Can't read the article but did Rudy create stretch 4 position with intention or thru desperation? Giving Dream more room to operate in low post seemed like a no brainer but Horry (and Sam) was moved for Barkley after 2 seasons. One of those seasons garnered a championship and the other was a tough out vs. Sonics.
Here's some others that are in the HOF. Not saying that any of them shouldn't be in, but if they are in the question needs to be asked why isn't Rudy T in as well given his playing career at Michigan and the Rockets as well as his coaching accolades???? Jerry Sloan (Bulls player/Jazz coach)---NEVER won a ring. Pete Carril (Princeton coach)--won an NIT title Jim Calhoun (UConn)--won two NCAA titles Nolan Richardson (won a NIT title at Tulsa and NCAA title at Ark) John Thompson (Georgetown--one title) John Calipari (one title at Kentucky) Van Chancellor (4 WNBA titles)
Few people remember that Hakeem missed 9 games straight at end of the 2nd ring season—late March to mid April. Why is this important? Because that’s why Pete Chilcutt became a PF starter, and @Carl Herrera moved over to center. This is also the moment Rudy invented the Stretch 4. All of a sudden, Chilcutt’s 3s went up noticeably. Then Herrera got injured and he became the starter again with Hakeem, and Rudy put him in Stretch position in the playoffs, to get Malone, Barkley and Rodman (in succession) out of the paint...and he kept shooting 3s at his highest clip ever. However, going down 1-3 to Barkley, and Herrera out via injury, Rudy decided to use Horry as backup PF more and more, with Elie playing 3. Charles Jones and Tabak stopped getting minutes, Chilcutt started going down, but Chucky Brown still got time. By Game 6 of the Spurs series with Rodman, Chilcutt was benched and Horry/Elie became the starters. And the rest is history, as the Rockets won 6 games in a row. So Chilcutt is arguably the original Stretch 4. But it worked so well, Horry took over. Also note, MDA is on Record saying he named a famous Stretch 4 play after Rudy — Fist-up Houston. It is Fist-up done at the arc, rather than midrange. Bullard and Francis did it all the time.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nb...h-reflects-1998-world-championship-basketball If the "Dream Team" had been there, Rudy Tomjanovich would have gone home with a gold medal. If the "Dream Team" -- Grant Hill, Gary Payton, Tim Hardaway and the rest of the big-name NBA stars at the time -- had been there, the outcome would have been a foregone conclusion. The United States likely would have won by 10, 20 or 30 points per game. If the "Dream Team" had been there, the only question might have been whether Nike or Adidas won the sneaker wars. The 1998 World Championship of Basketball in Athens, Greece ended with Yugoslavia edging Russia for the gold medal and Tomjanovich’s American team whipping the home country for a third-place finish, which was anything but a bronze bust. When it comes time to make selections for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2017, "Rudy T" has a resume that is both short and sweet, a couple of attributes that work both for and against him. The Rockets enjoyed the sweet taste of an NBA Finals series victory in 1995. In an age when coaches are often known to stay around for generations, Tomjanovich’s career on the bench spanned just 11 full seasons and parts of two others, shortened by a bout with bladder cancer. In that time, he compiled a record of 527-416 (.559), led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and '95 and coached Team USA to the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. From 1994-95, his Rockets won a record nine consecutive playoff road games and a record six straight elimination games. The '95 Rockets are the only team in history to win four playoff series over teams with at least 57 regular season wins. “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion!” became Tomjanovich’s tagline in 1995, after the Rockets became the only No. 6 seed ever to win the NBA title. But if there is an achievement full of heart and yet most overlooked in Rudy T’s career, a hidden, under-appreciated gem, it is that work done one summer in Athens. Tomjanovich had been named Team USA coach a year earlier and had expected to lead a roster filled with All-Stars against the world. Then the league’s labor lockout in 1998 scratched NBA players from taking part and they were replaced by a collection of ex-collegians and journeymen. “This was the greatest basketball experience of my life,” said 33-year-old forward David Wood, who had played around the world for 13 pro teams and eight different NBA franchises. “It was an honor to play for my country and for my coach. This will always be special.” It was special because of the circumstances that brought them together for a 4 1/2-week whirlwind tour through four counties