Chron: Rockets can't get a break these days

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3062241

Challenging 7-game stretch begins at Chicago
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

David Wesley set a goal for the Rockets during the All-Star break. He surveyed the difficult 10-game stretch immediately following the hiatus and deemed it reasonable to strive for a 7-3 record.

With the Rockets having lost their first three games since the break, Wesley realizes that if they can't rebound starting in Chicago tonight, even more goals might start slipping away.

"To me, we have to win our next seven," Wesley said. "That makes them all big."

Wesley's goal is still attainable if perhaps unrealistic. Six of the next seven games are on the road against teams that are a combined 193-137. And the game at Toyota Center is against a team (the 38-17 Mavericks) that has won seven of its last eight.

After starting their "big seven" with Chicago, the Rockets play at Washington on Wednesday. The Rockets defeated the Bulls and Wizards at Toyota Center just two weeks ago during the eight-game winning streak they took into the break.

The Rockets' 123-93 victory over the Wizards on Feb. 15 was their last win. The confidence the Rockets took into the break after that game has been replaced with concern.

"Well, any time you beat a team at home — and we handled them pretty well — it always worries me that you go back there and take it for granted that it's going to happen again," Jon Barry said. "Based on where we're at right now, though — three (losses) in a row — I think our focus is going to be where it needs to be.

"I thought it was going to happen (Sunday against Utah). It didn't, but we've got to get tougher. We don't have time to be waiting around. It's got to happen Tuesday night."

Like the Rockets, the Bulls (29-24) presently would be a No. 6 seed in the playoffs. But Chicago has been the better team of late, winning three of four since the break and six of seven since losing to the Rockets 105-92 on Feb. 9. During that span, Chicago has notched victories against Sacramento, Miami and Washington.

"There is no night that goes by that you can say, 'This one is an easy one; this one is a tough one,' " Dikembe Mutombo said. "If you play like that, somebody is going to come smack on you and stop you. Chicago is playing very well."

Coach Jeff Van Gundy wants the Rockets thinking only about the Bulls today. He didn't hold practice Monday, but the players hardly felt it was a day off. With an afternoon flight to Chicago, some planned to use the usual practice time to reflect.

All three of the Rockets' recent losses have come after fourth-quarter collapses. The players can point to all of the things they do wrong, and they know — along with Van Gundy — that it isn't anything else that can be drilled into them during practice.

"I think Coach wants each one of us to sit at home and reflect on the things that we're doing and the things that we're not doing well," Mutombo said. "Then bring it all on Tuesday and try to change this thing."

The players are making no excuses. Even after debuting two point guards (Mike James and Moochie Norris) on Sunday, the Rockets understood that was the least of their problems. It was their defensive effort that allowed Utah, a team 19 games under .500, to win on the Rockets' court.

The Rockets are one of seven teams that are winless since the break. Of those seven, only Houston and Orlando have winning records. New Orleans is the only other team in the Western Conference still looking for a post-break victory.

"I don't want to use the break as an excuse," Yao Ming said. "Everybody got a break. And some even had winning streaks — maybe not eight games, but a couple. I believe the other teams are still winning. They can get a victory — why not us?"

megan.manfull@chron.com
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Rockets Summary

Baker and Bagwell

Newly acquired power forward Vin Baker understands how slim the odds are that he and Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell have been reunited. Only a handful of former Hartford Hawks are playing professional sports, and the two most famous are in Houston.

Bagwell and Baker, each a four-time All-Star, haven't talked in years. They first met when Baker was arriving at the college in Hartford and Bagwell was leaving to start his professional career.

"That's my guy," Baker said. "I've got to get in touch with Jeff. I'm excited to be out here. I always brag about Jeff. So now we're finally in the same city. Same little small university, and now big city of Houston."

Bagwell said he was happy when he saw Baker had been traded to the Rockets last week.

"I remember him. He was skinny back then," Bagwell said. "But, of course, I think I was too.

"I just want him to do well. I'd like to talk to him (and) see how he's doing. He's been through a bunch in the last few years."

Comfort zone

After only two practices and one game with the Rockets, point guard Mike James said nothing seems foreign to him. James said the Rockets' system is similar to what he used from 2001-03 when he played under coach Pat Riley in Miami.

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy coached under Riley in New York.

"He's cut from the coach Riley mold," James said. "I understand what (Van Gundy) wants and what he likes, because it's so much similar to what coach Riley wants and likes."

MEGAN MANFULL