Sloan won mostly for his coaching, Rudy should get in as a coach/player. I know his coaching us to 2 championships will be the primary reason,but I think you are downplaying his contributions as a player. He was a 5 time all-star.
As players, I think Sloan and Rudy were comparable in accomplishments. Rudy made 5 all-star teams. Sloan made 6 All-Defense teams, in addition to 2 all-star teams.
Also, lets not forget that Rudy was an All American at Michigan and he still holds some school records there. He is the complete package-All American, NBA All Star, NBA champion (twice) and world champion. I wonder if he is a victim of the East Coast anti-Houston coaching prejudice. I still do not know why Guy Lewis is not in the HOF. He was an incredible basketball innovator who changed the college basketball game forever.
You have made a good point but I beg to differ,although I'm not trying to downplay the importance of defense. The bottom line is that Rudy's overall achievements will be taken into consideration,if he ever makes it into the HOF. Your initial comment in this thread was that he hasn't coached long enough to get in the HOF.
I do think,it's very much possible that may happen unfortunately. The Rockets will have to fight to get Rudy T into the HOF.
I think Sloan was introduced because he has a lot of years coaching the same team and not for his achivements (or you can see his stability as an achivemente). Rudy T will also make it at some point, same as Popovich.
sloan was a better player than rudy. he had that nba reputation going into coaching. rudy was a better coach than player. his fame and regognition came from his coaching ability. it will come for rudy but it may take a little longer. but make no mistake, he will get in and deserves to
Yes, that was my initial thought. But thinking about it more, I could see him getting inducted despite that. He was pretty popular, as a player and coach, and there aren't too many head coaches that won back to back titles. 10 years from now, my feeling is that there's a good shot he'll be in the HOF.
Sloan being better than Rudy as a player is like saying Alvin Robertson was better than Mitch Richmond. Rudy T was a much better all around player even is Sloan was better on defense.
Personally, I like Rudy-T and thought that he was perfect for the Olajuwon teams. What he accomplished in the two championship years was phenomenal. But, I remember watching the last few years he was here thinking that 1) there wasn't much of an offensive or defensive identity and 2) he was frequently being outcoached in game-time situations. It's possible this was an artifact of having someone with as low a basketball IQ as SF as the centerpiece. But I thought he was trying too hard to be liked by players and consequently deferring too much to players with little ability to run a set themselves. Just my 2 cents. I certainly wouldn't object if he got in, but think he's, realistically, a stretch for the Hall. Popovich, on the other hand, is a shoe in.
What? Lifetime averages: Sloan: 14 ppg, 7.4 rpg Rudy: 17.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg All-Star games: Sloan: 2 Rudy: 5 Hall of Fame Probability: Sloan: 0.009 Rudy: 0.093 Plus, Sloan never got his face caved in during a game. (Yes, Rudy will make the Hall some day.)
First this and then this... Sorry, that doesn't work. The first implies you have evidence, but you have none except that which shows Rudy T was the better all-around player. Then you try to slough it off by saying it's just your opinion? Weak.
The process is somewhat political, and Rudy doesn't strike me as the type of guy who feels comfortable doing the elbow rubbing necessary to get his name into the mix.
Rudy T was an one dimenional offensive player, a la KiKi VandeWeight, Alvin Adams, Tom Chambers, Jason Kapono. Sloan was an all-round SG, able to pop the jumper and an ace of a lock-up defender.