as a disparate group of European exiles, Continental Basketball Association lifers and one college star stepped into the breach left by the "Dream Team’s" absence. The college star, point guard Mateen Cleaves, was expected to run the offense and solidify the lineup, but he suffered a severe ankle sprain on the even of the tournament and never played a minute. Wood, Jimmy Oliver, Jimmy King, Brad Miller and the rest played on. The question of their worthiness dogged their every step.How could they fill the Dream Team’s high-tops? How could they ever live up to the great American expectations back home? Simply by following Tomjanovich’s lead and believing. “With the Dream Team the talent level, of course, would have been overwhelming,” Tomjanovich said. “With that team, you’re talking about detail work, getting plays right, trying to do this and that and, at the same time entertain everybody. “That’s almost a no-win situation. If you win by 15 or 20, people say 'why it wasn’t 25 or 30?' In spite of the disappointment of third place, this felt more satisfying.” Precisely because it was. Tomjanovich and his staff fought the odds of playing against veteran national teams from around the globe that had been together for years and a deck that was stacked against them. First, the NBA stars abandoned them. Then, a group of agents sabotaged their effort, persuading experienced former NBA players -- i.e. Dominique Wilkins and Byron Scott -- to pass on invitations as a show of support for the union. In the end, what did the U.S. fans miss without the Dream Team, except a gold medal that would have come from overkill in the place of true competition. What they got instead was an effort from a gritty bunch that was truly inspirational. Tomjanovich's squad had nearly pulled off a miracle in the semifinals, letting a 10-point lead over Russia slip away. Those of us who were there will always remember those last three minutes, the misplays, the several horrible calls by the officials. It was a different, quicker, more unfamiliar game to the Americans in a time when the NBA rules had not yet been changed to allow more flow and international players did not yet populate nearly one-fourth of the league. Tomjanovich would not allow them to stay down from the emotional blow. In the fragile hours when the loss to Russia still hurt like an open wound, Tomjanovich got them to look at the bigger picture accomplishment that could come from winning the third place game over Greece and leaving with their heads held up. This team played hard, running their legs and not their mouths. There was little ego, certainly no sense of entitlement. “Those guys got as much out of what they have as any team I’ve ever been around,” Tomjanovich said. So did a coach, who deserves to be bronzed again.
It was the strike season and none of the pros played. He took a team of CBA and college players. Brad Miller ( a no name at the time) was his best player.
https://www.chron.com/sports/rocket...ch-named-a-finalist-for-Naismith-12621950.php To others, Rudy Tomjanovich's exclusion from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has been inexplicable or worse. To Tomjanovich, once again being named a Finalist on Saturday for induction was just another reason to share those cherished memories of a career like few others. "Those things, they actually get better every year," Tomjanovich said after he learned he was a finalist to be in the Class of 2018 after falling short last year. "When I see who is standing left standing this year and the team that didn't make it, how they are, but didn't win it. It makes me appreciate it even more." Tomjanovich is one of three coaches to take teams to Olympic and NBA championships, is nominated as a coach, though he was also an All-American at Michigan and an All-Star with the Rockets. His exclusion from the hall, despite taking the Rockets to two championships and another USA Basketball team made up entirely of players outside the NBA and after college careers to a bronze medal in the World Championships, has inspired widespread condemnation. But Tomjanovich said the support itself has been rewarding. "It's not a negative thing," Tomjanovich said. "It's a good feeling to know you were appreciated. That's the big positive of it. It feels good for people to say. "It's an honor being considered. It's something to be proud of. That would be a wonderful honor. It doesn't take away anything about my feelings about what happened in the past. All of a sudden, if this did happen, does that mean things were better than I remember them? If it doesn't happen, does that mean somehow it wasn't a tremendous accomplishment? No."
The false perception that those championships 'don't count' since Jordan was retired for a 1.5 seasons despite the Bulls having a huge gaping hole at power forward for those two years and lack of depth.
