Rockets not fully at home

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2948283

Rockets not fully at home
December's remaining 9 games offer realistic shot to gain confidence

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The irony probably does not amuse him, but it is as clear as the boos that have poured down to Leslie Alexander's courtside seat.

Now that the Rockets' owner attends almost every home game, Alexander has found himself sitting through games that could make him wish he were anywhere else.

"Oh, it's horrible," Alexander said of the obvious frustration with his team's poor start at home this season. "Nobody wants to see a team play badly. And the fans of Houston have always been nice people. When they boo, it's a natural reaction to what they see on the court. I feel horribly about it."

The fans of Houston have seen the Rockets slump to 5-6 at Toyota Center. A five-game home losing streak from Nov. 11-30 and several uninspired efforts have led the players and coach Jeff Van Gundy to question the "product" they have offered.

Despite radically increased marketing and sales expenditures and efforts, the Rockets have seen attendance drop to an average of 15,514 in their second season at Toyota Center. Though that's an improvement from the first 11 home games last season, it ranks just 25th in the NBA heading into tonight's game against the Hawks, the fifth in a six-game homestand that is the longest of the season. (The Rockets finished 2003-04 with an average of 15,629 at home.)

While Van Gundy has placed the blame on himself for everything from the Rockets' poor shooting to the sinking of the Lusitania, Alexander betrayed no loss of faith in his second-year coach.

"I think when the team plays badly, nobody really knows exactly why, so everybody starts blaming the first target they see," Alexander said. "I hired him. I thought he was a great coach. I think he had a great season last year. He has a 59 percent (actually .577) winning percentage in the NBA, which is a very high percentage. Not many people ever do that. Obviously, you don't do that without being a very good coach."

Until this season, Van Gundy never held a losing record after 20 games. Though the Rockets (9-12) have won three of their last four, Saturday's 24-point loss to the Mavericks prompted Van Gundy to start rebuilding, or at least reinforcing, his team's psyche.

"You can ride a team real hard if you're 15-6 because you know you're going to get the result," he said. "This (record at this point) is new to me, and I don't like it too much. Yet I know how quickly it can change in this league. That's what I'm striving for — to set a tone to where we can improve."

The rest of the Rockets' schedule this month offers a chance to rebuild confidence. In their remaining nine games in December, the Rockets will face just two teams — the Clippers and Cavaliers — with winning records. The Rockets' remaining opponents this month are a combined 64-118.

"If you watch the teams that lose in this league, it's miserable," Van Gundy said. "No energy. No enthusiasm. No passion. They just play out the year. Hopefully, when we reconvene at the start of the new year, we'll have a lot more positive results to build on.

"In the offseason, everybody built us up. Now they have to deal with the tearing-down process. That can sap you. That's why as a player or coach, you should never get caught up in what others think you may be. We've got to keep our spirit up. That's the hardest thing to do when you're maybe not meeting your own expectations or others' expectations."

The Rockets are not meeting anyone's expectations, including the owner's. But with plenty of criticism available, the Rockets have not had to go to Alexander for more.

"There's no shame in getting beat," Van Gundy said. "There is shame in not putting forth your best. I think we've been beaten down a bit. Let's face it: We have not given our fans, at home, any kind of good show, any type. And anger turns to apathy really quick.

"We need to give them reasons — forget reasons to cheer — but reasons to come and want to support because they're seeing a team that's giving everything it has to the cause.

"We owe it to ourselves, each other and the people who support us."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets Summary
Painful memory
Though it might be easy to overlook a 4-17 team, the Rockets should have no difficulty taking the Hawks seriously.

At 9-12, the Rockets probably cannot look down on anybody. Beyond that, no matter how much they try, they might find it difficult to erase the memory of their 88-84 loss in Atlanta on Nov. 16, when they blew an 11-point lead in the last six minutes.

"We beat ourselves in that game," Tracy McGrady said. "We were winning that whole game. In the fourth quarter, I think we just gave it away. We let our guard down. Those guys stepped up their intensity, and they wanted it more than we did. That was one of those games we just threw away, and it could hurt us."

The Rockets' remaining nine games this month pit them against only two teams with winning records.

"I'm not saying we can sleep on them, and it's going to be a cakewalk," McGrady said. "But if we come to play and do what we're supposed to, we should pull out some victories and get over .500 before the month is over."


Lue eligible
Guard Tyronn Lue, on the injured list since Dec. 2, went through the Rockets' last two practices without difficulty and is eligible to be activated today.

"I feel a lot better," Lue said. "I think the medicine and treatment did a lot of good."

Lue has torn cartilage and loose particles in his right knee. But he and the Rockets opted to treat the injury before moving to arthroscopic surgery.

"The doctors I went to had two or three opinions," he said. "They said it could be treated with medication. There are loose bodies in there, but they said that I could be OK."

Guard Charlie Ward is also eligible to come off the injured list. Out since Nov. 27 with a bruised right knee, Ward has not begun practicing with the team. But he said the knee is stronger than when he was playing with the injury before reaggravating it while diving for a loose ball at Utah.

"I'm healthy," Ward said. "I'm getting back in the swing of things. I haven't even practiced. It's better now (than when he played with the injury). The time helped."

-- JONATHAN FEIGEN

 

Me too - oh sorry- lock it up