Re: Rockets' little guns take big shots http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports...kn/4356994.html<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Another fourth quarter and another night, as head coach Jeff Van Gundy put it, stuck in the mud.But with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady hip-deep in the mire and the Rockets in need of a rope, there were Luther Head and Rafer Alston giving the necessary tug to get by the Washington Wizards.Never mind that Head came into the final period with just three points in the game or that Alston had a shooting line that read 3-for-15 up until the final 30 seconds.With the Rockets clinging to a one-point lead, the Wizards' defense drew to McGrady like metal filings to a magnet. So he looked to his left and flipped a pass to a wide-open Alston, who nailed a 3-pointer that nailed down the 86-82 victory.Stepping up"Sure, I'll take it," Alston said. It was just like the majority of a sloppily played, offensively stunted fourth quarter, when the player taking the critical shots was not the high caliber of Yao and T-Mac, but was no more reluctant to fire away."They're shots, and I've been making them all of my life," said Head, who hit a 3-pointer and six of seven free throws to lead the team with nine points in the fourth quarter. "I've got confidence in myself. One thing that I know is that I can make shots. So I'll keep trying to take them."Alston is who he is. Something less than a point guard who can run an offense on a full-time basis and something more than the "Skip to My Lou" playground legend who not long ago had to prove his worthiness in the NBA.Head, the second-year combo guard who got plenty of minutes as a rookie due to the spate of injuries last season, is as unassuming as his small, slender appearance, but he's not the type who'll back down in any situation."Luther has done this a couple of times," Van Gundy said. "There have been times when he's had like an 'O-fer' going and then late in the games he makes them. He's got big courage. Big, big courage."It was a night when the Toyota Center denizens finally got the long look at Greek import Vassilis Spanoulis that they've been demanding, and he proved to be as rough and scruffy as his beard. Spanoulis pumped in 10 points, dealt three assists and, most importantly, had no turnovers. He played solid defense and provided a palpable spark in his 17-minute stint that will only lead to more time on the court.If there is a consistent positive thread to pull from this continuing pattern of fourth-quarter swoons it is that the supporting cast around Yao and T-Mac has no lack of confidence in its ability.Yao is going to be double- and triple-teamed in the fourth quarter of any close game. McGrady, when he wants to assume the playmaker role late, is going to attract extra pressure."We all know there are opportunities to take big shots in the fourth quarter because our two main guys command so much attention," Shane Battier said. "Not to slight myself or Luther or Rafer, but I don't think the Washington Wizards were really too concerned about us down the stretch. So we just have to get our feet set and take the shots with confidence."That is easy to say during a chalkboard session, when you can draw up the X's and O's and strategize about who will be open. It is another thing entirely when the clock has been ticking down, when the shots have been clanking off the rim for most of the fourth quarter and suddenly the ball is in your hands."It shows we have a belief in each other and our best players have belief in their teammates that they can make plays and they're going to create opportunities for us," Battier said. "All good teams ? Dallas and San Antonio ? have that in place, and that's something we're trying to develop here. It's exciting. If we can develop that and stay with it, I don't think that's the last time you'll see Luther hitting big shots, or Rafer, in big games coming down the stretch."Playing their partIt surely will happen again, when Yao is stuck in the mud, when McGrady can't slog his way out of the mire. "It's what we're all here for, to play our part," Alston said."Shoot it?" Head said. "Not a doubt."</div> :rock:
