Please ask specific questions. Many of your questions were dodged by Harris pretty easily. Before sending out more emails, please review your previous correspondences first.
i read or saw something about how he coached rudy..and benched him, effectively ending his playing career and was the guy responsible for getting him into scouting/coaching..del also coached the in LA...im sure he has some insight on the rudy in LA situation...
-----Original Message----- From: Me To: Del Harris Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 22:18:55 +0000 Subject: Re: e-mail interviews Hello Del, Thank you for your answers. Greatly appreciated. As I’ve mentioned before your answers are read by Rockets fans from all over the world and many remember with fondness your time with the Rockets. Therefore, we would love it if we could slightly shift focus this week: - What do you remember most about leading the 1981 Rockets to the finals? - How do YOU manage team chemistry? How are teams different in this regard? - How do you compare the big men you have coached throughout your career? (Malone and Shaq of course and please include Yao if you can) Thank you very much. Yours sincerely, Daniel Malberg --------------------------------------------- From: Del Harris To: Me Date: Thu 15 Jul 2004 07:29:06 Subject: Re: e-mail interviews I remember many things, but three things stand out the most--------beating the defending champion Laketrs when no one gave us a chance; winning the San Antonio series in 7 games and doing it by winning three times on their court with Calvin Murphy getting 42 points and Moses coming up sick that day and still dominating with rebounds and 28 points. finally, winning game 4 aginst the Celtics in Houston when I only used 6 players in a must-win game. team chemistry is more a matter of winning games. losing teams do not maintain it. it is necessary to have your best players to be good people or you cannot have the chemistry. anyone who thnks they have the formula for all times is a fool. get good people and win games and you have a chance. i have had great big men, having worked with malone, shaq, yao but also jack sikma and bob lanier. they were all good guys, but i think all of the players took their work more seriously than did shaq. shaq has always had other agendas and outside activities that these other men did not have. that is not necessarily a bad thing overall---to be broad in ones interests---it just made him different from the others in that regard. i find yao to be a delight to be around and to coach. he wants to lead and do the right thing.
Wow, cool one yet again! Thx trader dan! But im kinda surprised at that slight jab at o'neal right there at the end
Trader Dan, you rock. Thanks man. Heh. And yeah, the dig at O'Neal comes out of nowhere. Coaches usually go way, way out of their way to avoid saying anything negative about a former player; and here, unsolicited, Harris just bashes Shaq! I love it.
Guys, This is EXACTLY why Steve was traded. Team chemistry, get good team players as your leaders, and the rest will follow. DD
Lots more questions for you to choose from: CNT questions: Q: Since Yao joined the NBA, have the CNT players been getting more scouting interest from the NBA? (I remember when Yao was drafted - he was a big question mark. Many people had not seen him play and didn't know if he had game). Q: Knowing the differences in training methods between China and America, are there strategic differences in how the Chinese coach their games compared to the U.S.? Q: Do you feel that China emphasizes basketball fundamentals more than America, while America, perhaps, emphasizes energy and talent? Q: I can't imagine that China is paying their players such large amounts as some of the players in the NBA. Can you speak a little about how much they are paid, and how well their slaries take care of them? Q: In the NBA, players either go to college and then the NBA, or sometimes go to the NBA straight from high school. Is that how it works in China, and if not, how is it done? Del and Dallas Questions: Q: Dallas has a reputation for having a lot of assistant coaches. Are there any inherent problems with having so many? Or, do you feel that it helps the team better? Q: Your career keeps you mobile - when the day comes that you retire, where will you live? Q: Did you like the game better before the rule changes of illegal D, double-teaming a player who doesn't have the ball, shot clock changes, etc.? Q: Do you think there will be a lockout this season? Yao Questions: Q: Is Yao still on a weight program for bulking up his upper body? Q: In your opinion, what are Yao's weaknesses? Q: How are most players trying to defend Yao? Q: Is Yao's energy diminishing late in games (as it was during NBA season)? Q: Is Yao making a stronger effort to get close shots/dunks, or is he utilizing his abilities for short-range jumpers? Q: What are some of the most significant improvements that Yao is making? Ya know, I never really tgave Del Harris much thought, but he has gained a LOT of respect from me for answering these e-mails. That says a lot about his character! -- droxford
Man, this is an awesome thread! Major kudos to Trader Dan and especially, Coach Del Harris for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions!
I'd like to echo everyone else's appreciation for this interesting thread. It's awfully cool of Del to keep responding thoughtfully to these questions, and for Dan to keep doing it for our benefit. This is one of the reasons I come to ClutchFans first for my baskeball jones. TD, keep telling him how much we all appreciate it -- you can't oversell that. I don't have any creative ideas for questions myself, but I would like to second some of these ideas by droxford...
I think some of these Qs could be answered by our own fellow posters.. especially about the salarie figures n' stuff. . Aren't there websites about the China basketball leagues and other asian leagues? I just think if our knowledgeable posters in that regard can help us out with these, we can save the more direct questions to Del Harris. Please Enlighten us!
