i know i may be pulling a caveman here, but the rox season has further convinced me how pathetic rudy is. you know we've got to be some of the best fans in the nba, blindly giving allegiance to rudy. "rudy's tanking games." No. rudy's a freakin' idiot. and it's showing now when there's no hak or bark to bail him out. explain somethin' to me...rudy benches francis for extended periods for not getting his teammates involved, right? then why does he run an ISO play to mobley 95% of the time - in the 4th quarter, no less - when cat shoots probably 85% of the time (connecting on only 40%)? explain somethin' to me...rudy benches francis for extended periods of time...like the first 9 freakin' minutes of every 4th quarter. hmmm...we lose many 3rd quarter leads during the 4th quarter beginnings. this makes sense, right? explain somethin' to me...rudy starts (insert music) da da da da da da da da "FATMAN!" in the starting lineup over cato. let's see, cato's is being payed - and often plays - like the future of this franchise in the post. hamilton plays like he's hungry, too. hungry to go to whataburger after the game, that is....still who starts the game? explain somethin' to me...rudy comes out of a timeout where a crucial bucket is needed and runs.......tada!!! an isolation play!!! brilliant job, rudy... explain somethin' to me....muggsy bogues in the game. we don't post steve every time. nuff said. explain somethin' to me..."nice bryce" aka mini-bullard playing 33 minutes in a game. folks, steve should be taking NO LESS THAN 15 - 18 SHOTS PER GAME. no less than that. i'd much rather see him taking them than ANYONE else on this team. he creates for his teammates, not just for himself. who else on this roster can say that? still, when we need a clutch bucket what do we do? ISO for cat or just chuck the ball around for a 24 sec violation. ya know what i think it is? rudy can't draw up a ****!n play, that's what. people, let's learn from this season. these guys are obviously talented, as witnessed by the close games they play with nba elite teams. but they are very inexperienced and without proper guidance will continue to lose, lose, lose. that's MAYBE ok if we get a quality player in the offseason. however, regardless as to what happens, it's obvious the team is headed in a new direction from years past. let's get a new head to lead us in that direction. can anyone disagree? [This message has been edited by verse (edited December 29, 1999).]
I said this in the start of the year that rudy doesnt know how to coach this team. ANd i will say it again. Let rudy stay in the rockets organziation but not as the coach.
nope. at least not in the organization as gm. and, yes, you did call it. as did thacabbage. as did i. i'm starting to question whether i even want rudy to stay as the gm. he's often ignorant in the face of obvious truth. is that the man you want running the organization?
How about Ainge for replacement of Rudy? I have confidence in Les that he WILL fire Rudy! Yes, you heard from me! 12 months ahead of the time. Just like I told you during off season, that Rudy's team will always suck, as long as he does not have a player like MJ or Hakeem, who were the two of the best 5 players in NBA history.
explain somethin' to me...rudy benches francis for extended periods for not getting his teammates involved, right? then why does he run an ISO play to mobley 95% of the time - in the 4th quarter, no less - when cat shoots probably 85% of the time (connecting on only 40%)?<hr> Rudy didn't bench Francis for not getting teammates involved. He benched him for a couple of reasons. First of all, his back was hurting, second of all Steve wasn't being aggresive/playing good defense, 3rd of all Bryce was playing well and hustling at the moment. <hr>explain somethin' to me...rudy starts (insert music) da da da da da da da da "FATMAN!" in the starting lineup over cato. let's see, cato's is being payed - and often plays - like the future of this franchise in the post. hamilton plays like he's hungry, too. hungry to go to whataburger after the game, that is....still who starts the game?<hr> Hamilton may start but Cato gets the most minutes <strong>by far</strong>. Not only that but Cato said that he <strong>PREFERS</strong> coming off the bench. Cato said that he feels more comfortable coming off the bench, and he says that he will work himself into the starting role. <hr>explain somethin' to me..."nice bryce" aka mini-bullard playing 33 minutes in a game. folks, steve should be taking NO LESS THAN 15 - 18 SHOTS PER GAME. no less than that. i'd much rather see him taking them than ANYONE else on this team. he creates for his teammates, not just for himself. who else on this roster can say that? still, when we need a clutch bucket what do we do? ISO for cat or just chuck the ball around for a 24 sec violation. ya know what i think it is? rudy can't draw up a ****!n play, that's what.<hr> The original play, I believe, was for Cuttino to drive to the basket and kick it out to a teammate that was standing at the 3 point line. Either that or just score on the initial drive. I don't think Rudy wanted Mobley to shoot that jumper. Besides, whenever Mobley <strong>does</strong> drive, he usually gets a high percentage shot. Rudy's a good coach I think. Some of the crap he does bothers me, but deep down inside I know he's got a reason for that.Why else is he the coach of the 2000 Olympic team?
