SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, March 10, 1995
3B
The (Columba, S.C.) State, Knight-Ridder Tribune
Houston Rockets struggling to win after trade for Drexler
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — What's wrong with the Houston Rockets?
Everyone on the team is trying to solve the riddle, and guard Kenny Smith won't disagree with any of the theories.
"It would be hard to disagree with any critique right now, everything seems to be wrong." Smith said.
The Rockets' once-proud defense regularly allows 100-plus points, they fade in the fourth quarter, they've lost five in a row and they're groping through games trying to get acquainted with new teammates.
"We realize there is a bigger picture, and we're still putting in the colors," Smith said. "We've got the blue put in but there's orange, red and green still to put on the canvas."
By any analogy, the Rockets are far removed from the clutch performers who scratched their way to the NBA title last season.
Houston has a 35-24 record going into Saturday's game against the
Dallas Mavericks, compared to 42-17 through 59 games last season when the Rockets had a franchise-high 58-24 mark.
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The Rockets made a bold move on Feb. 14 by trading Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Hakeem Olajuwon's college teammate Clyde Drexler.
But since the trade, the Rockets are 6-7 and have shown the ability to lose to bad teams as well as the elite.
Coach Rudy Tomjanovich is responding by sending his players to the film room.
"I hated that as a player because no one likes seeing his mistakes," Torjanovich said. "But we've got to do it."
The Rockets traded Thorpe's muscle for Drexler's finesse, and the adjustment is not complete.
"We're missing so many assignments, and it's not just one or two times but a lot of times," Drexler said. "The only way you can get together on that is in practice."
Moving the Rams not a done deal
ST.LOUIS — Pressure may be building to block the Rams' move to St. Louis, just days before NFL owners are expected to decide the team's fate.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue plans to recommend that the league not approve the move, the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram reported yesterday, citing league and team sources.
The Associated Press
The newspaper said Tagliabue will make the recommendation on Monday, the first day of an NFL owners meeting in Phoenix. The owners are expected to vote on the move later in the week.
Also weighing in against the move is the Fox network, entering its second season of a four-year deal to broadcast games for the National Football Conference. The league received a letter from Fox last month opposing the move. Los Angeles is the nation's No. 2 television market. St. Louis is 18th.
Tagliabue's report acknowledged circumstances in the Rams' favor, but he concluded that the team does not meet the league's criteria to move, league and team sources told the Press-Telegram.
Those sources cited three factors for Tagliabue's decision: management's contributions to the Rams' decline, a lack of good-faith negotiations with Orange County leaders and concerns over the Raiders' status in Los Angeles, the newspaper reported.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said yesterday the league had no comment on the newspaper report. Rams officials also were not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported yesterday that Rams and St. Louis officials have laid the groundwork for suing the league if owners reject the move.
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