This is not good. Will Rockets go 0-5? Most likely in the way they are playing. March 20, 2003, 10:55PM <b>More rest prescribed for Tomjanovich</b> By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle SAN FRANCISCO -- Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich on Thursday canceled plans to join his team during its West Coast road trip, following the advice of doctors who wanted him to continue to rest after Monday's bladder biopsy. Tomjanovich had hoped to coach the Rockets tonight against the Golden State Warriors at Oakland, Calif. But team physician Dr. Jim Muntz said he advised Tomjanovich to avoid the stress of travel and coaching until he is examined again next Tuesday. Assistant coach Larry Smith has guided the team in Tomjanovich's absence. "He has to do what the doctors say," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "He's not going to fight them on anything like that. This is about as serious as it gets, I guess. But he's doing pretty well. Yesterday (Wednesday), he had a real good day. That's when he really got the good news (about his treatment)." Tomjanovich was diagnosed with "transitional cell cancer of the bladder" on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Muntz and urologist Richard Goldfarb outlined for Tomjanovich his treatment plan. Because the cancer cells did not penetrate the muscle of Tomjanovich's bladder, he can be treated with a topical medication, rather than with surgery, in six weekly applications. Muntz said the first treatment has not been scheduled, but that it would take roughly two weeks after the biopsy before treatments could begin. Muntz was unsure if Tomjanovich would be able to work after treatments. "It's just precautionary," Muntz said about keeping Tomjanovich in Houston. "If he wasn't basketball coach, I'd keep him in town. So we decided to treat him like he wasn't a basketball coach. "To jump on plane, wait on a runway, deal with the time zone change, coach the team, it just didn't seem right. We said, `We're not going to treat you like a basketball coach, we're going to treat you like regular person. "He's such perfectionist. His mind is not on the game 100 percent. When you hear you have ... cancer, it's a distraction. It's hard to give your job what want to. He needs to be mentally prepared for treatment. This is a whole new part of his life he never had to deal with. "He sounds great. He sounds rested. He's psyched up about his treatments. He sounds fantastic." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/rox/1829005
