[Chron] Van Gundy whips out his caution sign

Hope it's not a repost.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3378310

Jon Barry expected to be behind a microphone by now. One more season — last season — and he planned to call it a career.

Bob Sura also could have been through with basketball and off somewhere riding motorcycles rather than exercise bikes on the way back from another knee surgery.

Dikembe Mutombo could have taken a starting job. Derek Anderson could have grabbed a richer contract. Stromile Swift could have chosen a team with greater recent playoff success.

But when training camp practices begin Tuesday, those players instead will be betting on the Rockets, insisting they are here to chase glory beyond any they've enjoyed in the NBA.

Everything that has come before is to them, dues paid. Whatever is to come will be the measure of the decisions made. But for now, the Rockets convene this week at Toyota Center believing they can have the team's best season since the NBA championships in 1994 and 1995.

"The moves that the organization made as far as the quality players they signed — Stromile Swift, Derek Anderson and bringing in Luther Head, and the core players we had here last year — we have a chance of doing something special," forward Juwan Howard said. "I know expectations are going to be very high.

"We place our own expectations very high, higher than anybody else does."

Anderson likes the mix
It's not just fan loyalty or marketing slogans. The Rockets insist they can go from first-round flameouts to championship contenders and have staked career decisions on that faith.

"We're definitely (a contender)," Anderson said. "You got a 7-foot-6 guy. You got an All-Star. We got a lot of talent. We got good coaching.

"We got everything you need, the facility, the team, the fan base backing you.

"I don't see why you don't have a contender. You just have to go out and work it."

Offseasons are almost universally times for optimism and hype. The Rockets' successful summer locking up Yao Ming and bringing in Swift and Anderson made the team seem to be on a roll. But excitement and hype, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy reminded, don't win games.

The Rockets have not won since losing four of their last five games in the first round, capped by a 40-point loss to Dallas in Game 7. The offseason might give them a chance to improve. But that improvement has not happened, Van Gundy will say at his annual training camp team meeting.

"Proclaiming something, I don't understand why somebody would do that," Van Gundy said. "It's not like you can go out and win a game, win a playoff series or win a championship. You have to work day by day. ... To think it's a given we'll be a playoff team, or a good team or advance in the playoffs, it's all premature. It all must be earned."

The Rockets have issues, particularly after Sura's right knee did not respond to surgery in May. With another surgery Thursday that he said would determine whether he would play again, he is certain to miss much of the preseason.

There is little certainty about when or if the 32-year-old guard will be healthy enough to provide the lift he gave the Rockets when he returned from back surgery last season.

Pulling for No. 3
"I believe in Bob," Van Gundy said. "I believe in his heart, and I believe in his work habits, and I believe in our doctors and training staff and conditioning coaches. I believe he will be effective at some point this year.

"I don't want him to feel the burden to rush."

With Sura out, the Rockets can move up Mike James, who insists he is ready for added responsibilities as a starter. But there are other options.

"I don't think you win big at this level without a point guard primary ball-handler," Van Gundy said. "Does that have to be a true point? I think (Tracy) McGrady is as good a point as there is in the league when it comes to running an offense.

"Now, who guards point guards? That was a concern last year. We had trouble guarding the ball one-on-one obviously. But we feel confident in Mike. David (Wesley) can guard point guards, so we can play with Tracy handling it. And we have guys who are capable handlers: Derek, Barry, Wesley.

"We feel comfortable there. Defensively, I probably have more trepidation about how we're going to function than offensively without a true quote-unquote point."

But to realize their potential, the Rockets will have to improve in a variety of ways.

With or without Sura, they will have to do a better job keeping opposing guards from penetrating, breaking down the defense and leaving Yao susceptible to foul trouble.

Yao will have to cut down on turnovers, allowing him to post up more and the Rockets to take advantage of his high shooting percentage (55.2 percent last season), especially in the fourth quarter.

The Rockets will have to rebound consistently and on occasion grab an offensive rebound.

Back to square one
They will be expected to be consistent. Last season, the Rockets went 9-7 against the four Western Conference teams that finished ahead of them but were 10-8 against last-place teams. Two more losses came against the expansion Charlotte Bobcats.

"I think I liked our team last year as much as any team I've ever coached, certainly, because of how they went about their business, the chemistry they developed," Van Gundy said. "And yet, after losing to Dallas, we weren't good enough to stand pat so our goal in the summer was to upgrade and add to our talent base without sacrificing our chemistry.

"So going into this season, you start back over from square one with chemistry. You can't ever assume it's going to be the same. ... Excitement is good, but it's all premature. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We'll see where we go with it."

They have gotten only to the starting point. But the Rockets have announced, most of all to themselves, they expect to go far.