hey, the coach has no clothes

[JR]

in a shocking development, the first time Eddie gets significant extended minutes all year (despite playing on a team that has lost 15 f'ing games in a ROW) with 30 and 40 minutes in back-to-back games, he produces, big time, providing scoring, rebounding and interior defense, 3 things that this team has been sorely lacking.

Eddie should have been playing a minimum of 25 minutes per game from the beginning of the season. At the very worst over the last 2 weeks he should have been playing 30+ minutes per game. My question: when the hell is Rudy going to be held accountable for anything? When is someone associated with the team or in the media going to stand up and say, hey, this guy is retarded? The things he does do not make sense. His team continues to make the same mistakes over and over and over. The last time the Rockets scored after a timeout was Dream's tip-in of the Drexler miss in Orlando.

This 15 game losing streak is not why I'm asking this. My opinion of Rudy hasn't changed much since, honestly, he took over the team. He made the same moronic in-game decisions before and during the championship seasons as he has since, including not playing younger, more talented players until absolutely forced to, in the process costing the team games (remember Scott Brooks and Sam Cassell??).

He did a good job of piecing together what were actually some very useful players around the most dominant player in the league and won 2 championships -- but think about it. The 94 team struggled mightily to defeat a far less talented Knicks club in the Finals (Ewing, Starks and Oakley?? Give me a break) and only an incredible Olajuwon block at the end of Game 6 and equally incredible choke job by Starks in Game 7 saved the title for the Rockets.

The next year Rudy lost control of his clubhouse and stumbled to a 6-seed, only to be saved by a series of truly magical moments and complete and utter domination by Dream in the playoffs. In the post-title years, he was unable to win consistently with a still very effective trio of Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler.

Under Rudy's tutelage, Stevie has shown some very limited improvement but still seems light years away from truly understanding how to play basketball, and Cuttino has if anything regressed to, as many have rightly said, a "wannabe star."

Last year's awesome second half was preceded by a first half that was typical Rudy -- stubbornly refusing to consider all of the talent available on the roster and pissing off Dream by completely disrespecting him. He was then nearly saved in spite of himself thanks to an incredible second-half run by a rejuvenated Olajuwon which provided the much-needed inside presence to go with the young guards.

So what does he do? He exiles Dream, basically deciding that he did not want him back at any price because this team needed to go in a different direction, conveniently ignoring the fact that the team and his youngsters had played absolutely amazing ball only when Hakeem joined the mix, was allowed off the bench in the fourth quarter and even got to shoot occasionally. Not wanting to be tied up by a 2 or 3 year deal with the aging and injury prone Hakeem, he trades for another Walt, except with an even longer, uglier contract, in fact, one about twice as punitive as anything Dream would have required.

And even the good moves, like the trade for Eddie (which, as anyone who watched the video of the Rockets' war room knows, he didn't have much to do with), he screws up. When you have a team that clearly isn't ready to compete for a title anyway that loses its starting power forward before the season even starts, wouldn't it make sense to give the guy you traded 3 #1 picks for some serious PT? Instead it took Rudy 2 months, nearly 20 losses and an injury to KT before Eddie really saw the floor.

And now the absolute joke that Rudy was being exposed as earlier in the season, with absolutely no adjustment either offensively or defensively to the new rules, is going to be excused by the rash of injuries. The sycophants who keep calling this guy one of the top 5 or 10 coaches in the league conveniently forget that the Rockets were 2-6 in their last 8 games WITH Steve and Cuttino and Kenny and were hardly setting the world on fire prior to that despite a decent start, record-wise.

I call on the blinded Rudy fans to recognize that in fact this coach has no clothes and should not be allowed to run this franchise, or any talent-laden, underachieving international teams, for that matter, into the ground any longer. Rudy's a great guy to have a beer or 8 and smoke a pack of marlboro lights with. But he's a ****ty coach.

[gr8-1]

That 94 Knick team wasn't a worlbeater, but talent wise, they were close to the Rockets, no doubt about that.

