Though the Rockets have looked good, the disappointment has been that the roster already is semi-banged up.

Cuttino Mobley is out with a minor hip injury, Dan Langhi has the sprained ankle and I never once saw Glen Rice play. In fact, the only time I ever saw him shoot was Day 1 when he went through some pretty laid back shooting drills. Granted I didn't see much action so that doesn't mean he didn't play -- Rudy had said earlier in the week that Rice had gotten scrimmage in.

Rice always was the first out of practice, heading out to do rehab on his leg. So I asked Rudy what was the status on Rice's knee.

"He's sort of in day-to-day," said the Rockets coach on their new small forward. "He's a professional and I know he works hard and stuff like that but Keith [Jones, Rockets trainer] has been doing a great job of just seeing how he's feeling. We're just happy he's here. My concern is the big picture and that's playing the majority of our games and not trying to push him in to a situation where we put him in jeopardy."

A reporter from the Austin American Statesman asked Rudy about Marc Jackson, and you could tell the coach was reluctant to talk about him.

"We'd love to have him here, I just hope we get him," said Rudy. "I'll just be happy if we get him. Of course it would be better [to have him now in camp], but sometimes you just got to deal with what's sent your way."

Speaking with some of those present, the word on Jackson seems to be that the Warriors and GM Gary St. Jean will wait until the last minute to send their decision on whether or not they'll match the Rocket offer. They apparently want to observe and analyze as much as they can on their big men in camp (Erick Dampier, Adonal Foyle, Danny Fortson, Troy Murphy) and use every minute between now and the deadline.

If Dampier or Fortson go down to injury in that time span, you can bet they'll match the offer to Jackson.

As for Moochie Norris, there has been no word.

One thing I did notice after practice today was that Damon Jones, Steve Francis and Mobley seem to get along very well. Francis was there wearing not training camp gear, but a full Rockets jersey. He was doing a photo shoot for someone, hence the legit uni. When Mobley and Jones both said they were going to Luby's for lunch, Francis, while taking photos, was adamant that they wait until 1:00pm, when he was scheduled to be done with the shoot and would be free to join them.

Mobley just slowly walked out of the gym with a huge smile, as if to say, 'drop on by... we'll be having dessert by then.'

On the way out of the gym I caught Langhi, and I noticed that though he was still walking with a limp, it was significantly better than it was 2 days ago when he injured his ankle. So I asked him how it was:

"Oh it's a lot better. Yeah, it's doing good. I can move on it, like walk, without pain. I can't really do anything [on the court] right now, but it's improving."

So what's the timetable for him to get back on the floor?

"They said between 4 to 7 days, something like that. Give or take, just depends," said Langhi. "It's doing good right now, but once I cut or anything like that, it kind of gives out on me. Probably a little longer. I'm treating it 3 times a day so that's about as much as you can do to help it out."

Langhi -- very cool guy. The Anti-Kelvin Cato. So I had asked Rudy what he thought about the crowded situation the Rockets have at small forward, and Langhi possibly playing some shooting guard this year, as he did in the summer leagues.

"Yeah, possibly. He's an athletic guy," said Rudy. "There might be something there for him. He could even..... we almost go the other way. We've been putting the threes at four, but that would be an interesting lineup to have him matched up against a guy that he is bigger than, and could give us an advantage offensively, posting up and rebounding."

Rudy also talked after camp about how the team has in fact beem limited due to injuries. He also praised Kenny Thomas, basically saying he has hardened his body and softened his shot, and that he's looked excellent. He even said Cato has had some good practices.