Dunleavy is the best all around candidate for the Rockets coaching vacancy. He is known as a disciplinarian and a teacher to young players, without "burning down the house" so to speak, in the process squeezing the life out of the team. Nor is he one to bail after a couple of years. Fran Blinebury made an excellent case one week ago about why Dunleavy was THE best choice to coach the Rockets. Everything has happened for the best and Rockets fans should consider themselves fortunate.
I agree. Van Gundy is overrated. Mike Dunleavy will be returning to the team he played for as the new coach of the Rockets.
We are getting lot of different threads about this, but, Dunleavy is one of the worst choices left. A players coach who was handed a championship talent team only to never keep the team focused and deliver a title. JVG, Carlise, Larry Brown (or course he is gone), all guys who got more out of less, rather than less from more.
He is known as a disciplinarian? Am I missing something there, he couldn't control anything in Portland, and I think he is going to be able to control SF and Mobley either, if unfortunatelly, he lands in Houston.
This article may clear things up.http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2001/0505/1191799.html. I'm not real excited about Dunleavy or Van Gundy - but I don't think it matters who we get. They both have their pluses and minuses
"Players griped about playing time, and criticized Dunleavy for calling too many plays on offense. Following a loss in Denver three days before Christmas, the coach and players aired their differences during a meeting. Dunleavy agreed to loosen the reins, and the team won 10 straight games. After they began their tailspin, however, Dunleavy resumed yelling and micromanaging, and many of the players resented it." Get Van Gundy!
Roger that! Check out my new sig! W00T! Jeff Van Gundy all the way. Get Van Gundy! First....he has the same first name as me! And there aren't any other good coaches left. This is sad. JVG is the best out of all the Rockets' candidates. And there's only 2. Get Van Gundy! But MOST LIKELY, the new head coach of the Houston Rockets will be Mike Dunleavy.
Why? OK, Dunleavy sounds like he might actually try to get on the players to make them perform. Granted, there have been one too many cases of overpaid-millionaire-NBA player not dealing with vociferous coaches; but Portland was and still is a bunch of overpaid whiners/head cases. I guess we'll have to see how Steve will react to Dunleavy (Yao won't have a problem, and Cat, well, he might be gone anyway), but the Franchise has been coddled enough as it is.
agreed on that part. But micromanaging offense part is what I don't like. I hated that Rudy seemed to always call individual set plays from the bench.
The players in Portland didnt respect Dunleavy at all, and he had pretty much no control over the team. I dont like Van Gundy, but maybe Jeff would be better for the team.
Those players in Portland (with a few notable exceptions) don't respect ANYONE, including themselves. I would not put a lot of stock into Dunleavy losing their respect. He probaby never had much of it to begin with.
If the Blazers had signed Phil Jackson do you doubt they would have had at least 1 title in the last 5 years? I don't. I can't tell you the last time the Blazers had a coach in the Jackson/Brown class--probably the 70s--thus just because other less than great coaches similarly failed can't be looked at as a plus for Dunleavy.
leeman's take: Portland had winning seasons before Dunleavy, but nothing near championship level. They played at a much higher level under Dunleavy (over .700 winning percentage), and Dunleavy won "Coach of the Year" in 1999. The GM brings in some bad character guys (cough, like Snotty Pippen), on a roster that already had their share of "troubled players". The team then falls short of expectations. Those expectations were very high because of how well Portland had been playing under Dunleavy in previous seasons. The GM who brought in those bad seeds needs a scape goat, and fires Dunleavy. The Trail Blazers have been sinking ever since.
You couldn't be more wrong and off base in your analysis. Phil Jackson could not have turned those head case Portland teams into champions any better than Dunleavy did. Rockets as a team probably need more micro managing on offense than any team that has been in Houston to my memory. Steve has little or no clue as to how the point is supposed to be run so I welcome someone that forces the players to run the plays instead of street ball. Bill Fitch is another coach who was always accused of micro managing during the games and I have felt many times that Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley are in desperate need of a coach like this. Besides, Dunleavy is going to stress defensive rebounding and running. His micro managing of our half court offense should do wonders in cutting down the aimless dribbling and wasted possessions. Bring on Dunleavy.
leeman, You just won my vote for newcomer of the year to the BBS. Here is proof that some people actually watch the game. So for all of you Dunleavy antagonists here is a question for you. Did the Trailblazers improve when Dunleavy left or did they get better? And how about the Lakers? Were they better with or with out Dunleavy? In both cases the answer some obvious. The Lakers sucked for a while after Dunleavy left and the Trailblazers are no longer looked upon as serious contenders. Hmmmm. Dunleavy is a coach that brings good defense and a much better offense (both half court and fast break) than JVG. Plus Dunleavy has actually coached one of the best passing big men to ever play the game not JVG.
I certainly won't be disappointed with Dunleavy...Thinking more about it, he may be the best balanced choice when you consider different types of criteria...
Dunleavy is a decent coach and even though he had a lot of talent both times he went to the finals, he still should have made it out 1 time. His offense seems to get everyone involved to the point of where teams don't know who the go to man is. If he's who we're left with, I'd prefer him over JVG, but i wouldstill like to see Cleamons or Jordan or even Lenny Wilkens given a shot.
