BREAKING: Rick Adelman is out as Houston Rockets coach

That's fair, totally fair, but you told another diehard fan to "find another team," and I think that's over the line if we're all rockets fans here. Insult their heritage, their intelligence, their political party, their families... but don't tell another Rockets fan to just go find another team. K?

 

Argh! THERE IS NO ONE BETTER! This is a huge mistake.

 

Okay, one last post on the topic. I have come around to understanding the "we aren't going to win anyway, so..." even though I don't agree with that line of thinking. (It's so much harder to go from suck to great than it is from good to great, in my opinion, or it will take a lot longer.)

But the real point I wanted to make here about Rick: despite all the griping about him developing younger players, he's actually really, really good at it. Ask yourself if Mike Woodson (shudder) would have developed the maximized the following players as quickly as Adelman and his staff did:

Lowy
Patterson
Buddinger

And from his past teams, consider the following players who had career best years with him. Several of the following players really got their start with Rick and were never the same without him.

Bobby Jackson
Mike Bibby
Doug Christie
Peja Stojacawhatever
Scot freaking Pollard (was useful under Rick!)

Cliff Robinson
Jerome Kersey
Terry Porter
Buck Williams

So if we apply the same logic, a bunch of our players (already far from all stars) may well look less worthy with another coach. I would bet you that current management doesn't get that. They see "Buddinger can hit for 30." "Patterson is a beast and knows how to play." "Lowry has become a wonderful point guard." ... and they think those are absolutes. they think those are all independent of the coach now and will carry forward. I'm not so sure about that.

Hope. I'm. Wrong! I've been wrong a lot before.

 

Had to jump in here. I agree that this team has talent - good talent. It's just that the level of that talent is not sufficient to make them legitimate contenders in their division and the in the Western Conference. As curently constructed, this team is not on the level of Dallas, SA, NO and OKC - all team who have improved and passed the Rockets since their last title. And pickups like Williams, Hill, Thabeet do nothing to change that fact and neither does all of the so-called stockpiling of draft picks by the wizard GM.

I saw this coming the moment RA was hired and I have posted as such continuously. The head coach always takes the fall for this organization. The next head coach Les hires will also be a dead coach walking. For the record, RA wasn't fired as his contract was up - he simply wasn't retained. At least he wasn't thrown under the bus and completely disrespected in the manner of Rudy T. Oh, and pay close attention to the dog-and-pony sho er press conference announcing the next coach. My bet is that it will be EXACTLY like the one Uncle Les gave for JVG and RA. It'll be like deja-vu all over again...

 

To the "keep Rick" crowd:

What were you expecting?

Did you think a coach that has 2, maybe 3 years left in the tank would be a good fit for a franchise that is, with the death of the Yao era, now in full on rebuilding mode?

The best we were going to do over the final years of Adleman's career was a low seed in the Western conference... or worse yet, more late lotto picks.

Then when Adleman leaves, we're stuck without any stars (or the ones we had never got any PT), trying to break in a new coach which would end up wasting the prime years of guys like Lowry and Lee, and whatever little is left of guys like Martin and Scola... all without any division titles or playoff success to show for it... just a couple of years of entertaining basketball that quickly fades into memory (not that I scoff at that, but in the big picture, it's small beans).

Everybody wins here. We finally get to see if Moreyball is legit (so far McGrady and Ming have made it impossible to tell if Daryl knows what he is doing or not) and Adleman gets one last chance to chase a ring.

I applaud Les for taking it on the chin here and doing the less popular thing in favor of looking towards the future.

 

Calvin Murphy any one ???

 

This ^

/thread

 

I get the rebuilding vs. aging coaching. I do. But given the way we gelled at the end of the year, the chemistry we have, the respect the players have for him, the fact that he's one of the best coaches in the league, I would have liked to see a 2-yr extension to see if we could get back to contending under his guidence. The replacement better be rock solid, that's all i'll say.

 

My take is pretty much the same as tierre brown's... I am a huge fan of Rick Adelman (was so when he was at POR, thought he got scapegoated on GSW, and again, a huge fan of his work in SAC). Adelman consistently coaches up his teams, his players always respect and like playing for him (he is one of the best of getting everyone to buy into his system and PT balance). And his offense is a thing of beauty.

That said, some times it is just time to make a change, and this is probably the best time to make that change. We can thank Adelman for all he did for the team and city, and hope that the next coach continues the string of excellent coaches the Rockets have had (Rudy T, JVG, and Adelman). That strong should add a bit of confidence in the next selection... most teams struggle to find at least one decent coach.

Possible candidates? Just looking at possible influences: The last two were successful as head coaches. They went from offense-oriented, to defensive oriented, and back to offense oriented. We are learning that Les and Morey are pushing for someone that is at least open to decisions based on stats and less on gut feel.

So the most likely candidate will be a defense-oriented coach with former HC experience. That would suggest Mike Brown, Mike Woodsen, Lawrence Frank, and Dwayne Casey. I would also guess the Rockets show some organization loyalty and at least consider Howard and Sikma. Real outside shots would include Brian Shaw, Michael Cooper, and Bill Laimbeer. I don't think either are serious candidates unless the Rockets view it as an interim/trial due to concerns about lockout.

I'd be OK with any of Woodsen, Frank (supposedly a candidate at Tenn) and Casey.

 

Everybody take a deep breath.

