yes and I realized this which is why I said a 5 game slide is what it would take to get Francis into the lineup. Adleman pulled the trigger before that event. Will we beat the Mavs with the new lineup? I don't know but it's a darn tough 5 game stretch we are playing here. You can't keep losing games and when you do, that is when coaches start to tinker with the lineup. Adleman just went off last years successful lineup and the lenovo stats. He played the guys and Rafer played wayyyyyy over his head in practice. He did that last year too and see how he played during the regular season. We all know the end result leading to the early first round exit in which Morey said we were totally exposed at the point guard position.
I personally think 5 games are too many to lose particularly the Memphis and LA one. I strongly felt we should have beaten them and it's painful to lose to Memphis (we were winning for the first half). I felt that during these few games, we need someone to add some firepower when Bonzi, Mike, Rafer, Head, Hayes and Battier are off or in slump or when they are losing intensity. Anyway, no knows the future and those games were close so it's very difficult decision. If we knew we are going to lose them, I guessed Adelman will change his combination.
I'm with you on that one.... hopefully the next big arguement is over who sits where on the float at the parade. -V
You said it wasn't a coincidence they started winning rings once Phil took over. Am I wrong then in assuming you attribute most of their success to a coaching change? If that's not the case, then what did you mean? Pointing out that Phil taking over was merely one of many variables that changed is creating a straw man? Yes but Westhead was apparently a "championship-level coach", as were K.C. Jones and Bill Fitch. Thus proving that you don't need what most consider to be an elite coach to win a championship. Cue your response about me putting words into your mouth here ... Okay, fine. I guess that's reasonable. I still pretty much disagree that coaching could have won the series for the Spurs. Players like Hakeem and Jordan at that time cannot be stopped, no matter what defense is employed. There was nothing that could have been done. I was saying the reason SA lost was that Robinson wasn't clutch, not because of their coach. That's where I pulled that from. Is Paul Westhead the cream of the coaching crop? K.C. Jones? They won championships after all. (Let me preempt you here by stating that no, you didn't actually say that. I'm merely drawing a conclusion from your other statements. No strawman here.) Btw, the reason the Spurs were 5-1 against the Rockets was the Rockets weren't the same team during the regular season, literally. Drexler wasn't even on the team for the first 47 games. After that, Hakeem got hurt. They didn't really have their championship team together until the playoffs started. Therefore you can't conclude much from that 5-1 record. Btw, is Jerry Sloan not a good enough coach to win a championship either? Surely his team should've been able to beat that Rocket team as well, right? Sigh. No one disputed it. Not everything stated is in direct response to something you said. Geez. I don't know, SVG only coached them for 20 games. I don't recall enough about their injury/roster situation during that time to make a judgement. I doubt SVG was doing anything drastically different than what Riley would do, given that he was his assistant. SVG was good enough to win 59 games the year before and lose in 7 games in the ECF w/Wade injured. I like the odds of him doing what Riley did the next year with a healthy Wade. Of course, if you merely look at a championship team and assume the coach they had was the "right" one, then this holds true.
PJ > Doug Collins Riles > Westhead Pop > Bob Hill Riles > SVG (for that multi-personalitied Heat team) The coaches weren't the only reason they won. MJ, Pippen, Magic, Kareem, TD, Wade, Shaq, Kobe had something to do with it . All of the lesser coaches above were fired for legitimate reasons except for SVG (though it turned out to be correct). Sloan qualifies as an elite coach. His track record speaks for itself. It isn't his fault they ran into the Bulls and Rockets 4 out of 5 years. Not all elite coaches win championships just like not all elite players get a ring. Good discussion guy.
Who knows. Your guess is as good as mine. Sloan was an elite coach so PJ might not have done any better.
No he does not, because he keeps trying to turn Rafer into Bibby. Big problem, Rafer can't shoot like Bibby, which forces the defenders to play him every minute he's in the game.
