Before you read this and say "Another Bash Rudy Thread", take a minute to read What I have to say... So far this season everyone has complained about the lack of ball movement. the same ole stale offense, the players doing and calling the plays that they want to run and some other things that I have failed to mentioned. Now here's the question is Rudy still in control of this team? Not too long ago Van Gundy left the Knicks because he lost control of his players.... I look at the current problem with the Rockets and they are starting to show signs of having the same problems. 1) If players are not running the plays that Rudy is calling then Rudy needs to get players in the game who will run the plays that he is calling... You cannot just yell at guys over and over again, without taking any action to correct the problem. This is like me yelling at my son for messing with the stove and threating to punish him but never doing anything. If I don't take action by either punishing him or (Whooping his "( | )") then he will continue to do it.... The second part of that equation is that if my other child is seeing this going on then she too will not listen to me.... The Domino effect in action. 2) If we can all notice the selfish play by all the players I am sure that Rudy and his coaching staff have noticed it also... But the scarey part is we have not seen any adjustments to the problem. Now I know some of you will start to say that Rudy has not had a healthy team to coach. I remember a couple of years a go where Doc Rivers didn't have 1.. NOT 1 Big time player with the Magic but, he still almost made it to the playoffs. Why because they played TEAM ball. I am not trying to bash Rudy, I am only stating the obvious. 3) Now I know some of you are probably saying "Rudy lead of to 2 Championships with the same offense and the same style of coaching". This is true but at the same time he had veteran players to work with... Yes he did have 2 Rookies but over half the team had close to 5 years under there belt and that does make a difference. Young players have to be guided and need some discipline. Now you might say "how do you discipline STAR Players..." I have seen 2 coaches (Mr. Brown in Philly and Mr. Jackson in LA) discipline there STAR Players and believe it or not it has worked. Rudy, has a great eye for talent and is great with player relations... But somewhere in the midst he seems as if he has lost some control of this team.... Now some of you are probably saying that "I just took the time to bash Rudy". Well lets look at it this way... I am in management and if I have some employees who constantly come in late, never do the work that I ask them to do, never finish projects on time and I don't take any actions to correct this... Then I wonder who will get the blame and get fired first... Me for not doing the job that I was hired to do. No team can survive with the players running the team. No matter if that team is on the Basketball court or in a corporate atmosphere... It will not work nor will any goals be achieved.
I think Rudy is less forceful in his talks and coaching. He knows it takes time to learn and the only way to really learn is through success and failure. I am quite certain he tells the guys the right way to play, and they listen, but the problem is that when people are put in pressure situations they respond by going with what makes them comfortable, and we have a bunch of playground players who go one on one at the most inopportune times. Eventually, they will learn to share the ball all 48 minutes, but due to Rudy's style it may take a bit longer then a lot of us want it to. However, his style is conducive to harmony among his players, so once the light goes on, they will all want to stay around until the bulb needs to be changed again. DD
DD, I can agree with going thru the school of hard knocks. The only problem that I have is, a lot of these guys are developing bad habits and some of these bad habits are spreading to others. I can also understand with being passive to a veteran team. But these guys are young and sometimes young players need guidance and discipline.
I never understand what side you're coming from DD. Sometimes you are always trashing Cuttino and Steve and saying they are stupid and selfish and don't have what it takes and then sometimes like this you say well they are young and are just gonna have to learn and we should keep everyone together so they can learn together. As someone who is on the let them learn side of the fence it's refreshing to these occasional posts from you (and from anyone on the board). So are the trashing posts more just immediate frustration and these are the more thought out ones or do I have it wrong.
I feel your pain! Heading for the 3rd straight lottery will get most coaches canned and really sucks for Fans who are generally used to winning. In fact, list the current teams who would not can their coaches for three straight lotteries...Rudy T, Jackson (though we will never see it).....who else? My point here is really a negative and positive. ditto on DaDakota's post...it does take time. look at Minnesota and Garnett...we are basically right above where Minnesota started. We hit the bottom and are looking way up, like Minnesota, NJ and the Clips use too. The good part is that we won 2 already, so have to be above the curve just on experience in the Organization. but, this is his last free ticket year coming up (at least you would think because the Arena issue presents a problem). I would bet that if he cannot coach this team into the playoffs next year, regardless of injuries or summer free agency debacles (i.e. Jackson), Rudy may not be at the helm for the 2003-2004 season. Though there is a chance he will due to the new stadium opening...would Les really want to have a new Coach for the opening season in the new Arena or will Rudy accept a front office move? Anyway, there are some issues to be answered and you think last season was critical, this Organization does not want a another lottery team heading into the new Arena. Bold moves will be made to better this team, but will it be enough...my take is that you have to get a dominant 5 (no Shaqesque, but someone who can scare scorers out of the paint) and we need to improve our bench efficiency....
