I'm the naive one? You're the one believing that Alexander plays a big role in player decisions with absolutely zero proof. Am I supposed to blame Alexander for bad contracts and bad draft picks? Les is now the GM and responsible for scouting? And I'm the naive one? lol. Please show me any kind of proof that Alexander interferes with the team more so than other owners. Alexander may sign off on deals, but he listens to his GM and others around him -- why is that a bad thing? Why is that different than what other owners do? I agree that Rudy probably didn't want to leave -- BUT HE HAD CANCER! Why is it Les Alexander's fault for wanting a coach he could trust would be available to his team full-time? Rudy left the team the final 15 games (or whatever it was) and the team tanked and missed the playoffs. Could you have guaranteed that wouldn't have happened again? Or are we supposed to keep Rudy for as long as he wanted to coach because he won us championships? Is blind loyalty the best way to win a championship? Do you not remember the threads calling for the Rockets to fire Rudy? Get Riddy Rudy? Of course you remember, you were posting in them. And that was before we discovered his health issues. Criticize Les for firing JVG and Adelman -- but don't bring up FAs, draft picks, and trades that Les is not heavily involved in. Don't bash him for wanting to go in a different direction from Rudy, who was diagnosed with cancer and whose team had turned into a bunch of isolation one-on-ones.
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I can't believe anybody is still buying this transparent myth -- particularly someone who calls himself "LongTimeFan." Here are the facts: 1. Rudy took time off to receive treatment and was given a clean bill of health to return to coaching, which he very much wanted to do. 2. Les told him his job was safe and Rudy was glad to hear it. He made plans to return to the Rockets. 3. Seemingly out of nowhere, and definitely in no way having anything to do with Rudy's health, Les changed his mind. (Incidentally, it was right between Rudy being told he'd be back and Les changing his mind that I personally ran into Jim Boylen at the now-closed Wonderful Vegetarian restaurant and said, "How's Rudy? We need him back." He responded, "I just got off the phone with him and he just got the word that he will be back and that we all will.") 4. Les somehow convinced Rudy to fall on his sword and announce he was leaving due to health issues, a white lie that Rudy apparently agreed to because he is and always was a company man and a stand up guy. 5. Les neglected to appear at Rudy's press conference - the one Les himself had forced him to make. Adding insult to injury, when asked who he saw as a good replacement, he said something along the lines of, "I don't know. Rudy was my first pick but he decided to leave." That was the big lie. And that was the moment I began hating Les Alexander. That he basically repeated the same behavior with JVG and Adelman was not surprising and though I very much disagreed with those decisions (and disagreed even more with the slimy way they were handled - more JVG than Rick, as I can see Clutch's points on the matter), they were nothing compared to the shoddy treatment he bestowed upon a lifelong Rocket and the only coach to ever bring a championship to Houston. Les is an idiot and an ass. We have had three great coaches in a row, each of whom got more wins out of the squads he was given than could have been expected. In each case, it was the personnel that was lacking and instead of blaming the GM (the person responsible for personnel) he blamed the coach. Each and every time it was stupid and it was counter-intuitive but worse than any of that it displayed an utter lack of honesty, loyalty or basic human decency. **** Les. Seriously.
Probably one of the single most ignorant posts i have read in a while. You do realize this is a hall of fame coach that has been to the finals you're talking about right? And before you say anything about him not knowing defense, look at his teams in Portland and Sacramento. All were solid to very good defensively. Hell, if a little research is too difficult, think back to his first couple of seasons in Houston. You know, the years when we didn't start a 6'6 center and actually had defensive talent. You should try that before talking out of your ass. Annoying. Sad thing is, the dude running the organization probably thinks along the same lines as you.
So a new coach, and most likely a pretty severe downgrade, is going to catapult the rockets into contention. Unless your hoping for a high lottery pick, or that they blow the team up and become the new Sacramento kings, you are most likely going to be disappointed.
Sounds like a grade A douche-bag. I don't think you will find many people denying that. Hell, from that screechy laugh of his you could call him downright evil without getting an argument from me. Most billionaires are. However, as much of an ass as he might be, he is certainly no idiot. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and I assure you he did not get to where he is today, the Top, due to his abundance in honesty, loyalty or basic human decency. The reason he is the Bossman is because of his intelligence, ingenuity, and most importantly ruthless and cut throat mentality. I've known and worked for men like that, and as much as we hate their guts, it is exactly that mentality that breeds success and makes them the driving force behind every industry. Instead of judging him on the douchebaggery of his methods, which are undeniable, judge him based on the results that those methods have produced. Like you said, 3 great coaches. Each better than the previous. This is why I am not sweating at all who our next coach will be. Because it seems Uncle Les is up to his old tricks again. Like I said, if you are looking for basic human decency, you will be left not only disappointed but pissed off. But if you are looking for a guy at the helm of a multi-million dollar operation, we could do a lot worse than Les. Just my opinion.
Sounds like you're describing Bud Adams, as well. Quit apologizing for Les. Do you honestly not believe he meddles too much? He certainly imposes No Trade rules on certain players, for reasons other than Wins.
Do you know anything about Bud Adams or his family lineage? That is the definition of "silver spoon". Could not be further from what I was describing. Please get your facts straight before apologizing for whoever it is you are apologizing for.
Dude I still can't get over this it is so laughable. Leslie Alexander amassed his fortune starting as a bond and options trader on Wall St. Bud Adams took his daddy's billions and turned them into hundreds of millions. Please think before you respond next time.