For what its worth, I still feel like this is the wrong move to make, given how well RA coached our boys up these past 2 years. Like I said earlier (and was just mentioned), Adelman has to be factored in when considering career years for the likes of Lowry, Martin and Hayes. I am not saying they are not talented - I am saying there is a reason the job title is coach; he is paid to consistently evaluate talent and then put his players in positions to succeed based upon said evaluation. I don't believe there is another coach out there now capable of doing a better job at that than RA.

As to why certain young players weren't seeing the minutes some here on CF clamored for, that is so subjective we could sit and debate all day. Personally, I think it was mostly a function of low bball IQ and lack of ability to grasp the principles of his system that held back Twill, Thabeet and Hill. You have the right to disagree, as does Morey, and who knows how those behind the scenes convos about the roster really played out. Point is, those who deserved minutes on our team got them, and kudos to RA for sticking to his guns.

Martin will be just as available as any other Rocket this offseason - Morey may be gaga over him, but he also buys low to sell high and Martin's market value is at its peak. If we are completely rebuilding, he's likely on his way out along with Scola IMO. BTW, I disagree with the rebuild / tank notion, but I think that debate is best served for another thread. RA is gone because we aren't and won't become a contender with our current roster sans Yao+Tmac (which is why he arrived in the first place), not because we are blowing everything up to go after Sullinger, T Thompson, Austin Rivers, or whoever else next draft.

And lastly, at first I was skeptical, as we all rightfully should be, anytime there is a "mutal agreement" reached. But maybe, even given their differences, this really was the case. We aren't anywhere near contending and RA has never been in the mold of say a Doug Collins. It's just a shame to me that Paul Silas snatched up mid season - would have loved to have a personality like that on the sideline now that we know Adelman won't be back. But here's hoping we find the right candidate, and RA finds the right suitor.

 

1) Did we "gel"? Yeah, I'd say so. But you also can't forget to look at how easy our schedule got. If you think that we played like a wet cat turd in the beginning of the year because of trade rumors... that's a bit of a stretch. If Adleman gets the praise, then Adleman also gets the blame.

2) The players like him. Of course they do. Rick is a bad ass coach and his players love him. That's been the case everywhere. But you don't let the feelings of players, who may not even be around much longer (you hear me, Brad Miller?), dictate the direction of your franchise. That's short sighted.

 

Here's the explanation I lean toward, from a prominent sports guy and morey fan, concerning the Rockets performance pre and post deadline:

 

I don't like this decision, and I didn't like the decision to let JVG go to begin with.

This team used to have a direction - The Dream era, The SF3 era, The Mac-Yao era. Whether the direction worked is another story, but the whole team, from owner's mind, to the coaching staff, to the players, and to the fans, has a goal. After the failed project of TMac-Yao, what was the direction the team is going to? Everyone was talking about rebuilding, but around whom, in which direction? Lots of posters had advocated to trade both TMac and Yao 2 years ago when they still had some value, but trading for what and what to do afterwards was never clear.

To me, both Les and Morey are not clear what to do next. Yes, we do have a quality supporting cast and deep bench. But we don't have a No 1 guy, and to some extend, not even a No 2 guy. We have bunch of very good No 3 guys. How do we get the Alpha dog(s)? Houston doesn't look like a top candidate for top free agents. Via Trade? Who and how many are we willing to give up to get a star player? Because you don't want to end with Bogans and Bowen to start after the mega trade. Via Draft? Well, picking at 14th is not going to get you anything close to Durant or Roy.

Above average players out and above average players in, didn't and will not change the team outcome dramatically. There is absolutely no difference a few places up or down in mediocrity.

What exactly do we want to achieve by letting Rick go? Obviously it's not performance related, because no sane person would expect anyone else led this team to a better result (and yes, Rick could actually even do better, if our Genius GM didn't keep talking about everyone is trade bait). So, it's must be style/direction related, but we don't even have our major piece to build around, how could we even set a style and bring in another coach with certain style? Coach is the least problem we have, if it can be called problem at all.

Unless, we are in full tanking mode, and want to get cheap to get a no-name coach in transition period. Well, if that's the case, it's actually kinda acceptable. Tanking for 2 seasons, and get some talents from lottery pool, and then build from there.

 

I didn't know NBA coaches are not allowed to have anything in the tank after age 66 or 67.

 

I still think we'll make the playoffs next year if there is one.

 

Would you mind sharing that bright future/direction with us?

Change is not just getting rid of what you have now, but also, if not more importantly, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to change TO.

 

Honestly, after we traded Battier I sort of felt that way too. It's hard when you grow so attached to a person in a system you like. I still don't quite get the trade, but in the grand scheme of things its whats best. In the end this team is headed down a new road. There are new pitfalls and twists and turns. This has been a trying season on all of us, and I think its safe to say no one here got quite what they wanted. I think a lot of these irate fans will end up being the loudest proponents of this team come training camp next year.

 

Fair enough, but I wouldn't feel very confident in Rick's long term interest as coach of the Rockets, especially the garage sale version we've come to be.

Or look at it this way...

Proposition: Rick Adleman coaches 3.5 more years.

Are you taking the over or under on that bet?

 

My initials are DM, but they don't stand for Daryl Morey.

 

Sad day. I was fan of Adelman even before he started to coach rockets. His teams are always joy to watch and most importantly winning.

If it was his decision, I am ok with it. Adelman deserves chance to win championship somewhere. If it was management that run him out of town, than I am sure they will miss him dearly when this team starts to lose and it is not event fun to watch.

Anyway thank you for those 4 years coach. I enjoyed them and best luck on your next stop.