Larry Smith College - Alcorn State '80 Following a career as one of the best rebounders in NBA history, Larry Smith begins his eighth season as assistant coach and his 11th overall season with the Rockets. In his first two seasons as an assistant coach, Smith helped the Rockets win NBA World Championships. Known as "Mr. Mean" for his tenacious rebounding style during his 13-year NBA career, Smith played nine seasons for Golden State (1980-89), three for Houston (1989-92) and finished his career at San Antonio (1992-93). Ranked on the NBA's all-time offensive rebounding list (3,401) and on the NBA's all-time overall rebounding list (8,125), the Alcorn State graduate averaged 9.2 rebounds in 883 games. Smith, who also earned a master's degree in business administration from Alcorn State, finished among the top 10 rebounders in the league five times (1980-82, 1984-87) and registered over eight rebounds per game in 10 of 13 seasons, averaging more than 10 five times. The league's third-leading rebounder in 1980-81 (12.1 per game), he earned first team All-Rookie honors and was the first rookie to crack the league's top three since 1969-70 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He recorded 400 double-digit rebounding performances, including 28 games with 20 or more. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rockets can use an assistant coach with head coach experience in time like this. Del Harris sits beside Nelly in Dallas, and the Rockets are playing under someone who never actually coached a team before in playoff race. Gulp.
If he require all Rox players to play as the way he played, that will be a tregedy. A team full of Ben Wallace's is useless.
And we know Larry is the next Lenny because... Nice take. I didn't realize that Cato's playing style might reminds Larry Smith of himself. Talk about secret paternal love. BTW, why not ask Chuck Daly about temporarily coaching the Rockets? Even at the age of a dinosaur I bet he's still better than the head coach wannabes on the Rockets.
Sane - I have deliberately stayed out of the current trend of Smith bashing, but I can't let you get away with this one. First, Wilkens was a PG and much more versed in the inticacies of offense than a player whose primary NBA contribution was rebounding. Secondly, Wilkens had enough snap to be one of the few player/coaches in the NBA...Supersonics player/coach from 1969-1972 and then the Trail Blazers player/coach 1974-75. Other than a few substitution patterens, I don't see Smith doing things much differently from RT...he's a clone with a little more bite in his bark. I'm hoping you knew yours was a weak argument even as you typed it.
I hate to argue in favor because of Larry Smith because I think he sucks but this thread is ridiculous! "never really coached before"??? please enlighten me on which first time coach has because I assume you know this is LS's first time right? Okay...when Lenny first started out as a coach...everyone knew that he'd one day become the most winningest coach because...? All coaches should be given a chance to show what they can do. Lenny got one. I think the previous few games plus the rest of this season will be Larry Smith's chance. Either way, it's lights out for him next season. I doubt he'd be back as head coach if rudy can't make it.
My main gripe isn't Larry himself, but the circumstances under which he's entrusted the responsibility to guide the Rockets to make the playoffs after missing it for years. Every game was well critical before he took over. Doesn't it make sense to not experiement with a coaching project - a coaching project is what Mr.Mean currently is- to add difficulty? You know, this isn't diving or gymnastics! We don't get extra points to play in a more difficult way. Did Lenny take over at a time that every game was critical? or he took over at a time with chances to catch up? Answer these questions first before you compare LS to the winnest coach in the NBA. A lot of NBA coaches had head coaching experience prior to becoming NBA head coaches. The former Celtics coach Rick Pitino was one of them. Some NBA teams have guys who were NBA or college head coaches as assistant coaches. The Rockets have none. Jim Boylen was an assistant coach in Machigan State for recruiting, scouting and game preparations. He's never had real coaching experience either. You do know the diffrence between CEO's and assistants to director don't you? I'm not talking about kicking LS or Jim Boylen out of the team. There must be assistant coaches out there who is familiar with running a team in case the head coach burns out. The Rockets also don't have assistant coaches who are known for X's and O's. We got a good rebounder and a video/scouting guy as our main assistant coaches. Not exactly a strong supporting cast we're talking about here.
You are coming up with a bs reason for not having LS as the interim coach. If your coach gets taken out of commision that quickly, you don't look for another coach foreign to the team. You stay with who you know, who knows the team and who the players know. It just isn't done. It's a sign of disrespect to all of the coaching staff, including Rudy T. And I'm sure the players wouldn't appreciate it either.
I would consider an assistant coach under Rudy T for the last 10 years including the championship years good coaching experience. I don't think Larry is a good coach but this thread is terrible. The argument is that if you were never a head coach before you shouldn't be a head coach in the NBA. 1. The only reason Larry is the head coach is because Rudy has cancer and discovered it at the end of the year. 2. I don't want a former college coach because it has been proven that college coaches make terrible NBA coaches. The only exception is Larry Brown and his record is average at best. Lets look at some good coaches that never was head coach at any level before the first NBA head coach job. Pat Riley Rudy T Byron Scott Jerry Sloan
True......Bringing in any new coach would be totally disruptive at this point. The Rockets have barely established a rotation this year..changes this late in the season couldnt help. The team must pull together..face adversity and whip it..as a team......without outside influence.
Agreed! And as someone else stated, our beloved Rudy T. Didnt have any head coaching experience, when he became the Rockets head coach. I have a problem with all the LS threads about how he suck's because #1 the team was playing the same exact way before he became the "acting head coach" #2 as someone else stated the position in which he has been put in being the head coach isn't fair to judge his coaching skills on. I can see if we had been consistent all season then LS became coach and we lost all our games. But this team is inconsistent period wether Phil Jackson coaches them or Rudy T. I will make my judgement on the Rockets after next year. This year has been a rollercoaster but dont put the blame on the acting head coach of a handful of games...
What coaching experience did Rudy T have before becoming the Rockets' coach? Yes, CEO's get to fly, get perks and publicity while their assistants do all the grunt work.
Some of you guys are missing the point entirely, go back to elementary school and take reading classes again. I explicitly expressed that Larry Smith, although not considered doing a good job by me, is the main problem of the current situation. This isn't a Larry Smith bashing thread. The lack of quality reserve assistant coaches on the Rockets is what's wrong. You Larry fans can be as vocal as you want to, but it's a fact that a coaching project ala Larry Smith who has never coached in quality competition on his own before shouldn't be in place at critical time like this. Hello, riding beside a driver for ten years doesn't mean one knows how to drive, there's gotta be some novice drivers mistakes along the way. We simply can't afford this in the heat of playoffs. Unlike another thread calling for a coaching staff overhaul, I'm just voicing my opinion that better assistant coaches should be added to the team in case this type of thing happens. I thought this is not hard to understand but I guess I'm proven wrong. And I still maintain that Chuck Daly, if he wants to, can do a better job than Larry Smith at this point, for someone as knowledgable as him just watching a few tapes can get him good ideas on the team, and players would respect him as a championship coach. It's like Micheal Schmuk can drive any type of cars with a short initial preparation, while Yao Ming gotta bump into some cars to get a feel. I hope you get the drift. Screw disrespect to the assistant coaches, that's not important at all comparing to making the playoffs. Extreme situation calls for extreme means. I'm not gonna argue on this anymore, it's was offered as a comparison initially, not too many games left for this anyway. TheFreak, you are trying to substitue hiring Del Harris as an assistant coach as hiring him as the head coach. Big FREAKING difference. Try again.
No editing. It should be "although not considered doing a good job by me, isn't the main source of the embarrassment of current situation."
