My advice to the Rox, bring back the rudyball? I live in Seattle. This year it took a lot of convinving but finally ordered the NBA league pass to see the Rox. Until I saw the last game Seattle. Which just pissed me off! I am not trying to coach here but watching the rockets try to execute fast breaks the way kindergarden kids try to play basketball just pissed me off. What happened to the Rudyball? I mean the crisp passing, offence starting from the post and letting the big men set up for rebounds before you take a long shot? I remember this was the way the Rx played before Rudy came. OT would rebound pass to Sleepy( who was much better at being a truepoint gaurd than any gaurd than the rockets have now, and a beter finisher) who would dribble all the way to the hoop, and if he couldnt they would pass it to the dream and watch him go one on five. That is why they used to call the Rockets "Team Akeem". Until after a terible loss to the Timbervolves Don Chaney was kicked out and Rudy came. And brought the Rudyball. I don't care if people called it uglyball. It was basketball based on fundamentals of basketball. Good post play, good team defense, getting everyone involved in the flow of the offence. So after the fiasco of the Seattle game, which they should have won. Here is my humble advice; 1. Please get rid of Moochie. I dont care how good you think he is( I don't think he is good, but that is me) a point gaurd should not dribble for 20 seconds before he jacks up an ill advised shot. A point guard DOES NOT dribble with his head down( back to fundamentals), if he does he does not belong in an NBA team ( exception was Clyde , he wasn't a point and he had eyes on the back of his head) 2. Teach the guards to REWARD the big men. I felt bad to see EG, Yao, KT, or even Cato do something good in defense and bust their ass to the other side only to watch Mobley or Moochie jack up an ill advised shot. Soon they are gonna give on offence, and eventually stop hustling on defense too. 3. Rent video tapes of Showtime Lakers, and even the basketball tapes the Celtics used to put out in the sixties that used to teach basketball. Have the guards watch it every night and learn that a well executed fast Break DOES NOT INVLOVE MUCH DRIBLING. I dont want to draw it here but ball travels a lot faster in the Air ( i.e two, three crisp passes) than through the ground ( dribling). Whach Majic, Stockton ( Hate him with a pasion, but he knows fudamentals) they did not and do not put the ball on the floor not one time more than it is needed. If there is an open man up the court in a fast break they find him. 5. I like this Hawkins dude, he is good. And I know he came w/ the advice of scotty brooks, who was all hustle. But, if he was starter material he would not be a rookie at 29. Why the hell we drafted Nachbar if we were gonna let him rot on the bench. What a waste of talent! I feel much better now. Not that any of what I said is gonna go anywhere.
Great post! I was working at the Bookstop on Shepherd when Rudy first became coach and just a day or two after he was made head coach he came in and bought two or three books on the fundamentals of basketball. That and a copy of "The Catcher in the Rye". I think he's trying to hard to be innovative when that's not his strength (IMO). We have the talent to do it with solid fundamentals. Is it me or aren't teams like Sacramento and NJ doing it with a fundamental style of basketball. I don't think we need a triangle offense or a floating isoceles(?).
There never was "Rudy" ball. That was "Hakeem" ball... Get Ming up to speed and you can tell Rudy to play "Ming" ball...
Whatever kind of "ball" you want to call it, Yao needs to be in the middle of it. Do you remember how we would give the ball to the Dream, two or three players would drop down on him and then he would kick it out for an easy J. I'm not saying that two or three people will drop down on Yao, but he is big enough to get some attention. Not to mention that Yao's hieght allows him to see the floor and the kid can pass like nobody's business. Let him run the plays from the post. I think it would build some confidence.
