Chron: Rockets make strides but seek consistency

Rockets make strides but seek consistency
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 12, 2004, 10:52PM



The Rockets are great. They are mediocre. They are awful.

They are contenders. They are a playoff team. They are lottery bound again.

They are a thrilling combination of Steve Francis' explosive talent, Yao Ming's size and grace and Cuttino Mobley's knack for putting up points, all backed with a tenacious defense.

They are a bunch of can't-pass underachievers crashing into each other when they are not dribbling the print off the ball.

They are -- oh, who really knows? They are any or all of the above. And they might be something else tomorrow.

As the Rockets reached the All-Star break tied with Memphis for sixth place in the Western Conference playoff hunt and coming off an encouraging win over the Los Angeles Lakers, they refused to celebrate what they have been, not sure themselves what that is.

"Some days, we look like a very good team," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Some possessions we look like a very good team. And some practices we look like a very good team.

"Other times, possessions, games, practices, not so good. I'm not sure we're any different from a lot of teams. But we're going to have to be different than most teams if we're going to do anything of significance."

About the best Van Gundy could come up with to define his first Rockets team was they are what their record says.

"That's the only way to judge it," Van Gundy said. "It is what it is. It's 30-22, eight home losses, 14 on the road.

"In the end, that's how you're judged. Results tell you all you need to know. But I know what goes into lasting winning."

But when examining if the Rockets can be a team capable of doing things "of significance," more than records are needed to judge his team so far. Asked where the Rockets are on that measure, Van Gundy said, "I don't know."

When pressed, he cited the record again. Pushed further, he finally took the fifth.

"I know what you're trying to get a sense of," Van Gundy said. "And I hope you know I'm not going to give you any sense of my sense."

Van Gundy's frustration, among other things, is that the Rockets have failed to establish an every-night consistency.


Coping with adversity


But the issues that have cropped up along the way -- Eddie Griffin's meltdown, Maurice Taylor's disputed anti-drug program violation and suspension and Steve Francis' Super Sunday no-show -- were not considered terribly unusual.

The end of Griffin's career in Houston undoubtedly trashed a significant portion of the franchise's blueprint. In the era of zone defenses, Griffin's shooting range would have helped unclog the middle for Francis and taken a double-team big man away from Yao Ming without having to sacrifice rebounding.

When Griffin skipped a preseason road trip and several subsequent private workouts, the Rockets were unwilling to pick up their option on a fourth season of Griffin's contract. When he was charged with assaulting a woman at his home and sought depression and substance-abuse treatment, the Rockets cut their losses and released him. Griffin then signed with the Nets but has been jailed for violating his curfew while planning to seek more treatment for alcoholism.

Taylor's suspension was nearly as frustrating. Unlike his violation of the anti-drug program two seasons ago, when Taylor insisted on revealing his violation and blamed himself, he fought the finding and seemed to have won. But he missed seven games while waiting for his appeal.

"I don't see it as explosions," Van Gundy said. "I see it as a guy (Griffin) that has some law-enforcement issues to deal with and health issues to deal with. Did it set our franchise back a bit? Absolutely. But I don't see that as an explosion. I want to see him get it right. Mo Taylor's suspension was what it was, and he feels it wasn't correct.

"Everything else, hey, it's a long NBA season. You try not to cause your own problems. Sometimes problems crop up, you deal with them and you move on."

Francis' one-game suspension for missing the team flight to Phoenix would seem to fall under the "everything else" category. The story took off when Francis showed no contrition, bouncing between claims of accord with Van Gundy, even inventing a breakfast he said they ate together.

But since his suspension on Feb. 2, Francis has played as well as he has all season, and he has not hinted at insubordination on the court. More to the point, he insisted this week that there is no rift between him and Van Gundy.

"People are making it like that," Francis said. "Everybody wants to make up something because of the situation that happened, one, and two, just to have something to write or something to report. It's there, so people will hope that there is conflict.

"I don't care who it is, player and coach or two players, there will be times people don't agree. If you're a professional and a man, you confront that. That's what I do, then you go on."

Van Gundy said he considered the matter closed when he hung up the phone with Francis. He refused to cover for Francis the next day and the days that followed. But he insisted again that the issue was overblown.

