Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to think that Rudy wasn't the real problem. LA and CD seems like a couple of lost puppy dogs right now, giving out PC statements left and right to trick the fans into thinking they know what they're doing. I'm starting to get a little worried. Change that, a lot worried.
The only thing that I am concerned about is that Larry Smith is hanging arround!! This might be an indication on how much change Les and CD are looking for! They obviously are very out of date with their methods or dont realy care about having the best Coach. My take on all of this is that the Rockets are in for a big fall, right after Les declares Chapter 7. Les is making poor business decissions prior to making our big move. Who will pay the money to go downtown to see a Lottery Team, coached by a third rate coach and with all the parking problems!! Les should have been going for the 'Big Splash'.
I hear what you're saying - Glen Rice needs to play 30 minutes a game! I do agree though. I'm tepid on MD and not too thrilled with JVG - so that leaves me curious about Carlisle. I know he had some management issues and I think CD wants to stay away from that, but I've found that opposites can exist nicely if they have understood expectations stated up front. I SERIOUSLY hope they are not considering Larry Smith just because he's already on the payroll and his first name is just like the guy we wanted.
1. Teams who are really pissed at a coach do not go from 32-50 to winning the Eastern Conference Finals in 2 years. Who was pissed at Carlisle? Chucky Atkins, Jon Barry, Mehmet Okur, Tayshaun Prince? The former 2 because they weren't receiving more playing time and the latter 2 for the same reason. The former 2 are scrub players who didnt deserve to play and the latter 2 were nurtured along until they were ready. Remember, Tayshaun Prince actually started early in the season and flubbed out. By the time Carlisle put him in, he was ready. You think Joe Dumars disliked him? I don't think so. He wouldnt have been sitting next to him at his firing. Read Joe Dumars statements. Detroit had nothing to gain from having Rick Carlisle at the press conference. Supposedly the only 2 people who hated him were Wilson and the Owner. Like I said before, Les is a former Securities Wall Street trader. He's not as thin skinned and he's not 80 years old either. 2. People talk about Carlisle's surly attitude. Compare Brown vs Carlisle yesterday: How many times did Brown take shots at Allen Iverson? Hey, I was at practice. You don't know what Ive been through the last 6 years, blah blah blah. Yeah, that's class. It's so easy to take potshots at a guy after the fact. Compare that with Carlisle who had nothing but good things to say about the Pistons organization, Joe Dumars, and the Detroit players. You can almost see tears in his eyes talking abourt Detroit. He seemed much more shocked and depressed than bitter and angry. 3. The most important issue: Who would make the best coach, teacher, etc... on this Rockets team? Who is the best x's and 0's coach? Carlisle. Who has proven he could take a losing team and make them winners? Carlisle Who is considered a strict disciplinarian? Rick Carlisle What is Carlisle's greatest weakness? Inability to get along with the owner (ive already addressed this) and very very tough on players - which would be his biggest strength here. No one is perfect but the man whose strengths match this team's needs is Carlisle. The fact we won't even interview him speaks volumes of this organization. Get the man who won't create waves. Don't take a chance on the best young coach in the game. This team is not the most talented team in the very tough Western Conference. This team needs someone who can get 100% effort from his players in order to compete and contend. The path of least resistence. Very disappointing.
REIT - Excellent post. I don't see how they couldn't at least put feelers out there for Carlisle, much less not put him near the top of the list based on what he's done with Detroit. It should be between him and Dunleavy, imo.
Third! 2 things to add: 1) Rick said several players called him up including Billups and the talks were positive. 2) Rick said he will have 3 interviews with teams this week but he won't disclose who they are. Who knows? One of them might well be the Rockets. http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0602/1561967.html Rick will be at the Pre-draft camp. CD will be there too.
I third that! From all the coach available out there Carlisle is my first choice,regardless of all the supposed baggages he comes with(problems with ownership).I would love to have him... ...The only problem is that Les said we were going after only 2 coaches: Dunleavy and Van Gundy.So in the end it comes down to a pick between the 2. My vote goes to MD. ALA
So does that mean the Rockets will be fighting for a playoff position in the Christmas Conference? Seriously and on-topic, though, I agree. Why WOULDN'T we at least have Carlisle over and chat? What would that hurt?
I don't know, people. I admit that I could be wrong, but it sounds to me, if you have one guy that's getting a callback, it's probably gonna be Dunleavy. That would be a big reason not to contact Carlisle. Rick Carlisle did a good job with Detroit, but when stories (justified or unjustified) come out that you were abrasive and condescending to the people who worked for you (players) and for whom you worked (management), it doesn't inflate you in the eyes of potential employers. It reminds me of the Dilbert cartoon, when Wally is looking for another job; the HR person is reading from Wally's resume: "You say here that everyone you've ever worked for is a total jerk," and Wally responds, "So when do I start?" I hadn't even thought of Portland having Sabonis (great passing big man), but that, along with stories that Dunleavy is actually more of a disciplinarian than the Charmin-softie we envisioned, makes me wonder if Mike Dunleavy will be the Rockets' next coach. Hell with it. Just get it done. Van Gundy or Dunleavy. Let's get it done.
Why would that be a big reason not to contact Carlisle? I think it comes down to comfort. CD is more comfortable with Dunleavy than someone like Rick Carlisle.
I think that goes for both CD and LA. Dunleavy will fit into the Rockets organization pretty seamlessly. Carlisle's rep alone would cause some strife. Carlisle may well be the better technical coach but the Rocket's "family" is important to LA and CD and rocking the boat won't win you any friends there.
This is about where Iam. Im totally in the middle here, just ready to see it over and done. However I do see one positive out of all of this. Please dont take this statment wrong, but I was begining to wonder if this had turned into a Yao Ming Fan Club site. So the one positve is this, We are actually talking ROCKETS, not Yao all the time. (Iam a Yao fan, but a Rockets fan first)
