Rockets' struggles may necessitate change at top

	Breaking from the gate with a 5-12 mark this season, the Rockets appear increasingly deaf to coach Jeff Van Gundy's words. Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images
	Fresh Faces Need a new look? Here are five NBA assistants who could give a team a facelift Marc Iavaroni, Phoenix The Suns assistant interviewed in Portland before the Trail Blazers hired Nate McMillan; excellent big man coach who worked with Alonzo Mourning and was instrumental in the development of Zydrunas Ilguaskas. John Kuester, Philadelphia Veteran assistant was a college boss before he became a Larry Brown disciple. Brings 15 years of experience and a championship ring to the table. Del Harris, Dallas Former Lakers coach is content being second fiddle in Dallas, but could be enticed with the right offer; arguably the most seasoned coach on the market. Kevin O'Neill, Indiana The combustible O'Neill lost his cool in his first go-round in Toronto; Rick Carlisle's top assistant is a first rate defensive coach and deserves a second look. Dean Demopoulus, Portland The Blazers' lead assistant was the subject of a tug of war with Minnesota over the summer; former Temple assistant is a rising star in the coaching ranks.
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Jeff Van Gundy is tired. Or at least he looks like he is. Take one look at him and you will see a man with enough bags under his eyes to fill a shopping cart. I'd venture to say Van Gundy is the oldest-looking 43-year-old on the planet. The man needs a vacation, and the way the Rockets' season is headed, he could be taking one a lot sooner than he'd like.

Here's the thing about being an NBA coach. Sometimes even the best of them eventually get tuned out by their players. Dave Cowens lost the Hornets. George Karl wore out his welcome in Seattle and Milwaukee. I don't think the Celtics ever listened to Rick Pitino. With a little more than a month gone in the season, all evidence points to Van Gundy being the latest in the line of coaches to have his message drowned out. Once that happens, there is no turning back.

Yes, injuries have been a problem. Tracy McGrady missed eight games with his chronically aching back, and point guard Rafer Alston hasn't played since Nov. 17 because of a stress fracture in his right leg. Bobby Sura, maybe the most undervalued player on the team, hasn't played all season. But no matter how banged up the Rockets are, the injuries only cloud the notion that maybe the Rockets have gone as far as Van Gundy can take them.

Is the talent there? It was supposed to be. Stromile Swift was the most coveted power forward on the market in the offseason and he has been a veritable bust. Even when healthy, Alston has struggled adapting to the Rockets' offense, which has gone from up-tempo to Van Gundy's classic dump and chase. Then there is Yao Ming, who, despite Van Gundy's best efforts, is looking less Shaquille O'Neal and more like Rik Smits every day. What's stopping assistant coach Patrick Ewing from clobbering him in practice.

Yao's development -- or lack thereof -- may prove to be the highlight of Van Gundy's tenure in Houston. Van Gundy is Yao's kind of coach, a slug-it-out game planner whose offense revolves around the center. He made a career riding Ewing, who was the focal point of the Knicks offense the six years that Van Gundy was at the helm. If the Rockets run 75 offensive plays per game, Van Gundy would like Yao to touch the ball on 74 of them.

But Yao will never be that kind of player -- he doesn't have the heart for it. It's not his fault, it's just the way he was raised. It wasn't until Yao came to America as a teenager that he started dunking in games. In China, dunking is considered taboo because it embarrasses one's opponent. How do you think trash-talking and hard fouls, two components that made Ewing the player he was, are viewed on the mainland? Yao has nearly 20 years of teaching to erase and it will probably take him 20 to do it.

The Rockets need to make changes, and not the small kind they made last season -- bringing in Sura, David Wesley and Jon Barry -- to spark a team that started 6-11. This year the Rockets need big changes. They need to make a splash, shake things up.

The chips are there. Wesley, Barry, Derek Anderson and Moochie Norris are all free agents after this season, making them coveted commodities for teams looking to slash payroll. What they would bring on the trade market is the question. Houston needs a name like Vladimir Radmanovic or Peja Stojakovic. It needs a bully like Danny Fortson or Kenyon Martin. It needs a new identity, or pretty soon it will probably need a new coach.