Oh, BTW Yetti. One other point I would like to bring up. All season long you were on the "Moses Malone should coach Yao" bandwagon. Moses should coach Yao! Moses can teach Yao how to play like a big man! Our coaches can't teach big men! We need Moses Malone! Now, you say that Rudy let Yao develop his agressiveness "naturally" while Mean "forced it". So this begs the question: Would Moses let Yao develop agressiveness "naturally" or should would he "force" it on Yao? I think any member on this BBS who knows Moses, knows that not only would Mo not wait for it to happen "naturally", he would probably bust Yao in the chest with an elbow 3 or 4 times as soon as they stepped on the court together. Moses Malone is one of the most tenacious and agressive players in NBA history. If you are against Yao being "forced" to be agressive and instead want him it to come to him "naturally", then I suggest you get on the "Danny Schayes for Yao's coach" bandwagon, because Moses is not your man.
LOL! Codell stop picking on the Kid, you have proven your point very well! You are one person I will not be getting into a thorough debate with!
hmm.. interesting opinion.. what do you suppose would have happened if Larry had led the Rox to the playoffs? do you still think Rudy would have quit/been forced out?
codell: "nah nah nah nah.. I win u lose ...." Now you are bordered on pathetic! Must feel so good being 14 again!
Very interesting question. Before I give you my answer, lets look at the 17 games under Smith and whether we should have won, if everything else was equal (Ill try to be objective): @ Seattle - Should have won (debatable) - did not win @ Portland - Should not have won - did not win @ Golden State - Should have won - did win @ Sacramento - Should not have won - did not win @ L.A. Clippers - Should have won - did win L.A. Lakers - Should not have won (debatable; but Lakers were coming on strong and had a better record than us) - did not win @ San Antonio - Should not have won - did not win Denver - Should have won - did win @ New Jersey - Should not have won - did not win @ Milwaukee - Should have won - did not win @ Philadelphia - Should not have won - did win Orlando - Should have won - did win Portland - Should not have won (Portland was a far better team) - did not win @ Utah - Should not have won - did not win Seattle - Should have won - did win (thanks to Smeg) Memphis - Should have won - did win @ Denver - Should have won - did win So, in summary, we should have been 9-8, and we ended up 8-9. That is a 1 game difference. That 1 game was the difference between us making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. Now, onto your question. If we had made the playoffs, I think it is possible that Rudy might have stayed on (of course, this depends on whether Rudy truely resigned or was forced out). If we made the playoffs and got swept in the 1st round, I don't think much would have changed. If we put up a good fight, I think Rudy might have had a better shot at staying on (assuming he was indeed forced out and didn't resign due to health reasons). In conclusion, one can look on the surface and say that 1 game difference cost Rudy his job. That 1 game. However, objectively, one can look at a handful of other games that were factors in us missing the playoffs (games that Rudy coached) and come to the same conclusion.
This is it? This is how you are going out? If this is all you are going to respond with, why bother? I respond with a well thought out, stat filled analysis and you respond with "must feel so good being 14 again". And you call me pathetic? Pot, kettle ........kettle, pot.
I don't have to. I have the utmost confidence in my point of view. Apparently, you can not say the same, or you would still be debating the subject with me. Nor do I need to re-read yours to see that you are a Yao apologist and that your arguements do not hold water (as I have demonstrated time and time again in this thread) Quit stalling and making excuses. Either continue our debate or go away. I am reminded of one of my favorite all time quotes: If you stop fighting for what you believe in, then you never believed in it to begin with.
I heard the players didn't like MEAN because he was drilling them in practice, making them take a blue collar approach. Apparently, RUDY was too much of a players coach and allowed them to do whatever. Maybe this explains why they looked like street ballers most of the time.