Rudy T. is the Coach for the Olympics for his accomplishments with the Rockets during the Championship years and for the job he did with the Dream Team Scrubs. He's not coach because of his latest accomplishment. I said in a post a while back that these YOUNG players don't get the older coaches anymore. I had suggested a younger player coach like an Ainge, Scott Skiles, Doc Rivers, maybe Clyde Drexler. I don't believe a College Coach like a Dean Smith will work in the NBA. Too many have failed and even the ones now in the NBA are mediocre including Pittino. PJ Carlesimo is another failed College Coach with an old skool style. I'd give old Calvin Murphy a chance...just as long as he don't sing anymore songs on TV. hehehehe
alaskansnowman granted, francis' back may have been hurting him. and yes, alvin williams did get a lot of clean looks (result of picks, however, where the other rocket pf or sf didn't step up). however, it's not like drew was playing good defense. or for that matter, i don't drew played all that well. not saying he stunk up the joint last night, just that he didn't warrant 33 minutes. as for the cato thing, i'd say he gave the politically correct answer. are you telling me he hasn't worked his way into the starting lineup over hamilton? i think not. oh yea, "original" and "play" are two words never to be associated when speaking of rudy t. rocket rich nyc: you beat me to the answer regarding rudy and the olympic job!! and i'd agree about the college coach thing. most are failures. i only mentioned dean smith as an option for those who have to have this "experienced" coach. the reality is that there is a influx of new players with a new style of playing every decade or decade 1/2. there is also a influx of new coaches with new styles. why? because these players need someone who relates to them. notice that the successful coaches of the last few years have been either: a) young in age or b) young in experience 1) greg popovich 2) phil jackson 3) rudy t why? because they are young and fresh and even naive enough to the game to not have preconceived notions about how certain players should play within their given teams. it was what allowed rudy to have a 6'10" skinny robert horry play the wing against power players - unheard of for the most part at that time. it was what allowed p-jax to have an offense which was run by a pt.forward and dominate without an inside perfection. it was, in a word, FLEXIBILITY. that and the ability to adapt. it is, in my opinion, what many coaches don't have. it's the reason doc rivers can take an awful magic team and do a better job than our 2000 Olympic Head Coach.
3pointer: i was agreeing with you. trust me, the "heightened" and "bold" sarcasm was obvious a jerk and a bad coach. nice combo, pj. wonder if seton hall will take him back? what did you think of the rest of my post, regarding a young head coach? P.S. i'd take del harris as an assistant head coach, but i would prefer he either stayed in that role or proved he could eventually handle the head job. i'm skeptical of del, but i respect his coaching. [This message has been edited by verse (edited December 29, 1999).]
verse... let me ask you this. what coaching credentials do you have to say Rudy doesn't know how to coach the Rockets? in my mind, THANK GOD WE HAVE RUDY! look at our team... our team is full of bench players. no one on the Rockets has been a regular, consistent, full-time starter in this league. we have no superstars on our team, no one commands a double team... our closest guys are cat and steve, but they only have the potential to be stars and command doubles, they're not at that stage yet. considering how little talent we have, the Rockets are still a competitive team. we haven't been blown out by any other team. the Rockets stay in the game and actually have a chance of winning every game so far. so let me ask you this... do you rather we be like the Clippers, Grizzles, or Wizards? teams that have the talent to be good, but keep on changing coaches to find the right one? we already have a great coach! and i don't want to see him go to Vancouver and take them to the playoffs just to prove it to you guys!
To those who still believ that Rudy can help this team to get better, I say dream on! But, the reality is that no team can be great as long as they play only one-on-one games. Not Bulls, Not Lakers and certainly not these Rockets. Francis and Mobley are very talented players, but they aint MJ, Kobe or Carter and so on. If those players could not achieve their success by playing one-on-one, why do you think Rudy's 1-1 system can get this team anywhere? ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude.
I don't think anyone yall mentioned for coach is better than Rudy T. I sure don't want him fired or moved up to management. That is not to say I am not frustrated this year about all the substitution patterns (is there a pattern?)and I can't understand why lots of times in the 4th quarter our player that has been hot is on the bench. Bottom line is we have been and are lucky to have a coach the caliber of Tomjanovich. I wouldn't give him up for any coach I can think of. I would like Calvin Murphy as an assistant coach if he wouldn't try to take over because this team definitely needs someone to fire them up while being positive yet telling them like it is. My nephew went to one of his camps and the guy is really intelligent and has the kids respect. Whether it would work on grown men, I would hope so.
Verse, You call Rudy pathetic and PJ a jerk. Time to use some thought. ------------------ We would like to get rookie Francis on the break for some easy scoops in the first quarter...
Well seing that we don't have to many option as coaches out there than lets bring in Drum role please ! <h1>PJ Carlesimo</h1> Is that what u guys want ?? PLEASE !!!!!!!! get real ! PS. I had to re-edit this just in case a sarcasm-challenged person reads this don't think that is who I want. [This message has been edited by 3pointer (edited December 29, 1999).] [This message has been edited by 3pointer (edited December 29, 1999).]
