[Chron] Here's to good health

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Here's to good health
As the countdown to training camp begins, it's no secret the team needs Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady on the floor as much as possible to make the playoffs


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The issues seem fairly clear. There's Yao Ming's health. And there's Tracy McGrady's health.

After that, there's Yao Ming's health.

Ask anyone who knows everything about the Rockets — or just two things about the Rockets — and they will tell you the most important issues as the team heads to training camp in nine days are Yao's health and McGrady's health. Unless it is the other way around.

Still, it seems pretty certain that something else might factor into the Rockets' season. So we put together a panel of interested observers to get their thoughts about what will be the keys to the Rockets' hopes as they attempt to bounce back from their lost season.

The experts agreed.

"If you're looking at Houston, you're looking at McGrady's health, really those two guys there, McGrady and Yao Ming," former Rockets coach Bill Fitch said. "Those are my main concerns right there."

McGrady and Yao played together in only 31 games last season, with the Rockets going 21-10 with both players. They were 7-28 in games played without McGrady and 7-18 in games that Yao missed. The injuries ran so amok Rockets players combined to miss a league-high 274 games last season.

"The key to their team is going to be health, first and foremost," longtime NBA player, coach and broadcaster Doug Collins said. "If Tracy and Yao Ming stay healthy, they are two of the best players at their positions in the world. That's absolutely vital."

With that out of the way, however, there was plenty of other topics to discuss.

Most members of the panel moved quickly to the acquisition of Shane Battier and were nearly as in agreement.

"Shane Battier is the type of player you love to have on your team," Hall of Famer Rick Barry said. "The guy shows up every day, is just a terrific guy, gives you something at both ends of the court, rebounds, plays tough D, makes good basketball plays. You need guys like that."

Fitch went even further, citing the strong, negative draft-night reaction to the deal.

"Everybody thought that giving away that draft choice was giving away a lot," Fitch said." I thought at the time, 'That is a great deal. They needed that.' "


Backcourt concerns
If Yao, McGrady and Battier represent the Rockets' frontcourt and the panel's confidence in the mix there, the experts were more uncertain about the team's backcourt.

The Rockets turned around their 2004-05 season when Bob Sura came back from back surgery, and Jon Barry and David Wesley were acquired during the season. The more recent backcourt makeover could be as crucial.

"They missed Bob Sura," Collins said. "He was not a point guard, but he brought toughness and energy they missed when he couldn't play. David Wesley was a good player, but he started to slow down. When they got Jon Barry, he brought a fire and passion for a period of time. They lost those guys. Kirk Snyder has some ability. That's what you do. You add guys with ability and try to get lucky. You hope the guys you bring in fit well with the two stars."

Even excluding their hopes of signing free agent Bonzi Wells and excluding McGrady, who usually plays small forward but can work at guard, the Rockets will have eight guards to camp. They have 16 players signed, one more than the maximum allowed by the start of the season. All but Sura, who is hoping to come back from knee surgery, was acquired either this offseason or last.

"With Wesley gone now, will they be getting the right caliber of guard play?" Fitch said. "I think that's a big question. You got to play it to see it, whether (Rafer Alston) is going to be the point guard to lead them to the championship. There are good point guards in San Antonio and Dallas. With (Luther Head), you never know what that sophomore year is going to be like, but if he continues to improve from that rookie year, then he's going to make the other guard spot a plus."

Former Rockets guard Kenny Smith said the team has the "right pieces." He likes the offseason additions but says success will depend on a rebuilt team's ability to believe in its style and each other.

"The Rockets have talent," Smith said. "Do they know how to utilize it and do the players know how to utilize each other? The one thing you have to figure is, do they have the pieces to the pie and do the pieces fit?"


Avoiding the injury bug
That, and if the pieces remain in one piece.

"The NBA is about injuries and how you can sustain wins without injured players," Smith said. "The Miami Heat did not fall out when Shaq (O'Neal) was out last year. You can't fall out of the race when someone gets hurt. That's dictated by style of play and the cohesiveness of players. It's too simplistic to say it was only about injuries last year."

Still, the panelists noted that the Rockets won with Yao and McGrady and lost without them. And no one thought the Rockets were built to win shorthanded.

"There are weaker teams in the East that you can overpower," Hall of Fame coach Hubie Brown said. "The West last year had only one weak team — Portland. In the East, you had four or five teams you could build your record on and get wins even though you had injuries. Yao and McGrady have to be healthy this year."