Stacey Augmon gets set on defense while Charles Barkley looks on	Barkley goes up strong to the hoop as Hakeem Olajuwon and Walt Williams go for the block
Superstars one on one. Charles Barkley posts up Hakeem Olajuwon	Matt Maloney awaits his unit's turn to start the sprints up again
Charles collapses right in front of me from fatigue after the wind sprints	The blue team is winning by 1 but grey has the ball with 10 seconds or so left. Blue talks strategy.
Matt Bullard, Charles Barkley and Shandon Anderson line up at the free throw line	Kelvin Cato stops to talk to Walt Williams
After Bryce Drew made a mistake and grey was unable to get a shot in the closing seconds of a quarter, Cuttino Mobley stopped Bryce to talk about what they could have done better	The Houston Rockets potential star point guard: Steve Francis
Friends? Absolutely. Francis, Shandon and Cat get together to talk after practice	Kind of a blurry picture, but this is Francis after one of the wind sprints
Hakeem Olajuwon and Thomas Hamilton	The Dream. Hakeem was looking back at the officials here claiming he was fouled by Charles Barkley on the previous play.
Francis teases the Chuckster by using him to push off the blocks and get a good jump in the sprints race (which Shandon Anderson won)	Hakeem wasn't done. After a stoppage of play he drew some laughs by heading to the officials and complaining about a no-call. The refs said Charles got ball, and Hakeem kept slapping his elbow saying, "You call this ball?" It was a friendly argument ... a few laughs from both parties
Hakeem stretches after practice. That is Glenn Rogers of the San Antonio Express-News on the left. I asked Dream a few questions shortly afterwards	Walt Williams (left) and Thomas Hamilton. Dream is behind Hamilton preparing to defend him
Don MacLean returns to the sidelines after completing the wind sprints drill	The Chuckster waits for the first running unit to return for him to run once again the wind sprints drill
Cuttino Mobley (left) and Shandon Anderson, going head to head in the srimmage, take a quick breather as play starts up once again	Cuttino Mobley sets to go by Shandon Anderson on the right side. Charles Barkley comes over to set a (sort of) pick
Cuttino Mobley and Shandon Anderson	Carlos Rogers comes in fast and hard for the tip-in, but it went just in and out
Carlos Rogers (left), Charles Barkley and Hambone (Thomas Hamilton)	Shandon Anderson D's up on Cuttino Mobley as it looks like Matt Maloney is about to get pancaked by Hambone
Good picture -- Shandon Anderson strips Charles Barkley as he was preparing to take it up strong on the Dream	During the wind sprints drill - that's Augmon, Massenburg and Hambone in the back, Rudy T on the far right
	Kenny Thomas looks at the camera after a foul call that stopped play shortly

I got there kind of late, but fortunately they hadn't let the media in. Two members of the media -- one that was there yesterday and one that had been there every day I was there -- were waiting to get in.

Caroll Dawson walked out of the gym and said to one of them, "Hi Jonathan... "

Ding! The light bulb finally goes off in my head and I realize it has to be Jonathan Feigen -- the Houston Chronicle writer who covers the Rockets beat. I ask him and sure enough it is. We must have talked outside close to an hour... really a great guy and fantastic person to talk to. Usually minutes seem like hours waiting to get in to the practice, but talking to him and the other media member (who was Glenn Rogers of the San Antonio Express-News) was incredible. Feigen has a tremendous knowledge of the game, the league and especially the Rockets and it was fascinating talking to him.

Anyhow, the reason for the delay was drug testing. Mandatory drug testing kicked in this year and officials from the league were in town to test the Rockets. As I was waiting outside, a big guy in a suit walks out, comes right up to us three and shakes our hands. Instantly he was recognizable as Purvis Short, the ex-Rocket and current Regional Player Representative.

Yet another thrill added on to a long list recently.

When we were allowed in, Rudy had play stopped and was preparing to start the scrimmage once again. When play did resume, the up-tempo pace started immediately, but you could tell it was different than the ping-pong tempo of the past few days. Half-court sets were run more often, but one of the assistant coaches was counting to 10 each time a half-court set was run, indicating they wanted a shot up quickly.

As usual, it was Dream's Team versus Sir Charles' Team. Only this time, Charles Barkley played center at times, both posting up and playing defense against Hakeem Olajuwon.

It was interesting. Barkley actually put on 2 good moves on Hakeem, getting two layups off of spin moves past him. Overall however, Hakeem probably got the better of the Chuckster, including one graceful spin move past Charles that left him all alone for the easy two.

When Chuck and Hakeem did post-up respectively off of the left block, instantly they were looking for a cutter or the open man. The Rockets are definitely aware of the new rules and are preparing as fast as they can for them.

The guards continue to excel.

Shandon Anderson hit two consecutive three-pointers off the right wing, Cuttino Mobley looked pretty pulling up for jumpers in one-on-one situations and Steve Francis is just quick. I learned to appreciate Francis even more when I moved under the basket and got the long view of the court. He's dribbling between his legs and pulling out crossovers that has him moving from side to side on the court very fast.

