Les Alexander comments on the state of the Rockets

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1867717

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What's next? Rockets' owner demanding more
By JONATHAN FEIGEN

To determine where the Rockets go from here after a season that began like no other and is ending like too many others, it is worth revisiting where they started.

Most seasons begin with optimism. But this one was different from the moment the Rockets drafted Yao Ming, inspiring owner Leslie Alexander to set all records for gushing.

"I love the team," Alexander said in September. "I think this is one of the great teams ever assembled."

Asked about his expectations, Alexander said then: "Playoffs, and I think in the future, championships."

The purpose of returning to those expectations now that a fourth consecutive season will end with the team out of the playoffs is not entirely to mock the owner's enthusiasm.

When determining what went wrong and what he can do about it, Alexander must first decide if he was completely inaccurate in his evaluations of the Rockets' roster and, if not, why it has left him so unsatisfied.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "I would have hoped we had done better. I think we have the talent to do better."

If that sounded like he was pointing his finger at his coaching staff, Alexander did not assign blame but stopped far short of an endorsement.

Asked if he would go into the postseason assuming that Rudy Tomjanovich, with his expected full recovery from bladder cancer, would be back as Rockets coach, Alexander put nothing to rest.

"I'm going into this thinking that my primary goal is to have a stable franchise," Alexander said. "To have stability means having people working with you awhile. We'll leave it at that."

Told that he seemed to be avoiding an endorsement of Tomjanovich, Alexander said: "We'll leave it at that."

The Rockets had a five-game winning streak and controlled their playoff destiny when Tomjanovich's bladder cancer was diagnosed March 17. They have not won consecutive games since.

They can clinch their second winning season in three years with a win either tonight against the Grizzlies in Compaq Center's pro basketball finale or Wednesday in Denver. But the Rockets (41-39) have not been in the postseason since 1999, their longest stretch out of the playoffs since 1970 through 1974. Only Cuttino Mobley remains on the roster from the 1998-99 team.

Tomjanovich has been described as more determined than ever to complete the rebuilding.

"He can't wait to get these treatments over with and get back to work," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "He's looking at film."

When speaking of the Rockets' roster, however, Alexander sounded much as his players did Monday when asked about keeping the team together. They, of course, called for another chance, saying they need more time together. Acting coach Larry Smith said the team needs maturity but believes it is close enough to grow into it. He favors that over bringing more experienced players onto the league's second least experienced roster.

"I think we have an abundance of talent," Alexander said. "I think especially at center (Yao) and point guard (Steve Francis), everybody can see we have good players at the two most important positions on the court.

"Maurice (Taylor) is coming back from injury but playing hard and is going after rebounds. Eddie (Griffin) is a bright, young talent at that position. Mobley is a terrific two guard. We have a lot of talent. (James) Posey is new to the team, but you can see flashes of greatness. (Kelvin) Cato has worked hard to be a fine young player."

But despite all those fine, young players, the Rockets were unreliable. If they are to look back at where their season went wrong, it's difficult to not to focus on the collapse against the Trail Blazers and Jazz last week.

The season has been marked by a stunning array of breakthrough wins -- against Sacramento and San Antonio at home and Utah, Orlando and Seattle on the road -- canceled out by losses to some of the worst teams in the league -- Chicago, Memphis, Miami, New York, Atlanta, Cleveland and the Clippers (twice). There have been many games in which the Rockets seemed the better team that night -- at Los Angeles against the Clippers, twice against the Jazz, at Phoenix and at New Orleans -- only to lose in the final minutes.

"You don't just become consistent," Dawson said. "Consistency is always the thing you're striving for. That comes with more practice, more games, more experienced players."

But the Rockets did not grow more consistent despite keeping the same starting lineup -- Francis, Mobley, Posey, Griffin and Yao -- together for 37 games. And even if they close with a three-game winning streak, they are far from a team ending the season on an upswing.

"We did grow as a team overall," Smith said. "Maturity is the key for us. As the guys get a chance to play a lot more together, they're going to get a chance to become better players.

"We're going to be a lot better next year. There's no question about it. We have pieces. You want always to improve. This team needs time to grow."

