ducks
12-05-2005, 09:19 AM
Rockets changes coming
Van Gundy is ready to make 'hard decisions'
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy spoke of the need for change, which would seem the inevitable conclusion for a staggering 4-12 team coming off perhaps its worst loss of the season.
ADVERTISEMENT
He did not specify if change must come in the caliber of play of those he is putting on the court or if he must change the players. But Van Gundy said he has "hard decisions" to make.
That could mean many things, but the Rockets have reached the point where they believe there will be changes to the rotation, the roster or both.
"I would think the only people I can be sure they won't change would be Tracy (McGrady) and Yao (Ming)," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "Other than that, it could be me, it could be anybody."
Veterans have seen enough not to be surprised. That was how Wesley came to the Rockets last season after they got off to a poor start that showed little signs of imminent change. They were never this low last season, falling to 6-11 at worst. But the return of point guard Bob Sura and trades for Wesley and Jon Barry helped turn things around.
This season the Rockets can hope for the return of point guard Rafer Alston and of McGrady's good health and usual prowess. But there is a sense that greater change could be coming. Again.
"I would assume," guard Derek Anderson said. "The way the league is going, you change the lineup. Some things you see you can accept, but some things you can't. I've seen it before. It's a business. Things change. You can't be surprised. We'll see what happens."
If they are looking to retool again, the Rockets will not be dealing from a position of strength. They are not 4-12 because many players are playing so well.
Wesley, Barry, Anderson (who has an option for another season) and Moochie Norris are in the last season of their contracts. But teams shopping for short-term contracts usually offer players with long-term deals who are not typically long-term solutions, and those deals are more common around the February trade deadline.
Players who were signed last offseason cannot be traded until Dec. 15. But even if the Rockets are not looking to ship or acquire a player signed in the offseason, deals become more likely after the Dec. 15 date because teams wait to see what else might become available.
Adding a free agent also will be difficult. The Rockets are over the salary cap and slightly over the luxury-tax threshold.
All filled up
The roster is packed to capacity and then some. Besides carrying the maximum of 15 players — with the only player with a non-guaranteed contract (Dion Glover) hurt, which keeps the Rockets from releasing him — they have four former players (Vin Baker, Clarence Weatherspoon, Charlie Ward and Zendon Hamilton) on the payroll.
But if they can carve out a roster spot, there are some free agents who could get consideration.
Latrell Sprewell, who had some of his best seasons playing for Van Gundy in New York, George Lynch and Darvin Ham would offer the competitiveness sometimes missing. Rodney White has shown catch-and-shoot abilities.
The Rockets could also solve their own problems. They won't be getting younger and quicker in the next few days, but they were relatively old and slow last season, too.
But last season, they shot well enough around McGrady and Yao to overcome shortcomings. This season, they rank 29th in scoring, 28th in shooting percentage and last in assists per game.
Defensively, the Rockets are statistically among the league's strongest teams, holding opponents to 42.5 percent shooting, third-best in the NBA. But they have broken down so dramatically at the end of close games that the defense cannot be considered a strength, either.
"We may get along well in the locker room, but we have no chemistry because we have no accountability or a feeling of responsibility to one another to give maximum mental and physical energy for the cause," Van Gundy said.
Van Gundy's responsibility
The Rockets do not play selfishly. With things going badly, they have not pointed fingers or demanded playing time. But whether they need greater commitment, ability or time to turn things around, Van Gundy insisted he must find solutions he has not found yet.
"No, no, no, it's really on me," he said. "It's on me to make some hard decisions right now about how we're going to play, who we're going to play and what we're going to stand for. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
"Right now, it would be very hard from the outside looking in at our team to say what we stand for. That's a coach's fault. You should always be able to watch a team practice and/or play and tell exactly what the coach and the best players stand for.
"It's my fault and my responsibility for us to stand for something that our fans and the people who pay good money can be proud of."
Van Gundy said he has some players playing as well as they are able and others not at their best. But whether they improve or are dealt, he seemed certain to seek changes.
"I have to be able to get out of some (players) more," Van Gundy said. "If you think you are getting all you can out of some and you are where you are, you better get more out of others, or you're going to be where you are."
[email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rockets Summary
Chemistry lacking
The Rockets have plenty of answers for what they are lacking in their slide to 4-12. More difficult will be determining how they get it.
"Energy and intensity of our play," Tracy McGrady started. "Also, being smart on the basketball court. We have to have second and third efforts, not just one effort and then just giving up. We have to have intensity on both sides of the court.
"Right now, we're not playing like a team. We don't have any good chemistry out there on the basketball court. We like each other, there's no doubt about that, but we don't do anything as a team in the game to make us look like a team. It's pretty bad."
That said, the Rockets contended they could turn things around.
"It's being together and staying together, and not putting our heads down and not whispering and pointing fingers," guard Luther Head said.
"A lot of this is staying together and learning to get through everything as a team."
Historically bad
The final score of the Rockets' 15-point loss to the Grizzlies on Saturday will not stand out in the record book, but how they lost will.
The Rockets trailed 34-13 at the end of the first quarter, making the game the first home contest in Rockets history in which they trailed by at least 20 points at the end of the first quarter.
Bad seconds
Rockets forward Tracy McGrady struggled in his second game since being out with a strained back. He made just five of 15 shots, scoring 12 points. In the second game back when he returned from the same injury last month, he made five of 10 shots for 14 points.
