Van Gundy likes what he sees in win over Spurs
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/rox/2178777
SAN ANTONIO -- Not meaning to disparage, and certainly with no offense
intended, it has to be said: There were times Friday night that Rockets coach
Jeff Van Gundy seemed happy.
The best indication of this might have come during the timeouts at SBC Center.
As they have through the preseason, timeouts brought immediate feedback.
He clapped cheerfully. He talked to Kelvin Cato about his strong play at power
forward, and against Tim Duncan no less. He got in the face of Torraye Braggs
to mark Braggs' flurry of offensive rebounds. When San Antonio Spurs reserve
Devin Brown crashed into an immovable Yao Ming, Van Gundy and Patrick Ewing
even shared a laugh.
There would be plenty to correct as well. But that only served to make the
Rockets' final preseason game everything Van Gundy could want. The Rockets
beat the Spurs 84-63 before 16,143 fans, showing how far they have come.
"We're just getting better," Cato said. "We're buying into the system. The
stuff Jeff's putting up there we're starting to understand. In training camp,
same old team, new coach, which is hard. Now everybody is starting to
understand what he wants from his players."
For the Rockets, who finished the preseason at 4-4, any win in San Antonio is
valued.
The Rockets had lost their past eight preseason or regular-season games in
San Antonio and still have an 11-game regular-season skid in the city. In
Duncan's six previous seasons, the Spurs have beaten the Rockets in 19 of 23
regular-season meetings.
Van Gundy would not say a 21-point preseason win would chase any demons or
even that the Rockets have any emotional issues about playing the Spurs.
"I don't think anything that's happened previously has anything to do with
what happens in the future, but winning helps," he said.
Those who had been punished so often in the SBC Center and Alamodome will
take what they can get.
"It's great to win anytime you play San Antonio," Rockets guard Steve Francis
said. "I think it goes into how hard we're working. Our practices have been
good. We're executing better.
"We came in the first two or three days and played a game with a brand-new
system. It was hard for us to come in and learn a new system and try to
execute it. I thought we did a good job adjusting."
The Rockets have come so far since their slow-motion start of the preseason
that by the time Duncan, the Spurs' two-time MVP, sat for the night with 6:34
left, the Rockets' lead surpassed 20 as Van Gundy cleared his bench.
The Rockets trailed for just 17 seconds against the defending champions
Friday -- the only time they have trailed in the last three games of the
preseason.
In the first four games, the Rockets trailed for 91.7 percent of the games.
In the last four games of the preseason, the Rockets have led or have been
tied with their opponents for 98 percent of the time.
"The goal every day and every game is to win and improve," Van Gundy said.
"You don't want to have to lose to make corrections. We just have to keep
building. We're trying to get better every day. I think we've made
improvements."
The most marked improvement has been defensively. On Friday, the Rockets held
the Spurs to 28.6 percent shooting and limited Duncan to a 5-of-15 night.
"It was a great game," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich joked. "We kicked their
butts and showed them a thing or two. I'm sure they'll be afraid of us the
next time we play them."
But even beyond the Spurs' shooting troubles, the Rockets feel encouraged by
Jim Jackson's best shooting game of the preseason (6-of-10 for 14 points);
another solid night by Yao (8-of-14 for 17 points to go with 12 rebounds);
and the continued improvement of Bostjan Nachbar (3-of-5 for eight points.)
On top of all that, in one day Braggs seemed to have gone from barely keeping
a job to a key reserve. He made 4 of 5 shots for his eight points and added
six rebounds and three assists.
"We have a long way to go," Jackson said. "A lot of work has to be done. But
we're taking those tiny steps toward being a good team. We can't look at four
wins like we've arrived. We haven't done anything."
Van Gundy couldn't have gushed it better himself.
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我們越來越像一支訓練有素的勁旅了!!!
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