Jeff Van Misery Sunday, November 27, 2005 By STEVE ADAMEK Imagine what Joan Baez or Bob Dylan would have become had world peace, plus justice and equality for all broken out in the '60s. Or if Joni Mitchell found true love in her 20s. We're talking weekend gigs at the Bumpkinville, Miss., Holiday Inn channeling Bill Murray, singing the "Star Wars" theme. Without misery, they're nothing. Which brings us to Jeff Van Gundy, coach of the worst-in-the-West Houston Rockets. Misery to him is like the air that he breathes. He can even find it in success, for remember, during his 1999 run to the NBA Finals with the eighth-seeded Knicks, then-team president Dave Checketts flirted with Phil Jackson. So this is an artist at the top of his game today, coaching a team that includes Yao Ming and (part-time because of back problems) Tracy McGrady playing far unlike the conference-championship contender many thought them to be at the outset of this season. It's early, of course, except to JVG, who treats every game as Armageddon. So, ask him how it's going these days and whether there's a silver lining in all the clouds and, as you would expect, he hands you an umbrella. "I'm not one to look at things in Pollyanna terms," he said during the five-game losing streak his team took into weekend games at Memphis and vs. Chicago. "I don't look at things positively or negatively. I think I try to look at things realistically. ... "I'm disappointed in how we're playing. The only thing that I feel has been beneficial so far has been when you're not going good, you get told a lot about the players on your team and [about] your team - what it's made up of, if it's a solid foundation or if it's not as strong as you would like it to be." And, McGrady (who played in just six of the first 12 games) and Yao aside, Van Gundy's coaching a lousy foundation. Start with a supporting cast that includes three 30-something shooters (Derek Anderson, 31; Jon Barry, 36; and David Wesley, 35), none of whom entered the weekend shooting 40 percent. Rookie Luther Head, in fact, is now JVG's starting shooting guard. Thus, the Rockets entered the weekend as the league's lowest-scoring team (85.0 points per game) and second-worst shooting one (41.0 percent), negating the league's second-best field goal defense (42.2 percent) and fourth-best scoring defense (89.8). His explanation for the shooting is rather verbose, but pure Van Gundy: "We have more than enough to win with if we bring a competitive spirit. What has me concerned is, why are we not as willing? It's how we're going about our business. The whole process, it's not right. "We'd shoot better if we were more into the game. If we were more alert, aware, aggressive and active - all the areas we can take care of - we'd shoot better." Meanwhile at the point, Bobby Sura, initially projected to start, just underwent surgery for a herniated disk after having off-season knee surgery. So the Rockets traded for Rafer Alston, but the New York playground legend doesn't quite fit JVG's Charlie Ward mold for point guards and is now out with a hairline fracture in his leg. Thus, Moochie Norris is now getting minutes. Case closed. So Our Man Jeff - who's resisted the urge to go after Yao, who didn't score in Wednesday's loss to Phoenix until the final 85 seconds of the first half - is in his element. "At times you're playing and just waiting for something bad to happen instead of knowing something good is going to happen," he said. "When not a lot of good things happen it's tough on your psyche, confidence goes down team-wise and it's a snowball effect. Things start going bad. That's the way it's been going." http://bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJ...lRUV5eTY4MjczMDQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2
