... have really been wanting to sit down a write about this but haven't had the time. If I don't get around to it before this becomes distant history I just want to echo the above sentiment. Class (and winning) starts at the top. Les inherited Rudy and the Rockets. Those championships weren't about Les' magic touch. As too often happens, owners begin to believe that fantasy and then believe they know more than coaches and scouts do. And ultimately you get an owner who think's he's also a director/coach. Don't be surprised at this debacle. If the buck stops at the top then why stop at the coach's desk, maybe a new owner is really in order here.
see what i hope happens is that we learn to play a more fluid offense while still retaining our defense. look at dallas, before avery johnson arrived. they were a run and gun team remember? after he came though he forced defense while still improving their offense. (haha its pretty funny when you think about that run and gun team, think steve nash and now that he's with the suns what kind of team are they now?) hopefully yao will be able to improve more offensively than he already has and hopefully we get players who can contribute more and allow mcgrady time to rest and not work so often all the time, then when the time comes to step it up he'll actually have energy to produce the results we want.
wait...didn't the Heat win the championship last year? The same team whose GM "fired" the head coach because he felt like coaching again? Of course it turned out to be a great move, but certainly not a classy one, regardless of the Heat record when SVG "resigned" (11-10). Winning is about players and coaches. To the extent that the owner is responsible for those things, then yes, the buck always stops at the top. My guess is that Les would be the first to admit that he's "failed" as an owner for the past decade; certainly fromt he fan's perspective. Perhaps, just perhaps, that is why the move is being made after all. As far as looking while JVG was still officially hired...well, no one really knows the facts right now, and even the facts we do know are biased by who's recounting them. By all accounts, BOTH sides were acting very strangely after the Game 7 loss. Maybe 1 hour after a loss is too soon to ask a coach about next year, but calling a coach the next day and making sure he is in it for the future and getting a non-committal response isn't exactly a sign of faith from your coach in his enthusiasm in the team. I feel Almu's pain but certainly agree with him: JVG brought this upon himself, both by failing to get out of the playoffs, and by constantly being "on the fence" about whether or not he even wants to coach this, or any, team, or if he's just too tired.
I wholeheartedly agree, the Rockets have essentially gone nowhere under Les Alexander's leadership. He may be a stock whiz, but he is obviously not a basketball whiz. Am I the only one uninspired by the Carrol Dawson era? And Morey hasn't exactly blown us all away. The problems with this team are at the top. A quick review of trades, drafts, and contracts over the last ten years supplies overwhelming evidence of that fact. Nothing the fans can do, unless one of you guys is ridiculously rich and can buy the team.
You are a true die-hard fan my brother! It could only get better from here on out. The Rockets will be back!!
Adelman had great teams before the Kings, people seem to forget how awesome those old blazer teams were...
i'm heartbroken we don't have that ONE special role player. battier just aint it. why can lebron struggle and cavs still can win? same w/ spurs when even 2 of their big 3 struggle and still can win? and so on. we really need to find that ONE role player that can consistently make shots.
our defense sucked against utah. they were usually hitting over 50%. the only reason they scored more against golden state is they were able to take more shots on all of gs's bonehead missed shots. i didn't see much defense from the rockets in the playoffs.
i think the most dissappointing thing of all is how the rockets organization has almost become "gimmick" driven. les alexander should prove to the city, the nba fans, and the rest of the league why houston is a CLASS organization. don't get me wrong, no franchise can be perfect... but really, look at the roster changes each year. just when things get stale, les hires a new coach to sell more tickets so the fans come back with "hope." he makes a huge trade for tmac. granted, we got yao and tmac, but not much else. what is les BUILDING? why are we in such a hole? utah has been able to rebuild faster than houston (they've had similar paths). san antonio has stayed competitive. detroit. phoneix is oozing with talent. dallas has maintained dominance. i also like what chicago has done. the fact is none of these teams were built overnight with a huge trade (except for utah with the boozer and okur signings - that was a huge offseason for them). where are the rockets in comparisons to these franchises? les should seriously just break the f*cking bank this offseason and put together some talent to get a few deep runs in the next few years. hate the mavs or mark cuban if you will, but they are driven to win. you have to give them that. what are the rockets? i'm losing faith in our management that this anything more than about selling tickets. ya ya i know, it's business. but...
According to media report, JVG agreed with Les to interview other coaches while he takes his sweet time thinking about future. I don't see how Les is classless. If Juan Howard's contract expires in this summer, and right now the Rockets work out other power forwards to step in his shoes later, how is that classless? Some people, IMO, give JVG too much leeway.
We aren't totally helpless. There are indications that opinions here are read by a few in places that help amplify those opinions. The griping about JVG on this board didn't just fall out into empty space. It did play a part, whether small or not, in working against Les having faith in him. This is where the "more than casual" Rockets fans hang out and trade opinions and barbs. Talk was that Les never really wanted Calvin Murphy in the broadcasters booth but the "fans" opinions helped reverse that. Adelman is apparently hired now so no amount of fire will bring JVG back. But instead of constantly blaming a 10 year absence of playoff success totally on coaches or players the top man should be asked to step in to the limelight, too. All decisions are ultimately signed off by him.
As to Miami, it probably was classless but SVG also probably agreed to say "he needed to get away from the stress and wanted to spend more time with his family." JVG decided not to give Les that out. Riley had rings already. He had that track record to trade on if anyone critcized the move. The equivalent here would be for Les to bring Rudy back -- the guy with two rings. They were acting strangely because they had been e"stranged" all year. I don't think there was much more than a business, distant relationship, because of it being the last year of JVG's contract. He was on the bubble. Who would want to work for someone who really doesn't want you to work for him? Even though he had done an admirable job in a lot of respects, JVG couldn't exactly be gushing about coming back when he knew how disappointed the fans and Les was after game 7. He had a pretty good idea he was not wanted back or he would have heard it before the final curtain. If Les had really felt that Jeff had done an excellent job like he said, then he wouldn't have looked elsewhere, even if Jeff said look for a better fit, especially before "pleading" with Jeff to come back after "such an excellent job." If you think someone has done such an excellent job you may not get on your knees and beg but you would damn sure let them know you appreciated their effort and at least offer a lukewarm demeanor. It wouldn't be a stretch to say by not signing Jeff to come back for that last year he let the players know how tenuous Jeff's job was. That certainly might influence in a subtle way how the players played in that first round. So who knows maybe subconciously somebody on the team wanted a change.
i know how you feel man without the vrying part though .i can't even watch the playoff.i'm just getting updates on espn or nba .com.as far as i am concerned houston rockets is nba basketball
Don't worry... you're not missing much. The Suns suspensions ruined what was shaping up to be an epic series in a pretty darn entertaining playoffs. The NBA is getting what they deserve... maybe they'll come up with some more asinine rules. How about automatic suspensions for when cursing is caught on the television camera? Hell, I still think that is WORSE than what Stoudamire or Diaw did.
Almu, if it makes you feel better you are not the only one who went through emotions the night Rockets lost to Jazz. If you can believe I did not even sleep that night. why? because I could not close my eyes and picture the moment again so I tried to keep my self busy. and just like you in terms of sports Rockets are the only one in my life. And Im sure there are others on clutchfans who feel the same way as we do!
