smaller players.

"I've been associated with Jeff for almost two years. I have never known him to be anything other than completely honest. He said he didn't do it to impugn anyone at the league and I believe him 100 percent."

Van Gundy has insisted that his complaints were about the process of "disseminating information" to officials — in this case, when Cuban's complaints about moving screens led, according to Van Gundy, to extra attention on Yao.

Van Gundy said his complaints were not about any individual's ethics but rather the system in which officials view points of emphasis on the private NBA Web site.

"The coaches were spoken to this year on this very subject," Stern said. "I don't plan to parse each of his words and each of his statements at this time. Suffice it to say, in their totality they merited the highest fine we've had (for a coach).

"This is the first case I can remember when an allegation has been made and the perpetrator hasn't cooperated. At this time of year, there usually is a craziness in the land that has to do with referees as coaches jockey for position. This one, in our view, set a new low for that.

"That's why the fine is what it was," Stern said, "and that's why the investigation is continuing."

When asked his reaction to Stern's anger, threat and apparent determination to uncover Van Gundy's source, Alexander would not comment.

Asked if he would advise Van Gundy to show more contrition about his comments, Alexander said, "If that is something I would do, I would not advise him in the newspaper."

"I'll let everybody evaluate what I said," Van Gundy said. "If it's that bad, I guess that's for (Stern) and Stu Jackson (the NBA vice president for basketball operations) to determine."

Stern left little doubt that he had already determined how he felt, leaving the issue hanging over the series.

"It's troublesome when we're in the middle of an unbelievably hard battle to have this kind of problem," Alexander said.

A week ago, the Rockets came home from Dallas giddy, rolling with a 2-0 lead in the series. A week later, they returned home having suffered three consecutive narrow losses.

They find themselves on the brink of playoff elimination and at the center of a national firestorm over the fine and the commissioner's threats to hit Van Gundy with possibly much greater penalties.

If he chooses, Van Gundy will likely find Stern to be a powerful adversary. For now, the Mavericks have proved a stern enough challenge.

But at least on that front, he and the Rockets can come out fighting.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets summary

Checklist for winning
The Rockets, on one hand, had to lament the plays they could make but did not, costing them fourth-quarter leads in consecutive home losses and coming up short on a fourth-quarter rally Monday during Game 5 in Dallas.

On the other hand, if the difference between winning and losing was getting more rebounds and loose balls and adhering to the game plan, they were ready to believe they are still able to turn the series in their favor.

Asked what the Rockets needed to do to come back, forward Scott Padgett offered a simple list.

"Do the things we have control over," he said. "Execute the offense. Run the plays. If we get a good shot and it doesn't go in, we have no control over that. But run the plays that we're supposed to run. On defense, if we're supposed to trap on a pick-and-roll, trap. If we're supposed to switch, switch. Do all the things. Do the game plan as it's supposed to be done.

"Then effort things — like getting the loose balls, keeping them off the offensive boards, things like that that we do have control over. If we do those things, if we did those things (Monday night), we win. And I think if we do those things on Thursday, we win."


A dominant force
With the attention paid to Yao Ming's every move, especially since Jeff Van Gundy's protests that Yao is under increased scrutiny, he seems to be an even greater key to the Rockets' chances.

In the series with the Mavericks, Yao has made 73.6 percent of his shots, averaging 21.8 points in just 30 minutes per game.

"If you look at it, the guy is dominating the series when he's on the floor," forward Scott Padgett said. "We just have to find a way to keep him on the floor. Because when he is in there, he's dominant. He's shooting, 75 percent from the field — for a series. Not for a game, for a series."


If it worked before ...
Don't call the Mavericks superstitious. They're just going with what worked before.

The Mavs held a vigorous workout Tuesday and will take today off before Thursday's Game 6.

That's the same approach they took in the previous two-day series break when they were down 2-0.


No Van Horn
Even if the Mavericks close out the Rockets and advance to a second-round date with Phoenix, they likely will be without Keith Van Horn, who was injured in Game 3 at Toyota Center.

The backup forward had an MRI performed that revealed a second-degree lateral sprain in his left ankle. The Mavs are saying he'll be out for at least two weeks. Van Horn averaged 12.2 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Mavs.

JONATHAN FEIGEN, FRAN BLINEBURY and MEGAN MANFULL

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3167168