I'm neutral on this. He has done well with a relatively weak roster...downside is the draft pick wasn't too good as a result (but this draft is weak anyway so it doesn't matter as much)
From what I recall at the end of the 22 win streak we were #1 in the West but after the streak we slid back some and the West as usual was very competitive.
1st in Assists 1st in Ast/TO 1st in TO % 3rd in Scoring 4th in Offensive Efficiency 11th in Differential Give Rick a competent center and we will be fine.
If I had to guess, I would say yes. Morey and I are usually on the same level. I kid I kid but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Adelman is a top 5 coach in this league.
See I would say Morey wants Rick to understand the future plans of this team involve young raw players and that it will take time to develop those players. I don't think Rick would want to coach young raw guys and choose to walk away. Morey will not sacrifice signing players that aren't in the long term plans of this team (no more Brad Millers). Morey is rebuilding and will needs Rick to be more open and patient with young raw players (T-Will and Thabeet). I see Rick leaving and that doesn't upset me because there is no difference between a good winning lotto team and a bad losing lotto team. THEY'RE BOTH IN THE LOTTO.
As a sensible, down to earth, 99er who wanted to keep Rudy as well as JVG, I have to say... I really don't care either way right now. I guess it depends somewhat on who they wind up bringing in. Rick has done some great things without a whole lot but at the same time I look at his shortcomings, I look at what JVG did when his 4th best offensive option was Luther Head (the following year Adelman got all kinds of toys to play with) and I really just don't hold him very highly. He is a great coach. But I'm not sure how into this he really is. He isn't a Rocket to me. Not like Jeff. Not like Rudy. I look at our funk early on. Our lack of identity. And I blame Adelman. A more focused, disciplined coach would have this team in the playoffs right now. Does that mean most coaches would? That Rick isn't a great coach? No, of course not.
I wouldn't mind Adelman coming back. What I do mind are the sluggish starts the team gets itself into the past couple of seasons only to then make a strong but futile push at the end for a playoff spot. Of course that isn't Adelman's fault but it's been a tad frustrating.
Maybe the sluggish starts had something to do with a certain Chinese dude pronounced out of the season before the team could gel. Changing coach will almost guarantee yet another sluggish start.
I think it comes down to Rick, the guy came here chasing his first NBA champions when we had 2 legitimate superstars and now we have none, so it's going to be interesting to see Rick's decision.
Interesting topic, IMO. If Adelman came back I obviously wouldn't be against it. I don't see Adleman coaching too much longer just because of age. So he either ends up retiring, or coaching for another 3-4 year stint before finally calling it quits. It's doubtful Adelman stays on and we become like the Nuggets with Karl or Spurs with Poppovich where he's here for like 10 years. But I wonder if we don't have a "back up plan" set up for the case where he calls it quits: Elston Turner. He's been an assistant for like 10 years, mostly under Adelman. And if you look at a lot of the coaches in the league that are at least marginally successful, a lot of them were assistants under great coaches... or at the very least were around as assistants for awhile. I guess if you think about it it's a pretty "duh" statement to make, but the point I'm making is that we don't have to necessarily grab an established coach (that has obviously failed in some way otherwise they wouldn't be unemployed). The change-over effect wouldn't be as huge compared to if we brought in a completely new coach. Elston has interviewed for a lot of jobs so it's obvious he WANTS to coach.
I don't think Rick is going to "coattail" on the back of a championship team just so he can get the honor of doing it. Obviously he wouldn't want to go coach the Timberwolves, but then again the Rockets aren't the Timderwolves. I don't see him leaving the Rockets to coach the Magic for example.
This pretty much ends the thread. The rockets have one of the best coaches in the NBA and people actually want to get rid of him. Sure, lets become the next Sacramento. RA did better than probably any other coach would with a team with no all stars, no size/defensive presence and an uncertain lineup for a chunk of the season. Hell yes I want him back. Do any of you actually remember what happened to the rockets whenever Tracy or Yao went out under van Gundy? It was freaking ugly.
On the "competent center" argument, I'm not sure I agree. Take this team right now and add a healthy Chris Kaman. He's not great and he's not bad. In fact a year ago he was an all star. Would that team contend? I think we need some combination of a defensive shot blocker and an isolation scorer. We don't utilize ISO situations much but when we need to, when there are 2 seconds left on the clock and we need a good look I don't think Lowry is going to cut it.
Kmart is a good ISO player. Maybe you mean a true clutch player like Kobe Good luck with that though, I heard that they are pretty hard to come by. I think if you add a solid defensive center similar to Kendrick Perkins the Rockets would be a lock for the playoffs at a decent seed.
I would like him back... Will HE come back? NOT will the rockets have him back one would/should think...
We need a coach like Thib's to make this team play D. Scola, Bud, and Martin our starters are flat out horrible. Martin looked like a little kid against Marion in the post. He wanted no part of that contact. Bud is his white twin and wants no part of tough D. Bottom line we need D and that's not Rick's forte!
Unless RudyT or Fitch are available... who is gonna replace Rick? I guess Charlie Sheen is available, since he is no longer employed by 2 1/2 Men.
That's a personnel probelm, not a coaching problem. It's not like Jeff van Gundy made Steve Novak suddenly play better D either.
Doesn't matter who coaches them, bud won't turn into Bruce Bowen. Rick has always been a good defensive coach, do some research.
