You've got to be kidding me. "I'm not trying to start a rudy-lover/hater debate, but I'm gonna accuse people who support Rudy of not believing he can do anything wrong. . .? That's basically what you sound like dude. Anyways, what's your point? Is there a coach out there who hasn't made mistakes? No, there isn't, so stop acting like there's something wrong with Rudy for not being the "perfect" coach.
There is a big difference between being a 'perfect' coach and knowing when to make 'no brainer' decisions. I for one think that Rudy T possibly cost us the game by not substituting Cato and Moochie for Steve and Yao. First of all, let me explain the purpose of a bench: Their purpose is to maintain the current score while the starters are out, and if they happen to outscore the opponents while in the game, then that is FANTASTIC! By no means are the Rockets in a position to rely on Moochie and Cato to finish off games for them right now. Our go-to guys are Steve and Yao, simply because they are the better overall players, without question. Call me a 'Rudy-basher' if you want, but this was a terrible coaching decision, IMO. There is no reason not to put Steve or Yao in with 2 minutes left. The bench did the best job we could have asked of them, and obviously they had exhausted themselves. That was the proper time for our starters to come in, but Rudy T simply made a bad decision. Also, if you're getting paid millions of dollars to coach an NBA team, you are going to come under a lot of scrutiny. This was a BIG game for the Rockets to possibly come away with, and I feel like Rudy T did not coach a very good game. Also, where was Posey in the 4th quarter? This guy saved our ass all night with his fantastic help defense.
Well since the bench was playing so well , why should we not make the bench players starters and let steve and Yao come off the bench. So much for that freaking theory. Im sick and tired of people defending Rudy. He made to most idiotic decision of his life its as simple as that!
I am neither a rudy lover or hater. I do think Rudy is a decent coach, not a great one, but decent and above average. the greatness titled will not be annointed or not annointed until history is tested. with this said, it was a bad decision not to bring in Posey, Francis and Yao when SA tied the score. It was obvious that SA grabbed hold of the game and we hit the wall. The shock troops did a great job in getting us back in, but in the end go to the guys that you pay to get you there. Francis and Yao could have given us a change in flow and maybe, they would have been fresh enough to hit a few shots to play some D. Posey should have definitely been brought in too, because he was a thief and could have maybe take a ball away. Steve was benched not for attitude and lack of hustle, but because his shot was not falling. with this in mind, he should have been given a shot to carry out the game at that point. you do not bench your stars down the stretch! in the same vein, we have to move on and know that players and coaches make mistakes and if you look at our losses, the players have definitely been a reason for 50% of our losses, 25% due to other teams just playing better and 15-20% coaching moves and 5-10% just was not in the cards.
It was not about Yao doing something wrong. It was about Cato doing something right. It was about going with the hot hand. Cato was playing very well, while Yao was a non-factor most of the night. While I can possibly critique Rudy on his decision not to put Steve back in, I have no problem with Yao staying on the bench. He was being man-handled most of the night and was being outplayed by Robinson. Cato brought fire and DUNKED the ball when he had it down low.
maybe Rudy just thought it was a good opportunity to let the bench know that he has confidence in them. It might go a long way in helping team chemistry in the long run.....
I have never been less unhappy with a loss... I don't like losing but think you have to stay with the players who are hot. Moochie was 7/7 with six assists and Taylor and Cato both were playing inspired ball. We had a chance to beat a very good home team and only barely failed. Now watch and see if Steve and Yao both don't come out hot against "my little ponies" tonight. Also check and see if our bench doesn't play with a lot more confidence too.
It must really take a good coach to know that Mo Taylor and his secondary unit can't sustain their good play against a Duncan's 16-3 team at home for a full quarter. Well, I'm pretty much over the lost. However, if Rudy pulls another one of this crap again, he deserves to be fired. If you want a pretty unbias observation of our coach in the game, read the Spurs article in the Blinebury thread.