[verse]

i could not agree more.

as crispee will testify, i have been saying these things (specifically regarding griffin) since the beginning of the season.

rudy is a moronic "coach".

even though kt was playing well before his injury, you MUST find a way to get griff 20-25 minutes per game. and now, with all the injuries, he should be playing at LEAST 35 minutes every game. should he continue to perform as he has the past 2 games (never mind the offense...just defense and rebounding alone) he should be starting. but you won't see that...

cause rudy is a moronic coach.

[WoodlandsBoy]

Best rant of the year... I second everything said and also you forgot to mention his substitution patern of leaving people in for way way too long and costing us at least 5 games a year.

In his defense we did over acheive last year... We had other coaches during the Dream years from 85-00 and we didn't win a championship until Rudy became coach. He can get more out of a team than you think. I say keep him but get him an offensive coordinator kind like Tex Winters of Lakers and a substitution coordinator someone smart like Van Gundy. I think he is an awesome head coach but he should just be a figure head.

[CBrownFanClub]

Nicely written but I disagree. He's not that much fun to drink and smoke with. I think he quit drinking, actually -- good call.

Plus, he's a good coach, good judge of talent, and players tend to like him. Other than Hakeem Now It's Me Who Is Dreaming Olajuwon, players have good things to say about him. He makes mistakes. He is accountable for them. He learns. No big deal.

If you have not gotten used to him yet, consider this a patience-cultivating exercise.

CBFC

[heypartner]

I've already provided the statistical breakdown to verse.

Since Francis went down, Griffin averages around 5 shots a game. When he makes 1 or less, he gets 17 mpg. When he makes 2 or more, he gets 23 mpg. We he makes 10, he gets 40 minutes, apparently.

Griffin shot 17% on the same number of shots in his 17 min games as in his 23 min games. Rudy is merely choosing Griffin minutes based on how he produces...just like any other bench player. Torres minutes go down and up based on production, too.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that Rudy is easing him in, and choosing successful games to get him his most minutes. And it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that Kenny Thomas has had better games than Griffin.

Rudy haters can really have incredible blindness to see even the simplest, most common coaching techniques around.

Yeah...this really undresses the coach.

[Francis3]

Do you make up your numbers or are you just GOD?

[DanTanna]

Rudy before a little happy sauce :

http://www.geocities.com/dantanna86/RudyNoBeer.jpg

Rudy After Drinking Favorite Beverage:

http://www.geocities.com/dantanna86/RudyBeer.jpg

Phil is way too Serious :

http://www.geocities.com/dantanna86/Phil.No.Beer.jpg

[Dr of Dunk]

Originally posted by Francis3
Do you make up your numbers or are you just GOD?

No, you just can't do simple math. :p :)

[JR]

good try crispee. Your logic doesn't come close to absolving Rudy of his sins. Wouldn't a coach trying to develop a young player find opportunities in the 25 games of a 7-18 start to play him 30 minutes in at least a handful of those games if nothing else to get him acclimated to being on an NBA court? Doesn't the normal veteran substitution rationale -- playing time correlated to recent performance -- have to bend in the case of a 19 year old phenom that you thought was good enough to trade 3 #1s for and brings desperately needed interior defense to the court? Isn't it logical to assume that had he gotten more minutes earlier in the year, the LA game wouldn't have been his first outstanding, and, on many nights, game winning type of performance?

It's amazing how the Rudy lovers can continuously defend him in the face of a mountain of evidence that he can't coach.

[kbm]

Out of context, but rudy has changed since his first year. He used to be so emotional in the game. You could gauge him at a glance. With every shot, he'd lean to the left lean to the right. I remember a rudy who'd fall over the scorer's table. The game just doesn't seem to be fun for him anymore. I feel for him. :sad:

[NIKEstrad]

Originally posted by JR

And even the good moves, like the trade for Eddie (which, as anyone who watched the video of the Rockets' war room knows, he didn't have much to do with), he screws up. When you have a team that clearly isn't ready to compete for a title anyway that loses its starting power forward before the season even starts, wouldn't it make sense to give the guy you traded 3 #1 picks for some serious PT? Instead it took Rudy 2 months, nearly 20 losses and an injury to KT before Eddie really saw the floor.

This is simply not true. In a pre draft radio interview, Rudy was posed with the question "If you had the first pick, who would you draft?" Rudy listed 3 players: Eddie Griffin, Kwame Brown, and Eddy Curry. Griffin was high on Rudy's list all along.

