I'm sure you'll noticed the players that played the entire overtime. Average age - 24.8 Years NBA experience total - 5 years We all know that earlier in the year, the kids blow these chances and will some more, but damn they are getting better. The players were Francis, Mobley, Anderson, Cato and Thomas. With these players on the floor and the more experienced players on the bench. I wonder where the posters that were a few months ago wanting Rudy gone because he couldn't adapt to the younger players, where have they gone??
Does anyone know how many minutes this lineup has been on the floor all season? A bunch of us have been begging for it.
Not much "adapting" going on when Barkley is injured, Hakeem can't catch his breath, and Pippen has been shipped out. How exactly has Rudy adapted? By playing TMass? Or Starting Bullard like he has for the most part of the season since Barkley's injury. Or was it in taking 30 games to bench Walt Williams? Who do you think Rudy has so masterfully inserted into the lineup recently? Francis, maybe instead of Drew. Mobley instead of Norris. Anderson in front of Devin Grey. Cato instead of a heaving Hakeem? Which one of these are the masterful moves you refer too?
Dreamshake You seem to think that everyone is the same and you should make no decision based on the person, at least thats what I get from your post. It seem that differant players handle pressure at a differant level and so are brought along at a slower pace by a knowledgeable coach and not bowing to the fans knowledge, or lack of it.. It seems the Owner thanks a lot of Rudy, the players seem to like Rudy, he has already done more with Francis then Larry Brown has with Iverson in two years. He took a team that was designed to use the post and won two championships and now is going to take a entirely differant team and make another winner. No player, that I know of, have every talked bad of Rudy even after being traded. Players seem to want to play for him. With all of this what is your problem with him?? Is it that he wins and does the right thing for the Rockets and that gets under your skin??
"...he has already done more with Francis then Larry Brown has with Iverson in two years..." ?!? I guess completely remaking a team to make use of a player's remarkable ability to score don't count. I guess leading the league in scoring for two years running, and singlehandedly getting a team to the second round of the playoffs don't count. Iverson owes it all to Brown for being the only coach that had the guts to move him to the off-guard and capitalize on his knack for getting to the hoop.
Cabbage I think Francis is wanting to be a point guard and not a off guard. If you think the relationship that Iverson and Brown has is great for their team then we just disagree on that point. I think that when players and coaches have to yell and demand a trade and get benched is a sign that all is not well. But we just look at it from differant points of view. The whole point is you totally have no use for Rudy and the two championships and want to bring in the coach of your choice. It just so happens that me and Les happen to like Rudy and he stays.
Dreamshake- I criticized your comments about Rudy before without good foundation, and you called me on it. But here I think you've missed the point. I think you've made it clear that the lineup on the floor for overtime was the pretty obvious choice, although Rogers and Thomas have both seen a lot of time there. The point isn't about player rotation- the point is that they're playing better, especially in the 4th. I assume that you chose to address the issue of player rotation/selection, rather than the fact that this team is playing better, because you might actually have to give Rudy some credit for it. I don't want to blindly follow Rudy or praise him. I was critical of him earlier in the year, because this team was playing like crap and didn't know how to win. If that type of play had continued, you wouldn't see me defending him. No way. But it didn't continue. In January, the team started winning. Winning in meaningful ways. Before January, we had only ONE win over a quality team without injuries- Phoenix. We also had a win over LA, but they didn't even have Shaq or Kobe. ONE meaningful win that entire span. But things have changed. In January and since, we have won games against the Blazers, Heat, Hornets, Sixers, Lakers, Pistons and Kings. Meaningful wins; some of them tough, grind it out in the 4th wins. On national television. You ask 'how exactly has Rudy adapted?' Well, watch some tapes of November games and see for yourself.
Damn EJT, that was just a great post. You need look no further than the team we were competing against, the Nets, to see that a) Rudy is doing a great job with this team, and b)losing and stockpiling lottery picks is definitely not the way to win in this league. "The players were Francis, Mobley, Anderson, Cato and Thomas." Out of that mix we have two second-round picks, one #2 pick, and two mid-to-late first round picks. I'm not sure what lineup the Nets had on the floor, but the core of their team consists of Kittles, Marbury, and Van Horn, all selected in the top 8 picks in the draft. The Rockets, in their first year of rebuilding (they're also close to being finished, I might add), are winning at a plus-.400 clip. That shows that a) Rudy does more with less than just about any coach in the league (also less with more, but that's another thread), and b) stockpiling lottery picks rarely works.
Nolen. Im not critisizing Rudy's game plan. Though I could make a thread of it, Im not. Merely Im pointing out that its not Rudy's "great" decisions to have the players he has on the floor, as much as its been dictated to him that he has to have those players on the floor. My point is that he's "adapted" only by being forced to adapt. Is anyone going to tell me that he prefers to have those guys on the floor over Barkley, Hakeem, or a shut mouthed Pippen? Freak...I don't know, there could be a point made about Dallas' winning and the amount of Talent on that team isn't much. Heck Orlando is almost a .500 team, look at the talent on that team. Really, short of Iverson. The Sixers have almost no talent. Before they traded for Kukoc. Tyrone Hill, George Lynch, and Snow are sub par starters. Yet that team puts forth a hard effort every night, and is/was a playoff contender. Id say that Denver has about as much talent as the Rox do currently.
cabbage: Iverson is a super talent but I disagree with you saying he "single-handedly" carried the sixers to the second round of the playoffs. Theo Ratliff is a great player no one knows about. After all, someone has to get the rebounds and play the D. Sure wish the Rockets could get Ratliff. ------------------ If you tell a joke in the forest, but nobody laughs, was it a joke?--Steven Wright