JONATHAN FEIGEN
Van Gundy is ready to make 'hard decisions'
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy spoke of the need for change, which would seem the inevitable conclusion for a staggering 4-12 team coming off perhaps its worst loss of the season.
ADVERTISEMENT
He did not specify if change must come in the caliber of play of those he is putting on the court or if he must change the players. But Van Gundy said he has "hard decisions" to make.
That could mean many things, but the Rockets have reached the point where they believe there will be changes to the rotation, the roster or both.
"I would think the only people I can be sure they won't change would be Tracy (McGrady) and Yao (Ming)," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "Other than that, it could be me, it could be anybody."
Veterans have seen enough not to be surprised. That was how Wesley came to the Rockets last season after they got off to a poor start that showed little signs of imminent change. They were never this low last season, falling to 6-11 at worst. But the return of point guard Bob Sura and trades for Wesley and Jon Barry helped turn things around.
This season the Rockets can hope for the return of point guard Rafer Alston and of McGrady's good health and usual prowess. But there is a sense that greater change could be coming. Again.
"I would assume," guard Derek Anderson said. "The way the league is going, you change the lineup. Some things you see you can accept, but some things you can't. I've seen it before. It's a business. Things change. You can't be surprised. We'll see what happens."
If they are looking to retool again, the Rockets will not be dealing from a position of strength. They are not 4-12 because many players are playing so well.
Wesley, Barry, Anderson (who has an option for another season) and Moochie Norris are in the last season of their contracts. But teams shopping for short-term contracts usually offer players with long-term deals who are not typically long-term solutions, and those deals are more common around the February trade deadline.
Players who were signed last offseason cannot be traded until Dec. 15. But even if the Rockets are not looking to ship or acquire a player signed in the offseason, deals become more likely after the Dec. 15 date because teams wait to see what else might become available.
Adding a free agent also will be difficult. The Rockets are over the salary cap and slightly over the luxury-tax threshold.
All filled up
The roster is packed to capacity and then some. Besides carrying the maximum of 15 players — with the only player with a non-guaranteed contract (Dion Glover) hurt, which keeps the Rockets from releasing him — they have four former players (Vin Baker, Clarence Weatherspoon, Charlie Ward and Zendon Hamilton) on the payroll.
But if they can carve out a roster spot, there are some free agents who could get consideration.
Latrell Sprewell, who had some of his best seasons playing for Van Gundy in New York, George Lynch and Darvin Ham would offer the competitiveness sometimes missing. Rodney White has shown catch-and-shoot abilities.
The Rockets could also solve their own problems. They won't be getting younger and quicker in the next few days, but they were relatively old and slow last season, too.
But last season, they shot well enough around McGrady and Yao to overcome shortcomings. This season, they rank 29th in scoring, 28th in shooting percentage and last in assists per game.
Defensively, the Rockets are statistically among the league's strongest teams, holding opponents to 42.5 percent shooting, third-best in the NBA. But they have broken down so dramatically at the end of close games that the defense cannot be considered a strength, either.
"We may get along well in the locker room, but we have no chemistry because we have no accountability or a feeling of responsibility to one another to give maximum mental and physical energy for the cause," Van Gundy said.
Van Gundy's responsibility
The Rockets do not play selfishly. With things going badly, they have not pointed fingers or demanded playing time. But whether they need greater commitment, ability or time to turn things around, Van Gundy insisted he must find solutions he has not found yet.
"No, no, no, it's really on me," he said. "It's on me to make some hard decisions right now about how we're going to play, who we're going to play and what we're going to stand for. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
"Right now, it would be very hard from the outside looking in at our team to say what we stand for. That's a coach's fault. You should always be able to watch a team practice and/or play and tell exactly what the coach and the best players stand for.
"It's my fault and my responsibility for us to stand for something that our fans and the people who pay good money can be proud of."
Van Gundy said he has some players playing as well as they are able and others not at their best. But whether they improve or are dealt, he seemed certain to seek changes.
"I have to be able to get out of some (players) more," Van Gundy said. "If you think you are getting all you can out of some and you are where you are, you better get more out of others, or you're going to be where you are."
[email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rockets Summary
Chemistry lacking
The Rockets have plenty of answers for what they are lacking in their slide to 4-12. More difficult will be determining how they get it.
"Energy and intensity of our play," Tracy McGrady started. "Also, being smart on the basketball court. We have to have second and third efforts, not just one effort and then just giving up. We have to have intensity on both sides of the court.
"Right now, we're not playing like a team. We don't have any good chemistry out there on the basketball court. We like each other, there's no doubt about that, but we don't do anything as a team in the game to make us look like a team. It's pretty bad."
That said, the Rockets contended they could turn things around.
"It's being together and staying together, and not putting our heads down and not whispering and pointing fingers," guard Luther Head said.
"A lot of this is staying together and learning to get through everything as a team."
Historically bad
The final score of the Rockets' 15-point loss to the Grizzlies on Saturday will not stand out in the record book, but how they lost will.
The Rockets trailed 34-13 at the end of the first quarter, making the game the first home contest in Rockets history in which they trailed by at least 20 points at the end of the first quarter.
Bad seconds
Rockets forward Tracy McGrady struggled in his second game since being out with a strained back. He made just five of 15 shots, scoring 12 points. In the second game back when he returned from the same injury last month, he made five of 10 shots for 14 points.
JONATHAN FEIGEN