Eddie had not merited much more PT than he was getting. He's simply struggled shooting, and was getting outplayed by some. As crispee has stated, Griffin's minutes are a function of his play, specifically whether his shot is faling. I feel Griffin would excel most in the paint, but when we have a healthy Francis, and an explosive Mobley, rather than no Francis, and a gimpy Mobley, Griffin should be able to rain wide open mid range jumpers all day. Also, the PnR he runs with Mooch is probably designed for Francis, who is so dangerous in that range, while Moochie can be rather predicatable.

I mentioned it in chat, that during a timeout, I saw Rudy talking to Tierre and Moochie, and pointing to Eddie, clearly mouthing "get this guy the ball". Moochie is the one waving off Eddie in the post like Eddie is Shandon Anderson, and he's Steve Francis.

The guards simply aren't comfortable with Eddie. MJ had the same problem in Washington, where he didn't fully trust Rip Hamilton, and Alexander, and the team struggled. He gives Rip some confidence in him, Rip explodes, and Washington runs off 7 in a row. The true test will be to see how Steve responds, getting to watch how annoying it is for Mooch to "dribble dribble dribble" and see how much of a help a legit front court scorer like Eddie can be. Then again, 19 year old pieces of the foundation rarely just merge in without missing a beat.

Rudy designed this offense to be run best by an explosive point guard, a shooting guard who could break anyone off the dribble, and PF with a sweet touch from 18 feet, along with guys who can hit the open 3, and collect garbage buckets when the defense collapses or falls asleep. He did not:
A.) Plan on Francis missing extended time.
B.) Both of Mobley's ankles swelling, totally taking away his first step, one of the best in the league. Cat probably should be on the IR, but we don't have room.
C.) Losing Mo Tay for the year
D.) Acquring a piece like Eddie Griffin
E.) Rice sucking/being hurt

We're playing with a former CBA PG, that is used to being used as a shock trooper and mainly playing <20 MPG, now he's playing 40, and being backed by the 3rd string rookie from a small college, a hobbling Mobley, a rookie fresh from Venezuela, a 3rd year mid 20s pick that was expected to be a backup, and the great Cato.

Our bench consists of that 3rd string undrafted rookie, a 2nd year 2nd round pick, a rookie 2nd round pick, the nuclear cockroach that is Walt Williams, a highly talented teenager that needs to add muscle, and a musclehead roleplayer who's a few ticks shy of 40.

Meanwhile, we have both of our starting forwards, our franchise PG, and Jason Collier in street clothes. Lots for Rudy to work with.

[ZRB]

Rudy is a fine scout, a good motivator, and he would make a great GM. Unfortunately, he is seriously lacking in X and O coaching abilities. I'm all for "promoting" Rudy to GM, and hiring Calvin Murphy as coach.

[PolarBear1982]

OUTSTANDING take JR.

You're point about the Rockets playing their best ball last year in the 2nd half when Hakeem was getting significant (and late) minutes with the kids to provide diverse threats on the floor has been forgotten by too many of those on this board with amnesia and selective memory.

The personnel move to obtain Rice was predictably horrible. He had not been effective for over 2 seasons when obtained by the Rockets. Whether it was Rudy or CDs call (or both), their should be hell (in addition to $27MM over the next 3 years) to pay. He is (and was) no upgrade to Walt, and is just a redundant overpaid part. I'd have been ok with taking a risk on the deal if Rice had a one year commitment left on his deal, but to have 2 more years after this year at $9MM+/year is gonna be painful!

Those that say EG shouldn't have been playing much due to KT's play ignore the fact that EG should be playing some at the 3 for now. It's not clear he is a 4, particularly when Mo T is back with KT behind him. With Rice hurting (and not producing), Walt playing inconsistently (and not in their long term plans), and the Rockets not in a position to contend, EG should be getting major minutes to gain experience.

Finally, evidence of Rudy's lack of adjustments to new rules could be seen clear back in the Olympics. With a "dream team" Rudy struggled to beat just about every opponent. His team was totally out of sync on both offense and defense. He seemed clueless how to attack a zone on offense, and how to leverage his huge talent advantage on defense. In spite of this headstart playing against zone defenses, Rudy still didn't adjust well going into this season.

