It's with sadness that I write this. For those of you who have followed my posts over the years, you know that I've always been slightly annoyed with Rudy, skeptical of his tactical abilities (his substitution patterns have always been horrid), but admiring of his ability to get the most out of his players in terms of effort and commitment. Rudy is the penultimate player's coach. He took a team of veterans, by no means the best in the NBA, to the championship and won against teams that outgunned his own. Yet now he's a fish out of water. He can't connect with Francis and Mobley, and force them to subsume their own games into the team's plan. Francis has made a little progress: he's more under control than he once was. Yet he still shows less court awareness than even a point forward, much less a traditional point guard. Mobley plays out of control four games in five. It's only noticeable when he's missing the shots, because when he's hitting them... you know he's being stupid, but you just don't care. Still, you can't with a title with a guard like Mobley playing such an important role. Rudy doesn't have a clue on how to integrate Yao to the team. Some possessions we dump it down to the post. Other possessions, we don't and go for the Rockets classic one-on-one guard penetration plan (ick). There's seldom the interaction you'd expect with a great passing big man. If you've noticed, almost every opposing commentator is mystified at how little Yao actually sees the ball. He shouldn't shoot on every possession... but he should touch it on most of them. It opens up the game for everyone else. Occassionally, you see a two man game with screens and picks involving Yao... but nothing different than you saw with Hakeem and his guards years ago. Nothing that takes advantage of Yao's strengths (Hakeem could never pass well) while acknowledging that Yao isn't the post player Hakeem was (he probably never will be). Right now, we need a coach that has the ability to either tame Francis & Mobley... or send them packing (probably not necessary with Francis). We need a coach who will create offensive sets that utilize the players we have, instead of those who played for us 10 years ago. We need a coach who is less of a cheer leader, and more of a... well, coach. I've sat on the fence on Rudy for about 3 years now. I've always suspected that his weakness outweighed his assets since the departure of Hakeem... but now my mind is finally made up. I can't give him the excuses of poor personnel, rebuilding, and the team needing time to gel any longer. It's time for him to go at the end of the season. I don't think it's necessary to fire him now... and I'd try to make it as easy as possible for him to ride out into the sunset like he (truly) does deserve.
I have never, but never, agreed with a post as completely as I agree with Haven's here. It makes me sick, but I feel exactly the same way. However, if he volunteered to step aside during this season, I wouldn't necessarily complain. I'd love to see more progress during this season.
I just have a couple of questions. 1.) So I guess you're already assuming the Rockets will not make the playoffs? 2.) Were you saying the same thing last week when the Rockets had won 8 out of 10 games, or is this just due to the current four-game losing streak? 3.) If a team did make the playoffs, would you find it normal to fire the coach, even when not many people picked that team to make it that far in the first place? 4.) Would you find it normal to fire a coach whose team had the biggest improvement of any team in the league (as far as wins) from the year before? 5.) Would you agree that at least 15 other coaches in the NBA deserved to be fired at the end of the season? Because, there are at least that many teams who look worse than the Rockets this season, and at least twenty who have shown less improvement. If you answered "Yes" to all five of the following questions, then I'll just shutup and agree that Rudy needs to be fired. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seriously though, if the Rockets do not make the playoffs, then I think Rudy should go. However, I think they will make the playoffs, and that should be the end of it. If the Rockets make the playoffs, then Rudy stays. End of story!
haven, what should their record be right now? Almost no analysts picked this team for the playoffs at the beginning of the year, so I'm wondering why you disagree.
He's the next to last player's coach? Who's the last? TheFreak, you rock today, man. You've got me excited about the future of this team again a mere 24 hours after I figured they were dead.
I find Rudy's situation the same as Rick Adelman's a couple of years ago. There were similar question on whether Rick could control his team or draw up plays. Yet, today, the Kings are the team to beat.
Has an Adelman team ever shown an "offense" like this? Ever played with the 10 assist barrier nightly? No, and no. Your point is a good one in general though, because Excremento had to go get a PG.
The reason is no one believed Yao could be so good so early. At this stage, people double team him, play zone, and his defender almost never leaves his side. When you have a potential threat, it changes how defenses play you and gives you another option you didnt otherwise have. If the analysts factored Yao into the equation, no one would project us not to make the playoffs. What's amazing to me is that now we have a talented C, with the backup playing the best ball of his life, the Rockets have a harder time adjusting to this new found wealth than our opponents. That speaks volumes about our coaching staff.
