Rox Article in Dallas Paper

Just a heads-up to a Rox column in the Dallas Morning News that I thought y'all might wanna read. Nothing earth-shattering. Chin up, guys.


Rockets assistant finds a bright side

The call comes back quickly from Carroll Dawson, fast even for a gentleman, at a time when simply talking about Houston's suffering must be painful.

Dawson is the former Cowboys scout who co-runs the Rockets with Rudy Tomjanovich, and that's just how he is. So he talks openly about the tough summer and the harsher winter and, undaunted, insists the Rockets will weather this incessant pounding.

Then Dawson puts down the phone and, a few hours later, something else happens.

Friday afternoon, not long after the conversation, Dawson learned that Maurice Taylor had violated the NBA's anti-drug policy. That's the same Taylor lost for the season seemingly minutes after signing a six-year, $48 million contract.

That's also just the latest in a succession of body blows which, for destructive effect, rival the shattering punch Tomjanovich absorbed from Kermit Washington in 1977. Taylor's suspension isn't even the biggest roundhouse of the week, amazingly, after accusations from Hakeem Olajuwon that he was "rejected" by Rockets brass.

Tomjanovich called it "heartbreaking" to hear Olajuwon say the Rockets "just wanted me to go away." Dawson, who cried after Dream's farewell news conference, remembers it like Rudy – how they begged Olajuwon to stay, eventually offering $13 million over three seasons, only for Dream to push for a Toronto trade.

The Rockets, remember, aborted a free-agent pursuit of Chris Webber to secure Olajuwon, Taylor and Moochie Norris. Besides Dream, they wound up losing Taylor and franchise heir Steve Francis to long-term injuries.

Webber later claimed he was "really interested" in Houston, which only inflicted more sting on a club whose 12-game losing streak is the worst since 1978. Those Rockets dropped 13 straight not long after Washington shattered Rudy T.'s face.

This team has Francis out until at least the end of the month and Glen Rice sidelined maybe longer. Cuttino Mobley is also ailing, Taylor will start next season on suspension and long-gone Rockets fans show little interest in returning to Compaq Center.

Yet put all this to Dawson and he won't vent even a little. He says Tomjanovich is coping "as well as anybody could." He gushes about 2003's new downtown arena.

"I think [first-round pick] Eddie Griffin is going to be a great player for us, and finding Oscar Torres was another plus," Dawson said. "Everybody looks at our summer as a negative because we lost Dream ... but when some of these guys start shaving, it's going to be pretty nice."

Dawson manages a chuckle at that and he's probably right. Griffin, just 19, and Torres have to play because of all the injuries, which can only help later if Houston ever wants an offense not totally reliant on Francis and Mobley.

Houston also knows, after some barren drafts, that this might actually be a good time to be bad. Potentially available in June: Duke's Jason Williams, Chinese center Yao Ming and DaJuan Wagner, the best player in Memphis.

"We've been lucky in a lot of areas," Dawson said. Put down the phone after talking to him and you almost believe it, too.

Marc Stein/DMN



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