Rockets view Mavs realistically

Rockets view Mavs realistically
Dissing Dallas a thing of the past
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Halfway through last season's four whippings at the hands of the Mavericks, the Rockets should have spotted the trend. But they refused to.

The Rockets insisted they beat themselves. They said they matched up well with Dallas. They decided the first rout did not count because the Mavericks played zone in the second half. They compared the Mavericks, who had the league's best record at the time and at season's end, to the Bulls.

The Mavericks proceeded to whip the Rockets again. And again.

But this season, instead of losing and maintaining how wonderful they are, the Rockets have been winning and insisting they have not proved a thing. More than that, they say the Mavericks present a test they have not taken in their fast start.

This season, the Rockets bring the NBA's best record into their game at Dallas tonight. The Rockets have the league's best field-goal percentage. The Rockets have the league's best field-goal defense. The Rockets have the league's best point differential. But this season, the Rockets have at least figured out that Dallas probably should not be compared to the Bulls.

"Last year, they pretty much took it to us," Rockets guard Steve Francis said. "But we don't want to get in a personal thing against one team.

"They whipped our (butts) last year four times, straight up and down. There are no excuses. They made a lot of changes, just as we did. We just want to ... not think about the four games they beat us last year and just focus on this one game."

The Rockets cannot be blamed for choosing to focus on anything but last season's games with the Mavericks. In losing the four games by an average of 18 points, the Rockets made just 38.4 percent of their shots and averaged 19.3 turnovers.

"We think we've taken a lot of leaps forward since the last time we played Dallas," Francis said. "We just want to stick with our game plan offensively and defensively and go at Dallas the same way we went at these first six games."

If the first six games were not enough to confirm the Rockets' improvement, they have at least established a style and, more important, a faith in their way of doing things. Defensively, the Rockets have protected the lane well, and offensively they have either gotten the ball inside or forced teams to wrap their defenses around the threat of the ball getting inside.

The Mavericks can adjust their style in a variety of ways, redefining positions, especially in the frontcourt, as coach Don Nelson sees fit. They can use Dirk Nowitzki as a 3-point-shooting, fast-breaking center or power forward, who, with Antoine Walker, could cause huge matchup problems. They can use Danny Fortson or Eduardo Najera against Yao Ming and send double teams or zones around him.

But the Rockets seem determined to attack and protect the lane, then build from there.

"We pretty much know their game, but we're going to prepare the same way as we prepared the first six games and stay focused," Francis said. "They are going to get us to match up against them, but I think the best thing is for us to have them match up against us, because I don't think we're going to go small. We'll pretty much still play our same rotation and try to take advantage of our inside presence."

Beyond the Mavericks, the Rockets' schedule in general will take a giant step up in weight class.

In their first six games, the Rockets have beaten five teams with a combined 13-28 record. Two were playoff teams last season.

In the rest of November, they play teams that are a combined 39-30, with eight of the 10 games on the road, three on the second half of back-to-backs, and five against playoff teams from a year ago.

"We've got Dallas, Phoenix back-to-back, then two away games with nine out of 11 away," forward Scott Padgett said. "Any time you're playing away, you have to step it up.

"There's a whole lot of stuff we could do better, but we have played hard. Sometimes effort makes up for something. Offensively, we've played in spurts. We'll have lapses where a couple times down the court we'll have turnovers, shot-clock violations or three-second violations, then we'll get it going again. But defensively, we have played hard."

Their defensive consistency could be the difference they will need most against the Mavericks. And it could be the thing that makes last season's four routs irrelevant.

"It will be a tough game in Dallas, a Midwest Division game, big game, on the road, a lot of offensive tools (for the Mavericks)," forward Jim Jackson said. "But it's a game you have to be fundamentally sound defensively, not give them anything easy, make them work and make them play defense.

"It's a different philosophy now, a different concept, especially defensively. Last year was last year. Now you look at this year, and you see a new situation, a new beginning."

For those who went through those four games, they are not so easily forgotten. But with the Rockets having been punished for their insolence, a good memory might not be a bad thing.

"It's a huge challenge," guard Cuttino Mobley said. "They beat us four times last year, and I mean convincingly. We have to go out there and do something. It's going to be a tough game."


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Rockets summary
Day off

The Rockets canceled Wednesday's scheduled practice, their second day off in four days. But Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was not rewarding the team for a win Tuesday against the Heat and has said he does not believe the scheduling of practices should be used as a reward or punishment.

As often as days of are used to regroup after a grueling stretch of games, the Rockets could look at the schedule and believe they were better off staying away from the gym for a day. Beginning tonight in Dallas, the Rockets play four games in five days. The third game in four days will be a noon start after a Saturday night trip to Toronto.

"It's the NBA schedule now," guard Moochie Norris said. "You don't have the luxury of practicing every day when you've got back-to-back games, and we have three games in four days. We have to try to work hard on the film session, instead of on the floor, and rest our legs and then come in mentally focused and ready to do something. We'll get loose before the game, get a nice sweat going. That's just the way it goes."

Spot of trouble

The Rockets' move of Kelvin Cato from center to power forward has generally worked well, especially defensively, through six games. But Cato will get his first look at one of the Western Conference's many All Star-caliber power forwards when he faces the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki tonight.

"They have a great ballclub with a lot of power forwards that can score outrageously," Cato said. "We have to just play hard and try to play for 48 minutes. I don't think we've played for 48 minutes yet."

Against Nowitzki and Antoine Walker, Cato could be defending at the 3-point arc, rather than the lane, a prospect that did not seem to excite him.

"I don't have anything to say about that," Cato said. "They're just good at the four spot. The four spot, the one, the two, the five and the three. They're a good team. We're not trying to measure ourselves against them. We're just trying to play as well as they're trying to play."

Try this

For all the different approaches Mavericks coach Don Nelson can bring to a game plan, the Heat might have demonstrated a defensive strategy he will have to try.

On Tuesday, Miami had 6-9 Brian Grant battle Yao Ming for low-post position, then surrounded the Rockets' center with quick frontcourt defenders. The Mavericks moved Danny Fortson, a physical power forward similar to Grant, in as the starting center Tuesday and always have quick forwards ready to bring help defense.

If the Mavericks use the same style, the question will be whether they will attack a Rockets weakness or a problem the Rockets could correct with Tuesday's experience.

"At the beginning of the game, Miami took us out of rhythm with fronting Yao Ming and jumping out early on screen-and-rolls," Rockets guard Moochie Norris said. "They had us kind of indecisive. That's something Coach has us working on every day. We know the system. We know the plays. We practice on them every day. We should be able, when someone takes something away, to be able to go to the next option, keep swinging the ball, instead of being so indecisive."

Injury report

Rockets guard Eric Piatkowski and forward Adrian Griffin were eligible to come off the injured list with Tuesday's game. But both were not considered ready to join the active roster and seem at least several days away.

"Eric's coming along at a normal rate," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Adrian has up and down days. Some days his knee feels good; other days it doesn't feel that good. When they're back, I'm not sure."