News; Rockets not letting lack of respect impede progress

It was just 24 minutes into the 2009-10 season when noted philosopher, evaluator and prognosticator Charles Barkley had labeled the Rockets the worst team in the Western Conference.

Since that time, the Rockets have rung up back-to-back victories over the Warriors and Trail Blazers and their quick-starting 2-1 record is maybe just this side of Sylvester Stallone playing Hamlet on the surprise-o-meter.

No Yao Ming. No Tracy McGrady. No problem.

Of course, that's not always going to be the case over the next six months. But for Houston fans who were staring at the prospect of a season more productively spent trying to catch rain falling out of the sky with a fork, there is, well, the possibility of entertainment, if not championship rings.

"We're still trying to figure out who the hell we are," said Shane Battier.

After a 111-107 win over the Blazers in their home opener on Saturday night, the Rockets might as well being doing the backstroke downstream in a strong current. They're not just playing with house money. They're playing with everyone in the house.

Forgive Sir Charles for his rash judgment. It was hardly a first. You'll recall that Barkley once puckered up and kissed an ass -- the four-legged variety, provided by Kenny Smith -- on national TV after he wrongly predicted that a rookie named Yao would never score 20 points in a game.

And, of course, there weren't many observers from sea to shining sea who thought the Rockets would ever have a better winning percentage this season than the Lakers, Cavaliers and Blazers, even if the season is less than two weeks old.

Such is the pleasant product of low expectations.

"I think we have more freedom to develop our young guys without the microscope on us," Battier said. "With that said, we still have pretty high expectations ourselves and we're the only ones that really matter."

These are Rockets who have third -- or maybe fourth -- banana Trevor Ariza coming over from the Lakers to take over a starring role in the offense. These are Rockets who have 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes starting at center and a starting point guard in Aaron Brooks who would only stand 5-foot-10 if he were standing on several phone books.

Yet Battier, Hayes and Brooks along with Luis Scola and Carl Landry are the core of a Rockets lineup that has dealt with a gantlet of bad luck and inopportune twists of fate since 2007.

Two seasons ago, the Rockets had just gotten themselves up off the floor and back into February playoff contention when Yao suffered a stress fracture in his foot and was lost for the season. Last season, Yao managed to stay healthy and in the lineup for 75 games, but McGrady missed 47 and had went on the shelf for microfracture knee surgery in February. Still the Rockets battled to get into the playoffs, even won a first-round series for the first time since 1997 and were standing up to the Lakers when Yao's foot broke again. Once more, the Rockets hung tough, pushing the eventual champions to a seventh game.

"That's a testament to the guys in this locker room," Battier said. "We have guys who don't make a lot of excuses, who play to win, regardless of the situation. People take that for granted, but it's rare in sports over a long period of time. This is the third year we've faced pretty significant adversity and not once have we made an excuse, 'Well, Yao's not here, Tracy's not here.' We plug in the next guy and play harder.

"It's been pretty impressive. It's as impressive a three-year span that I've ever experienced, at least in terms of team attitude. The attitude sometimes can last for a year and then it crumbles the next time you face adversity. But we've always had a good attitude here in this locker room."

In order to keep their heads above water, the Rockets will have to keep moving the ball around on offense, finding small cracks in opposing defenses and trying to split them open.

"That's who we are right now," said coach Rick Adelman, "a gang mentality. We have to do it collectively.

"You can't just come down and penetrate. Aaron has a tendency to do that. You've got to move the ball first. Take it to the basket after you move it three or four times. Then their big guys aren't quite in position, can't see it coming and you can take it to the basket."

It won't always be this smooth. Ariza won't pour in 33 points, Brooks 28 and Landry off the bench for 16. They won't always be able to run the floor free and easy to thrive in transition without go-to players in Yao and McGrady.

Nevertheless, there is the possibility they could surprise a few people.

Ariza shook his head.

"Nobody expects us to do anything," he said.

Brooks kept a straight face when asked about Barkley's assessment.

"It's extremely early," he said. "We just admire that 'Karl' would think so much of us to say that."