Hoop Scoop

Before his team's showdown against the Bulls last Saturday in Chicago, Rockets forward Charles Barkley was talking about his plan to run for governor of Alabama in 2002. But it wasn't until after the Bulls' 110-86 pasting that Barkley really sounded like a politician. "That game wasn't a fair assessment," he said of how the teams matched up. "We ran out of gas in the second half." O.K., Chuck. Granted the Rockets were playing their fourth road game in five nights, two more than the Bulls had played over the same span. But a 24-point blowout in the most hotly anticipated game of the season? "We'll play better on Sunday," Barkley said, referring to the rematch this weekend in Houston. True, Barkley probably won't shoot 2 of 11 again. Nor will teammate Clyde Drexler go 3 of 11, even with Scottie Pippen covering him like lint on a sour ball. But unless the Rockets start getting more than splinters from their bench (the Bulls reserves outscored Houston's 44-24), they have no hope of dethroning Chicago....

At week's end the Trail Blazers were fourth in the league in rebounding, but they didn't have a player in the top 30 of the individual rankings....

If Georgetown grads Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo are the Eastern Conference centers at the All-Star game, shouldn't John Thompson get to be the team's coach?...

Despite making the playoffs just twice since 1985-86, the Kings have sold out 474 straight home games, the longest such streak currently in the NBA. Either Sacramento has the league's most loyal fans or its worst nightlife....

Talk about bad timing. With his contract up after this season, Utah guard Jeff Hornacek is shooting just 28.9% from beyond the arc, his lowest percentage since he was a rookie in '86-87....

Rockets forward Mario Elie denies giving Robert Horry, his former teammate, the idea to throw that towel in Phoenix coach Danny Ainge's face. In the closing seconds of a Suns' 1994 playoff loss to Houston, a piqued Ainge fired an inbounds pass into Elie's mug. "I haven't forgotten that," Elie says. "But that's not why Robert did it. He was just frustrated with his situation there."...

Jason Kidd's new teammates in Phoenix are calling him Wash, a reference to Dallas coach Jim Cleamons's insistence that the Kidd-for- Sam Cassell portion of the recent Mavericks-Suns blockbuster was a swap of equals....

Jermaine O'Neal, the Blazers' promising 18-year-old rookie, has gotten a nickname from his teammates too: Diaper Rash....

After talking with family members, Heat forward P.J. Brown has decided to stop ripping fellow Louisiana Tech alum Karl Malone. Now, Miami coach Pat Riley is hoping Brown's family tells him to hit some open jumpers....

Celtics 6'8" rookie Antoine Walker has played all five positions. Is he that versatile, or is Boston that bad?...