I know a lot of people have problems with Rudy, but I would just like to point out some great things Rudy has done. First is bringing Yao Ming along Slowly. Yao said after his fantastic game against San Antonio that his confidence was the biggest difference between that and the pre-season game against San Antonio. There were a lot of people saying early on to give Yao more minutes and more touches. This was at a time when Yao couldn't hold position, get a rebound, and didn't really know the NBA game or the Rockets system at either end of the court. Leaving him out there to be abused at both ends of the court would only have hurt his confidence. Instead Rudy brought him along slowly, and get comfortable. It gave Ming time to learn, and gain his confidence. The results are sensational. Yao's talent was always there, it was just a matter of bringing it out. Rudy has done a sensational with that. Then there is the team defense which, for the most part, is greatly improved. Having 7'5" force in the post is also a big reason, but Rudy has the team believing, and they are playing a much more effective zone at times this year. The offense, is not perfect and needs some fine tuning to say the least, but it's a huge improvement over the one on one play that was all the team relied on last year. He has the team believing in the team concept much more than before, and the 76ers game was a terrific example. His play calling has long been bashed, but I just want to point out that in 2 of the last three games Rudy's called play at the end of regulation was executed well, and gave the Rockets a chance in over time. One of them it resulted in a Rocets 'w' the other time we lost, but at least we got there executing a called play by Rudy.
Totally Agree Rudy has been TERRIFIC with nurturing and shielding Yao during the young season. I know a lot of critics knock Rudy for NOT bringing Yao out sooner, but you know what? That's why these critics are such idiots. All they see are the ends and not the means. RudyT is also a masterful arbitrator. With this whole PF fiasco, you could easily see things getting ugly among players. Moreover, with Yao's late arrival, you could have seen more grumbling among the likes of Cato and Collier. But to my knowledge, we've seen little, if any, of that kind of nonsense. Rudy is also great with nurtuing the chemistry btw the guards and Yao. Keeping players happy and not letting egos flair up is a GREAT SKILL and I think Rudy, as a player's kind of coach, understands this sooooo well. Moreover, I would go one step further... I think Rocket Mgmt is terrific. They're patience, they're skillful bets, they're player selection, Rocket Mgmt really understands what it takes to cultivate a championship caliber team. I'm sorry many hardcore Rocket fans had to go through three years of rebuilding, but you know what? At least the Rockets have direction. IMHO, there's a reason why teams like the Knicks and Warriors, will continue to flounder. There's TOO much management TURNOVER. How can any GM or Coach think longer-term if they're only there for a couple of years??? Rudy and the whole Rox organization gets 5 Stars in my book as to direction, vision, patience, and policy. They've assembled a heck of a team... one stocked with more talent than Cuban could ever purchase with all his cash. theSAGE
Have to give Rudy his due. I didn't want & expect Yao to play more than 20+ quality minutes a game early in the season, so Rudy was on the same page with me One thing I have been b****ing about is the way offense was running when Yao was in the game. I thought the team played at a pace which was too fast for Yao. They should slow down, shift their guard oriented offense to post focused offense, which they have been doing more and more lately, though not consistantly. I expect the downs and ups since this is a very young team, just hope they move forward two steps with every step backwards. Based on this team's early season progress, I'd have to give Rudy a A-. DaoShi
Rudy did an OK job bring Yao out, but it doesn't he couldn't do a better job. The possibility remains that Yao could come out earlier and help the team more had he been given more PT earlier. Yao's talent is there, he just need time on the court to get a feel for the NBA game.Yao has to become confortable on the NBA court first with accumulated minutes first, then he could dominate the Mavs and Spurs. Not the other way around, or it's anti logic. The critics calling for more PT for Yao had a simple cause: more minutes, more experience, higher comfort level - more progress. There is nothing otherwise to disprove it. Nobody said if Rudy b rings Yao slowly then Yao is gonna be a bust. The point was more minutes for Yao isn't going to wreck him, it's going to accelerate his learning. It doesn't mean less minutes is going to wreck him. All these "throwing players into fire early is gonna bruise their egos and hinder their growth" is BS. It depends. A real baller with talent and fire isn't gonna be hindered by minutes and setbacks. Kobe shot air balls in crunch time in his rookie season. Look at him in crunch situation now. Good players learns from their mistakes. Besides, Yao was more NBA ready than the HS players, in terms of experience and skills. His height also requires him to grow up under pressure. So if Kevin Garnett could handle heavy minutes from the get go, then why couldn't Yao? Yao has proved he's a tough kid. He entered CBA when he's 17 and got abused by average centers at first, then worked his way up. He's been like that everywhere he went. I would be very much in doubt if anyone here tells me that Yao didn't want to play more minutes off the bat because he's afraid to lose. I'll give Rudy credit for doing a good job on Yao, but Carrol Dawson said it the best - there was a conscious and collective effort to slowly bring Yao along, but Yao wasn't cooperating.
