[Chron] Charlotte hushes up Rockets

Charlotte hushes up Rockets (Chronicle)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2960914


Charlotte hushes up Rockets
First road win gives Bobcats two-game sweep
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle


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NBA:
Houston 87,
Charlotte 90
FINAL


COMING UP
Sunday:
vs. LA Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio:
Listings; KILT (610 AM)

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Maybe ignominious history will be the Rockets' rock bottom.


But then, there is no reason to think it will be.

They embarrassed themselves again, this time collecting a stack of lousy firsts. The Rockets' 90-87 loss to the Bobcats on Wednesday was the first Charlotte win on the road. And it completed the first sweep of the Rockets by an expansion team with the Rockets' second loss in five days to the Bobcats.

But as precedent-setting as it was, it was no fluke.

"I guess that's the way we are," Tracy McGrady said of another game in which the Rockets blamed their lack of effort and intensity. "That's not a good thing. We're not good enough to turn it on some quarters and then take a quarter off, take a couple possessions off.

"We're just not that good."

They are so far removed from good that they sounded envious of the expansion, cost-efficient Bobcats because, if nothing else, they play hard.

Afterward, the Rockets sang the same blues. The "care factor" was insufficient, coach Jeff Van Gundy charged.

But the more they cited the familiar failings while praising the Bobcats, the more they seemed to be describing themselves, rather than simply Wednesday's undoing.

Their latest night stuck in cruise control was not the aberration. This, it increasingly seems, is the Rockets' top speed with only a few fluky exceptions.

"It's been a thing with us," said McGrady, who had 25 points. "I don't know what it is. I don't know how we're going to break out of that. Is that the way we're going to be the rest of the season? I don't know. I am worried about that."

On Wednesday, the Rockets did not seem really worried until there were four minutes left and a fourth-quarter collapse much like Saturday's in Charlotte had put them 11 points in the hole.

The Rockets were scoreless for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter that night. They had five points in the first six minutes of Wednesday's fourth quarter.

Still they had chances to get past that. McGrady knocked down two free throws and Bob Sura, who had 11 points in the last six minutes, pulled up on a break for a jumper to cut the lead to seven.

Jim Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 18.1 seconds left, and the Bobcats' Jason Hart, an 83.7-percent shooter, made one of two free throws.

But the last chance ended when, instead of going for the 3, the Rockets chose to go for the quick basket. Okafor slapped the ball away and off Yao as he was trying to grab McGrady's pass with 8.5 seconds left.

"Turnovers have killed the team," said Yao, who mixed 20 points and 14 rebounds among his career-high 10 turnovers. "Turnovers will limit our shots and give them fast-break points. That's why I say that my turnovers killed the team."

They might have already been too lifeless to be killed.

But this was not rock bottom. Rather, Van Gundy said the Rockets "have been sliding along the bottom for a while."

"This is who we are at present," he said. "Without a change in our behavior, our preparations, our intensity, our concentration, our energy, our execution ... without changing something for the positive, you're not going to get change."

Instead, the Rockets improved only in their ability to describe where they went wrong.

"It's got nothing to do with offensive, defensive, X's and O's, coaching," Sura said. "We're just not willing to pay the price. It's got nothing to do with anything else. It's desire and will. If you're not going to play with that consistency and will, then you're going to lose to expansion teams."

If there were a saving grace, it would be that the Bobcats are now off the schedule.

"After playing us," McGrady said, "especially those guys, they probably love to play us every night."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets Summary

Roster moves
The game of Rockets roster roulette spun again Wednesday, with Charlie Ward and Bostjan Nachbar coming off the injured list and Andre Barrett and Ryan Bowen going on it.

"It you're walking and you're breathing, you're good enough to be activated," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said of the move to bring back Ward after he missed 11 games with a bruised right knee.

Ward had played with the injury for more than a week, missed a game, then reinjured the knee diving for a loose ball against the Jazz on Nov 26.

The rotation and roster have been in a constant state of motion. Ward played more minutes with the injury because Bob Sura was coming back from back surgery, Sura was coming back and playing more because of the injury to Ward. Barrett also provided a lift when Ward went out.

"Because of Sura's injury, (Ward) had to play more than we expected," Van Gundy said. "Really, all of them have played longer than I expected when they have played. Sura played too much when he came back.

"Charlie played too much with Sura's absence. Charlie played 41 and 37 (minutes) on consecutive nights. He hasn't done that in — it's been a while."

And Ward returns with Sura playing with a sore right knee.


Appeal process
Rockets forward and player representative Scott Padgett was happy to see the arbitrator's ruling on the case to reduce Jermaine O'Neal's suspension from 25 to 15 games, despite upholding the other penalties in the wake of the Nov. 19 brawl in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Padgett said he would like to see changes in the appeals process and to have the topic brought up in the collective bargaining negotiations with the league.

"I've got no problem with (the arbitrator) taking (O'Neal's penalty) down to 15," Padgett said. "I thought it was a little harsh. (Commissioner) David Stern has a lot of power in this league, and I understand, because there needed an example to be made. But I do think there has to be a way the appeals process can't be to the same one person.

"I understand him needing to lay down the law, but there needs to be some checks and balances like our government. I don't think we had that in our system. I don't see it getting changed, though. He's been very good for our league. Our league has thrived under David Stern.

"I don't say you need to take his power away. But there needs to be some committee to where an appeal can be granted by somebody other than the person who laid down the penalty."


Jackson review
NBA officials reviewed tapes of Jim Jackson's jumper against the Raptors on Monday — a shot that the Rockets argued was wrongly counted as inside the arc. The officials declined to change the ruling.

If ruled a 3-pointer, Jackson would have made a 3-pointer
in 24 consecutive games, setting a Rockets record for consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer.

League officials called the play a judgment call and as a rule do not change decisions that would change scores.


Press row view
The timing was great for second-guessing. Andre Barrett and Ryan Bowen, who always give effort, go on the injured list, and the Rockets play with a lack of energy.

But Barrett and Bowen can be contributors, not saviors. Barrett offered a lift. Bowen helps, but Bostjan Nachbar ought to be able to offer similar qualities and shooting range. The Rockets' problems are not so easily solved and likely will require changes much greater than plugging in Bowen and Barrett.


Inside the numbers
The Rockets have more losses to Eastern Conference teams this season (seven) than all of last season (six). ... Brevin Knight's 13 assists were the most against the Rockets this season, surpassing his 11 on Saturday.

JONATHAN FEIGEN