Cuttino Mobley of the Houston Rockets took offense when asked about the offensive system installed by Jeff Van Gundy.

Mobley was perfectly happy to talk about the team's defense. But his opinion of the offense, ranked 27th among the 29 teams in the NBA, was off-limits.

``Don't ask me that question,'' Mobley said one night after the Rockets managed just 66 points in a loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Mobley's average has dropped almost two points from last season, and Steve Francis has gone from scoring 21.0 last season to 17.0 as the Rockets have switched to a more structured offense designed to get the ball into Yao Ming's hands more often.

The Rockets reached 100 points for the third time Thursday with a 111-79 victory over New York. It was just the seventh time in Houston's 35 games that either the Rockets or their opponent surpassed 100 points.

Houston began the weekend with the exact same record, 20-15, as it had after 35 games a year ago.

``Everything's good, we're working our way into it,'' Mobley said. ``The defense is great, getting a lot better, the offense is going to take time to learn more, keeping our turnovers down and our shot selection better.''

Van Gundy's teams have always been strong defensively, and this season's Rockets are no exception.

Tying an NBA record, Houston held consecutive opponents below 70 points by holding Utah to 63 and Golden State to 65. It was only the fifth time in league history the feat has been accomplished. (The Detroit Pistons became the sixth by holding Boston to 68 and the Rockets to 66.)

Van Gundy has coached three of those teams.

Opponents are shooting only 38.7 percent against Houston, which ranks them first in the league, and the Rockets have held teams to an average of 83.7 points _ the second-lowest behind San Antonio's 82.3

``Jeff's philosophy on defense helps a lot, shrinking the court, keeping the ball out of the paint,'' Mobley said.

The trick to making the Rockets better on offense will be getting Yao out of his recent funk. The 7-foot-6 center had reached 20 points only twice in the past 16 games, including a season-low four points against Detroit.

``Yao's got to stop worrying about everything and learn how to love the game again,'' Rockets assistant coach Patrick Ewing said.

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RICKY RIPS CLEVELAND:@ Ricky Davis criticized the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland on the eve of his matchup against his former team, calling both ``the black hole.''

Davis faced the Cavaliers on Friday night for the first time since the Dec. 15 trade that sent him, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart to the Celtics for Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown.

It's probably a good thing for Davis that the game was in Boston and not in Ohio.

``I was glad to be out of the black hole. It was terrible over there. The organization. No system. The town. Everything. The GM. All of it is kind of backward,'' Davis told reporters. ``It's good to be in a winning organization that has a system and knows what's going on.

``It's a step up in everything ... class, coaches, owners, GMs, players, winning, tradition, everything.''

The Cavaliers acquired Davis in an October 2001 trade with Miami. While in Cleveland, Davis progressed from role player to starter. In the summer of 2002, the Cavaliers matched an offer sheet from Minnesota and signed Davis to a six-year deal worth $34.7 million.

The five-year veteran had a breakout season in 2002-03, leading Cleveland in scoring (20.2 points), assists, steals, minutes and 3-point percentage. He has been coming off the bench in Boston.

Davis said he regretted having to leave his family in Cleveland.

``They hate it,'' he said.

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COACH EWING:@ When Patrick Ewing watches the Milwaukee Bucks, he becomes envious of Terry Porter.

Ewing, an assistant to Jeff Van Gundy in Houston after spending last season working under Doug Collins in Washington, wants to be an NBA coach.

``One day, hopefully one day soon,'' Ewing said. ``I see Terry Porter's doing a fantastic job, and he only had one year of experience. This is my second.''

Porter has led the Bucks to a record of 19-16, making them one of only six Eastern Conference tams with an above-.500 record.

Several former players in Ewing's age group, including Byron Scott, Rick Carlisle and Maurice Cheeks, have all become successful NBA coaches. Ewing caught the coaching bug from sitting alongside former Magic coach Doc Rivers during Ewing's final season as a player.

``I'm enjoying it. It's a lot of work, but hey, that's life,'' Ewing said. ``When I was playing, if you asked me if I'd be a coach the answer would have been no, but when I went down to Orlando I got brainwashed.

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LAYUPS:@ Shaquille O'Neal did not call the Lakers last week to tell them he was skipping practice because of back pain. He told reporters his back hurt too much to lift the phone book, and he couldn't remember the phone number at the practice facility. ``We, as humans, only use 8 percent of our craniums,'' O'Neal said. ``Why fill it up with nonessential things?'' ... Eddy Curry of the Bulls did not get his ankles taped before practice, angering coach Scott Skiles, who made all the players run extra laps. Bulls GM John Paxson won't extend the contracts of Curry and Tyson Chandler, though the Bulls will retain the right to match any offer when the players become restricted free agents in 2005. ... In the quotable department, Houston's Maurice Taylor on his slimmed-down physique: ``I haven't weighed 254 since Krispy Kreme franchised.'' ... When he turned 19 last Tuesday, LeBron James took over the record for most NBA points by that age. His 625 topped the 539 by Kobe Bryant, 451 by Tracy McGrady, 292 by Bill Willoughby and 185 by Jermaine O'Neal. Although he has scored only 11 points all season, Darko Milicic could still crack the top five. He does not turn 19 until June 20.