Forgot to rank Rudy T for this season. B-. For the lack of consistent team offense and lapses on defense.
Since we're playing about the same as last year if you don't include Yao, it's about the same as if no one was coaching so I'd give Rudy a C. He talks a good game but they don't play it consistently. He needs to make guys sit down when they don't listen. From what we've seen, he'll play you more if you ignore him. I've seen little improvement from SF in terms of involving other players in the offense or recognizing mismatches and taking advantage of them since Hakeem left. He's scoring more, but that's not saying much for his point guard skills.
nice post i give u a 12 on a 1-10 scale. you are correct in everyway about that. rudy did good with that but he still has work to do. that is kenny thomas is a descent player but he has no business even being in the game with 4 minutes to go. unless there is multiple injuries.eddie...eddie...eddie
Rudy's Mid-Season Report Card Feel free to cut and paste this template, if you like. Handling of... Steve's Development:A- Yao's Development:A Power Forward Situation:C Media Relations: A+ Team Strategy: B+ Overall I'd give RudyT an A professorSAGE (where's Ginger and MaryAnn?)
He's playing SF and Cat 40+ minutes a game since Hakeem left. It's one thing if this was a winning combination that has worked in the past. It hasn't and we were getting killed by teams that on paper had less talent than we have. It makes for lots of excitement with lots of boneheaded plays thrown in. You get two guys who rely on energy and jumping for a large part of their game and play them until they haven't got anything left. If you're lucky they might last a whole season. He uses them as a crutch because he can't think of any way to improve otherwise and hinders development of other ways of playing - it's a vicious cycle of mediocrity which hopefully more Ming will break.
Great post. I agree fully. Rudy T has done a GREAT job this year and over the years. He has proven his ability to adapt and change his strategies to conform to the talent that he has. He is truly a remarkable coach and an extremely valuable asset to this organization.
Without Steve, this team would be waiting on Lebron James. Put Riley as the coach and this team is in the playoffs, easily.
This team would never wait on a player as long as Rudy T. was the coach. We got EXTREMLEY luckly to get Ming with the #1 pick. Also to say if this team didn't have the Franchise we would loosing games in order to draft James is ludicrous. That's a knock on Rudy, and I'm not having it. You should also know very well that Steve Francis is my favorite player, and without him the Rockets are lost, but to say Riley would lead this team before Rudy could, is assinine.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/teamstat.html Rudy T is lucky the Rockets got the draft number one pick. But just look at the team statistics. The Rockets are dead last in assists. They even trail the Toronto Raptors, a team that has been playing without Vince Carter. C'mon, there's something wrong with the flow of the offense. I'd think it's the fault of the coach. Second, probably the guards of the Rockets - M. Norris and C. Mobley. This team is lucky it is loaded with raw talent. But that won't always translate into wins all the time.
Great players make great coaches, not the other way around. Rudy has been very lucky. Pat Riley was a great coach when he had the players. Now, he's reduced to complaining about officiating. Any number of coaches could have the Rockets where they are right now, with these players.
