One of the biggest reasons that Rick Adelman took the Trailblazers to the Finals and the Kings to the brink was because of the talent around him. Does anyone here even remember watching those Portland teams? Man, they were deep! With both the Blazers and the Kings he had smart, solid shooting point guards in Terry Porter and Mike Bibby. You think Rick Adelman is going to turn Rafer Alston into something special? Give me a break. As much as I hate to admit it, our team this year was just not as good as the Jazz. In a 7 games series, the better team wins. The better team wins. It pains me to admit that, but it's true. I realize this thread is about getting a new coach, but the answer truly lies with who we put out on the floor. Van Gundy is not my favorite coach by far, but I truly believe that if we had a deeper bench and a more dependable front line, we'd make the WCF with him at the helm. Is Rick Adelman going to be able to make Yao actually run the floor? Keep Rafer from turning the ball over? Can he make Chuck Hays 5 inches taller? No, no, and no. When is everyone going to realize that just because Dallas, Phoenix and Golden State run the break all day long, doesn't mean that we have to as well. That's not us. If we had different players, it could be us. But a new coach isn't going to turn our players into something their not. And we still haven't seen that type of game translate into a championship yet. SA still has the best shot of winning the title (ugh!) and they resemble us more than they do the aforementioned teams.
Holy crap I can't believe Adelman is held in such a high regard by you all. I had no idea. Personally I don't think he can hack it with our particular team makeup. Man, I am genuinely caught off guard and surprised. WOW.
I would love to have Del Harris and Adelman (1 as head coach, 1 as assistant, I dont care which goes where). That would be a perfect compliment to each other. Can you imagine having a solid D coach with a Great offensive minded coach. We already have the pieces (If VSpan/Novak/ (maybe bonzi still?????)) managed to work out. Lets get some solid coaching/development and maybe we have a contender next year.
Yes they were deep, but Adelman did make his players get to their top potential. What he managed to do with Divac and Webber and players like Christie and Stoyakovic was awesome. He made all those guys into true players, have any of them done ANYTHING since they left him? No.... sure he had talent, but he made them get their best. We have players like taht that can get to that point hopefully. I would love to see what Adelman can do with Yao, turn him into a passer. He did that with Divac and Webber (sure they were better passers than Yao b4 he came, but turning Yao to just an above average one then rockets will be AWESOME... cuz that will kill TOs). Also we weren't deep, cuz thats how JVG teams are. They are always old and nondevelopped. Reason why Knicks crashed once he left. He DOES NOT develop players, he loves older players because he is good at making older good players into great players. (He did very good job with Yao and TMac, they had some of their best years under him) but he did jack s*** with anyone else.
Its because Adelman has the best track record out all the available coaches. He went to finals twice and WCF several times. The blazers and the kings were both 60 win teams. He is known for developing players and putting them in situations to succeed. Glyde, Jason Williams, Webber, Divac, Bibby, Peja, Bonzi, Brad Miller, Bobby Jackson, and so one. All these players had their best seasons under Adelman and all but Glyde were turds or underachievers when playing for other teams. I think he probably had a hand in what Kevin Martin is today. And most of all, if we are going to playoff fodder for other teams, at least I can enjoy 82 games of the rockets averaging 100 points or more. More point for the dollar.
Rick Adolfman has my vote. He kind of reminds me of Van Gundy: his players generally like him very well, he is known for being great on one side of the ball (offense, in this case), not exactly the happiest guy when it comes to interviews, and kept a bunch of odd parts functioning at a high level. Both also got unfairly blamed for lack of playoff success... I think the main thing I like about Adolfman is that he has turned into the Caesar Milan (sp?) of the NBA... the Baller Whisperer.. What he did with life-long headcases Bonzi and Artest last season was nothing short of masterful. Now if somehow having Adolfman with the Rockets will get Bonzi to want to return in shape and Artest to throw an tantrum and demand a trade... that would be a dream scenario (basketbaball-wise)
Whoever voted for Mike Fratello better not be JVG haters, cause they'll end up being the biggest hypocrites of them all. If they thought JVG had a slow offense, wait till the walk it up, use 20secs of the shot clock offense that Fratello has makes its grand entrance.
first of all, i dont think this is a good time to change coach for rockets. this team has been changed every passed year on roster(major change), they need a little bit of consistancy. beside, you cant call this year's performance a disappointment, they were the 4th best record, it was close lost to utah. but if JVG decide to leave, the 2 name i would think of is rick adelman and stan van gandy. after watching the 1st round with jazz, i really think rockets need some offense intensity. their defense has been good but lack of ways to score. adelman and stan are 2 coaches that can bring offense game up w/o losing too much defense game. although i think adelman is a better coach, but ill stick with my previous thought that rockets need some consistancy, so i voted for stan, in hope Jeff will stay at houston and help out his brother(i think jeff loves houston), maybe they can duel-coaching rockets, like football they have offense coach and defense coach... you know(dude, dont they just look like mario brothers?)
glynch, rockbox gives a pretty good summery. As for me? I'm leaning towards Iavaroni. Don't want Brown, not after what happened in New York. Harris would be great on the bench, but I don't lean towards him for the top spot. Rick Carlisle may not have the kind of offense some of us would like to see with the Rocks, being more in the JVG mold, from what I can gather. He reportedly didn't get along with some of the Pacers' players, perhaps because of his offense, or it could be his personality. I don't want to find out. Adelman would bring us a different offense. So would the guy I'd like to see us get, Iavaroni. It would be his first head coaching gig, but he has a good resume, with experience from guys as diverse as Pete Newell (big men), Riley (defense and Showtime Lakers), Fratello (defense), and D'Antoni. All the head coaches in the league had to get a break at some point. Sadly, Iavaroni will probably go to the Raptors.
Why, because the team he was coaching won a championship once? I guess that had nothing to do with Joe Dumars? Rick Carlisle went to the ECF and didn't have Rasheed Wallace. Did you know that?
I remember watching (a very large) Kevin Duckworth play center, an OLD Buck Williams play PF, and Jerome Kersey play SF. Those guys are studs? Come on. Clyde Drexler might be one of the most underrated players in NBA history.