3pointer, pj's a jerk. how about a young explayer??? have you considered that one? i'd consider bringing derek harper in as an ass't, grooming him for the remainder of this year, and giving the reigns to him. same goes for clyde, james worthy, dennis johnson, isaiah thomas, mark price, kenny smith, etc. someone who knew and understood the game as a player, and can relate to the young guns of today. those are just a few. if you have to have an older coach w/coaching experience, how about dean smith? he has the undoubted respect of EVERYBODY in basketball. how about coaxing john lucas? the man's a motivating machine, something we sorely lack. he's also an ex-rox player w/heavy ties to the city. i could go on, but i digress... BTW, danny ainge will be itching to get back in the game by summertime. anybody, i mean anybody, who is not a pure systematic coach who can communicate and positively influence our young guns. sorry, but rudy ain't the man. [This message has been edited by verse (edited December 29, 1999).]
Verse,Caveman,others, I'm sadly in total agreement with you.Rudy has brought us so much happiness through the years ,but the decisions I see being made out there are costing us and I say these things with a heavy heart.I won't outline them all again,I just want people to take off those wonderful warm and fuzzy glasses off and try to be honest with themselves.It's hard for me and I know alot of you all don't agree,but this is killing the team.It's tough to watch your favorite player(Dream),your favorite Coach(Rudy)(and he was a pleasure to watch as a player too),and not feel pain.......It's a tough season and I guess I finally have to come to grips with the fact that we aren't going to the playoffs.I sure as hell want to win every game we have a chance to and THAT is the Rocket way(and I know it is Rudy's way too). I wouldn't mind seeing Zeke come in next year,but he would probably want to be GM also.I'd like to keep RT in that capacity. No more b****ing from me,just rooting for the boys in the P.J.'s every game like always, HH One more thing...Let's make a deal for another impact player this year though. For the love of God let Stevie do his thing,Geez! [This message has been edited by Hardwood Hammer (edited December 30, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Hardwood Hammer (edited December 30, 1999).]
for you short-sighted, no court seeing backseat drivers ...who can't spot an NBA defense from a Sega Genesis defense... Here's something I most repost from another thread. Rudy operates by a belief in going with charted success of plays...you add FGM+fouls for a particular play and devide by number of times that play was called. Rudy generally always goes with the percentages in the end. Clearly, the Mobley ISO is the highest percentage play we have, just like the Barkley low post call was at 53%. You count anyones production off those plays, not just Mobley's. Last night, I was at the game, and I counted the Mobley ISO. Here's my figures, I didn't tape it so I could use some help here. Mobley was 9-24, 3 assists and 3-4 FTs. I counted 18 Mobley ISO plays..8 FGM (2 by assist)...4 fouls(two on mobley, one cato, one Rogers). That is a 12 for 18 success rate, or a very good 66% compared to Barkley's 53% last year. Help me here...my numbers will not be accurate. If any of you ever reach Rudy T during a talk show, ask him what the success rate is for the Mobley ISO play. I guarantee you, according to Rudy's counting, that play has our highest success rate. To me, it is easy to point the blame at Rudy and Mobley here, but really, how do you expect to win close games when the other team either made a basket or was fouled every position in the last two minutes (correct me if I'm wrong)...a 100% success rate. We lost that game on the defensive end. Cato doubled Carter twice leaving Oakley on the other side, and no one got over to cover him before a two pass swing let Oakley drill the game winners. That I blame on Rudy, or drew. If you want Cato to come way over as a premier shotblocker to force Carter to pass, you can't realistically expect Cato to be able to get back over to cover Oakley. That play beat us. They used Bogues to draw Drew under the basket since Drew would not be a sufficient double teamer on Carter underneath. When Cato comes over, Drew should have ran out to Oakley and left Bogues underneath (at 5'1" he ain't doing anything there). Drew could have at least hindered the easy swing pass to Oakley. Giving Cato a 1/2 step he needed to get back. Backseat driving on my part. But they did this twice in a row...exchanging Oakley with Bogues to draw Cato away. ugh. no one can convince me Mobley blew this game. Our defense failed on rotations. You cannot win close games when the other team is scoring or getting fouled 100% of the time in the last 2 minutes. If that first Oakley shot isn't made, they have to start fouling us for the win at the free throw line, and Mobley never has to do is second ISO at 30 seconds.
Heypartner- absolutely fantastic post. I love to see your opinions backed by solid facts and thorough basketball knowledge. Furthermore, you didn't use your superior knowledge to blindly or weakly support any opinion as to Rudy's effectiveness. Many of you see Mobley in iso and blame the loss on the call of that play, and thus have found the final straw that determines Rudy must leave. The game was lost on defense- and Rudy was responsible for that too, but the fact is it's just smarter to cover McGrady than worry about Oakley hitting a jumper from just inside the 3pt. A faster switch would have helped, but by the percentages you don't rely on the outside threat of Oakley. But enough on that. Again, excellent post heypartner. Keep up the good work, and keep spreading the knowledge.
I like "Cat" and his game. But don't use him as a mean to defend inept Rudy T, PLEASE! When some of you talks about percentage, I want to know if you would agree with me that Francis taking on "Mugsy" is a better option than Mobley taking on Carter in iso. Please tell me MJ did not take ISO 80% of a game in his championship years, did he? NO! The fact is not about BS talk of percentage or not, it is about an inept coach who can't develop any team play. Give me one day on the job, I can call ISO too. A dead man can do it too! ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude.
