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Rough ride Rockets' playoff hopes take two big hits
Updated: Thursday March 15, 2001 1:05 PM
The loss of Hakeem Olajuwon is a huge blow to a Rockets team that still has playoff hopes. Olajuwon, who will be out three to six months by medication he's taking for a blood condition, was just starting to play well and fit into Houston's new system. Head coach Rudy Tomjanovich had totally changed the team's system -- going small by playing three guards and keeping the middle open. In last year's draft, Houston traded for Georgia Tech center Jason Collier because he could shoot from the outside. But Collier got hurt, and it took a while for Olajuwon to adjust to a system that didn't feature a player in the pivot. Then just when he'd adapted his game to it, he was sidelined. But Olajuwon wasn't the only blow the Rockets have suffered of late. Having gone 13-3 since the beginning of February to move within three games of the eighth spot in the West, they lost to Phoenix in a heartbreaker last Sunday. They couldn't afford to lose that game -- it probably put them in the position of being the best team not to make the playoffs this season. They're a good basketball team, a little small but very competitive, and they have a great future. But not this year.
Rasheed's rage becoming costly for PortlandIt's time for the annual "Rasheed's rage" commentary. The coaches have talked to Rasheed Wallace about his outbursts, as have the players; everyone close to him has talked to him. Now the Blazers have to take a stronger stand, because it's become a real detriment to the team and is costing Portland games. It's only going to get worse, because Wallace isn't going to get any close calls from the officials. He has tremendous talent, and he's a mild-mannered nice guy off the court, but he must have developed a phobia of the officials. As a coach, I had a lot of trouble with referees, and eventually you get paranoid. That may be what's happened to Wallace. Unfortunately for Blazers fans, if he doesn't get his emotions under control, Portland won't go far in the playoffs.
Riley may be playing head games with short-handed HeatThe punishment handed down to Anthony Mason and Duane Causwell by Heat head coach Pat Riley last Sunday seemed a bit excessive. Being late for one meeting doesn't warrant sending players home from a road trip, so there had to be something else going on. One possible explanation is that Mason and Causwell had committed a few team offenses before that. But the more likely reason is that Miami has five home games coming up, and Riley thinks they're important enough to use psychology on Mason. The Heat probably weren't going to win in Minnesota anyway, so Riley may have used it as a ploy to wake up his team.
Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN's This Week in the NBA.
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