I didn't see it, but heard just before we came in that Francis, after stealing the ball and heading down the court for the breakaway, bounced the ball high off the ground, then he slammed it home after it caromed off the glass.

"That kid is going to be a highlight film," said the security guard as he walked out of the gym.

Walt Williams hit the only three-pointer I saw him take and Matt Maloney hit two big buckets -- one from three-point range and another from about 15-16 feet. He did however take and miss an ill-advised shot that had Rudy coming on to the court and stopping play to illustrate what went wrong.

"I'm not saying you took a bad shot," said Rudy. "That was a good shot."

Probably sparing his feelings mind you, but Matt looked overall pretty good. It's going to be interesting to see the kind of playing time Maloney and Bryce Drew get at the backup PG spot. Drew had one nice move when he penetrated from the three-point line and stopped on a dime from about 13 feet out. He immediately faked a pass into the paint, which threw off his defender, and he then nailed the jumper.

"Great job Bryce!", shouted Rudy.

Believe it or not, the game was close by itself. Rudy didn't have to set up any situations at the end of the ballgame. Grey team, led by Barkley, had the ball with about 6-8 seconds to go and down by 1. They threw it in to the Chuckster, who put on a good, strong move and made his way to the basket. Steve Francis came from the weakside and picked it cleanly from his hands as time expired.

Needless to say, you didn't want to be near the Chuckster right after that one.

The Rockets ran more wind sprint drills, and near the end they ran races. Shandon Anderson beat out all comers, including Cuttino Mobley, who just edged Matt Maloney believe it or not. Steve Francis was right there in front as well. Barkley gave it a good run and ended up on the floor in exhaustion when he was done.

Thomas Hamilton is scheduled to finish sometime tomorrow.

After taking a number of photos, I headed over to see the Dream, who I was really looking forward to interviewing now. He was in the middle of being interviewed by Rogers of the SA Express-News, and after that he signed some autographs. As he made his way to the bus, I walked up to him and asked him if I could ask him a few questions.

"Sure," said Dream. He slowly walked towards the entrance so I asked the first question. As soon as I did, he slowed to a halt, turned to face me square and looked me right in the eyes to answer the question. Simple thing -- amazing feeling.

This is how it went exactly transcribed off of tape:

Clutch: I wanted to ask you how you felt about this training camp as compared to the past few training camps with your offseason workout that you've been doing the past couple of years...

Hakeem: Well, the last couple of years, I've been running on the track, finding an easier way to get in shape, and ... this last summer I did a lot of stuff. I continued to do some light exercise all throughout the summer, so it makes it much easier to get back in shape and to come in camp. My knees feel comfortable to run.

Clutch: That's great. Thanks. What do you think so far of the rookies Steve Francis and Kenny Thomas?

Hakeem: I think they are both outstanding players. They are very skillful. Very smart, explosive. Very tough. I think they are going to make our job so much easier. There is no question that Steve Francis has a tremendous... a bright future.

Clutch: Kenny Thomas as well I guess...

Hakeem: Kenny Thomas is very .... he's a good shooter, very patient. He will get better with competition.

Clutch: Thank you Hakeem. I appreciate it.

I only spoke to Kelvin Cato for a very short period -- to be honest I didn't have any real questions planned. He actually was pretty cool, though looking at the transcript I realize how dry both these questions and answers are.

Clutch: I only caught part of practice yesterday, but have you been hurt? I haven't seen you out here...

Cato: Uh... just having muscle spasms right now in my back... I'm going to be cool though.

Clutch: Do you view yourself more as a true center or more as a power forward? I remember watching you do real well on Karl Malone in the past and was wondering if you felt more comfortable at the 4.

Cato: I play where the coaches put me. I ain't got a problem playing none of the above. I just play defense and try to score. Wherever they put me that's where I'm going to play.

Watching Barkley off the court, you gain a tremendous amount of respect for the man. Outside the gym he was signing autographs for tons of kids, as well as taking pictures with some. Inside the gym, a teenage girl, confined to a wheelchair, and her mother were staring at Charles Barkley. Barkley introduced himself to the teenager, and she did likewise as her mom asked if they could take a picture with Charles.

Chuck, always pressed for time, sat down next to her and they talked for a while. The mother took the photo as they looked into the camera. "Take another one Mom," said Charles. After the conversation, Barkley, who always called the girl by name, wished her well, they said their goodbyes and he headed out the door. The girl wheeled up close to the door and near Barkley as her mother reacted, "Be careful ... "

"That's right, don't hurt me," said Charles with a wink, again calling the girl by name.

The girl had a smile on her face as wide as the state of Texas.

It was one of those gloss stories that you suspect are used to make a player or politician look good, but I saw it right there. No news cameras to cover it and most everyone was gone from the gym anyhow. There wasn't any pity there, just Charles being Charles to brighten someone's day. He may do or say some stupid things, but no one can say that Charles' heart isn't in the right place.

Sunday -- last practice in Austin. And then as Rudy said in the final huddle as they closed practice, "Then we're heading back home to Houston."

We must send out a special thanks again to the Houston Rockets organization, who continue to make it possible for us to see the practices, interview the players and take photos. They have been fantastic throughout.