Kudos to the Rockets organization for righting that one.

Still, I was a little concerned that the issue would make me about as welcome there as Cindy Sheehan at the Bush Family Barbecue. That didn't end up being the case at all. I got to the Toyota Center around 11:30am, was pretty much let right in and everyone was very professional.

This was a completely different animal when compared to the training camps in Austin from 1999 to 2002. In Austin, we sat outside of a high school gym building. At the Toyota Center, we got to hang out in the media center, which was decked out with TVs and cubicles set up for the main writers of the Chronicle, the Associated Press, etc.

I thought it would be funny to see a beanbag or wooden crate there with "ClutchFans" on it, but alas, no such luck.

I was in there for 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and I've got to say that there is some killer conversation going on in there. It's kind of like a sports bar chat on steroids. With writers/reporters from the Chronicle, 610 and all the major TV channels, we all talked about current and past happenings with the franchise. I heard some first-hand accounts about the Clyde Drexler-Charles Barkley feud in the late 90's, Barkley's TNT work habits, Thomas Hamilton blowing up on Rudy Tomjanovich and a number of stories about current Rockets.

What was really interesting though was when we found out that the Rockets had pulled off a trade.

The team's public relations department called down to the media center, and informed one of the reporters of the deal. He in turn notified the rest of us.

"Mike James was just traded for Rafer Alston".

Whoa. I immediately stepped out, put out a call to see about notifying the BBS members, but sure enough, the Clutch BBS knew about the trade 35 minutes before we did. The power of the internet.

Of course the TRADE immediately changed any and all questions that were about to be asked.

We got herded down to the arena floor level, just outside the door that led to the court where the players had just practiced. I was maybe 10 feet from the door when Patrick Ewing busted in and greeted everyone as he came by. He didn't really see me and was making a pretty fast beeline at me, and I immediately envisioned my tombstone reading, "Here lies Clutch, who was trampled mercilessly by Patrick Ewing."

No way I could go out like that, so I just spun around past him. I figured he was used to that.

Anyhow, they let us in to the arena and wow, there was everyone. Let me put it this way: Last time I was this close to the members of the roster, Moochie Norris was actually an important part of this ballclub. This team? This team is stacked... seriously loaded.

Now mind you, this was much different than a Rudy T training camp deal. Rudy would sometimes let the media in early and we would get to watch some practice. With Jeff Van Gundy, it was pretty much over by the time we walked in. All the players were shooting around on 4 different goals. Van Gundy was working one-on-one with Derek Anderson on the far end of the court. Many players were starting to leave. We stood on the court between them and the strip that led to the locker room.

Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson was sitting courtside and we migrated his way, naturally, to talk about the big development.

"It was tough getting rid of Mike because he had done such a great job for us," said Dawson. "But having a point guard that can get down the floor, push the pass and can run the break, especially when we added Stromile Swift and Derek Anderson, along with Tracy, it's going to help the break. He's been very efficient over the last few years as far as running a team and we think that he's going to be a real good addition."

CD stated also that the Rockets had been looking at this deal for a month, and had done a lot of homework on Alston. He said this wasn't the only deal they were looking at either, saying the team had "some other options, [but] this is the one we decided on so this is what we're real happy with". Surprisingly, Dawson added that the Rockets would not have even considered this deal if it was not for Bobby Sura's injury.

David Wesley came up next, and everyone swarmed him. Wesley praised the deal, it seemed.

"I think everyone liked Mike. He is a good player and a very good scorer and can get his own shot and those types of things, but maybe they think Rafer Alston might be a better fit for this team being more of a true point. Lately he's been knocking down the three-point shot, handles the ball well obviously and just that point guard mentality -- he's going to pass the ball, get guys some shots and run this team efficiently."

Then Wesley added after a pause, "Hopefully."

I thought maybe he was doubting a bit. When asked if Alston brought an element that was lacking to the team, Wesley added. "I don't know. I don't know Rafer that well, I don't know what kind of locker room guy he is and I don't know what kind of teammate he is yet but obviously they felt he was that guy and you know, we'll see in a minute."

That's when I sort of caught a break. I didn't envision being able to ask questions of Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady on my first day being there was a lot of media in the house, but Yao came over, sat down in the first row seats and made himself available. To my surprise, only one other person came over and he started asking questions first. What happened was the media was still with Wesley, then they shifted to T-Mac afterwards. They just missed Yao in between.

Right off the bat you can tell Yao is a sincere person. He looks you right in the eyes, he cares about answering your questions... I was seriously very impressed with him. After my first question to Yao, I was still stunned no one else was there so I sort of got caught flat-footed. He looked up at me for the next question and I'm still thinking, "Seriously, no one else is coming over?"

On the first day of practice
"All the old players are repeating what we did last year. It's more important for the new guys on our team. I think we're working on our chemistry. After maybe one week I think we'll be working much better."

On Mike James getting traded:
"I never saw this before, trading someone on the first day, man. It's a good opportunity for him, he's a great player. He helped us out a lot last year in the regular season and playoffs. He can get more opportunity to play."

On how he is holding up physically:
"Today is just some organized play, no contact yet [laughs]."

On his first practice with Stromile Swift:
"He can jump, man. He showed us some amazing dunks. It's just unbelievable."

On how Rafer Alston will fit in:
"Well, uh ... we need more time to work together so it's hard to say right now."

On coming in after the first offseason where he got to rest more:
"I like to rest, but to restart... [laughs] I've never had it that hard. To restart is really, really hard."

I thanked Yao for the time and he smiled saying, "No problem". Again, I can't say enough good things about the guy. Seemed very courteous, very humble.

As Yao left, I noticed Stromile Swift was right behind him. He was the #1 guy on my list to talk to but he had slipped out without a media soul asking him a question.

T-Mac was already about done with his question-answer session, but I did catch him talking about the Alston acquisition and the first day of camp.

"We've got our work cut out for us, we have a lot of young guys that need to catch up with us, but for the most part it was a good day," said McGrady. "It's a lot easier having [been with Van Gundy] for a complete year. I know what to expect now while these guys that are new coming in have to get on the same page as well."

Van Gundy was one of the last people off the floor. He came over in his white shirt with bold, block-type letters spelling out "HOUSTON ROCKETS". It almost made him look like a prison guard. He walked up and was immediately surrounded.

Jeff is very savvy with the media, very shrewd. He looks down almost the entire time ... like he's checking out your shoes. Even when he turns to respond to you he sometimes will not make eye contact, instead maintaining the downward stare.

What surprised me though was how refreshingly honest he was, and funny. He talked extensively about the trade, and unloaded this gem.

"It's always funny when you talk to guys in the NBA when they're traded. 'I was traded for WHO?' and they can't believe it. On the other end, they're saying, 'I was traded for WHO?' Both guys think... I'm not saying in this case, but that's just how it is and that's why they are successful, because they couldn't believe they were traded for who they were traded for. Happens on every trade. If you're not you're probably not that good. The only one I didn't hear say that was Lamar Odom when he was traded for Shaq. He just nodded and moved on. But everyone else in the history of the game can't believe they were traded for who they were traded for."

I swear I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing because he sort of has that Stephen Wright deadpan delivery going on. But overall, Van Gundy thought it was a good first day of camp.

"Day by day you get a better feel for who you have and what they can do and certainly I don't think that's any different this year," said Van Gundy. "We're in good enough shape to start getting in shape. I think their base is fairly good but that doesn't mean we're in basketball game shape. They've done a good job getting in shape to start getting in shape."

"I don't want to get in to praising one at the exclusion of others, you know. But there are some guys who obviously do more than others, but for the most part I think everyone did a fairly good job."