Every team in the NBA used a strong side zone to stop our one on one crap. Rudy did not adjust, and don't give me the injuries excuse. He had 15 people on his roster...FIFTEEN !!!! He could surely run a practice. Heck, for a walk through of the offense you only need 5. Rudy did a lousy job this year, and his A$$ is on the line next year. He has the talent, he just needs to crack the whip, or he will be gone before they get the new arena. DaDakota PS. I am one of Rudy's biggest fans, but he was AWFUL this year.
If heypartner's descrpition of the offense is really true, it's no wonder ours sucked so much. I'm no dumba$$ or anything, but it sounds like you need a geometry textbook to work through that. "Let's see, the play brokedown, so now what....oh yeah, i need to form that parallelogram again"???? With our talent it shoudn't be that complex. You have your basic pick and roll. That play should almost always get someone open (for a second) if the ball is moved around properly. You have occasionally post entries (something we need to work more on, obviously), and you have some relatively simple off the ball screening. All of these, when done properly, will get the defense off balance in some way or another, and they are all real simple to do. Rockets shoudl concentrate on finding the open man and making quick decisions. Once they learn that, they can apply it to a mroe complicated offensive scheme as necessary.
Thanks heypartner for your explenation. Maybe you can get with Rudy and help him implement the new Trapezoid Offense. Since you seem to be excellent with the X's and O's, how about coming up with a defensive scheme that the Rockets can use to try and stop the other team. After watching this past year it looks like Rudy can use all the help he can get.
It's threads like these that make me glad Rudy T is the coach. Can you imagine if offensive sets were democratically determined?
Rudy DID implement a new offense in the beggining of the year. Players were cutting to the basket and were actually being fed the ball. It was a great thing to see, but then the injuries occured and well we got the 5th most ping pongs in the lotto. I know some of you guys probably saw it but don't remember it because it feels like it was so long ago but were running a new offense or at the very least had about 5-6 new set plays.
Personally I don't remember the new offense being used in the beginning of the year but like Scareface said it has been so long ago. Since there seems to be a new offense, what player(s) in the draft do you guys think will better fit in the new offense? IMO, I think that Woods would be a great addition to this team with the new offense.
Its not just the thought of saying you're going to do something,its having the mentality of doing that task. If you're going to run, you have to run all the time at every chance, not just sometimes. The mentality of the team just has to change and it starts with Rudy. He need to install a basic offense with some kind of back cuts and double picks to release players and put them in scoring positions. If Francis can't read the defense while Mobley comes off a double screen, then the Rockets are in trouble. Most of these options and plays are simple it was just a matter of Rudy being bullheaded just likehe was when we lost to the sonics all those times. Rudy refused to move Hakeem up the post or have a guard come and set a pick and let him roll to the basket. Every trip Hakeem would run to the same block ,wait for the entry pass and then the sonics would trap him big and zone the rest of the floor. Failure to adjust. I still didn't see any signs of this so called new offense in preseason even when he knew that Rice was hurt and Taylor was out for the yr. Instead of having the team work on stuff like that, Francis and company were out there throwing allys in the third row and f@#$%^g off. The hakeem led rockets never messed off preseason like the last team did and if they did, they had been together long enough to be sharper than the youngsters. Taylor this or rice that, this team was poorly coached and out executed most nights. Adding 2 mediocre players wouldn't have put this team into the playoffs.
This is a very good observation. Rudy has never really shown any appreciation for defense or offensive adaptability. I always wondered why he didn't adjust to the Sonics' zone. I got so frustrated seeing the Sonics beat Hakeem to the left block and just stand and wait for the entry pass. Rudy's piss poor attempt at offensive game planning was the Barkley acquisition. Barkley's fans always say "well we got past the Sonics". Unfortunately, by getting Barkley, we went from one of the tallest frontcourts, to one of the smallest. We went from a very good defensive team, to one of the worst and the final slap was our inability to beat the Jazz with Barkley. I heard a NFL scout say that on game day, coaches directly impact 25% of the games. Consequently, a coach is going to make an adjustment during a game that either wins or loses 4 games a year. The remaining games, are influenced by the players' preparation, execution, comprehension and talent. Besides moving Horry to PF during the 2nd championship, does anyone remember leaving a game and saying the following things: 1) Rudy had a brilliant game plan! 2) Rudy made a great adjustment at half! 3) Rudy threw an unexpected trap at the PG 4) Rudy adjusted to the PNR
I've always wondered why with the supposed atheletic ability of our guards do we let the other teams pg just run up the court so freely. I mean they inbound the ball, jog up the court and have 20 secs to run a play, while the other teams pressure our guards, make them turn 2 or 3 times, look to the sideline and start a play with 16secs left. In basketball, 4 seconds is a lot of time in determining a good shot. It was a mystery and still is and tell me about giving up layups if you press because if so the many times we were pressured we should have led the league in layups.
i'm going to have to agree with everyone talking about Rudy's lack of adapting to situations. I still think he is a great coach and am not part of the group calling for his firing, but he has never shown an ability to do so. The organization has always said the team just needs time to develop and get used to one another but . . . . How much getting used to did the Nets get to do this year???? They were good from the start of the season with a lot of new personnel. The same can't be said for the Rockets . . .
Rocks10, I also have to agree with you. The Nets seemed to be on the same page from the beginning. After watching the Nets and Rockets play during the regular season I noticed a big difference between both teams. Francis vs. Kidd First when Kidd and the Nets rebounded a missed shot by the other team or just running to the opponent's side of the court, Kidd just seemed like as he was running he already knew what he was going to do with that possession. All his teammates kept moving because they seem to know that he will find them for an easy shot or lay-up. However, when the Rockets were running to the opponent's side of the court they seemed just to be happy to cross the half court line and then try and see what play they were going to run. Once they decided on a play the shot clock was already running down and everyone was just standing and only the player with the ball was trying to take his man off the dribble and take a poor shot. Damn...just writing this reply and thinking about the season I'm getting p!!ssed -off! C'mon Rudy change something, anything just for the hell of it. Sorry guys I just had to get that out of my system.
You know, the year actually began quite well. I don't know if that run was simultaneous with this offense being implemented, but if so... then that's more evidence than injuries are primarily to blame for this terrible season.
If the offense worked at the beginning of the season, maybe the opposing teams adjusted, Rudy didn't counter or Rudy simplified the offense to the point of ineffectiveness. These guys have played basketball for the majority of their lives. I'm not convince that they come to the Rockets and the concept of screens, back picks, defensive rotation, transition basketball, and fast breaks are totally new concepts. If this was a new offense then the Hexagon offense stood for running the same freaking play over and over to simulate a HEX like brain numbing effect on the players and a kick in the GONads type feeling for the season ticket holders.
Haven, Certainly injuries devestated this team....but why not take the year to put in a new offense and let players learn while they play. They were going to lose anyway, why delay the new offense while you wait for your good players to get back, season the young guys too. I think Rudy did a crap job of adjusting to the new rules. I think he needs to be more forceful with his younger players. Look at Larry Brown and AI...do you think Rudy would have the SACK to say what Brown is saying? No? Well he should. DaDakota
It's so painful to see such a promising running team go to waste: Francis Cat Griff MoT Cato KT Torres What a waste. These guys can run. Like I've always said. Rudy is a great coach, but not for a young team like the Rockets. He can work wonders in NY or Toronto or the Bucks. But here? We need Pat Riley or Van Gundy. To me, this upcoming season is Rudy's chance to prove to me he's able to change the way of playing to what suits the players skills. We're good one on one, but we're so good running.
