[Chron] Great Wall turns Rockets into bunch of giddy tourists

Great Wall turns Rockets into bunch of giddy tourists
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2850370

MUGIANYU, China — The day was theirs to do as they pleased. No practice. No appearances. The Rockets' trip from Shanghai did not deliver them to their hotel rooms in Beijing until 6 a.m. But they could do anything they chose with the day that followed.

They all — save the suffocated and spent Yao Ming — chose the same thing.

The Rockets' traveling party packed into three buses to climb the Great Wall of China, then found on that 4,000-mile miracle far more than they imagined.

On its steps and stones and towers, the Rockets went from exhausted to exhilarated.

Built in the Qin dynasty to keep intruders out, the Great Wall drew the Rockets in.

It inspired coach Jeff Van Gundy to hop on a camel's back to pose for pictures and laugh along at the suggestions they had the same eyes. It made Juwan Howard do a push-up on the wall to kiss the ground. Players who today will arrive in the arena straight-faced, armed with well-rehearsed indifference and headphones to block out the world, giggled together, wearing straw rice-paddy hats and posing for photos for each other like a pack of overeager Clark Griswolds.

So removed were the Rockets from the demands of practice that when Van Gundy discovered that Rockets director of media relations Nelson Luis had brought a ball as a photo prop, he snatched it and threw it from the wall into the hills below. He then pretended to chew out equipment manager Jay Namoc for failing to have the requisite 15 basketballs for the next practice.

Players ran the ancient steps with cries of obvious Van Gundy catchphrases, "new running test" and "be professional." Dikembe Mutombo, who had taken his turn on the camel's back, posed with policemen and doubled over with laughter. When the day was over, Tracy McGrady walked over to Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson and wrapped him in a grateful hug.

"The best," McGrady said. "This is just the best."

The tour was arranged for a section of the wall farther north with a steeper, more strenuous climb that makes it less popular with tourists. But that gave the team (and the Sacramento Kings earlier in the day) almost exclusive access to that part of the wall and a day almost alone.

"It's really amazing," Van Gundy said. "I can't even describe it. I don't have any words. It's just awe-inspiring, really."

He meant the Great Wall, the understanding of when it was built and what could be seen and not seen in the mountainous miles it snakes through China. But he also might have meant the impact it had on his team and this franchise.

"Very few things, I think, have a wow factor for the players," Van Gundy said. "They've seen so much and have been involved in so much. Certainly when you see something like this and you see them all on a couple hours' sleep make an effort to get up and go, it just shows you how unbelievable the scene is. And to see them do it together is so gratifying, too. Pretty cool.

"To me, there are certain things you'll never have a chance to do again in your lifetime. I knew we had only one day to do it. This was the day. Regardless of the value of practice, you have to look at the big picture, which coaches like myself are usually not good at. Today I was."

'Just awesome'
In some ways, the day might have been as beneficial as another afternoon on the court. For a team reassembled since last season, the China trip as a whole, but especially Friday's excursion, brought together a team.

"The spirit in the bus on the way over was unbelievable," Rockets vice president Dennis Lindsey said. "Any time you can do team-building things, it affords a great opportunity. But you can't plan something like this.

"That's part of the trip. It's a difficult piece of travel. Then you have the game fatigue. It's difficult, but it's special."

Then he looked around at a few dozen of the beaming faces and said, "This is awesome, just awesome."

Day to remember
It had that kind of impact regardless of the perspective. For Jim Jackson, it made the wait from his planned but canceled 2001 trip worthwhile. But for players whose careers are even more uncertain, going from looking for a job to looking over the Chinese countryside from the Great Wall was a welcomed respite and a special treat.

"The only thing that could make this better than it is if at the end of the day I become a Rocket," said training camp invitee David Hawkins. "I've been getting a taste of that NBA life, on the court, off the court. Like coach Van Gundy said, 'The NBA is a great life.' He asked me, 'How many Ritz Carltons have you stayed in in your life?' None.

"But then to come to China and be here on the Great Wall ... I'm starting on the right path before I even have my foot in the door."

But even the veteran players celebrated. For a day, no one felt pressure, no one worried about contracts or playing time or even wins and losses. There will be time for that, but this would be a time like no other.

"Look at the smiles," Howard said. "As great as it is to do this, it's so much greater to get to share this with my family, my wife (Janine) first and my teammates. That's my family, and this is something we will all remember and carry with us for a lifetime."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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Awesome article on how the team had a great time together. Too bad Yao missed all the fun.

 

He's probably busy with a bunch of official meetings, press conferances, and promotional events. It's a real shame he missed out on the team bonding stuff, but it's just the way things go for the biggest star in the country.

 

So what he say. I've got C-webb on the other line who wants to know.

 

Coo. I told C-Webb that and he mumbled some comment about soft Euro skanks, but I wasn't sure who he was referring to.