[CHRON] Minute by minute, Rockets fitting in

Against Philly, Van Gundy plans to dish out time to all 16 players
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3390820

The core of the team, the Rockets' veterans said so often before training camp began, is back. They know Jeff Van Gundy. They know his little details and big priorities. They would be much better equipped to hit the season running.

That's the theory, anyway. It might still be.

There are three newcomers — Stromile Swift, Derek Anderson and Rafer Alston — who are certain to have a place in the rotation. Also, Jon Barry and David Wesley, though back from last season's mix, were not in last season's training camp. And it all sounds a bit like that speculative "on paper" stuff anyway.

So instead, the Rockets will begin the preseason in Philadelphia tonight and come home to face the Orlando Magic on Wednesday ready to test the theory.

"We're just going to see how the hard work paid off for the last week," Tracy McGrady said, adding he was just happy to know that games are considerably shorter than Van Gundy's practices. "Obviously, a couple of key guys won't get the minutes we normally get. We just want to see where we're at so we can go back and sharpen things up."

Rough honeymoon
Every team might feel roughly the same way. But the Rockets went 6-9 to start last season, in no small measure because they began with just five players and two starters (Yao Ming and Jim Jackson) back from 2003-04.

The Rockets hope the stability this year will lead to a better opening, a better seed in the playoffs and, most of all, a better finish.

"I want to get off to a great start," McGrady said. "I realize how tough our schedule is at the beginning of the season, so I just want to get up to speed and bring those guys along with us."

After a week of practices, the new players might feel the need to take the semester's first exam more than returning players. For them, the difference between learning plays and using them to defeat an opponent could be a greater leap.

McGrady and Yao might by now have a pretty good idea how things work for them. Anderson and Swift, who must fit in around the Rockets' stars, can only now begin to find out.

"I wish we could play more preseason games so we could get a feel for each other," Anderson said. "We come out here and execute our stuff, but everybody is not going to use our stuff like (the) trap screen-and-roll."

The results of preseason games don't mean much. The past 10 NBA champions were a combined 35-39 in the preseason. (The Rockets went 5-3 in each of their championship seasons.)

Emptying the bench
Van Gundy plans to play all 16 of his healthy players and probably not play his starters in the second half. How he allots minutes tonight and Wednesday should be enough to gauge the progress of the team.

"I don't get caught up as much in winning, whether it's preseason, regular season or the playoffs, because if you play well enough and do all the things you should, you'll give yourself a chance to max out your potential, whatever that may be," Van Gundy said.

He has been known to be unsatisfied with wins. But for now, he won't be alone in measuring success in degrees of "playing well."

"Tomorrow, we'll see where we're at," Swift said. "This is repetition learning. Tomorrow we'll see how everything works out. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

ROCKETS SUMMARY
Motrin moments
Rockets forward Juwan Howard seems happy to be worrying only about working out a few kinks in training camp.

Howard's season was interrupted last March when he hurt his right knee and ended when he developed a heart condition weeks later.

"I'm enjoying it each day. Of course it hurts, but it's supposed to. This is something I enjoy, I appreciate and I love," he said. "When I hurt the knee, I was in 82-game playing (shape). No one right now, including myself, is in 82-game playing shape. That's what we're working toward."

No. 22, No. 2 thrill No. 1
Now Tracy McGrady, Rockets forward and resident baseball nut, knows how Houston sports fans felt last December.

Having been amazing, McGrady got a chance to be amazed at the Astros' 18-inning win over the Atlanta Braves.

"That was one of the most unbelievable things I've ever seen in the game of baseball," McGrady said. "That was like 13 points in 35 seconds. For real, that was unbelievable."

McGrady, whose last-minute scoring burst stunned the Spurs last Dec. 9, has become an Astros loyalist while maintaining his affinity for the Yankees.

But he is especially a Roger Clemens fan since their day taking batting practice and playing H-O-R-S-E at Clemens' house last season.

"For the old man to come in and close it out like he did and then for the young fella ( Chris Burke) to take it, it was great," said McGrady, who watched the comeback in Yao Ming's restaurant.

"Hopefully, they can return the favor for what St. Louis did to them last year. That's what we all want to see in Houston. I was a Floridian. Now I'm a Houstonian. I want the Texans to start winning as well."

Said Yao: "I'm not really understanding a baseball game. I know a couple rules, but not all the rules. I like to see those fans. I can feel the heat."