Through two exhibition games of his NBA career, Rockets rookie guard Luther Head has had moments of fearlessness and recklessness.

He was closer to the latter in the waning seconds of the first quarter against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.

With the Rockets trailing by four and in possession of the basketball, Head committed a cardinal sin ? over-penetration while orchestrating the offense.

After taking a wild foray to the rim only to wind up pinned on the baseline by two defenders, Head barely managed to throw the ball out of bounds off an Orlando player. The scoring opportunity lost, Head faced his bench and coach Jeff Van Gundy, who delivered a glare worth a stream of profanities.

Following the Rockets' 84-80 victory, Van Gundy was asked to assess the performance of the 24th overall selection of the draft. He didn't offer a vote of confidence.

"Yeah, I'm not sure," Van Gundy said. "Let me go back and look at that.

"But he's aggressive. You've got to give him credit for that. He's a young player who plays real hard. He's got to figure it out, and we've got to figure out where he can play."

Less than 24 hours later, Van Gundy was far more effusive in his praise of Head. Given the opportunity to re-evaluate and compose the positive attributes of the 6-3 Illinois product, Van Gundy pronounced the Rockets' first-round draft pick an asset.

"He's a serious kid who's been well-coached and is very professional," Van Gundy said. "We're fortunate that he has the demeanor that he has because there are a lot of knuckleheads that come out now. And he's a good kid."