Rudy makes a mountain of a molehill all the time. He hucks with things he should not touch at all. He has srewed up the chemistry just but sticking with Mot who, no matter what HP says, in not ready to be a rotation player on this team. Per min, he has to be the most inefficient rocket. The use of Cato, Ming and Collier is long overdue. I called for that before the season started. Remember Barkley and Pippen openly questioned Rudy T's x's and o's. As it is he has coached Ming from a 80% fg player to a 40%. He has to take alot of the blame. Boy what would do to have a Hubie Brown coaching this team instead of Mr. Softeee, Dungy and Wilkens wanna bee.
Thanks you Studogg, I was about to point that out to TheFreak because he has been harping on that all day long without much proof. Many analyst I came accross picked the Rox to make it including USA today and Sport Illustrated (2 of the best out there). The interesting thing about that is that many of these analyst made their predictions without the benefit of the magnitude of Yao Mings influence on this very team. If they knew Yao would be this good this early, I bet many analysts would have picked us in the top 4 from the west. Any doubters? So what does that mean? It mean we are presently under archieving. The wins and loses is not what hurts me the most - it is the dumb basketball that we have been subjected to see often-regularly.
Haven, if this team manages to squeak into the playoffs as an 8th seed, do you still think the team should fire Rudy? Don't you think that would send a horrible message to all other coaches that the team might hire? They will all be scared to take the job because they will think the owner is expecting a championship in 1-2 years. I think doing something like that could damage the team more irreperably than letting Rudy continue to try.
Here's Bill Simmons. Yes, he predicted Yao would be a bust but has since apologized so I won't hold that against him. Part 2: King me in the West By Bill Simmons Page 2 columnist If you missed Part One, we examined the Eastern Conference on Tuesday. Here's one man's predictions for the West, in reverse order (from worst to first): ..... 4. Houston I love the NBA. Have I mentioned that? Here you have the Rockets, who were already one of the most fun teams in the league ... and now they have a 7-foot-5 Chinese guy playing center. It's too good to be true. Stevie Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Eddie Griffin, Glen Rice, Mo Taylor, Rudy T., Moochie Norris, Moochie Norris's hair, Kelvin Cato's Burmese snake, and a gigantic Chinese guy who also happens to be the most intriguing new player in the league. I still think he will be a modified bust -- Rik Smits with 20 times more distractions -- but Bob Ryan swears up and down that Yao Ming will eventually become the most important player in the league. And Ryan has forgotten more hoops than I ever learned. The Sports Guy always shows Moochie some love. Now I'm torn. When I was stating the case against Yao last June, one of the things I worried about was his personality -- every video clip of him in China looked like a hostage video, like the camera could pan back a couple of feet and you would see a gun being pointed to his head. And yet, by all accounts, Yao seems much happier in America. Just yesterday, I was reading a story in which Yao was startled after hearing a teammate say "What's up?" because the sound of the phrase resembled a Mandarin obscenity. So after they cleared up the confusion, Yao started shouting the phrase to everyone, and it's become a running joke in the locker room. Can you imagine Mobley and Francis saying "Wassup, Yao?", Yao breaking into hysterics, and then everyone attempting a nine-step handshake? These are the things that need to be televised. Anyway, I'm digging the Rockets, not just because I might have been wrong about Yao, but because Francis and Taylor are healthy, Griffin is ready to make The Leap, and there isn't a better coach on the planet than Rudy T. If anyone can figure out how to make this work, it's him. Better yet, this is fun. I like having a 7-5 Chinese guy on the Rockets who may or may not be the future of the NBA. (And imagine a five-game playoff series with the Lakers and Rockets in Round One? I just high-fived my Moochie bobblehead doll.) Playoff Predictions First round: Sacramento, Dallas, San Antonio and LA all advance Second round: Dallas over San Antonio, Sacramento over LA Western Finals: Sacramento over Dallas (5 games) NBA Finals: Sacramento over New Jersey (5 games)
If coaches are afraid to take talent and improve upon it, they shouldn't be hired. We need someone who is willing to take the risk and step up to the challenge. The last thing this team needs is someone who is afraid to fail.
I do not see your point, DR. Do you mean that if I give you a bad car, you will eventually crash it, no matter how good a driver you are? What you are saying is that Rudy is to blame for YM's poor shooting? He's in a slump! Give Rudy a break. YES, I am a homer. Your point is like saying McDonald's will make me FAT and I can sue them later... WAIT A MINUTE...I CAN!
The one thing I don't understand is : if Rudy is this bad, how did we win two championships? I can't stand the Rockets' play of today nor the playcalling (if there actually is any). This makes me think - if we had a good coach back then, we could have, no make that should have, won with Charles, Clyde and Hakeem. And with Hakeem and Otis earlier.
