all the injuries, yao's minute limitations...no chance to win consistently with all of those circumstances. just a shame...a great great coach being hamstrung like this. i could not feel worse for this guy.
True, but he is also hamstringing himself by playing guys he is comfortable with over younger players who might be a better matchup on that particular night. Hayes last night over Hill or Jeffries for example..... DD
Wtf? A good coach knows how to take his weaknesses and turn them into strong points. A good coach knows how to get the most out of his players. These losses are all on Rick, except for maybe the loss to San Antonio. Its not that hard Rick! Play Hill and bench Battier!
Last night was not a good game for the Brit, I'm sure he isn't happy with the limitations placed on him but his decision making this season hasn't been very good, almost Gary Kubiakish.
Well, you never know who he's going to put on the floor. He seems to be trying something different every night. Maybe he's trying to play players that match up well against that nights opponent. We definitely don't seem to have any set rotation, but I can't blame him for trying to find something that works. What concerns me is that our defense has gotten worse every year since Rick arrived. I just wonder if Van Gundy could get this group to play good defense? I think he could. Every team has good nights and bad nights on offense, but a good defensive team can bring that every night. I'm really missing that commitment to defense that those Van Gundy teams took pride in.
What's the difference between "playing guys your comfortable with" and "playing guys you think gives you the best chance to win"?
Because sometimes people have a tendency to hold on to the past and ignore the present. Battier has clearly, CLEARLY lost a step, yet he is in there often... Hayes lost 30 pounds to play PF, and Rick keeps running him out there at Center..... And Lowry is not in game shape right now and asking him to play last night was not going to offer much more than Ish if anything at all. So, Rick plays the guys he is comfortable with, over guys that might make a rotational mistake, but are a better physical matchup... Rick is a good coach, I like him, but as I said in another thread, sometimes GMs have to force the hand of the coach, and take away their blankies ! DD
Mostly agree Lowry over Ish in the final minutes was terrible. Hill need a ton of more time. Battier is fine, especially since Budinger has been awful.
Bud looked ok last night, he got a couple of shots blocked which hurt his %, but I saw some good signs.....look at the +/- when he was on the floor compared to Shane. Even Durv can't ignore that...right? DD
The Wizards weren't playing a center in the 4th quarter. Yi and Blatche aren't centers. And they are subpar rebounders. Also, the Wizards are one of the worst teams at scoring in the paint. The decision ended up not working, but I understand why Adelman felt that Scola and Hayes would be their best bet defensively. I do think Hill or Miller rather than Hayes could have helped on the offensive side, however. That's probably where Adelman is second-guessing himself today.
Honestly, I don't think Adelman has a clue right now about what works, and he is just trying anything on any particular night. That is why I believe they should shrink the rotation because trying something different every single night is never going to work....no chemistry... DD
The lucky thing is that Rick does not have to stay here. He can be a good coach for Bulls,Wizards, Warriors, Kincks or Nets. Nobody likes to stuck in Rockets.
I believed coach knows which player is better on the court. He knows them from day-to-day practices and every game in the last years. Plus, Hayes is a proven player and is apparently a better one. It is unacceptable to say that out coach did/does/will not use and develop young players.
I think it's time for the Rockets to move on - Rick needs to retire he's not the coach he was. He was never great at making in game adjustments, but this year he looks compeltely lost. His rotations seem to be set and he never seems to understand the game situation anymore.
He made his first 2 shots and then went like 1-7 for the rest of the night. Budinger/Lee have been dissapointing this season. Both of them are shooting under 40% from the field and cannot hit a 3 to save their lives.
Now I have been a complete supporter of the RA era.. and still am.. for now. With that said, A friend of my Dad's sat courtside behind the Rockets bench recently. He said during timeouts there was no talk what so ever in the Rockets huddle by the coaching staff. Rick would call the next play then the huddle would go silent. You know when have a losing record.. a motivational speech here and there would not hurt.
ummm go look at Battier's stat line.. ZERO... ZERO!! pts! again... Yes Chase has been bad but Bat has been wore. He's crap and when your team captain is giving you zero points out there you are going to have issues.
