[Hou Chron] Sura gives Rockets his all http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2953438 Sura gives Rockets his all Point guard shows he's near full speed, nearly accomplishing triple double in win By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle COMING UP Saturday: at Charlotte, 6:00 p.m. TV/Radio: Ch. 51, KILT (610 AM) The Rockets always said Bob Sura would not return from back surgery until mid-December. They were right. He had played before, eight games worth. But on Friday, Sura arrived —- and at full speed. With Sura pushing the Rockets' accelerator through the floorboards, Slowtime was gone. The Rockets ran and slammed their way to 100-83 win over the Warriors at Toyota Center on Friday, if not quite setting any land speed records, radically increasing their pace and energy. "That's what I've been trying to do since I've been back, trying to get us some easy baskets in transition, try to pick up the pace to the game, just provide energy and lift everybody up," Sura said. "You get out there, get some easy baskets, like Tracy got a few dunks, it gets everybody going. That's the way we got to play. We got to play a little bit quicker and make things a little bit easier for us." Sura made his first eight shots to finish with a season-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting, to go nicely with his season-high nine assists and season-high eight rebounds. But the Rockets repeatedly cited Sura's determination to push the pace for their improved offensive play. "It was all him because he was pressuring the ball on defense (and) ... pushing the ball on offense," forward Maurice Taylor said. "As far as the points we got on fast breaks, we all attribute to him — him pushing the ball, throwing the ball ahead, getting easy buckets." It did not hurt that the Warriors made just 31 of 94 shots (33 percent) or that with 63 missed Golden State shots to choose from, the Rockets grabbed a season-high 56 rebounds. Clifford Robinson made just two of 11 shots. Other than Jason Richardson, who made 10 of 20 for 25 points, no Warriors player that took more than one shot was even that accurate as the rest of the team made just 21 of 74 shots for just 63 points. Yao Ming had a season-high 17 rebounds. Juwan Howard had a season-high nine. When things cooled in the fourth quarter, Tracy McGrady heated up in the fourth quarter to make five of six shots while limping with a right thigh bruise to finish with 27. But the Rockets preferred to talk about their sudden ability to run, scoring 18 fast break points, 14 in the first half. "That's the way he plays when he's at his best and we're at our best," McGrady said. "He set the tempo and the tone for the game. It carried over to our defense. It's fun to play that way when you get stops and transition baskets." The Rockets were so high-speed, their first possession of the game lasted all of six seconds before Sura put in a jumper to offer a hint of what was to come. Before long, Jeff Van Gundy was screaming, "Run, push it" after a made Warriors free throw. "We like to do it, contrary to popular belief," Van Gundy said. "They shot 31 percent in the first half so it starts with defense, then rebounding, then a clear outlet (pass) ... and then usually an advance pass or a push up the floor and a big run." "He (Sura) is going to hopefully get in better shape as time goes on. I don't know if you can predict things like that." The Rockets' season thus far had not been overloaded with fast break, behind-the-back bounce passes. But while building a 20-point lead by the third quarter, the Rockets seemed capable of scoring in all sorts of ways they had not often before. "We made it easy for ourselves, instead of in halfcourt trying to grind it out," Howard said. "Coach has been encouraging us to push the basketball and get more points, more easy buckets in transition." The highlight of all that blur basketball came with 5 1/2 minutes remaining before the fourth quarter when Sura flipped a fast break alley-oop to McGrady, with McGrady going high to catch and slam home the pass with one, one-handed motion. "My back feels good; it's felt good for a while," Sura said. "Just the fact I've been out for so long I've been coming in early working with the coaches, trying to get back in shape. I felt pretty good tonight. "Hopefully, we can build on it. I know when I'm in I'm going to try to get rebounds, bust out dribble and try to get us going on the break." More important perhaps, now that he was back and running as if trying to make up for lost time, the Rockets seemed determined to keep pace. jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets Summary The popular vote When Tracy McGrady was told of the first tabulation of All-Star Game votes, he was not surprised. He leads all Western Conference guards with 680,373 votes and Yao Ming leads the entire league with 881,223. "Come on now, you're talking about Yao," McGrady said. "That's going to be Yao until he's done playing basketball. A lot of people love the guy. He has a lot of fans