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I'm not a stockholder, I'm a fan. The efficient management of the team, its ability to make profits, even its ability to win championships is, to me, subordinate (by miles) to whether or not I feel sincerely motivated to see our guys win. It's not even the winning to me as much as it's how we win and with whom we win. Another way to put this is that back in the day I would not have supported trading Charles frigging Jones for Karl Malone. Nor would I have supported trading Rodrick Rhodes for John Stockton. Those trades would have made us better but I wouldn't have cared because I'd have stopped rooting for the team. Jerry Sloan might be (or might once have been) the coach that would give our team a chance at a championship, but I would not root for a team he coached. I don't want a championship that badly and certainly not in that way. I'm a fan of this team because I genuinely root for them to overcome adversity and succeed, because I like and respect them. When that is gone (as it is for me with Les), my interest in the team's success fades accordingly. To your suggestion that Les is a self-made success and should be judged on the merits of his success (as opposed to, say, his character), well, he bought a team that he didn't have time to change before it won two championships. Since then, would you judge his track record to be a success? Because if you would we're not watching the same team. As such he is neither a hero when it comes to character (which I care more about) nor with plain success (which seems to be your priority), in basketball at least. Further, our ability to attract a great coach (or key free agents) has diminished not increased as a result of Les's leadership. This is apparent in every list of potential replacements, no matter how long that list grows. I mean, for goodness sake, we are fishing around now -- as an official strategy -- to try to luck out on getting the next version of an asst. to head coach exactly like the one we ourselves (read: Les) fired. The coach of the year and Les ditched him without a thank you just like he did his last three head coaches. If that kind of business acumen, along with what is it now, one trip to the second round of the playoffs in 15 years, is your idea of success, remind me not to enter into any hot new business ventures with you.
I am talking about bringing Adelman back. That will get us to 6th seed. <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A better way to put it might be that it would get us to the highest possible seed given the talent on the roster. Look at the list of candidates' track records. Now look at Rick's. Now try to tell me changing coaches will improve our seeding.
That is totally fine, and cool with me. Personally I value winning a championship above all else. I believe Les has to balance some of the business side of things as well. But all things being equal, I believe he would sell his soul for another ring too. We are jumping around topics now. As far as I could tell, your original rant was on his treatment of coaches. Where according to you it seems he had quite a direct influence on. In that case we should judge based on the track record of coaches he was able to produce/bring in. Talking about the success of the entire team is a whole other issue. We can talk about that too. I would say he has had a far less direct influence on the direction of the team since the coaches and GMs all had a part in those successes/failures. You brought up how the coaches have taken the blame for the GM when it was the talent level that was insufficient. That is not exactly accurate since the GM did take the blame when Morey replaced CD. Remember, the only coach let go under Morey has been Adelman. Our ability to attract great coaches, or anyone for that matter, has diminished due to a foot and a knee. Not anyone's leadership. Now you can certainly argue that it was Les's decision to hold on to them for too long that put us in this hole. However, one can easily counter that 1. trading both of them before we were sure they would break down would have guaranteed us nothing when it comes to the ultimate goal of winning a championship and 2. trading both of them after we were sure they would break down was of course impossible. I've argued this a few times on this forum, that while banking on those two was definitely not the high probability play, the alternative was not any better(in fact much worse) if you had the ultimate goal in mind. In that sense it was a good bet that we ended up losing on. Again, the success of the franchise is a different topic with many other variables to take into account. Unless you really believe everything is ALL Les's fault. As far as the original topic of the coaching carousel, I believe Les has had some success. With his latest venture yet to be determined. So with that in mind please don't hesitate to hop on any of my new business ideas!
Yes, but you still didn't answer my question: Do you not think Les meddles too much? Many of us do. That's why we call him an idiot, just like Bud Adams. An intelligent owner would not place No Trade rules on certain players for investment reasons other than Winning...or out of loyalty to Hakeem. oops, Les didn't do that either.
A few of your "facts" are wrong, like Rudy being told he would return (outside of your anecdote, I've never seen that reported; Rudy told the Chron he had no indication that he wouldn't return, not that Les told him he would) and Rudy being given a clean bill of health (wasn't until five months after he stepped down). It's not worth my time to go line-for-line because you quoted one line of what I said and completely ignored the next post I made. You can cling to your "Rudy was healthy, Les is a jerk!!" mantra if you want; but then you have to explain why Rudy resigned after half a season in LA and has never coached again. I know, I know -- more owners forcing him to resign and claim health reasons.. but that doesn't quite explain why he's never returned to coaching. Aside from that, I agree on the general idea that Les does not treat his coaches well. I was a JVG fan and was incredibly disappointed when he wasn't retained. I was also an Adelman fan and thought he should have been brought back as well, but at least I can understand their reasoning for Adelman better than "JVG doesn't put enough people in the seats" reasoning. So you're saying he's too loyal to some players and not enough loyal to others? Huh? Which player did he have the "no trade" rules on? Francis.. the guy we traded? You're actually blaming him for letting Olajuwon leave? We should've signed Hakeem to the money he wanted, even though he wasn't worth it? Aside from his handling of swapping coaches every four years, Les has been a good owner. He's never afraid to go after the big stars in the league or spend money; he doesn't interfere with the coaches gameplans; he lets Daryl do his job. Does he meddle too much? Absolutely not -- he's about the same as every other owner.
