There was a rumor floating around earlier this season that Rudy Tomjanovich was ready to hang it up in Houston. The losing and the constant grind of NBA seasons, the word went, had taken their toll, and Rudy T -- the coach with the second-longest tenure in the league -- was going to retire at season's end.

Now, what have I told you folks about rumors?

"No way," T says. "I love this. To be honest with you, I'd like to have the opportunity to be the only coach to win championships with the same team in different eras. We are not as bad as our record, because of the injuries. I think the personnel we have -- (Steve) Francis, (Cuttino) Mobley, (Eddie) Griffin, Mo Taylor, and other sort of role players and that stuff -- I like how far we've come."

	Contrary to rumors, Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich isn't ready to retire.

The Rockets are 20 games under .500 and will miss the playoffs for the third straight season, far removed from last season's 45-37 squad that just missed the postseason. They took a chance on Glen Rice, taking on the remaining $27.6 million of his deal. Rice has rewarded them with 20 games, none since December. Their future is clearly tied to the future health of Stevie Franchise, whose season has been marred by recurring migraines. In a Western Conference filled to the brim with tall timber, Houston has dachsunds.

But Tomjanovich is undeterred.

"I'm so excited about the job," Tomjanovich says. "Everybody comes up to me with that (worried) look on their face. I feel good. I know that it's a process in this league. I sort of call it suffering. To me, you don't get there without a little suffering. I always give them a pat on the back. Even when we didn't make the playoffs, everybody always says, 'We didn't make the playoffs, but you know what, we feel positive about the team.' Some of that stuff has got to come in and filter down to the players, because some of them will say 'Hey, when's it going to happen?'...

"It takes time. It ain't no fun if you've been up there. But I don't know of one example where the thing's been short cut. You just don't become a man without getting some pimples and going through that misery of adolesence and puberty. And then on the other side of it, the light goes on."

Tomjanovich looks to Minnesota as the model for building a team. It has taken Kevin Garnett and friends seven years to build the Timberwolves to where they are -- a team that hasn't yet gotten out of the first round. The Rockets are in Year Three. They have three young scorers in Francis, Mobley and Moochie Norris, and a rookie in Griffin who's in the top 15 in blocks. A lottery pick this season should address some of Houston's stature gap.

"Even when Steve was out and we lost those games, it wasn't just Steve being out," Tomjanovich says. "Glen went down, and that was for the season. But we also had some other guys that were missing, and chemistry is so fragile. I just really worked with our team on saying we're doing things better ... other teams go down and the fourth quarter don't mean (bleep). We've got guys that are having to execute, and then you get better."

The rumors began after Tomjanovich had to leave his post as head coach of the 2000 U.S. men's Olympic team during the qualifying rounds because of exhaustion. But he has made changes in his life over the last few seasons.

"I had to do it on my own," he said. "I almost killed myself, trying to be a hero, coming up with a miracle. In reality, the miracle is what we did back then (winning back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995). Now it's got to be a process. I was trying to come up with the great draft, the draft trade, I wore myself out one summer and wound up in the hospital, had to take a month off. I just went away with an old buddy, went up to Michigan and worked my way over to Utah. I went there to the Teton Mountains and just got away from the telephone, thought about what I really wanted. Did I love the game, or was it killing me?

"It was all a matter of my perception, putting myself in the wrong place. Taking the responsibility for stuff when all you can do is your very best. It really changed everything. I'm not as obsessive. I used to do the job the assistant coaches were doing, and they were doing their job great. I used to watch three game tapes and be up every damn night. I said 'I have three great assistant coaches. What the hell am I doing?' "

ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS

THE TOP 10 1. Sacramento 2. L.A. Lakers 3. Dallas 4. San Antonio 5. New Jersey 6. Detroit 7. Boston 8. Portland 9. Minnesota 10. Utah THE BOTTOM FIVE 25. Cleveland 26. Memphis 27. Denver 28. Golden State 29. Chicago THE MIDDLE FOURTEEN 11. Orlando 12. Seattle 13. Philadelphia 14. Charlotte 15. Milwaukee 16. Indiana 17. Toronto 18. L.A. Clippers 19. Miami 20. Washington 21. Houston 22. Atlanta 23. Phoenix 24. New York

How Pistons were built for playoff drive
Two years ago, the Pistons were like many other NBA teams. They had two superstars in Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse and thought that was the nucleus of a team that could make a title run. Of course, it didn't work out that way. But Detroit has built a strong team seemingly overnight, with a philosophy that runs counter to the conventional wisdom. Instead of trying to build around two stars, the Pistons have gone the other way, creating a team out of good coaching and role players.

"I'd rather have a lot of good players than two great ones," general manager Joe Dumars says.

Their decision was forced on them, though. After the Pistons failed to lure Chris Webber from Sacramento last summer, Detroit had millions in salary-cap room and a decision to make -- what to do with the money? Instead of throwing it after mid-level free agents, Detroit went the other way. (In the interests of full disclosure, however, it should be pointed out that the Pistons were a Matt Geiger OK away from bringing Allen Iverson to Motown in the summer of 2000.)

Nonetheless, it has worked out for Detroit. Its first decision was to hire Rick Carlisle as coach. Then, the Pistons got depth by acquiring Cliff Robinson from Phoenix and Jon Barry from Sacramento. Corliss Williamson has turned into a Sixth Man of the Year candidate. And the players they got from Orlando in the sign-and-trade deal for Hill -- Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace -- have worked out relatively nicely.

And when Dumars closes his eyes -- well, if he squints, maybe -- he can see the old Bad Boys in his new Boys.

"It does remind me how we used to hang in there and win a lot of games, even though it wasn't pretty," Dumars says.

Detroit does do one thing the old Pistons used to do with regularity. Going into Friday's game at Philadelphia, the Pistons had won 15 of their past 18 road games. But Carlisle has seen signs of slippage defensively over the past couple of weeks from the Pistons, and he thinks his squad could use some practice time before the playoffs to work out some kinks.

"We can be a little better," he says. "We're always better when we have some preparation time."

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