Dr. Jack Ramsay a veteran of coaching and someone who will teach the basics of the game to a team who needs to learn the basics
1) Larry Brown - About time for him to move again 2) Jeff Van Gundy - good coaching mind, big on Yao, available 3) Jerry Sloan - great execution, tough as nails, S/M retiring Frank Johnson is looking pretty good right now. Some of the other ex-players are doing pretty good, too.
My top 2 choices would be Brown and Sloan, but we don't have any concrete reason to believe that they would be available. My third choice would be Van Gundy, the crazy fool that Mourning dragged around the court on his ankles. If the Rox don't make the playoffs this year, Rudy should be (but won't be) moved to GM. The only coach that is readily available that might be worth the gamble is Van Gundy. But the point of the exercise is this - there aren't great coaches out there ready for the taking. Before people start calling for change, you better have a good plan ready that has a legitimate chance of success. If I'm the owner, I would not fire Rudy T, just to shake things up because the fans demand instant gratification.
Still remember that at the beginning of this season Norris once mentioned that he would follow what Rudy told him to do and would not care what the other big guys would feel. He referred to "pass the ball to Yao". Rudy has a working plan with the team. But some of the big guys did not listen to Rudy and pass the ball around. The results are inconsistent up and down. It is after Rice called out, the team began to move the ball around. Now the results are two easy wins. Why the team listen to Rice but not Rudy?? Maybe Rice should be the coach.
Jeff Van Gundy is a great coach. And he stresses defense, which I think is important for this team. That being said, I find it hard to believe that the Rockets won't make the playoffs even with their incompetent coach. Sometimes talent overcomes coaching.
I don't want to see Rudy go, but I would take a (small) risk on the Nelson the younger. He has intensity and that desire to win. He has a lot more to do with the Mavs success than he is given credit for. There is a reason why Cuban is willing to give a kidney in order to keep him around, but with the elder Nelson having decided to stay on as head coach for another three years, Donnie is going to be a head caoch somewhere in the league in the very near future.
If Rudy ABDICATED I'd vote for the unknown Mr Mean. I mean, LS has not head coached. But neither had Rudy.
If we lost Rudy for some reason, God forbid, then I agree with Ricerocket. Van Gundy would be a great assistant with Calvin "Pocket Rocket" Murphy as head coach.
Jeff Van Gundy seems like an availible and qualified candidate. I want Rudy to go if he fails to establish a system that features teamwork by the end of season. Being in the playoffs is affected by lots of factors, such as injuries or "being young", but establishing a system is solely under the coach's control. Rudy has the players, the playbook and one season to do it. If he fails then he deserves to be booted.
The potential for us to one day see Van Gundy humping Yao's ankle to keep him out of a fist fight is enough to warrant bringing him in!