"Actually this year, for a NBA season, seems to be fairly problem-free, not too bad," Van Gundy said. "Guys are wanting to win. Now we have to do what it takes to win. We're going to have to play better. We play hard most nights. Now we have to add that element of play smart."

Which brings us back to just how good the Rockets are -- or are not.


Defense good but passing bad


With the exception of a four-game losing streak (Jan. 26-Feb. 2) in which they seemed to lose interest in playing hard, they have proved to be one of the league's best defensive teams. With the Rockets' offense so inconsistent, their slow-the-game defense-first style has been a major asset.

They might have demonstrated again Wednesday that at their best they can crank up on offense. But they can be such a horrible passing team -- they are last in assists per game and 24th in turnovers.

Francis, still mistake-prone in his fifth season, is the only playmaker. Though improving, Yao has not brought consistent energy. After a fast start, Mobley's shooting has seemed to level off.

"If we're going to beat the better teams, we can't be at a possession disadvantage every game," Van Gundy said. "You have to talk about starting eight points in the hole. So every game, we spot teams eight, nine, 10 points and then try to win. That's basically what we're doing with turnovers."

Asked if the turnover problem can be solved, Van Gundy said, "You can have blind faith, or you can go by history. Blind faith is believing what you can see. We have shown improvement in a lot of areas, and that's not one of them."

The Rockets are heavy in players who can get their own shots but have few who can get teammates shots off the dribble.

"We're average right now," Jim Jackson said. "People don't understand, you don't build a team overnight as much as we would like to. As much as people think you can just get four, five, six, seven guys who have talent together to play well and mesh, it just doesn't work like that.

"The great teams it took them time to build consistency, continuity. And we're on that path. We're going to have ups and downs. That's just the nature of the business. But we have to stay focused and keep working hard."

But the time it takes to mesh could be shortened if the Rockets approached each day the way they did Wednesday against the Lakers. During the Rockets' four-game losing streak, the practices and shootarounds behind closed doors were described as uninspired as the performances in the games.

"We should be a better team than we are now," forward/center Kelvin Cato said. "I think we are better mentally and defensively than we were last year. But we're still lacking some of the things that will help us win a championship. That's what we're working toward. It might be more mental discipline, more basketball fundamentals. But we have to keep working hard and sustain it for the rest of these games."


Nothing easy down the stretch


The schedule grows more difficult in the second half. The Rockets, who are seeking their first playoff berth since 1999, have 14 of their remaining 30 games against Western Conference teams with better records than them. They are 4-10 against those teams.

Of the final 16 games, 11 are on the road where the Rockets are 13-14, and 10 of those 11 are against the West. The Rockets hit the break just 2-11 on the road against the West.

"I think we're getting better each day, but that's not the crux of the issue," Yao said. "I think what we have to worry about is the distance between us and the better teams in the league.

"I don't think there's ever an end. We're improving, but they're improving as well. There are a lot of areas we have to get to that level in. We have to work harder than other teams."

But for now, the Rockets cannot be sure what they are. Other than team defense being their greatest strength and passing being their biggest weakness, they have been too inconsistent to be accurately measured beyond their 30-22 record.

Almost every step forward has come with one back. Most of the encouraging wins have led to disappointing defeats.

"You want to see both wins and improvement," Van Gundy said. "That's the only way you're going to win consistently. We're still looking for lasting improvement, something that sticks every day.

"Where we have to improve is where we don't beat ourselves. Look at San Antonio. They play their game. They live and die with their game. That's when you know you made lasting progress, when you know what your game is, and you play it. It's a long road that you strive toward getting better. That's what we're trying to do. We need to play consistently well and improve, and I think we'll do that now."

That is a optimistic tone by Van Gundy standards. And since he and his point guard are so in sync, Francis offered similar hope.

"We still have opportunities, and we still have time to get better," Francis said. "I think we're getting better as a team every game. We still have 30 games left to play. It still can be a very, very positive time for us in the next couple of months."

 

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet: when JVG criticizes his team's "energy" he is talking about Yao. When he talks about "mental discipline," "trust" and "unselfish play" I think he means Francis and Mobley.

 

I wonder if he is sensing summer time trades?