out there." Yao has been the leading vote-getter for Western Conference centers the past two seasons, but he has never been the highest vote-getter overall. Yao looked closely at the numbers after they were released on Thursday and noticed the Miami Heat's Shaquille O'Neal was right on his heels with 854,930. "That's much closer than last year," Yao said. "But it doesn't matter. Now we're in different conferences." Unlike Yao, McGrady pays little attention to the voting and said he didn't know the recent numbers until he was told of them on Friday. He said he appreciated the fans who voted for him, however. "That obviously shows that they have a lot of love and respect for what I do on the basketball court," McGrady said. "I give them thanks." Change of game plans While the Raptors' trade of Vince Carter to the Nets made news around the NBA, it had a more direct effect on Rockets assistant head coach Tom Thibodeau. While head coaches typically work only on the next opponent, assistant coaches work ahead one or two foes. With the Rockets facing the Raptors on Monday, Thibodeau is expected to have his next opponent report ready for Jeff Van Gundy immediately following tonight's game in Charlotte. "You just plan ahead," Thibodeau said. "You watch two or three previous games. You watch your previous game against them. When changes are made, you plan for the new guys. I'd say 90 percent of that report is done. It will have to be changed. It's part of the NBA. You can have injuries. You can have trades. Those things happen." Replacing Carter with Alonzo Mourning would seem a particularly radical change, but with Carter on the injured list (he was due to come off in time for Monday's game), Thibodeau already had to prepare two reports: one with Carter out and another with him playing. Elie sees another side Former Rocket Mario Elie had a pretty good gig as an assistant coach in San Antonio. The problem with the Spurs, however, is that they don't lose enough. Elie, a Warriors assistant coach after one season on the Spurs' bench, said that to become better prepared to be a head coach, he needed experience in helping rebuild a team. "It's tough losing," he said, while ordering Warriors rookie Andris Biedrins to admire the Rockets championship banners he helped win. "I need to know the other side, the losing side. I'm not used to that, not when I played, not with San Antonio. For me to be a well-rounded coach, I have to learn the other side. Losing, this is my first time ever losing. I don't like it, but if I ever inherit a team, it may be a losing team. I have to be ready to take some losses, grind it out and hopefully, things will get better. "I played for some great coaches — Pop ( Gregg Popovich), Rudy ( Tomjanovich), Rick Adelman, Don Nelson. I learned a lot from those guys." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Bobcats update: The Bobcats looked stronger in recent games, giving Golden State and Phoenix tough competition on the road. The Bobcats bring some of the qualities that have given the Rockets trouble, spreading the court with good shooters, particularly Jason Kapono, and using quick point guards to penetrate and pass. • The Bobcats must: Take advantage on the offensive glass. Second in the league in offensive rebounding, they could find second-chance scoring a way to make up for their own defensive shortcomings. • Rockets update: After a six-game homestand ended Friday, the Rockets will play the second half of their sixth back-to-back this season. They are 2-3 on the second night so far this season. • The Rockets must: Take care of the ball. Brevin Knight is the type of point guard who has snuck in when Yao Ming begins to move and Jason Hart is a tough defender on the ball. • Check out: Emeka Okafor. The former Bellaire star will play his hometown team for the first time. Okafor is fourth in the NBA in rebounding and fifth in double doubles with 13, easily leading the Bobcats in both categories. -- JONATHAN FEIGEN and MEGAN MANFULL
I am glad to see Sura finally bust loose with the type of game he was having all towards the end of last year....if he continues to improve and play this way from the point we have 1/2 of our problem solved for the most part.
As at least one prominent, unnamed poster has always preached: "Wait until Sura gets his legs underneath him. He does all the little things that make a team win." Indeed. As I have been instructed to observe, I notice that Sura puts the ball where shooters like it. He gives the ball to them with enough time to shoot. He flicks passes rather than telegraphs them. Etc. Etc. With Sura playing like this -- and Barrett backing him up -- the PG spot looks healthy for the season. Stack: Are you coming out with a drink named after Sura? Maybe the Sura-nami?
I think i might have to if he keeps playing like this....and i am glad i was also one of those people that thought he needed time to get his legs back and get into the rhythm of the game and he did that last night and slowly has for the past few games. Lets hope he continues.