montgo, I can agree a big man would be nice... Only 1 problem what good does it to have a good Big Man if the guards won't pass him the ball. Look at the Stats for Yesterday's game. The guards took over 75% of the shots.
gonna have to be a big man with attitude I guess!...I guarantee is they had more confidence in Cato/Willis, there would be a lot more interior passing and scoring. Cato could average 15-17 points per game if he was more agressive inside and could handle the load. heck, he has been average 8-10 points over the last 10 games or so.... the problem is that he does not rebound very well, so he misses out on at least 2-3 putbacks per game and does not box out... I am also thinking defensively...our guards need to quit rebounding as much...if we had EG and a monster rebounder, our guards could run all day...this is a huge problem too...
Francis 4, I think both Steve Fancy and Cutturnover Mobley are extremely talented, but neither one knows how to play to win. A lot of players understand how to play winning basketball much earlier then these 2. I am hopeful that it is just a matter of time before the light bulb goes off. I do get frustrated as I think if they REALLY ....REALLY wanted too, they could be playing much smarter. Their lack of committment on defense or their lack of playing smart basketball is very annoying. I don't know how long to wait, but I am hopeful that someday they will lead this team rather then just trying to make the ESPN highlight show. DD
T_Man, I agree totally with you. This team lacks discipline and it really shows. I know Rudy is a player's coach and loves harmony,but sometimes you have to step on some toes to get things done, especially if you are a coach. I know it takes time for younger teams to learn but this team is developing some habits that may continue to plague this team if Rudy doesn't harp on another approach to coaching. If Rudy has a hard time hurting feelings or whatever to get his team in the right direction, then this team will never go anywhere. Bottom line if Rudy fails to get this team into the playoffs again next year, he should be fired. Rudy's been great for this organization for years, but he's not above responsibility when it comes to his team's performance. Far better coaches have been canned for less. It's only fair.
Hasn't there been talk of CD retiring? Is it time for Rudy to ascend to the big, soft chair and let another sit courtside-- and please, none of these assistants! Doesn't George Karl have a very highly regarded assistant coach who has been with him for a number of years. Let's look at him. I think his name is Terry Stotts. Remember, you read it here first!
I think this "it takes time" thing is a load of crap. There's not another team in the NBA that suffers the ball-movement problems we have. Every team we play runs a smoother offense than we do. Old teams, young teams, bad teams, and good teams. Bobby Knight took a BAD BAD BAD Texas Tech team and taught it ball movement, trust, and how to run a pretty decent movement-based offense in 4 months. Those are crappy players, too. Yes, it's college, but the basic principles are the same. There's no reason that this core (Francis, Mobley, Thomas, Moochie, Cato, Williams) should have any issues passing the ball and running something besides one-on-three drives with the occasional smart pass.
I agree with Major. We lack leadership (players and coaching staff). There is no true "star" capable of taking over a game ala AI, Kobe, Shaq, so one would think that team play is critical to success.
Let's see. With Rice's and Taylor's injuries, we essentially lose Hakeem, Bullard, Shandon and Mo Taylor, and then Steve for half the games this year. We replace them with four rookies, one first rounder, a second rounder and two undrafted. People expect improvement in the first half of the season. Illogical? You betcha. Doesn't stop everyone from blaming Rudy, Cuttino, Moochie, Cato of course, and even Steve! . After all, why blame the rookies, you can't expect them to carry the team. Some times it is easy to not see the forest for the trees.
