Sounds like a nightmare in Houston.

"No, not a nightmare," guard Steve Francis counters. "It's been a lot of learning for me."

Francis, like coach Rudy Tomjanovich, has mostly learned to be optimistic. He thinks the Rockets will benefit long-term from all of this season's injury misery and make the 2003 playoffs just by getting healthy.

Rockets fans, or at least the 11,000 still willing to regularly visit Compaq Center, will have to hope Francis is right. Getting healthy might be Houston's only means for moving up in the West, because the Rockets are over the salary cap and, barring a trade shakeup, unlikely to drastically change the team.

In a conference overflowing with power players, where even last season's 45-37 record couldn't land Houston a playoff spot, that means relying mostly on Francis and Cuttino Mobley. Maurice Taylor will be back in 2002-03, after missing all 82 games with an Achilles' tear, but Taylor is an undersized power forward. Glen Rice, meanwhile, played in only 20 games at age 34 and has two seasons left on his contract at nearly $19 million.