The Rockets have improved in the areas that had been among their greatest shortcomings: rebounding and defense (they rank sixth in the NBA in opposing field-goal percentage and eighth in percentage of rebounds). But they are not nearly strong enough in either to make up for shooting 44.2 percent (19th in the NBA) or averaging 94 points (20th).

"Going into the season with a fairly young team, one of the things I wasn't worried about was the shooting," Dawson said. "I know the coaches worked really hard on defense and rebounding, which showed up this year. That was one of the surprises -- that we didn't shoot as well as we hoped."

But even the Rockets' strengths seemed fragile throughout the season. They have the worst road record in the NBA among teams with winning records because they have so often seemed unable to handle the pressure of overcoming adversity, a shortcoming that seemed to show up again with the season on the line.

"That's what the NBA is all about," forward Glen Rice said. "It's about pressure. It just matters how you handle it."

As much as the Rockets assume they will improve with time, there have been signs of stagnation. Francis remains one of the league's most productive players, but his shooting percentage has fallen in three of his four seasons, discounting 2001-02, when he was troubled by injuries and Meniere's disease.

The Rockets made Moochie Norris their third guard. But Norris is averaging just 4.4 points per game and seems to have lost the confidence of coaches, forcing Francis and Mobley to each average more than 41 minutes per game.

Griffin showed few signs of improvement in his second season. Yao demonstrated the promise the Rockets expected. But particularly in the wake of his offseason duties with the Chinese national team, he was not yet the sort of player -- like Tim Duncan, David Robinson or Hakeem Olajuwon -- who raised his team to another level.

If the Rockets choose to remake their roster, it will not be easy. They have $30 million in annual salary tied up in four backups -- Norris, Rice, Cato and Taylor. Cato has improved enough that with three years remaining on his contract, he is no longer unmovable in a trade. Rice, who turns 36 on May 28, is heading into the last season of his contract, making him attractive to teams looking to clear cap room in the 2004 offseason.

But the primary assets to move, besides untouchables Francis and Yao, are Griffin and Mobley. Mobley, however, has increasingly reined in his offensive game and throughout the season improved enough defensively to make him more valuable to the Rockets than what they are likely to get in return. The Rockets might be hesitant to move Griffin, who is just 20 years old.

The Rockets owe the Grizzlies their first-round pick no matter where it falls in the lottery.

"The nuts and bolts we have right now are very, very good," Dawson said. "If we can improve this team, we'll do it. But the team being older next year, it will be better. We'll be more consistent."

Still, Francis is seeing his fourth straight NBA season end with the Rockets short of the playoffs.

"We have to believe in one another and be consistent," Francis said, seeming to point to the frequent tug of war about roles, particularly with a high-scoring point guard. "If we can do that, and guys come back with a team attitude next year, things will work out.

"Team attitude is being mature about every situation. If a guy is scoring a lot of points, don't get mad; be happy. At times this season, there was a lot of that going on. You're going to have bickering between teammates, but we need to come back on the same page the way we started the season.

"I think maturity is the only way. How do you get maturity? I think it's just time. There is a lot of stuff I have to look at. If somebody wants to say we didn't win because of me, I'm willing to take that."

His teammates did not say that, however. Instead, they called for another year to try to make this season's solid first half last.

"We are the second-youngest team in the league with basketball experience," Cato said. "Everybody came in focused early, but after the All-Star break, (Tomjanovich's) illness and a lot of other stuff happened that really shook this team up. I'd like to see this team together next year."

It is not as if Alexander said the Rockets were already poised for championships. But whether this team will even get a chance to prove his excited evaluation correct is uncertain.

"You've got to learn," Mobley said. "You don't come out a newborn knowing how to speak, walk, read books.

"Hopefully we'll all stay together, be patient and stick with it. It was injuries last year. This year we won 40-something games. If you look at a rebuilding team, that's what happens. If you win 40-something games in the East, you're in the playoffs. I just think we should stay together. Next year, I'm sure we'll win 50 games."

Alexander might agree.

"This is the team that I think will bring us some championships in the years to come," he said.

At the time, however, the season had not started

 

ron413 posted this in another thread, but I think it deserves a thread of its own.

 

Wups... error post.

 

Free Agent,

That's the part that I thought was interesting about the article. I'm not going to speculate, but...

It seems like he's content with the talent, though from this comment after the Rudy non-answer.