<B>Let's see. With Rice's and Taylor's injuries, we essentially lose Hakeem, Bullard, Shandon and Mo Taylor, and then Steve for half the games this year. We replace them with four rookies, one first rounder, a second rounder and two undrafted. People expect improvement in the first half of the season. Illogical? You betcha. </B> Again, that's nice if that was the problem. However, we run a lineup of Moochie, Francis, Mobley, Thomas, Cato, and/or Williams all the time. They've all been here for a while now, and they've all been in the league for a few years. They have the same problems that the others have. In fact, the two rookies seem to be the most savvy of our players. Injuries happen, but our problems occur regardless of those injuries.
defense and ball movement are a problem on this team....agreed and you are right....should be crisper and more evolution in the offense....but, there are still some elements of injuries and starting lineup rotations that have to be measured as having an impact on at least half our losses.
glynch, Please stop using the "injuries" card. It would be one thing if the Rocks had little to no talent, but played decently. There is still a decent amount of talent on board, but they play such horrible ball I doubt any of those players would help so the "injuries and departures" excuse just doesn't work. Hell, the Wizards are less talented and have also suffered some significant injuries (Hamilton and Laettner), and yet they are well-coached, run nice offensive sets, and are competitve most nights.
The bottom line is no NBA analyst out there picked this team to make the playoffs. You can say none of them know what they're talking about (in fact everyone did say that), but it's not a coincidence that the Rockets were left out of everyone's playoff projections. Now, that leaves us at a projected .500 finish, at best. Take a .500 team, and then subtract their two starting forwards. Then take away their best player for about half the games. What are you left with? Maybe a 13-28 team. I know the style of play seemingly sucks. However, the reality is the team just isn't that good to begin with. A different offensive philosophy may make it a little more fun to watch, but I doubt the record would improve much.
let's imagine a few comparable hypothetical position injuries to some current teams and really ask yourself if these teams would be much better than 13-28 under the Rocket's circumstances Jordan for 19 games Hamilton for the season Laettner for the season And a rash of other minor injuries......would they be 19-19 Mavericks Nash for 19 games Nowitzki out for the season Howard out for the season are they 29-12? Minnesota Brandon for 19 games Zerbiak out for the season Garnett out of the season are they 30-10? Phoenix Marbury for 19 games Marion out for the season Bo Outlaw/Gugliotta/Rodgers out for the season are they 20-20? my point here is that yea, we need some ball movement and yea, we have too much isos and yea, we should play better than we are, but you have to really chalk up at least 10+ losses due to injuries.... You cannot discount major injuries, especially when you hypothetically compare the losses on other teams this team is think of all the OT losses and closes losses we have. This team is not playing well, but we would have won many more with our players not out for the season
I have to agree with Glych. It's not just that when they play the guys that have been around longer it should all change. I think everyone's rhythm has been thrown off by the injuries, and constant line-up changes. What happens is that you get guys who aren't normally going to carry a team putting too much weight on their shoulders. This adds to the impression that they are all selfish. Consistency and playing with a steady line-up all the time will help everyone on the team learn to trust their teammates, know where they will be, adjust to strengths and weaknesses and things like this. Get a consistent line-up out there, for a prolongued period of time, and the ball movement will increase as well. They have to learn as a team, as well as individually. It was years before Hakeem felt comfortable passing to all the different players on his team leading up to the championship years. Also initially after the Drexler trade, the team didn't do any better than they were before. It wasn't until the playoffs that everything clicked, and they went on to win their 2nd championship. That was just one player and on a more seasoned team. This team is young, and has never been able to find any consistency. Yes there has been bone-headed plays a-plenty, but that's part of learning not only the individual's game and abilities,but also the abilities of the team as a whole.
<B>I know the style of play seemingly sucks. However, the reality is the team just isn't that good to begin with. A different offensive philosophy may make it a little more fun to watch, but I doubt the record would improve much.</B> I have no problem with the losses -- that part I understand because, well, we have a talent deficiency with the injuries. However, I expect to see some improvements from the team that is out there. Yet, they continue to do dumb things. This team has played together for half a season now. Remember, we started 5-1 or so. That means we're 8-27 since then. That's beyond terrible. I don't expect us to go out and make the playoffs or anything, but I expect them to work on their deficiencies, and it doesn't appear they are doing so (or least, not in terms of results). <B>I have to agree with Glych. It's not just that when they play the guys that have been around longer it should all change. I think everyone's rhythm has been thrown off by the injuries, and constant line-up changes. </B> I just disagree with this. Too many teams just don't run into this problem for years on end. Phoenix changed out their best player and adjusted just fine. New Jersey got all sorts of new players and rolled out to a great start. Washington took about 10-15 games to adjust to Jordan. Texas Tech learned a whole new system and runs it to near-perfection. Texas, when Rick Barnes took over, took 10 games to learn an entirely new system, and went on to win the Big 12. 40+ games into the season and we still haven't adjusted? I think there's something more here than just "time will fix it".
