[CHRONIC] No surrender in Rockets

didn't see it posted, lock it up if it already is.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4482147.html

No surrender in Rockets
Even without its stars, team expects wins to keep coming

Jan. 19, 2007, 12:58AM

By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


rockets' next opponent
Saturday: Rockets vs. Denver Nuggets at Toyota Center, 7:30 p.m.
Rockets' record: 25-15.
TV/radio: FSNH; 610 AM and 920 AM in Spanish.

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If you've lived inside the Rockets' locker room over the past two seasons, you've come to expect every silver lining to be accompanied by a black cloud. If you walk down the street wearing a team jersey with a bounce in your step, you know that around every corner could be a runaway truck ready to flatten your spirits.

So a dozen or more Rockets showed up at Toyota Center the other night ready to tangle with the sizzling Phoenix Suns only to discover they would have their other hand tied behind their backs.

No Yao Ming? No Tracy McGrady? No chance?

No way.

"Honestly — and I know this is going to sound corny — but when we got the news, there was just an attitude of 'let's go out and play,' " forward Shane Battier said. "It's not a case of us feeling we're better or different or tougher than anybody else. It's a matter of us feeling that we're not worse, either."

It's not about being a hero, merely a professional. It's not about playing beyond your capabilities, merely to your limits.

"We're paid well and we're treated well, and what's expected is that we show up and do our jobs," forward Juwan Howard. "The circumstances don't really matter. We're all in this league because we've been very good players somewhere. We don't have to surrender just because we're missing a few pieces."

That is, even if those two pieces are huge. Even if they are Yao and T-Mac and that immediately takes 48.7 points per game out of their lineup.

The Rockets played without McGrady earlier in the season and went 2-5. They had gone a dozen games without Yao and posted a 9-3 mark. Wednesday against Phoenix was the first time without both of the cogs in their machine. They were 13-38 without McGrady or Yao last season and are now 1-9 over two seasons when playing without both All-Stars.


They will gather again for practice today, but they likely won't know if McGrady will return from his latest bout with a sore lower back until Saturday, a short time before they face the Denver Nuggets.
"Obviously, Tracy is sort of like Big Brother out there," Battier said. "When we need a bucket, he can create so many different things. And when he's not out there, we have to rely on each other. We have to rely on sharp execution, cuts and passes to get down to the fundamentals of basketball.

"Certainly we miss Tracy. We miss both of those guys. But if this year has taught us anything — and last year for the guys who lived through it — it's that you have to go out and be professional and go with what you have.

"Even without those two guys, if we do the things that we preach every day and we drill every day, we still give ourselves a shot to win. You won't find a pity party here in the locker room when we get (bad) news like that."

The NBA schedule is too relentless, too merciless, to allow time for emotional highs and lows. The Rockets came off a tough loss against the best team in the league in Dallas on Tuesday and had to come home to face the second-best team in the Suns on Wednesday.

The Nuggets, who will provide Saturday's test, played 10 games without J.R. Smith and are still missing leading scorer Carmelo Anthony (on a 15-day suspension) for their roles in the brawl in New York on Dec. 16. Yet, Denver has stayed in the playoff race, holding onto the No. 8 spot in the West.

"The games keep coming, and you don't have any time to think about what you're missing," Howard said. "You don't look at the big picture. You focus on the next thing — the next game, the next possession, the next play you can make. You make that one and go to the next."

Sure, they will all look to see if McGrady comes limping painfully or strolling happily into the locker room for the next game. But once they get the answer, they will concentrate on the task.


"There's not really an emotional reaction at this point," Battier said. "Maybe, for me, that's a part of having been in the league for a few years and having seen a lot of things. For the younger guys, maybe it is a bit of a shock, because they're not sure what their role is. 'Does this mean more playing time for me? Does it mean more shots? What does all of this do, and how does everything change?'
"What you learn fast in this league is, nothing changes. You do your job. You compete. Tracy's in? Tracy's out? This team can still win games. That's the way we'll handle it."

fran.blinebury@chron.com