Chron: Rockets need a roll to get out of hole

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3500030.html

T-Mac's back; swagger needed to end 4-11 slump

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Now that the Rockets find themselves in a hole Tracy McGrady described as "the Grand Canyon," the escape plan would seem clear enough, even if he did not explain how one digs out of such a chasm.

If their 3-11 November indicated anything, it was that the Rockets desperately needed two things missing most of last month — McGrady and time on the practice court. They got McGrady back on Tuesday, and have had more days of practice this week than they had in the three weeks after McGrady was hurt Nov. 4.

No longer missing McGrady or burdened by a brutal schedule, the Rockets should quickly learn if last month was the real thing or an aberration.

"We have a long ways to go, and the teams that are ahead of us are playing really good basketball," McGrady said. "That's what we have to get to: playing great basketball. We have to get on some type of roll. The most important thing for us is to get that swagger back. We get that swagger back, who knows what can happen in the next couple weeks."

Asked just what swagger means, McGrady had an image in mind that bore little resemblance to the Rockets this season.

"Offense goes well," he said. "You're shooting the ball extremely well, the ball is moving. You're helping guys on the defensive end. You're hustling back. You're taking charges. You're getting all the loose balls. You're doing whatever it takes for us to get a win. That feels good. We don't have that right now. At some point in time, we have to get that."

With the Rockets so far removed from the Western Conference pack, this would seem to be a time they would need to make a move, having sacrificed most of their margin for error.

But the Rockets cannot count on a visit from the Grizzlies as a way to put together their first winning streak of the season.

Rather, they face a Memphis team tonight that went from beating the Rockets to whipping the Mavericks in Dallas. The Rockets then play the Boston Celtics, who gave them their worst loss of the season. They then head out on a six-game trip.

One step at a time

"I know the standings, what they say, and the competition and the ground that would have to be made up," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "At the same time, it does you no good to focus on that. Try to have a good practice, a good shoot-around and a good game."

To that end, he split the team to frontcourt and backcourt players for separate practice sessions on Thursday, then worked out on the main court on Friday.

The players described the workouts as particularly intense — and needed.

"We're still working — we shouldn't be, but we still are — working on some things that at this point we should be better at," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "Why we're not, who knows? Just because Mac is back, that's not going to cover up all our problems. We got to keep working. We still can't guard a pick-and-roll."

The team must avoid relying too much on McGrady, he said.

"Mac can't guard a pick-and-roll by himself. He's going to help us with the scoring part of it, but there's still defensive things, energy things, intensity things that one guy isn't going to change. It's going to help to have healthy bodies, but we have to get better.

"He (Van Gundy) has been running us pretty hard, trying to fix those things. It's a daily process of trying to focus more, put more into it. I'm beginning to sound like him. But he says it like it is."

There's a lot of that going around. Asked where the Rockets needed to improve, McGrady quoted directly from the book of Van Gundy.

Pick, roll and win

"Pick-and-roll defense, helping each other on defense, being sharper, getting to the right spots, making sure we get Yao the ball in the right spots, making sure we're spaced properly," McGrady said without a moment's pause.

"It was nice for us to get a couple practices in because the way we started out, with our schedule, was crazy. We didn't have time to tweak some things and to work on a couple things that we were struggling in. It's going to be interesting to see how we come out tomorrow because the last two days."

Van Gundy said he could not tell yet whether the workouts worked.

"Practicing is good as long as you make improvements," he said. "Usually you improve if you care deeply about improving. We'll see."

But as the Rockets try to escape that canyon, whether they climb to the top or dig to the other side, they seemed to know they have a long way to go.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets Summary

Injuries improving

The Rockets' health problems continued to improve on Friday. Tracy McGrady (back strain) said he felt no aftereffects from his first game and first practice after playing Tuesday. And guards Jon Barry and Rafer Alston were listed as day-to-day, though both are doubtful to play tonight, having not yet returned to practice.

"Everything was fine with the back," McGrady said. "So far, so good."

Alston is expected to miss an eighth consecutive game with a slightly fractured fibula. Barry, who bruised his left foot Nov. 25 at Memphis, said his injury is much less severe than he expected.

"Initially, we all thought it was going to be a stress fracture, which was going to mean at least a month (out)," Barry said. "When we found it was nothing in the bone, it was a muscle thing, I was relieved, certainly, and it's been feeling better every day.

"It's been a good recovery thus far. But I'm sick of ( Dave) Macha, our strength coach. He's brutal. As soon as they break and go to practice we go in there, and it's a lot harder than being out here practicing. Two hours with him every day has been a nightmare."

Booted by Stones

The Rockets practiced on the main Toyota Center court on Friday, now that the Rolling Stones left town, allowing them to walk around the building freely.

"You know, it's funny," Rockets forward Tracy McGrady said. "This is our arena, but those guys came here and completely just took over our arena. Kicked us out, saying we were going to get locked in until the concert ended if we didn't get out. It was crazy."

Tryout time

The Rockets had three players in for workouts on Friday.

Guard Vonteego Cummings and forward Ime Udoka are playing for the NBA Development League's Fort Worth Flyers, and forward Matt Walsh was released earlier this year by the Miami Heat.

Cummings is averaging 15.3 points and 5.3 assists. He was a first-round pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Pacers, then was traded that night to the Warriors.

Udoka is averaging 21.8 points for Fort Worth.

Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said the workouts were routine and that no moves are imminent with the roster already at the maximum 15 players.

JONATHAN FEIGEN