Dec. 24, 2006, 11:48PM Injuries bite into Rockets yet again Team tries to fill big gap in its scoring By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Dikembe Mutombo made his way through the Rockets' Toyota Center locker room, moving slowly as he let out a long, almost mournful moan. "Ohhhhhhhh," he said with the voice of gravel rolling from a dump truck. "Merry Christmas." He did not have to elaborate. The Rockets had received their lump of coal Saturday when Yao Ming was hurt, with a fractured right tibia taking him out for at least six weeks. The Rockets' presumed season of renewal had seemed transformed to last season's dreary, injury-marred march to the lottery. Yao is not expected to even begin working out until early February. Tracy McGrady has been out for seven games and counting after his Dec. 9 back spasms. "This is a tough blow and a sad day for the team, especially with Mac already being out, Kirk Snyder being out, Bob Sura being out and now Yao being out," guard/forward Bonzi Wells said. "That's a lot of points." But if the Rockets were to reflexively feel sorry for themselves, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy would not permit it. "Everybody right now wants to feel 'Ohhhh, poor Rockets,' " Van Gundy said. "That's just bull. It's not poor us. "I couldn't feel worse for an athlete than I do for him (Yao), but I do not feel sorry for us." And then he hit on what will be his rallying cry. "We have enough to win with," he said. "We have enough to win with." Roles must change There might be enough, but just as Yao and McGrady changed the players around them, their absences also will have to bring changes. This is a team almost entirely built around their skills and styles. The Rockets are 2-5 this season since McGrady went out Dec. 9 with back spasms. Last season, they went 1-8 without Yao and McGrady, and 13-38 with at least one of them out. Without Yao to post up or McGrady to penetrate, the Rockets will have to find something else moving toward the basket. Yao had topped 30 points in five of the seven games before his injury, but beyond his scoring (he is averaging a career-high 25.9 points per game), he creates offense for the Rockets. The Rockets take and make the third most 3-pointers in the NBA. But they had been running their offense through Yao, getting the bulk of those 3s from the openings in the defense created by the attention defenses placed on slowing him. Before McGrady was out, the Rockets were getting open looks from his penetration and passing. "You still have to get the ball in the paint in this league," Van Gundy said. "You have to do it a different way. You can't live on the perimeter. We've been a big 3-point shooting team all year. The way you do that is to suck the defense in, compact the defense. We had done it with the post-up. When McGrady was there, we had done it with the dribble drive, the pick-and-roll game. Now we have to do it more with the drive, the pick-and-roll. "The ball still has to be at the basket. We still have to get to the free-throw line. You can't do it the same exact way. You can't totally try to reinvent. You can't ask Shane (Battier) to try to break people down off the dribble." Wells is a post-up player. But just seven games into his return to the active roster, he has been wildly inconsistent. In the Rockets' wins without McGrady, Wells scored 12 points against the Clippers and 15 against the Spurs. In the five losses, he averaged 4.7 points. "It's a little too early to judge in totality," Van Gundy said of Wells' play. "He's had some good moments like our team has and some not-so-good moments like our team has." But with Yao out, Wells could shift from potential help off the bench to a key offensive player inside. "It's really tough," Wells said. "Every play is for Yao, so basically we now have to try and do something different. We just have to find ourselves a little bit, especially myself. I had the worst game of my career (against the Clippers), so I have to step my game up to another level." The Rockets' other veteran, Battier, had a season-high 28 points Saturday, but is largely a complementary player, playing off the attention-grabbing stars. A small team at power forward and in the backcourt, the Rockets will likely have to play even smaller. "We're smaller now," Rockets guard Rafer Alston said. "We don't have that center. We have to mix it up with the pick-and-roll and we can get Shane and Bonzi on the low block. We have to keep moving and play with a lot of energy. We can't replace Yao Ming's scoring and rebounding, but if we have to keep games in the 70s and 80s to win it, that's what we have to do." Lack of offense There could be rotation changes with Mutombo and Chuck Hayes, who bring defense and rebounding but not scoring, difficult to play together. "I'm going to have to really think about the rotation and how we're going to play," Van Gundy said. "I think we're going to have to rotate differently so that we have enough offense on the floor. "When we started out the second half with Chuck and Deke on the floor together, it's just not enough offense." The other option could be roster moves. But teams generally become stingy in trades when another team is viewed as desperate. The Rockets have 15 signed players, including Sura who has been out since the 2004-05 playoffs. They have just four healthy players who have averaged more than 20 minutes this season. But the Rockets will insist they have enough, even if they are trying to convince themselves. "If you take almost 50 points out of the lineup, guys have to step up their games," Wells said. "We just have to find a way." "Whatever coach asks us to do, we just have to do on a higher level. We have to give more of ourselves, be unselfish and look for other guys. We just have to play well as a team and come together." _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ URL-link:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4425013.html ________________________ What else do we have to say about this?
