About the expectation thing, I think most people, myself included, raised their expectation after seeing Yao's rapid progress in late November. What they don't realize is that Yao's presence also upset the chemistry of the team. We are essentially changing the whole style of playing. That's why it's such a roller coaster ride.
Please. If anybody had said before the season started that Yao would win ROY, no one would get hurt and the Rockets still wouldn't make the playoffs, you would have told them (a) they were nuts (b) if this actually happened they should break this **** up END OF STORY, APOLOGISTS
I would question Rudy's BB I.Q. He is not a moron but he is no genius either. i.e. Rockets-Knicks game (2/25/03). 18 secs to go in game, Knicks lead 100-95. Hawkins checked in for Yao so we have a quick guy to foul intentionally. After Francis's foul, Rockets were still not in the penalty. With 16 secs to go, Yao checked back in, still Knick's ball. After 30+ yrs playing and coaching, Rudy still does not know how to do a defensive-offensive substitution right!! (Examples of other screw ups are rampant!) It seems Rudy get the reputation as a communicator and player's coach by letting the players do whatever they want. Of course they would like you. My definition of a real communicator is ... someone who can get his msg across. According to Rudy's own words, he has not done so lately.
I think he's referring to Yao. If the Rockets don't do well next year with Yao ("yet another high pick" as in Francis, Griffin and now Yao) then "Rudy T should feel some pressure". I think his intention was that one year together with the 3 picks isn't enough of a gauge. IMO, it's poor sentence structure as opposed to him thinking the Rocks are getting this summers 1st round pick.
Well Matt Musil confirms: 1) A little league team "listens" better than our millionaire players 2) Rudy can break down little league schemes 2) Rudy would make a great little league coach.
Agreed with Jeff...Excellent post .... But, we all have to admit that as close observers and second guessers of the game, we have seen a lot of "blunders" and miscues that seem to be every evident on this team for 3 years running now. They do not seem to be able to get it together and consistently execute for a full game. We take 2 steps forward and three steps back. That is not progress. Granted, we will win in the low 40s this year, but I do not view 13-15 more wins than last year as a major accomplishment, considering the injuries we had last year. I would think upper 40s/low 50 would be major progress. This team is not progressing at an above average rate is my point. We are progressing at a low rate and really the same when you factor in Yao. The only reason we have grown this year is because of Yao Ming IMHO Now, I do not think I am being hypercritical here. Ws are the only thing to monitor and measure, but progress has been up in some areas and stagnant or down in others. The concern here is that this team is a major underachieving group and seem to show little progress relative to last year's injury situation and especially compared to the prior year. Think about this. We had mid to upper 40 wins 2 years ago and we did not have Yao. We come back off an injury year and have low 40 wins. Is this really progress considering the Yao factor?
Continued....I am not calling for Rudy's coaching termination, but I am calling for a serious look to the future should things not progress at a far higher rate next year going into all star break.....I love Rudy on one hand and think he sometimes looses focus. We will have to see how it all plays out. I do think calmer heads have to prevail on the board and understand that this team is a fringe 8th see right now and go with it. I don't like it and think we are not progressing the way we should, but we cannot fight mother nature....we have to go with it for now.
I think they're pretty shady too.... i mean cmon a gas station and a restraunt all mixed into one???!?!
My only expectation for the team (now and before the season started) was to reach the playoffs. I don't care what happens after that. And if we don't reach the playoffs I still expect Rudy to be back. And I'm glad.
i thought rudy's method of communication has always been, teach and let the actions speak for you. rudy teaches the guys, and it's up to them to execute. when his young players do their own thing and fail, rudy says, "see?" and when they stick to the gameplan and win by 20, rudy says, "see?" rudy has said it a few times, sometimes things have to get bad and painful before you learn. excellent coach. you can't "force" anyone to learn, they need reinforcment through trial and error. as much as it sucks, there's no other way to do it. players are human beings too, they need time.
