All in all, it was a tough preseason for Sir Charles, who was chastised by the league following an incident in Orlando in which he tossed through a restaurant window a patron who allegedly was harassing him. Barkley briefly considered retirement but relented and came off the bench during last Friday's season opener, scoring six points and grabbing eight boards in a 94-86 win over the Cavaliers. Barkley picked the wrong year to show up at camp 10 to 20 pounds overweight. Unlike Houston teams of the past, this one plans to run. What we would like to do is get more easy baskets with fast breaks and offensive rebounds.
Transition is a little more difficult with an older team.
But all those guys can run, and they have high-energy guys backing them up. Tomjanovich is also looking for more penetration, and that's where Rhodes comes in. One of the top high school players in 1992, Rhodes finished his college career at Southern Cal last year after fizzling earlier at Kentucky. Most experts predicted he would be a late second-round pick at best, but Tomjanovich snatched him up with his first selection, the 24th pick. He's a penetrator and creator on the floor, he has a feel for where people are and for delivering the ball.