Rockets raring to relive glory era

MANILA, Philippines - It’s been 18 years since the Houston Rockets won their second NBA title in a row and now, there is new hope that coach Kevin McHale will return the team back to the top with a retooled lineup that is deep in every spot.

In 1994-95, the Rockets did the impossible by capturing the crown as a sixth seed with a 47-35 record. On the way to the throne, Houston destroyed Utah (60-22), Phoenix (59-23), San Antonio (62-20) and Orlando (57-25), meaning the Rockets zoomed to the championship without the homecourt advantage the whole way. After blanking Orlando in the Finals, then-Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich declared, “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”

Two of the Rockets on the 1994-95 title squad are in town for the festivities surrounding the first-ever pre-season game between Houston and Indiana played in the country at the Mall of Asia Arena last night. Clyde Drexler and Robert Horry were in Tomjanovich’s lineup along with Hakeem Olajuwon, Kenny Smith, Mario Elie and Sam Cassell. In the four-game Finals, Olajuwon averaged 32.8 points, Drexler 21.5 and Horry 17.8.

In 1993-94, Houston won its first-ever championship with Olajuwon as the Rockets’ anchor. Horry was also on that squad. The only other seasons where the Rockets went to the Finals were in 1981 and 1986, losing both series to Boston.

Where Olajuwon left off, newly acquired Houston center Dwight Howard intends to pick up. Howard is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year awardee and has led the league in rebounding in five of his nine seasons. He’s fresh from a forgettable one-year stint with the Los Angeles Lakers and eager to bounce back with a team where his presence is more than welcome. Howard just signed a four-year, $88 Million contract so the 6-11 center looks like he’s planting roots.

Howard wasn’t the only key addition to McHale’s cast. Other newcomers are 17-year veteran Marcus Camby, 6-9 Omri Casspi, 6-7 Ronnie Brewer, 6-6 Reggie Williams and rookies Isaiah Canaan and Robert Covington. Camby came in from the Toronto Raptros, Casspi from Cleveland, Brewer from Oklahoma City and Williams from Charlotte. Struck out from last season’s crew were Carlos Delfino to Milwaukee, Tim Ohlbrecht and James Anderson. Back in the unit are James Harden, Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, Aaron Brooks, Chandler Parsons, Francisco Garcia, Greg Smith, Donatas Montiejunas, Patrick Beverley and Terrence Jones.

Last Sunday, Howard made his preseason debut with the Rockets and compiled 19 points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes as Houston lost a 116-115 cliffhanger to the New Orleans Pelicans at home. McHale’s starting cast listed Howard at center, 7-foot Montiejunas at power forward, Parsons at three, Harden at two and Lin at the point. Jones was the first man off the bench. The Rockets had the edge in rebounds, 35-33, but the Pelicans grabbed more offensive boards, 12-5 and with Houston committing 22 turnovers to New Orleans’ 15, the result was a glaring disparity in possessions. The Pelicans took 18 more field goal attempts. The positive signs for the Rockets were they had more assists, 24-17, and shot a higher clip from the floor, .574 to .488. Errors made the difference and for a team breaking in a slew of newcomers, chemistry is something McHale will focus on with the Rockets as the regular season nears. Houston will host Charlotte in its opener on Oct. 30.

McHale has the luxury of rotating four foreign players to give Houston an international flavor. They are Montiejunas of Lithuania, 6-7 forward Garcia of the Dominican Republic, 7-0 center Asik of Turkey and Casspi of Israel. Lin, who is of pure Taiwanese descent, was born and raised in the US so he’s considered an American. Two others with international experience in McHale’s cast are Harden and Howard who both played on US gold medal teams in the Olympics.

In explaining his transfer from Los Angeles to Houston, Howard said it was a matter of direction. “I just looked at both teams,” he said. “I felt Houston was going in one direction. They’ve got a lot of young players, they’ve got a good coach and I just felt like having him as a coach, he could really help me in the post and help me develop like I want to. That was mainly the big reason right there and having the opportunity to grow with the team, a young team, like the Rockets. That’s the reason why.”

No doubt about it, what drives Howard is his goal of playing on a championship team. “My resume, I’ve accomplished almost everything that you can accomplish in the NBA but winning a championship and getting MVP and I’ve come close to both of them,” he continued. “So that’s my goal right there. That’s the reason why I play. I have fun but that’s my goal. I might have fun, I might joke a lot but I’m serious about winning a championship.”

With his refurbished lineup, McHale said the Rockets can now compete with anybody. Last season, the Rockets clawed back from a 0-3 hole to survive two do-or-die games only to succumb in Game 6 to Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs. Harden was the Rockets’ top scorer in five of the six games with Parsons the exception when he hit 27 in the 105-103 win in Game 4.

Time is on the Rockets’ side as McHale’s nucleus is extremely young. His starters average only 24.6 years old. Only Camby, 39, and Garcia, 32, are over 30. Seven players are 24 and below. The downside is a lack of experience that could be a factor in deciding close games. Writer Jan Hubbard called the Rockets the NBA’s greatest experiment, “full of potential but still needing to learn how to play together and how to compete with great teams with more experience.”