There was a time in Rudy Tomjanovich's life when he would have plowed through the warnings and advice and continued right on with his high-wire act life, with the Everest highs and the Dead Sea lows. When he would have kept it all in and not shared things with anybody. And although the doctors have told Rudy T's boss that he can get this cancer thing 10 more times and it won't kill him, he's in a lot better shape these days to deal with it.

Don't misunderstand; basketball is still central in Tomjanovich's life, specifically, the Rockets, for whom he's been toiling, just about every day, for the last 33 years. But it's not all of his life. That's what happens when you pull back. In Rudy's case, when you pull back from alcohol. Perspective has wrestled booze to the ground, and taken away its power.

	A peaceful Rudy Tomjanovich is prepared for the next challenge in his life.

So when Tomjanovich announced Wednesday that he would probably miss the rest of the season to deal with a cancerous tumor on the lining of his bladder, he was sad, to be sure. And worried. But he has a strength and peace now in his center.

"It's up there with all the other drama I've had in my life," Tomjanovich said. "Watching the games is tough. I had to stop. But I've had a couple of other things change in my lifestyle, gotten rid of a couple of habits, and going through all of those things at the same time takes a toll on all of those little crutches you take for granted to get you through stressful things."

There was no epiphany for Tomjanovich, just the realization a couple of years ago that after three decades on the road, he was drinking too much for someone who should have been happier after his successes as a player and a coach. He never called a press conference or made a big deal about it; he just stopped. He no longer looked at tape obsessively, realizing he had perfectly good assistant coaches who were willing and able to help. He stopped smoking. He started taking trips with friends and family. He literally smelled the roses.

But first, he stopped drinking.

"It means everything in the world," Tomjanovich says of his sobriety. "Not to deep too deep into that, but for me to do that, it's a spiritual program. You learn some things about life, about yourself. It's been monumental in how I handle everything. I stay very close to that program. I take in meetings and I go to different churches. But it's not a religious thing. It's a spiritual thing. I can be outside, just go outside, and I can feel it. But I feel it in people, too. It's been a wonderful new way -- it's not new, anymore -- but it's just a different way of living."

Rudy has taken it to heart. When the Rockets brought in Richard Deanna, a behavioral specialist who has worked with people from athletes like Summer Sanders to actors like John Malkovich to help improve their performance, Tomjanovich paid rapt attention. Every person is wired differently, Deanna said, and that meant each player had to be motivated differently. Some guys needed eye contact. Others needed physical contact.

This doesn't mean T has become some kind of pushover. But there's a lot more talking in his huddles and in practice than yelling. The Rockets have already noticed the difference between T and acting head coach Larry Smith, Tomjanovich's longtime assistant.

"Larry gets in your ass," Steve Francis says, and Francis knows from coaches who, um, do that sort of thing, having survived Gary Williams at Maryland.

	There was just no way that Tomjanovich could concentrate on getting better and getting the Rockets back to the playoffs. And in that context, the choice wasn't hard at all. Now, though, Tomjanovich has a solid footing off the floor when he needs it the most.

But Wednesday, it was hard for Rudy to find the words when he wanted to tell his players that he had to go. And it was equally emotional for them, maybe Francis more than anybody. It was Tomjanovich who gave his blessing for the Rockets to become Franchise's team, eased the transition from Hakeem Olajuwon to Francis by pulling Francis aside and talking to him about what leadership really meant.

"When I was going through the Meniere's Disease last year, Rudy was always the guy who said 'Hey, if you need to take a day off, go home,' " Francis recalled. "And he's the guy who traded 11 guys to get me here."

It would never be easy to deal with cancer, but this is an especially hard time for Tomjanovich to go away. The Rockets are on their way up again after three hellish seasons of rebuilding, and they're in a battle with Phoenix for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. He'd been patient with Francis, and Cat Mobley, and he'd helped shepherd Yao Ming through his rookie season without too many bumps in the road. Houston mattered again in the West. But now, none of that matters.

For the next six weeks, Tomjanovich will have a drug called BCG injected into his liver, to see if the tumor can be shrunk. The Rockets' doctors think that the treatment will get rid of the cancer for good. But there was just no way that Tomjanovich could concentrate on getting better and getting the Rockets back to the playoffs. And in that context, the choice wasn't hard at all. Now, though, Tomjanovich has a solid footing off the floor when he needs it the most.

"This has been one of the craziest years I've been involved with," Tomjanovich said Wednesday. "Almost surreal. It brought us together as a staff; we're very, very close. I've already had some championship moments this year as far as loyalty, as far as men expressing their feelings as men. Larry is a hard-working, principled person. At the top of his thing is loyalty."

Loyalty, someone once said, is a two-way street. It is why so many people in Houston are rooting for Rudy T.

Welcome back, Shaq
Wednesday was an "oh, bleep" night in the Western Conference.

The Big Fella is loose.

	Shaquille O'Neal posterized Yao Ming more than once in scoring 39 points.

