Rockets: Good to be Kings Teams possess a few similarities By JANNY HU Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle As tough as it is to stump Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, the Sacramento Kings are succeeding. And in more ways than one. The Kings have reigned over the Rockets for so long that the lopsided thrashings are becoming a blur. "I can't remember the last time we beat them," Tomjanovich said. "I think I might have been playing. I don't know." No, it hasn't been 21 years since the Rockets topped the Kings, but for Tomjanovich -- who hung up his sneakers in 1981 -- it may as well be. The Rockets take on Sacramento tonight as losers of nine straight to the Kings, including a 19-point setback last week at Arco Arena. The Rockets last beat the Kings on March 28, 1999, and the streak is even worse than it appears. With the exception of an 89-84 anomaly, Rick Adelman's squad blew apart the Rockets by an average of 29 points last season. "They kicked our butts," said Rockets guard Steve Francis. "We haven't played well against them. We've always had a bad shooting night against the Kings, turning the ball over, things like that. "We want to get to the point where everything is flowing and we can do (against them) what we do against other teams." To that end, the Rockets seem intent on developing a new maxim. If you can't beat them, be them. Be a team with a towering center who has a flair for spotting players cutting to the lane. Be a team with an unselfish, pass-happy guard permanently on the lookout for open shooters. And be a team whose depth keeps its players from cracking the NBA's top 10 in scoring, rebounding or assists. (Francis, sixth in scoring, is the only player on either team on any of those lists.) The Kings are all those things, and they seem to have conquered every team but the Los Angeles Lakers with their pass-oriented offense. Sacramento sits comfortably atop the Pacific Division with its 18-5 record, second only to the 18-2 Dallas Mavericks. And the Kings have done it all while losing a third of their roster to injuries. "They're so good," Tomjanovich said. "Their passing. Their big guys. You know when they say you can judge a great player by how he affects the other guys on the team? Well, (Chris) Webber and Vlade (Divac) just make the game easy for people because they can pass so well. "It's the toughest part of the game. Everybody wants to do that. We do have a lot of weapons, and we're getting to be a better passing team. If we get to where we can get our rhythm and start knocking down some shots -- and that's what happened in our last game -- (we're) going to get the assists." The Rockets notched a season-high 27 assists against Philadelphia on Saturday, but it's the Kings who have perfected the dish-and-swish. As a team, they rank second in assists behind the Utah Jazz and have the best passing center in the NBA in Divac. The Yugoslavian is averaging 4.3 assists per game, plenty more than Rockets center Yao Ming, who has 18 assists on the year. But that doesn't mean Yao won't develop his passing touch. In fact, he may already have. "Today, he did a lot of those things that Vlade did, and you can see it in the game," Tomjanovich said. "His passes are igniting some offensive things, and our guys are just getting used to it. He sees it when (you're open). When the guy has contact with you, and he stops watching the ball, (Yao) sees it, and he drops that ball right in there." Like the Kings, the Rockets are using their guards to set picks for frontcourt players, generating more motion in the offense. Webber (21.8 points per game) leads five Kings averaging 10 or more more points per game. Houston -- which saw guards Cuttino Mobley and Francis routinely combine for 60 points per game early in the season -- is taking more time to spread the ball around and has been rewarded with increased production from others. Moochie Norris scored a season-high 16 points against the San Antonio Spurs last week, and against Philadelphia on Saturday, five players scored in double digits. The Rockets will likely need all 97 points they netted against the Sixers -- and then some -- to tackle the Kings, who are second in the NBA in scoring, averaging 99.4 points per game. But if recent history holds, the Rockets are in good shape. The Lakers and Spurs were the only Western Conference teams -- besides the Kings -- to sweep the Rockets last season. The Lakers had won seven straight and the Spurs eight straight against the Rockets before Houston topped both this season.
the last time that we played the kings yao was embarassed by vlade. we saw how he comes back after a game like that, the best example being the win against the spurs. yao remembers everytime someone makes him look bad and returns the favor in the next match-up. i expect a big game from yao tonight.
