Assuming we're actually down to 2 candidates, who do you pick?

I would rather Dunlevy over Van Gumby because the thought of the Knicks walk it down the court/half court offense repulses me greatly. I think that a wide open passing offense will benefit the Rox players more than a slow down offense. I actually think that Dunlevy's familiarity with Houston will be a plus in getting him accepted by the fans and the current plays. They will enjoy his style of coaching. Dunlevy believes in passing the ball and trapping sometimes on defese to change the tempo of the game which is something that Rudy T. did not have a freaking clue about. In any event, both coaches would be a better option than another year of Rudy T.'s madness!!!!!!!!

 

Let's sign both.

Sign Van Gundy as the head coach cause he's a little higher profile right now, and bring in Dunleavy as an assistant. Dallas has Nellie and Del Harris, the Lakers have Phil and Jim Cleamons. We could pull it off.

Okay I'm kidding. But we're sitting on a situation here that is a lot like the last presidential election. We have two guys left that might be okay, but no one here is all that excited about either one of them.

I hope by the time a decision is made, and once we've had a chance to see the team in action at least, the new coach will have an approval rating somewhere close to Dubbya's.

 

Portland scared me when he MD was with them, plus what if his son becomes the player that he is expected to?

 

I thought it before, and I am thinking and now hearing it could be warrming up again. Keep an eye on Don Nelson.

 

I would like Mike D. but Don or Donnie Nelson would make me happy as well.

 

see GATER's reply.

Elie was known in Houston and in San Antonio as the guy that put the team over the top - not from his play on the court - but because he set the example and was the vocal leader to make the rest of the team play hard and play smart. He has delivered with team recognition twice. He earned his spurs the hard way and demands the same effort. He knows the one constant from euro to cba to nba.

Avery has some of the same qualities. These are character guys that flesh out whatever plan the coach has, and get the most out of our players. They are the antidote to boneheaded play.

 

1. Gregg Poppovich
2. Phil Jackson
3. Larry Brown
4. Pat Riley
5. Rick Adelman
6. Don Nelson
7. Rick Carlisle
8. Paul Silas
9. Rudy Tomjanovich
10. Jeff Van Gundy
11. Mike Dunleavy
12. Van Chancellor
13. Larry Smith

 

Will you & others be happy if Larry just become an assistant or would you want him removed from the team totally?

1) I believe Larry worked his way up.
2) We all know what rings mean. Kerr has 4 of them, why isn't he being considered? Didn't RT get slammed for the ring thing, people saying that he rode Hakeem's coattail?
3) Neither is Ellie. Tragic was a PG and he knows the game well too. He didn't do so well did he?
4) And what is wrong with that? We don't kneed rebounding help? Yao & Griffen can not benefit from that?

Like I said before, other than the fact Ellie has played with Houston, I don't see how he is head & shoulder above other candidates. Don't forget, Ellie left the team in a sour note. He pouted during his last year here. No thanks, I don't want him.

I may consider AJ.

 

pasox2, please tell me what qualities AJ & Ellie have that neither Drexler & Tragic have?

 

I originally responded because I thought you were posing a legitimate question. It now appears you are trying to make Larry Smith comparable to Elie or AJ. I'm not going to waste my time getting into a p*****g match over it. For all practical purposes AJ is on Dallas's staff. I will be truly surprised if Smith is hired anywhere outside of Houston and even then surely not as the #1 assistant.

 

Says who? How do you know it will be ISO only? Is this just because the ugly Knicks team had an ugly offense (which won 248 of 420 games under him, BTW)? For six years, he was an assistant under Pat Riley and Don Nelson. You don't think he picked up any offensive strategy from either of those two guys? What about all of the coaching clinics he supposedly attends. I just have a hard time believing that someone who is not even an ex-NBA player could rise as high as he has in the NBA by having no idea how a basketball offense is supposed to be run.

Reason I like Van Gundy: If something isn't working (i.e. the Rockets aren't winning), Van Gundy would be much bolder in making changes than Rudy T. or Dunleavy. He's not going to sit there and try to let the players work it out. I can tell you right now he would be much more of a risk taker. In addition, he seems like more of "no-nosense" type coach, and would hold players more accountable.

 

Wait a minute Gater, I was posting a legitimate question. I did not know why there was such a love fest for Ellie & AJ on this board, I thought they had done some real assistant type of work to garner those praises. That is why I asked.

I've always liked some of your posts, that is why I asked you instead of some of the other posters who also praised them. I am not trying to engage in any pissing contest, I am just trying to understand from your angle why the love of Ellie over others? No big deal.

Peace, brother.

 

I agree completely.

 

I don't know why I am not seeing last year's Coach of the Fricken Year of the WHOLE LEAGUE (AI impersonation).

Seriously. Rick would hands down be the best fit for this team.

 

I think Dunleavy is a great coach, and I don't think we would be settling for 2nd best at all if we hired him.

 

JVG for head coach... Elie and AJ for assistant...

 

I want to be the coach of the Rockets. Here are my qualifications:

1. I'm young so I can relate to the players
2. Even I know how to draw up double screens to get Cat open jumpers instead of having him dripple for 10 sec to take a fadeaway
3. I'll make them pass the ball to Yao
4. I'll make them play a zone so Steve won't get lit up so much and Eddie and Yao would make the ours.
5. I'll hire the best assistants on the planet to help me out.

I'll drop out of law school and move back to Htown in a second to help out my favoite franchise and since we are having so much trouble finding a coach so why not me.

 

JVG was a PG when he played. He knows more than you think about offense. He just had absolutely nothing to work with. He had an older, crickety Ewing, no offensive PGs, no offensive PFs....all he had on offense was Houston and Sprewell. You cannot be serious about this "doesn't know offense" bull****. He just didn't have the personnel to run an offense other than ISO.

Maybe if he had a few premier offensive players like Dunleavy, he would have been able to run an effective offense. Also, the NY papers always wanted him to run with Sprewell, but he knew it WOULDN'T work...it's the only reason he slowed it down. Once JVG left and Don Chaney took over, Sprewell had the reigns to the offense and they wen't under. Doesn't that sound like Francis having the reigns to the offense, and the Rockets not going anywhere? He'd slow down Francis and Mobley....and the Rockets would prosper because of it.

I don't see any reason why the Rockets can't beat San Antonio, LA, Sacramento, or Dallas with a half court offense. When was the last team to win a championship without a strict half court offense? The friggin Showtime Lakers? Half court offenses win. It's that simple.