Rocket Launch

For all the talk about his smooth moves, highlight-reel dunks and explosive scoring ability, Tracy McGrady has impressed his new coach with an often overlooked aspect of his game.

“I knew he was a good passer when we got him,” Houston Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy said, “but he’s probably even a little bit better passer than I thought.”

Good thing. Van Gundy will ask the two-time NBA scoring champion to pass a lot more this season.

McGrady will join 7-foot-6 Yao Ming in Houston to form an inside-outside combination that could replace Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant as the dominant duo in the NBA. Whether the Rockets’ new union ends as badly as the one in Hollywood could depend on McGrady’s ability to get the ball to Yao.

McGrady came to the Rockets in June as part of a blockbuster trade with Orlando that sent Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to the Orlando Magic. The deal also sent Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to Houston.

Francis, a three-time All-Star and Houston’s floor leader, was traded away mostly because he struggled to mesh his high-flying, open-court style with Yao’s methodical low-post game.

The Rockets are hoping McGrady can succeed where Francis didn’t accept his role in an offense that will revolve around Yao.

That will almost certainly be a tough role for a player who last season hoisted more shots than anyone except Kevin Garnett -- despite playing in 15 fewer games -- and became the first reigning scoring leader to be traded during the offseason.

“I have no concerns about Yao and Tracy playing well together,” Van Gundy said. “I have no worries at all.”

McGrady is even more optimistic, to say the least.

“Me and Yao can be a dominant force for a long time in this league,” McGrady said, a grin forming on his lips. “We can be the Shaq and Kobe for a long time.”

The Rockets’ union certainly figures to be much more harmonious than the one in Los Angeles. And it’s tough not to look at their boundless potential and envision a winning combo along the lines of Kobe and Shaq, Magic and Kareem, Dr. J and Moses Malone.

But they both will need plenty of resume building before they can begin to be mentioned with such greats.

McGrady never has advanced past the first round of the playoffs in his eight-year career; Yao reached the postseason for the first time last year, a four-game defeat by the final edition of those Kobe- and Shaq-led Lakers.

“Let’s hold off on those comparisons for now,” Howard said. “I think that’s unfair to Tracy and Yao to expect so much already.”

McGrady went to the Magic with lofty expectations in 2000, expected to pair with Grant Hill to turn Orlando into title town. But Hill’s injured left ankle limited him to 37 games in four seasons, and McGrady’s load grew heavier each year before the Magic finally bottomed out at a league-worst 21-61 last season.

During that dismal year, McGrady was so frustrated that he threatened to retire, battled nagging back problems and fended off criticism for lackluster defensive efforts.

Once the traded was finally completed, Magic general manager John Weisbrod openly questioned McGrady’s work ethic and said he wasn’t his “kind of player.”

That criticism infuriated Van Gundy, who has raved about McGrady’s willingness to learn and desire to improve throughout training camp and the preseason.

“He went from ... everything is perfect to everything is evil,” Van Gundy said of McGrady’s reputation. “And I don’t buy it. I think it’s low and I think it’s wrong.”

Yao averaged 17.5 points last season, a four-point jump from his rookie year, and did it while averaging only 12.5 shots a game. He was often reluctant to assert himself with Francis running the offense, and the Rockets -- not so coincidentally -- were one of the worst-scoring teams in the league (25th of 29 teams).

But after flashing a newfound aggressiveness during the Athens Games, Yao said he’s more prepared to take a leadership role on a team with almost an entirely new roster.

“I’m ready to be a leader,” Yao said through an interpreter he uses a little less frequently now. “I think the summer really helped me with that.”

Houston has looked awful on offense during the preseason. The Rockets are shooting just above 40 percent -- 27 percent from 3-point range -- and committing about 17 turnovers a game. The point guard play in particular has been spotty, with well-traveled Charlie Ward getting most of the minutes.

McGrady and Yao acknowledge struggling to find their place in Van Gundy’s walk-it-up offense. The slow start has tempered some of the early buzz about Houston’s hopes for a title, and their cynical coach wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I would say this: To be compared to Bryant and O’Neal, you’d have to win as much as Bryant and O’Neal,” Van Gundy said. “I’ve been humbled enough in this league to know better. So far, the hype is overdone. We’ll see the results of this soon enough.”