In his years of coaching he still could call plays with ONE binary bit - that's 2 total plays for the unenlightened. The 2 plays would be:

1) The Olajuwon/Barkley Play - pass it to the left low block - if you don't get a double team, take it to the hole. If you get a double team, pass it to the guy that's man left to double team. The four guys not in the left low block all stand like statues on perimeter spaced apart.

2) ISO - give the ball to Cuttino, Francis (or Sam Cassell in earlier years). Everyone else clear out and stand like statues on the perimeter far away from the ball. Roll to the hoop if you're so inclined.

Those were successful (albeit boring) plays in the days of "illegal zone defenses", but no longer are effective...

I am not a Rudy hater. I think he's a class guy. In general I think the players play very hard for him. I do think he's subpar as an X's and O's coach, and is average at best at personnel moves as demonstrated by the Rice trade, Moochie contract, Maloney contract, Cato contract, Olajuwon debacle, etc.

For the record, I predict the streak to go to 17, with the Rockets getting a "W" in Stevie's expected return at Golden State.

[heypartner]

Originally posted by JR
good try crispee. Your logic doesn't come close to absolving Rudy of his sins

Again, the facts are there. Your logic doesn't come close to blaiming a coach for not giving a player scoring at a 17% clip more time than 17 minutes.

sorry dude. You are blind to how bad Griffin was producing offensively in his learning curve.

Rudy gives him time on production. It is proven in the stats.

[Timing]

Rudy as GM?

One word....

Cato.

[Old Man Rock]

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that Rudy is easing him in, and choosing successful games to get him his most minutes. And it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that Kenny Thomas has had better games than Griffin. Rudy haters can really have incredible blindness to see even the simplest, most common coaching techniques around.

Well said Crispee. Why is it that no one can see the obvious...

Didn't JR get shot? I guess they didn't kill him, just shot him in the head and gave him brain damage.

[edc]

Which, incidentally, is exactly what happened with Olajuwon last year. Get schooled by the likes of Olowakandi, and find yourself on the bench in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers game was a good start. Let's just hope it presages some consistency from the 'kid.'

[Puedlfor]

Quite staring at him in the shower, I think that's illegal.

I understand frustration, but now things are getting foolish.

As for Eddie Griffin, I have maintained that he should be starting, but even I can see that from time to time, he was botching plays on offense, simply because of inexperience with the game.

[JR]

you're slipping crispee. I answered your objection to my take with a reasoned argument -- essentially, why not give a young player time on a team as bad as this one? I never said Griffin was kicking ass earlier in the year; he was playing poorly, but he wasn't playing enough given the circumstances. This team is not the contending TrailBlazer team that didn't need to and couldn't risk playing Jermaine O'Neal. Try reading and responding as opposed to parroting your earlier post.

Same goes for you NIKEstrad -- regardless of the injuries, Rudy has made poor decisions, such as not getting Griffin as much time as he could physically handle.

[alaskansnowman]

It's called easing him in slowly. I don't really agree with it but that's what Rudy's doing, and I guess it makes sense, but it depends on which philosophy u use.

[Kim]

I like your title. I wonder how many people here know the reference.

[heypartner]

Originally posted by JR
Try reading and responding as opposed to parroting your earlier post.

Try coming up with a new take when verse made yours much better 2 weeks ago.

There you go verse...I gave you props for the best take.

JR, yours is just a take. It is, at best, a chicken and the egg take. You claim Rudy is proven bad by a great breakout game from Eddie. I claim that Rudy was always looking for the breakout game, but wasn't forcing it. You seem to claim we should have, could have...whatever...

I say that coaches do not think that way. Rudy had a plan to ease Griffin and Torres in based on production...Rudy has proven that, imo. You are not undressing him by that opinion. You are only reinforcing my whole belief system of easing Torres/Griffin in on production. I was all over Torres in preseason. I never once cried for him to get more minutes, even though I said he was the best rookie.

chicken or the egg. I'm not here claiming Rudy is a genius for easing in his players as I wanted, thus produce a Torres and Griffin breakout with no individually demoralizing games...so why are you here claiming Rudy is an idiot for not doing it your way by suggesting Eddie could have produced this breakout much sooner, despite your predicted demoralizing games....and what difference does a few games make anyhow.

