Welcome back, fans, to 1999: Lopez

By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
<P>Not since the last century have the Rockets played host to an NBA playoff game.
<P>So much time has passed. There are so many new story lines with which we need to familiarize ourselves.
<P>Then, the Rockets faced Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
<P>Then, the Lakers were reported to be a squabbling, dysfunctional bunch. O'Neal supposedly confided in some that he had a sincere and distinct dislike for Bryant. And vice versa.
<P>Then, Karl Malone was in the midst of a long, tiresome and futile search for an NBA title. Gary Payton still was searching, too, only louder.
<P>In the preseason, the Lakers were said to be an unstoppable, unbeatable assemblage of talent. Yet they proved to be anything but, leaving most to make predictions on exactly how they would be ousted from the playoffs. That is, by the Lakers. In six.
<P>Then, the best team in the Eastern Conference was widely considered to be the Indiana Pacers. As if it would matter what happened in the East.
<P>The Minnesota Timberwolves hadn't yet won a playoff series. As if it would matter even if they did advance past the first round.
<P>Then, the best team in basketball was the often-overlooked, underappreciated San Antonio Spurs.
<P>Then, Larry Brown was coaching a new team into the playoffs. Dennis Rodman was trying to make a comeback that failed miserably.
<P>Then, every time the network cameras managed to pan away from Jack Nicholson or Dyan Cannon for even one moment, we would see a Lakers coach who looked totally beaten.
<P>We saw a man who looked exasperated with all the soap-opera moments, the untimely injuries and incompatibility in the locker room. He looked as if he just wanted the season to end so he could move on, which eventually Kurt Rambis did.
<P>Then, Phil Jackson didn't like Jeff Van Gundy. Jeff Van Gundy didn't like Phil Jackson. They called each other names and worked every angle against each other.
<P>Then, the most important factor in the Rockets-Lakers series was how officials would call the game between O'Neal and the Rockets' revered big man from a faraway land.
<P>Then, when the playoffs came to Houston, we were being promised a light rail system that worked and, finally, a National League pennant.
<P>Around the nation, we were reading about an investigation into Michael Jackson's behavior with boys and George W. Bush's taking a beating in the polls.
<P>Then, the hottest issue for the Rockets was at point guard, where giving a long-term contract for remarkable riches to someone who never lived up to his promise, Matt Maloney, was widely questioned.
<P>Then, Cuttino Mobley needed to have a big series against Bryant if the Rockets were going to have any chance at all. Another factor was O'Neal's positively horrid free-throw shooting. Yet another was the Rockets' penchant for committing turnovers, which during that regular season they did more than all but four NBA teams.
<P>Then, the Lakers were answering questions about the league's giving them preferential treatment because of LA's market appeal and marquee value.
<P>The league was answering questions about the tired, brutal-to-watch style of basketball being played in the NBA, which was affecting television numbers.
<P>Then, the Rockets were on a playoff death march. They were taking part in a Lakers series whose outcome everyone knew even before it began. The Rockets franchise was finding itself at a crossroads, mulling significant roster turnover if things didn't work out.
<P>Then, the Rockets needed to make an unlikely and heroic stand at home. They needed to "beat LA," as the trite chant goes, or else huge changes most certainly would be on the way.
<P>Not much has changed, has it?

 

NO KIDDING!

There are still games to be played!! Roxs will win this weekend and have the NBA a buzz