If we get the first pick this year, that would not be the worst thing in the world because we would have to hand over Lebron. It would actually be pretty good. Like the warriors offered rocks Jamison and 3rd pick we could get something similar and give the third pick to Memphis. We could have Brand and give the third pick to Memphis or Chandler or Shareed or Dice or Shard. We could also do three way trade and get something from another team.
Jeff and getsmartnow, Before the season, I expected the Rockets to be a playoff caliber team without expecting much from Yao Ming. If you remember, my initial concerns with drafting Ming were that it would take a while for him to adjust and that may cost us a shot at the playoffs this season. Ofcourse, many on this bbs refuted that saying this team two yrs back had won 47 games with a young Francis and Mobley. This season, Francis and Mobley would have more experience, plus Taylor would be returning from injury. In addition, Eddie Griffin would have a yr of work in the summer. Thus, the argument being made was that this team should be good enough to make the playoffs WITHOUT Ming thus it would be ok if Yao took a while to adjust. Do you remember this line of thinking? It seemed like a logical argument at the time no? Also, from what I recall, well over 90% of posters on this bbs agreed that this season would be a success or failure based on making the playoffs. I dont remember any posts before the season that said things like "Well this team is still too young so it is ok if they fail to make the playoffs a 4th straight time." This youth spin job started after it became obvious this team simply does not fit well together. If you told me before the season began that Yao would be averaging 14-8 with 2 BPG on over 50% pct shooting, first of all I would think you are crazy, secondly I would say if by some chance you are correct, this team should have enough weapons to win 50 games. I would tell you the only thing holding this team back would be the potential for injuries. Thus far, this team has been relatively injury free plus they have gotten contributions out of Ming they could not even dream of yet they are plugging along as a .500 team outside of the playoff picture? Simply put, if this team only wins 40-42 games (which is what Im predicting), and does not make the playoffs (which I have been saying they wont for a while), this season is a FAILURE. If you want to say, well they only won 26 games last season and this is an improvement, then you can delude yourself with that. If you want to be realistic, take a look at the winning pct with Francis last season and without Francis. Remember the Rockets were something like 2-23 without Francis last season. That would make them close to a .500 team with Francis. This season, Francis has been healthy. Add to that the return of Taylor plus excellent production from the center spot in Ming and they only end up hovering around .500? Something does not add up with that. I have been saying this for the vast majority of the season. The problem is in the backcourt with this team. This offseason, if the Rockets want to make progress, they will simply have to deal Mobley and complement Francis with a savvy, basketball smart player. This Francis-Mobley-Moochie trio is the root of this team's problems.
I expected this team to play simple, smart and cohesive basketball. Show some improvement - tangible ones, especially from the vets. At the rate that they are going to - even 164 games in the next 2 years will NOT fix it.What theyt now need is a change or miracle (devine miracle). And please stop assuming that their present record (Win-Loss) is the biggest beaf many fans have with the Rockets.
Excellent counter-post. There are just too many younger, less talented teams that are doing better or at least showing some improvement.
I remember there was a thread asking people to predict the record of this season. Most people put it in the mid-40 range, which we are still very possible to reach. Whether we can make the playoffs with a mid-40 record really depends on how the other teams do, which we have no control of. It is perfectly probable that we could repeat what happened two years ago in terms of making the playoffs. Do you guys still think it's a failure if we win 45 games and miss the playoffs? Should Rudy be fired then, according to the Rudy critics's standard? Also, still nobody is answering my suggestion that Yao's presence is actually making the guards play worse. Remember Francis was giving MVP like performances the first couple of weeks when Yao was a non-factor? Since then, Francis' performance is up and down, with more downs then up. Coincidence?
i thought rudy's method of communication has always been, teach and let the actions speak for you. rudy teaches the guys, and it's up to them to execute. when his young players do their own thing and fail, rudy says, "see?" and when they stick to the gameplan and win by 20, rudy says, "see?" rudy has said it a few times, sometimes things have to get bad and painful before you learn. excellent coach. you can't "force" anyone to learn, they need reinforcment through trial and error. as much as it sucks, there's no other way to do it. players are human beings too, they need time.