Eddie had a breakout, and all you can say is that Rudy sucks for it because it should have happened 5 games earlier while Griffin should learn from being embarrassed....sheesh...classic coach hata mentality....

[barbourdg]

You are blind to how bad Griffin was producing offensively in his learning curve.

Crispee, you must be blind, if you think Griffin is soley responsible for his sluggish start. How many PF/C do you know (outside of the Rockets) who are coached to sit on the three point line all night. What do you expect a 19 year old's stats to be? Are you telling us, that you believe that Griffin is calling the shots to take nothing but three's? That Rudy is telling him to run some post plays, but Griffin is refusing, because he idolizes Robert Horry?

Maybe the facts of Griffins sluggish stats are:

• Griffin only gets to touch the ball, from picks, at the 3 point line.
• Moochie is a ball hog and will only pass it to Cuttino or KT.
• Cutino will not pass it to anybody.
• Walt will not pass it to anybody.
• KT will not pass it to anybody.
• Griffin usually only sees playing time in the 2nd quarter.

PRACTICALLY NOBODY ON THIS ROCKET TEAM PASSES!! unless they drive into 4 defenders and then have to force a pass.

BUT TIER WILL PASS THE BALL TO WHOEVER IS THE OPEN MAN , he does not play favorites. Have you noticed, how Bill & Calvin always mention how much smoother the game is when our 2nd unit is in. I am curious how Steve will do when he returns. Thank god he is no where near the ball hog that Moochie and Cuttino are. Steve does a great job of looking for the open man.

I think Rudy is trying to make Griffin the next Robert Horry . Pratically no offense, except sitting on that three point line. If you watch the Lakers, you know that Horry still has not shaken off Rudys coaching. It works out when he makes those 3's, but he looks like Barkley when he misses. DOES THAT REMIND YOU OF GRIFFIN.

If you look at how well the Rockets play, and pass, with Moochie and Cuttino on the bench, you would see the problem. Not to say to bench Moochie & Cuttino, but when Francis returns Moochie needs to be the backup PG (limited minutes), and Cuttino needs a session with Miss Cleo to understand that no matter how hard he practices, he will never be Kobe Bryant. If RUDY COULD COACH , he would work on Cuttinos strengths: Slashing to the basket, drawing double teams, and spot-up shooting (not off-balance circus shots).

[TeXaSalsa]

double post

[TeXaSalsa]

--"If RUDY COULD COACH , he would work on Cuttinos strengths: Slashing to the basket, drawing double teams, and spot-up shooting (not off-balance circus shots)."

I would love to see u attempt to slash to the basket on two bad ankles. and in case you havent noticed.. cat w/ out francis is double teamed pretty often.

--"KT will not pass it to anybody. "

KT has very good passing skills for a big men. why would he pass when most of his shots are inside? yes moochie/cat need to pass more.

--"I think Rudy is trying to make Griffin the next Robert Horry . Pratically no offense, except sitting on that three point line. If you watch the Lakers, you know that Horry still has not shaken off Rudys coaching. It works out when he makes those 3's, but he looks like Barkley when he misses. DOES THAT REMIND YOU OF GRIFFIN"

uh.. only griffin can determine the player he will become. rudy T isnt the one hoisting up the 3s. griffin is. rudy T cant hold his hands and tell him what shots to take. how many times has griffin gone to the basket on a drive? how many times has he tried a mid ranged jumpshot? havent seen that. and Rudy T cant MAKE any1 into a certain player...

kevin garnett im sure had some fine games when he was a 19 year old kid. but he wasnt an automatic superstar his first year as half the board thinks griffin is meant to be.

--"Rudy is a fine scout, a good motivator, and he would make a great GM. Unfortunately, he is seriously lacking in X and O coaching abilities. I'm all for "promoting" Rudy to GM, and hiring Calvin Murphy as coach."

