With the hiring of Rick Adelman on May 23 to replace Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets are certain of a style change and hopeful for roster changes.

Adelman promised to be more up-tempo, to use Yao Ming more often away from the post and to make things easier for Tracy McGrady.

He also said quickly that the Rockets need changes that go beyond style. To play Adelman's offensive game, the Rockets seem to have concluded that they need to make some changes to bring more offensive players to the roster.

There might be an irony in that. Van Gundy believed the roster needed help, too. And if Rockets management did not necessarily disagree, there was sentiment that he had more help potential on hand that he found, eventually excluding Bonzi Wells and Kirk Snyder, and rookies Vassilis Spanoulis and Steve Novak from the rotation.

Adelman will likely try to get more from whoever proves to be holdover players from the end of this season's bench. But as he moves the Rockets toward more cutting and movement, he likely would like to have more players worth putting in that offense.

"I think we have to add," Adelman said. "I really do. Now that's it's done, I'm going to get a lot of tape out and look at the players. I think we have the players here who can make it happen. But if you can add players to add some versatility, another guy who can attack a little bit (would be helpful). Attacking the basket has worked pretty well for teams like San Antonio and Phoenix.

"It's not going to be an easy situation, but we've got pieces we can build on that other teams don't."

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
In a series that was ultimately a crushing disappointment, the Rockets did win three games, none better than in their Game 5 fourth quarter run to take a 3-2 series lead. Tracy McGrady would have a career-high 16 assists. Yao Ming had a playoff career high 15 rebounds. Chuck Hayes drew a charge with 12.5 seconds left and the Rockets leading by two. And it would never get better than that.

TURNING POINT
With eight minutes left, the Rockets had come back from an 11-point deficit to within one in Game 6. They never were the same. They crumbled down the stretch. In the final eight minutes, the Rockets made 2 of 9 shots with five turnovers as the Jazz took their third double-digit win of the series in Salt Lake City. They continued that slide in the first half of Game 7, coming back but never recovering completely as the series slipped away.

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