Correspondent

Published December 30, 2011

HOUSTON — Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale said his team’s defensive effort rated a 2 out of a possible 10 against the Orlando Magic during the team’s season opener Monday night.

He was much happier Thursday as his team downed the San Antonio Spurs, 105-85, at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets, which led the game wire to wire, showed a porous defense in the opener, but a few practices this week seemed to help fill some of those gaps.

Houston rose defensively, holding the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to 24 points collectively.

McHale said he was pleased with the effort.

“I’m surprised at how well they came together, but I’ve said it all along, this is a very intelligent group,”,” McHale said. “They understand that if they’re not bringing it, someone else will.”

The Rockets (1-1) travel to Memphis today, then fly back to Houston for a game Saturday afternoon against the Atlanta Hawks in a rare three-game run in three days.

The Rockets got off to a strong start Thursday, allowing McHale to run deep to the bench and give his starters the rest he says they’ll need to keep fresh for the next three days.

“It takes a while to get into NBA shape,” McHale said. “It’s nice to be able to play a bunch of guys. It’ll pay off over the next few days.”

McHale, who was hired in June, said he still is learning his players, and they’re still learning his system. The Rockets are the youngest team in the NBA, with players averaging less than three years of NBA experience.

Add a shortened preseason, a compressed schedule and new players in uniform less than a week, there would seem to be little to look forward to.

That would be a wrong assessment.

The Rockets aren’t up to midseason form by a long shot, but the improvement over the flat performance against Orlando on Monday showed from tipoff Thursday night.

“(It was a) really good effort tonight,” McHale said. “We were playing with a lot of carry over from the last couple of days of practice, really attentive. Our ability to sag-in and to rotate and get hands up and to challenge shots, they can do it. They showed it tonight.”

McHale said despite only two practices, the team’s communication level improved drastically.

Guard Kevin Martin, who scored 25 points against the Spurs, agreed.

“We’re heading in the right direction now,” Martin said. “We just got to improve game by game. Plus, we just added a 7-0 center (Samuel Dalembert). That always helps. We have basically the same team we had over the All-Star break. Now we just have to mold ourselves together with all the pieces in place and we’ll be fine.”

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HOUSTON – Rockets general manager Daryl Morey refused to answer
questions Thursday about the three-team deal rejected by the NBA a
week ago, citing legal reasons.

The Rockets would have received Pau Gasol in the proposed deal
that also would have sent All-Star guard Chris Paul to the Lakers.
Lamar Odom was headed to the NBA-owned Hornets, and Houston also
would have sent Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a
first-round pick to New Orleans.

The NBA said it killed the deal for “basketball reasons.”

Asked Thursday how he felt about the NBA’s decision, Morey said:
“On the advice of counsel, I can’t talk about it.” He also would
not comment when asked why he had spoken to an attorney, nor would
he reveal if the team was considering legal action against the
league.

“I understand the focus,” Morey said, “but I just can’t comment
right now.”

Morey did say that he has not spoken personally to Commissioner
David Stern about the situation. He said he didn’t know if team
owner Leslie Alexander had spoken to Stern, either.

“I haven’t heard from him,” Morey said.

Paul ended up in Los Angeles anyway, but playing for the
Clippers. The other Los Angeles team acquired Paul on Wednesday
night by trading high-scoring guard Eric Gordon, former All-Star
center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round draft
choice acquired from Minnesota to New Orleans.

The Rockets, meanwhile, play their first preseason game against
San Antonio on Saturday night.

Martin, Scola and Dragic have been practicing with the team all
week, and Morey acknowledged Thursday that the trio was caught in
an “unfair situation.” Martin was Houston’s leading scorer last
season 23.5 points per game) and Scola was the second-leading
scorer (18.3 points per game) and top rebounder (8.2 per game).

“They’re professional,” Morey said. “We love those guys. I’m
sorry they got caught up in it.”

Martin did not speak to reporters after Thursday’s workout, but
the easygoing Scola maintained a positive outlook.

“I can’t worry about that,” Scola said. “There’s nothing I can
do to control that. There’s only one thing I can do, just work
hard, play hard. That’s what I’m doing.”

“I know the team likes me,” he said. “But if they think they’ve
got a chance to improve the team, if they think they’re going to
make the team better by doing a move that I’m in, I’ll have to be
OK with that.”

Morey says he’s confident the Rockets will be competitive this
year, even though the big trade fell through. And he’s still
keeping an eye on potential deals that will make the team
better.

“Even though I can’t comment, Mr. Alexander and I are fighting
hard for the Rockets organization,” Morey said. “Our goal doesn’t
change. It’s to continue to make this team better. Mr. Alexander
has a history of making moves and trying to get us in a position to
make us a championship contender. That’s what we’re going to still
do.”

“We don’t have any excuses,” Morey said. “We’re going to keep
fighting and winning, and we’re going to keep trying to make this
team a team the city can be proud of, and get it back to being a
championship-caliber team.”