Shaquille O'Neal dropped 39 on the Rockets, and it was much more impressive than the 48 he'd scored last week against Boston. The Celtics don't have anyone nearly big enough to make O'Neal even blink, and they pretty much allowed him free space to operate. The Rockets brought both Yao and Kelvin Cato to work on Shaq and doubled him most every time. Nothing they tried did anything to slow down the Diesel, who dunked a half-dozen times, gorilla-walked and had the spring in his legs that hadn't been seen since the Finals. Now, he only had five rebounds -- none in the first half -- but he put so much pressure on the Rockets at the other end that they didn't have much energy in the fourth quarter.

He is once again dropping nicknames, a sure sign he's feeling good.

"I'm the MDE," he said afterward. "You figure it out."

Most. Dominant. Ever.

"He looked aggressive from the jump ball," Cato said. "He looked like he wasn't going to be lax, like sometimes he gets. Sometimes he might go out there and play timid for a minute and then try to turn it on at the end ... you can't front him. Over the top, you'll never get to it. He's like Karl Malone. You can't let him get to the baseline, because once he gets to the baseline you'll have to foul him."

For the last two or three weeks, Phil Jackson has been trying to get the Lakers ready for the postseason by gradually weaning them away from Kobe Bryant's offensive explosions to the more pedestrian but more effective ball dumps inside. "This whole team's hopes cling to Shaq," Jackson had said before the game. Bryant was fine with it. And during the past fortnight, the light has clicked on. O'Neal seems to have gotten his hops back. He put Yao through the basket two or three times Wednesday night. He dunked with his left and right hand. He beat the Rockets' big men with quickness as well as his power.

"I always judge him on his ability to explode through individuals who are hanging on him," Rick Fox said. "When he starts taking two guys as opposed to just one with him. And he's making free throws, as he always does this time of year. ... I stayed with what I've known, being here with him four years. You just don't question it. Every time I was asked, I just refused to question the fact that I knew I would see this Shaq sooner or later. I think he knows. He knows how to pace himself. It may frustrate others who watch him. But I don't think anybody knows the kind of beating he takes."

Fox saw it coming two weeks ago.

"He went out and got his black mouthpiece and said 'OK, it's time to play football now,' " Fox said. "He was ready to take the beating as well as dish it out. You see a lot of times early in the season, when you're taking a beating, you're not as comfortable in fighting through it, because you have a long way to go. Now, he's willing to push through it."

Oh, bleep.

ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS

THE TOP 10 1. Dallas 2. Sacramento 3. San Antonio 4. Detroit 5. Minnesota 6. Philadelphia 7. Utah 8. L.A. Lakers 9. New Jersey 10. Portland THE BOTTOM FIVE 25. Atlanta 26. Toronto 27. Miami 28. Denver 29. Cleveland THE MIDDLE FOURTEEN 11. New Orleans 12. Orlando 13. Indiana 14. Boston 15. Phoenix 16. Houston 17. Milwaukee 18. Washington 19. Golden State 20. New York 21. Seattle 22. Memphis 23. Chicago 24. L.A. Clippers

Around the League
There may well be a 20-year-old age minimum for NBA players in the coming years. But it will cost owners something. My guess is it will be the escrow system that basically forces players to tithe their salaries back to management if the percentage of league revenues that goes to players exceeds the agreed-upon amount.

"Everyone knows the 20-year-old rule is an issue," Pistons forward and union president Michael Curry said. "Just like everyone knows the escrow is an issue."

Curry says the age limit could be added to the collective bargaining agreement this summer, but he would like to first see some streamlining of the current stew of minor leagues in basketball, so that kids who fall through the cracks and can't get into a college have a legitimate chance to display their talents.

"If we could get our minor league system equivalent to Major League Baseball, it would help," he says. "You have enough minor leagues in place. Maybe if you joined the CBA and NBDL. There's ways to build it up."

Phil Jackson tried last week to engage his players in discussion about the Iraq invasion, much as he had in 1991 with the Bulls during the Gulf War. Then, players like Craig Hodges had strong opinions about the U.S. action. This time, though, Jackson mainly found ambivalence. "The vote was 6-6, but no one seemed very interested," Jackson said. ... There's nothing contractually to keep Larry Brown from college jobs like UCLA at the end of the year. His only limit, I'm told, is a one-year non-compete for an NBA head coaching gig if he were to leave the Sixers. But it's hard for me to believe that LB would walk away from the $6 million annually and the control he has in Philadelphia for a reunion with the Bruins. He also has two little kids and a new wife he didn't have the last time he was in Westwood. The Browns also happen to love it on the east coast; on a recent day off, Larry took his kids to see "The Lion King" on Broadway. ... Seen on a locker room chalkboard recently before a game: the three officials listed for that evening's play -- No. 9 Derrick Stafford; No. 23 George Toliver, and No. 26 "Donnie Brasco." The last would really be Bob Delaney, whose exploits as an undercover officer in his pre-refereeing days were recently chronicled in the Boston Globe, HBO and ESPN.

David Aldridge, who covers the NBA for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.