Calvin Murphy as head coach! hah! that lil man couldn't coach my high school. he'd talk talk talk and thats bout it. he couldnt even get the U of H job even tho he said he was 'throwing his hat into the ring'

--"good try crispee. Your logic doesn't come close to absolving Rudy of his sins. Wouldn't a coach trying to develop a young player find opportunities in the 25 games of a 7-18 start to play him 30 minutes in at least a handful of those games if nothing else to get him acclimated to being on an NBA court? "

good try JR. see the careers of Al harrington, tyson chandler, eddy curry, jonathen bender, tim thomas, stromile swift, tracy mcgrady, and countless other young players that couldve hypothetically helped their team when they sucked. but they didnt. why? cuz they werent ready to handle all of those minutes. griffin might be ahead of all of them but he isnt ready to handle all of them either until he starts showing consistency.

--"He exiles Dream, basically deciding that he did not want him back at any price because this team needed to go in a different direction, conveniently ignoring the fact that the team and his youngsters had played absolutely amazing ball only when Hakeem joined the mix, was allowed off the bench in the fourth quarter and even got to shoot occasionally"

Rudy T wanted Hakeem back. if you cant see that then you're blind. that entire paragraph is a load of ****t. hakeem the savior sure hasnt turned around toronto single handedly. why do u think Rudy T was really sad when he made those comments. if he "exiled" him (even tho hes not even the GM cough cough) then he wouldnt have cared.

Rudy T isnt a brilliant X's and O's coach. but he maximizes talent and gets effort out of his players. players respect him. the rockets typically until recently have had well behaved players and free agents come here alot for a reason. rudy T is an excellent scout of talent. if you think that just any coach could get 45 wins last year n 37 or whatever the year before then i simply won't believe you. and i wont believe you if you told me that just any coach could take a group of well whoknows what to 3rd place finish in the world championships. Rudy T is the coach of the rockets now and he should be until he retires.

[DaDakota]

What Crispee repeating himself? I don't believe it.

DaDakota

[NIKEstrad]

Originally posted by JR
you're slipping crispee. I answered your objection to my take with a reasoned argument -- essentially, why not give a young player time on a team as bad as this one?

This is your opinion. The team has had a better chance of winning with KT playing his solid ball, rather than giving Eddie his lumps now. As crispee has been trying to tell you, when Eddie plays well, he gets minutes.

There are plenty of teams doing this much worse than what Rudy has done. Look at the Bulls- they've had no chance of doing anything, with or without injuries, and Curry is getting DNP-CDs, Chandler is getting less than 15 MPG, and Fizer still hasn't totally taken the starting job, from a disgruntled, near 40 year old Oakley. This team at least will put together a run when Steve gets back.

As for the Jermaine O'Neal argument: He got 10.2 MPG his first year, 13.5 MPG his 2nd year, 8.6 MPG his 3rd year, and 12.3 MPG his 4th year. So far, Eddie is getting 16.3 MPG, and climbing.

Here's another comparable player, Stromile Swift: He played on a terrible Grizzlies team, and had an extra year in college. Guess how many MPG he played last year? 16.4. Eddie will be averaging more minutes than that after tonight's game.

The Wizards' starting PF, Christian Laettner who's not nearly as good as KT, is now down for injury. Kwame Brown was the first pick in the draft, and older than Eddie. Guess how many minutes he's averaging this year? 13.5, less than Eddie. Guess how many minutes he played with Christian Laettner out with an injury? Five.

Jamison on a terrible Golden State team? 22.5-augmented by lots of minutes late season. He had 2 more years of college.

The #11 pick of 2000, Jerome Moiso, averaged all of 5.6 MPG on a lotto bound Boston team.

The #6 pick of 2000, Dermarr Johnson, averaged 16.8 MPG on a lotto bound team.

Shawn Kemp averaged 13.8 MPG his rookie season.

Point being? Rudy's actions are far from unprecedented. Eddie is averaging more minutes than the similarly aged #1, #2, and #4 picks in the draft. Rudy could probably give him more minutes by playing him at the 3. He doesn't, because Eddie's future is at the 4/5. KT has played very respectably, and the centers have not played themselves out of minutes. Therefore, Eddie can only get minutes by playing himself into them, and outplaying Cato, Willis, and KT. When he does that, he gets minutes. More often than not, he has not separated himself from them in game time situations. He's showing the ability to do that, and as he gets more consistent in doing so, that's when he'll get the minutes.