If you think that it looks like that to everyone else watching this... I got one thing to say.....BWahahahaha...rookie good job codell...as i said before...CC.net ROY
1) The Rockets were 12-16 under Rudy before Smith took over. Personally, I don't think it mattered who was coaching. The downward trend had already been established. 2) The Rockets did not miss the playoffs by 1 game. Let me repeat that again in case it went by tooo quickly - the Rockets did not miss the playoffs by one game. After clinching the playoff spot, PHX lost its last two games to Portland and Seattle. Here are the minutes played for those games POR Marbury - 28 Marion - 28 Hardaway - 18 Joe Johnson - 34 Bo Outlaw - 25 Casey Jacobsen - 24 Dan Langhi - 16 SEA Hardaway - 24 Marbury -17 Stoudemire 27 Marion - 17 Casey Jacobsen - 32 Joe Johnson - 29 Dan Langhi - 24 Bo Outlaw - 21 Jake Tsakalidis - 21 Tom Gugliotta - 12 After clinching the spot by beating the Spurs, the Suns took a breather for their last two games. The Rockets won their last 3 but it was too little, too late.
Pretty much. I dn't have the exact stats, but after that high water mark of 23-15, the Rockets really sucked after that. If this team plays .500 ball or 22-22, this team wns 45 games and is in the playoffs period.
Gater, Lets take some other things into consideration too. Against Portland. Stoudemire, Marion and Marbury were all removed @ 3:33 left in the 3rd when they were down by 21. Going into the 4th, they were down by 28. Given Portland's home record (great) and Phoenix's road record (poor), plus the fact that they were down 28 going into the 4th (would have had to make the largest 4th qtr comeback in NBA history), there was no way Phoenix had a chance to come back and win and thus, that could be the reason why they did not play their normal minutes. So I don't buy the theory that the Suns took a breather in this game. They played their normal minutes up until the time they were blown out. Against Seattle, yes. They had a chance to win for a good portion of that game and were clearly resting their starters for the playoffs. However, again, given Seattles great home record and the Suns poor record (going back and researching it, I counted only 3 teams that the Suns beat on the road that had a winning home record), the Suns probably were not favored to win that game anyway. I still stick by the theory that we missed the playoffs by 1 game. However, subjectively, I can buy the theory that we might have missed them by 2, if all things were equal.
In my 1st post, I said this debate is hardly worth it but you keep pulling me in. Fighting for what you believe in? Jesu... , this is not World Peace we are talking about! Give me a little time, I got work to do. I 'll come back a little later.
Not worth it but I keep pulling you in? Sounds like you are too easily influenced. My guess it is not worth it now, because you have no leg to stand on. I will be waiting.
With all the due respect, Codell, you are arguing on the wrong foot defending your turf. Moses Malone would be a fine trainer/coach for Yao only starting in the off season, as Yetti clearly implied. But Larry Smith was trying to mold Yao into the mean machine in the mist of intensified playoff race, it clearly backfired. Same thing can also be said about SF's underperformance in the last a few key games. You would never want to change your study habit during your final exam, would you? Playing time and rotations were very much developed and set in first 60+ games with Rudy's experienmenting. Thinking that anyone could re-do and un-do all of Rudy's 60+ game effort (Good, bad or maybe ugly is up to another debate...), it just againt the basic common sense. Life is boring during NBA offseason, more so if you don't even have a boss to yell at you...
Just curious, how do all of you guys know what Larry Smith or for that matter Rudy T was telling the players during practice? Do you honestly believe Larry Smith dramatically changed philosophies with less than 20 games to play. All of you are really reaching.
This is why I think you are childish. This is your logic. This is how you make your argument: If I stop debating -> I have no leg to stand on. If I continue -> I am too easily influenced. BTW, How do you want to carry on this "debate"? 1) Do you want to stick to the original point of the thread? 2) Do you want my comment on every little thing I diagree with you on? (Things like Cato, 'cause it is a little off the topic..) 3) If you want a debate, let's not dance around and have long drawn out post that muddle the issue. We've done that enough. Let's each make 1 point, 1 statement and then stick to that one. Finish it and then move on to the next. You want me to start or you? You can start and ask me to clarify 1 point that you think I was not clear on or that you think u won. Fair enough?
