But it's just another thing the Australian native has taken in stride since arriving in the United States. He prefers Texas to Russia, where he played for four seasons, because "living in Russia, they speak Russian." He hasn't gotten used to "y'all" or the drawls here, but then again, he's not certain his Aussie slang is for everyone, either.

"I'm trying to get them to say ?G'day' or ?mate' every time they do something," Andersen said. "It could be fun, a good way to open your cultural bounds, I guess."

Kindred spirits?

One of Rice football coach David Bailiff's favorite expressions is "Tough times don't last ? tough people do."

The same message is tattooed on the outside of new Rockets guard/forward Trevor Ariza's left biceps. But it's "tuff" instead of tough.

Trading digits

Tracy McGrady has switched to No. 3, in large part because of his efforts to educate the public about the horrors in Darfur through his documentary 3 Points: Peace, Protection and Punishment, leaving No. 1 to Ariza.

McGrady said it was odd seeing someone else in that jersey, but he had an interesting perspective.

"I told him he has to represent it well," McGrady said. "I'm sure he'll be a lot healthier in it."

Odds and ends

The goal is to become more efficient, and guard Aaron Brooks watched tape of numerous point guards this offseason in an attempt to borrow aspects of their games. He was drawn to Phoenix's Steve Nash, in particular ... While calling Yao Ming the "soul of everything here," forward Luis Scola said the Rockets need to forget about the injured center and what he provided. It's a different team, Scola said.