Steve Francis: "Larry gets in your ass" LOL

LOL, Nice quote!

That's from David Aldrige's latest article on Rudy T. It is ment to say that Larry get's on people when they don't do the right things...but the way Steve said it...LOL!

Here is the article
http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/aldridge_david/1530754.html


Rudy's inner peace prepares him to fight cancer
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By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com
There was a time in Rudy Tomjanovich's life when he would have plowed through the warnings and advice and continued right on with his high-wire act life, with the Everest highs and the Dead Sea lows. When he would have kept it all in and not shared things with anybody. And although the doctors have told Rudy T's boss that he can get this cancer thing 10 more times and it won't kill him, he's in a lot better shape these days to deal with it.

Don't misunderstand; basketball is still central in Tomjanovich's life, specifically, the Rockets, for whom he's been toiling, just about every day, for the last 33 years. But it's not all of his life. That's what happens when you pull back. In Rudy's case, when you pull back from alcohol. Perspective has wrestled booze to the ground, and taken away its power.

So when Tomjanovich announced Wednesday that he would probably miss the rest of the season to deal with a cancerous tumor on the lining of his bladder, he was sad, to be sure. And worried. But he has a strength and peace now in his center.

"It's up there with all the other drama I've had in my life," Tomjanovich said. "Watching the games is tough. I had to stop. But I've had a couple of other things change in my lifestyle, gotten rid of a couple of habits, and going through all of those things at the same time takes a toll on all of those little crutches you take for granted to get you through stressful things."

There was no epiphany for Tomjanovich, just the realization a couple of years ago that after three decades on the road, he was drinking too much for someone who should have been happier after his successes as a player and a coach. He never called a press conference or made a big deal about it; he just stopped. He no longer looked at tape obsessively, realizing he had perfectly good assistant coaches who were willing and able to help. He stopped smoking. He started taking trips with friends and family. He literally smelled the roses.

But first, he stopped drinking.

"It means everything in the world," Tomjanovich says of his sobriety. "Not to deep too deep into that, but for me to do that, it's a spiritual program. You learn some things about life, about yourself. It's been monumental in how I handle everything. I stay very close to that program. I take in meetings and I go to different churches. But it's not a religious thing. It's a spiritual thing. I can be outside, just go outside, and I can feel it. But I feel it in people, too. It's been a wonderful new way -- it's not new, anymore -- but it's just a different way of living."

Rudy has taken it to heart. When the Rockets brought in Richard Deanna, a behavioral specialist who has worked with people from athletes like Summer Sanders to actors like John Malkovich to help improve their performance, Tomjanovich paid rapt attention. Every person is wired differently, Deanna said, and that meant each player had to be motivated differently. Some guys needed eye contact. Others needed physical contact.

This doesn't mean T has become some kind of pushover. But there's a lot more talking in his huddles and in practice than yelling. The Rockets have already noticed the difference between T and acting head coach Larry Smith, Tomjanovich's longtime assistant.

"Larry gets in your ass," Steve Francis says, and Francis knows from coaches who, um, do that sort of thing, having survived Gary Williams at Maryland.

There was just no way that Tomjanovich could concentrate on getting better and getting the Rockets back to the playoffs. And in that context, the choice wasn't hard at all. Now, though, Tomjanovich has a solid footing off the floor when he needs it the most.

But Wednesday, it was hard for Rudy to find the words when he wanted to tell his players that he had to go. And it was equally emotional for them, maybe Francis more than anybody. It was Tomjanovich who gave his blessing for the Rockets to become Franchise's team, eased the transition from Hakeem Olajuwon to Francis by pulling Francis aside and talking to him about what leadership really meant.

"When I was going through the Meniere's Disease last year, Rudy was always the guy who said 'Hey, if you need to take a day off, go home,' " Francis recalled. "And he's the guy who traded 11 guys to get me here."

It would never be easy to deal with cancer, but this is an especially hard time for Tomjanovich to go away. The Rockets are on their way up again after three hellish seasons of rebuilding, and they're in a battle with Phoenix for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. He'd been patient with Francis, and Cat Mobley, and he'd helped shepherd Yao Ming through his rookie season without too many bumps in the road. Houston mattered again in the West. But now, none of that matters.

For the next six weeks, Tomjanovich will have a drug called BCG injected into his liver, to see if the tumor can be shrunk. The Rockets' doctors think that the treatment will get rid of the cancer for good. But there was just no way that Tomjanovich could concentrate on getting better and getting the Rockets back to the playoffs. And in that context, the choice wasn't hard at all. Now, though, Tomjanovich has a solid footing off the floor when he needs it the most.

"This has been one of the craziest years I've been involved with," Tomjanovich said Wednesday. "Almost surreal. It brought us together as a staff; we're very, very close. I've already had some championship moments this year as far as loyalty, as far as men expressing their feelings as men. Larry is a hard-working, principled person. At the top of his thing is loyalty."

Loyalty, someone once said, is a two-way street. It is why so many people in Houston are rooting for Rudy T.