Just one question, how many games is Luther Head have a three pointer in? The streak of of at least 1 three pointer per game, I'm adding to his wikipedia article. PS. Clutch, please change me back to Member
I agree with JVG, the Rockets have enough to win and keep afloat around .500 until Yao comes back. T-Mac will be back in January and so will Kirk Snyder. It's time for JVG to show his coaching. It's sad to lose Yao. But injuries are part of the game. There are many teams already playing without star(s) due to injuries or suspensions - Hornets, Lakers, Denver. I dont see the lakers sinking without Lamar Odom and Chris Mihm. Other coaches can do it and so should JVG. It's the coach's job to lead your team and fight through injuries. The season is not lost.
Like last year, JVG is trying to deny the fact the we DON'T have enough to win without T-Mac and Yao. I understand that he is trying to rally the crippled team. But I wonder how much "believe in yourselves" cry can get a talent-challenged team to win. Play the young guys. tell them to play loose and have fun. I am sure they can win a few games for us. . . and learn some things along the way.
I CANT POST: Can someone make this a post for me? http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/16315350.htm Talks about 1995 where the Rockets 2 Stars (Horry and Dream) got hurt and Rockets made big trade for Clyde and ended up just making playoffs and starting that sick run through it as everyone got healthy at the right time. Hopefully this could be a pick me up and Hopefully it will happen again .
Easy, You don't want to say to guys...OK, go play loose and have fun, and let's try to learn from that. There is only one thing you can do,,,tell the players only 9 guys will play each game and you have to be one of the hardests working guys to be part of that 9. Then, screw playing loose, you are establishing that to play in the NBA you must play hard and focused or you get no minutes. JVG is right about one thing for sure...there is not that much difference in talent between playoff teams...it is execution and who plays the hardest. Not who plays loose and fun.
That's true when the team is healthy. Losing two superstars isn't a typical team. Last year's team played hard. They just didn't have enough talents to win games. When I said "play loose and have fun" I didn't mean "play whatever way you want." I mean "play like you have nothing to lose." You still need to execute with discipline. But you don't have to play tight and scared.
I understand. I don't mean to stick you to your words. I know what you meant. What I'm saying is I WANT the players to play scared that they might not get any more minutes if they don't play hard and execute. I know playing scared will screw some players minds up...and maybe that's bad...and maybe another coach does better with them. But, I WANT to see the difference. I want to see who plays scared and can't do it. I want to apply maximum pressure on NBA bench players getting time via injuries. I want to see he can take it...like LUTHER HEAD!!!! he can take it. He has proven that. If Lucas, VSpan, Novak can't take it...let's find out now. I worry that Novak and VSpan's heads are spinning out there on the court. Let's see how much they spin by benching them like normal when they play like idiots.
Some players are more tough minded than others. That doesn't mean those who aren't naturally tough can't be good. You just need different ways to develop different kinds of players. I know you like those tough minded players. I do too. But you have to be realistic that not all players are like that. I was mad about JVG last year when he kept harping on the scrubs about their effort without when we had lost both Yao and TMac. The obvious problem was not effort. It was SHOOTING. Every time I heard the coach complain about effort, I wanted to scream: "How much effort do you need to hit an open shot?" Anyone who has played basketball knows that hitting shot is not about effort. It's about rhythm and confidence. Playing tight and scared is not gonna give you rhythm and confidence. I thought he was barking up the wrong tree. Maybe that's the only tree he knew how to bark up.
This is what makes Luther Head so great! I love Luther! I don't mean to cut out that quote to make a point against what you are saying. I agree. But I love Luther Head for being fearless in his role to fill injuries and beyond.
van gundy has given plenty of compliments to last years team and their effort despite the injuries. he has even specifically said that missing shots was the reason they lost. the thing is, he couldn't make alston, wesley, bowen, etc. make all the open jumpers. it's not going to do anything for him to continue harping on making shots because that's far more beyond his control then getting his team to fight hard every minute. he preached energy because with a depleted roster and no go to guy, that's something he had to have every night. i don't recall him being mad about a lack of energy over an extended period. samething with this year. he's going to pick on energy because that's a constant we can rely on. let's face it the defense in the second half against the clippers was atrocious and even without t-mac or yao that was an extremely winnable game had more of the players come out of the lockerroom in the third.