[Rocket Fan]

Well Rudy did almost manage to lose in the olympics with the dream team:)

[DaDakota]

Rudy's dream team was far from a real Dream team, no Shaq, no Kobe, no Iverson.

It was a good team, but not the best.

DaDakota

[Woofer]

I don't buy the injuries being the sole cause of this losing streak. Look at http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_917648,00.html

Memphis was a bad team to start with and lost three players so far to injuries and managed to beat two teams, NY and LAL, that the Rocks could only scare a bit.

[Wakko67]

Also look at all the foriegn talent coming into the NBA and being successful. The other teams in the Olympics aren't that bad.

[BlastOff]

Rudy is to Rockets as Issel is to Nuggets.

Not a good thing. Mindful of what is best for the team, perhaps Rudy is just as washed up as Dream is. While it is debatable how good we are, 15-game losing streaks (and counting) are a complete no-no for a traditionally successful franchise like ours. It is here that you'd think the coaches would earn their money.

If the problem is depth, then start trading until we have it. Do something!

[TeXaSalsa]

"I don't buy the injuries being the sole cause of this losing streak. Look at http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/grizzl..._917648,00.html

Memphis was a bad team to start with and lost three players so far to injuries and managed to beat two teams, NY and LAL, that the Rocks could only scare a bit."

you just defeated your own argument. unlike the rockets the grizz have a relatively healthy roster and have more talent overall.

gasol/battier/swift/williams/dickerson/wright r all talented players.
they should be at least .500 frankly they are underachieving.

they dont have injuries the rockets do. case closed.

[barbourdg]

uh.. only griffin can determine the player he will become. rudy T isnt the one hoisting up the 3s. griffin is. rudy T cant hold his hands and tell him what shots to take. how many times has griffin gone to the basket on a drive? how many times has he tried a mid ranged jumpshot? havent seen that. and Rudy T cant MAKE any1 into a certain player...

Give me a break!!! Rudy is the coach? right? He cannot make his players run low-post plays for Griffin? He cannot make Griffin stop heaving up 3's? He cannot tell his players (other than Tier), to pass the ball inside to Griffin? How many times does Cuttino and Moochie, wave off Griffin (and everybody) for a stupid ISO play? MY MISTAKE, I thought the coach was in charge of running the show!!!

KT is not a great passer? He could be if he looked to pass first, but he would rather slash (and spin) to the basket from the 3 point line. He only passes when he gets into trouble.

[alaskansnowman]

Originally posted by barbourdg

KT is not a great passer? He could be if he looked to pass first, but he would rather slash (and spin) to the basket from the 3 point line. He only passes when he gets into trouble.

Look to pass first? He's not a point guard. The play is designed for him to slash to the basket and score. Once he gets double-teamed , then he will pass the ball, creating open looks for his teammates.

[LAfadeaway33]

The only reason EG got those 30-40 minutes is because he had 16 or so points in the first half.

[TeXaSalsa]

"Give me a break!!! Rudy is the coach? right? He cannot make his players run low-post plays for Griffin? He cannot make Griffin stop heaving up 3's? He cannot tell his players (other than Tier), to pass the ball inside to Griffin? How many times does Cuttino and Moochie, wave off Griffin (and everybody) for a stupid ISO play? MY MISTAKE, I thought the coach was in charge of running the show!!!

KT is not a great passer? He could be if he looked to pass first, but he would rather slash (and spin) to the basket from the 3 point line. He only passes when he gets into trouble."

First off.. Rudy T runs the plays thats a given ok? but i dont think he says "eddie u must shoot 90% of your shots as 3's. in fact i think the reason he doesnt play him much on some nights is because thats ALL HE TAKES sometimes...and he does not hit it with consistency.

Cuttino and moochie do wave him off alot n they shouldnt i agree w/ u there. and Rudy could help w/ that... and he has been trying as just the other night he was telling moochie to specifically get him the ball.

players make things happen the coach cant hold their hands and do it for them.

and KT is a pretty good passer. he outlets the ball much better then any of our posts, and has delivered the backdoor pass fairly well when that play is run.