Blinebury: Last Tango with Adelman. Hello, Mike Budenholzer.

Winning is the perfect deodorant for these kinds of rifts. I'm talking winning playoff series kind of winning, not the CF "We fought hard and we're the best team not in the playoffs" moral victories. If Morey had been able to land a rim protector that probably could've produced a playoff run, you wouldn't hear squat about a rift. Hell Adelman wants to win an NBA title too and knows as nice as these guys are, that he and this GM (who wants to rebuild on the run) isn't going to work out.

 

I'm on team Morey. If Rick doesn't want to cooperate then sayonara.

 

I believe this to be true; there have been many "signs and signals" that this is the case. It appears that Adelman is extremely controlling and very stubborn. He wasn't on board for the Battier/Brooks exit either. Remember, "our best players have been traded." Interestingly, the team took off and looked better than they had all season. I have never been a Les fan and I think his treatment of Rudy was terrible, but Adelman's exit is predictable and inevitable.

 

Keep RA, trade Schola and a young guy for a decent Center....

 

Everywhere Adelman has been, the players all say it takes several years working in his system before they are comfortable and efficient with it. It has been obvious to me that Adelman's offense didn't really start clicking until the last half of this season. We have been better offensively since Van Gundy left simply because Adelman gave the players freedom to run and make decisions on the fly. But it has just been recently that they actually became good at reading each other's moves. Our assist numbers show that.

The Terrence Williams situation is one thing. But I am wondering if there is a bigger concerns from Adelman about having rotation players traded away and him having to play new players that don't know the system (Dragic). Morey moved one of Adelman's favorite sons (Brooks) and also took away Ish in the process, leaving us with Lowry and a new player (Dragic) that Adelman was forced to add to the rotation out of necessity because we had no other point guards on the roster and we didn't trade for a point guard that was already familiar with Adelman. I can see a little bit of stubbornness in Adelman here. But I can understand if he was frustrated.

On the other hand, it became obvious to me fairly early this season that Brooks did not really fit Adelman's offense because of his dribbling and ball domination. It was like having a 6 foot McGrady out there again just chewing up the clock while everybody stood around waiting for him to make a move. I have to believe that Adelman was working to break him of the habit and turn him into something special. Because the way Brooks was running the offense was/is not conducive to Adelman's passing offense. However it never happened and it felt like Adelman was put on the spot when Morey moved Brooks.

If Morey indeed wants Adelman back, Adelman's questions are going to be centered around what Morey's plan is to bring in a piece or two to add to the core of this unit. I believe for Morey to get Adelman back, he is going to have to convince him that he (Morey) is going to acquire a dominant defensive big. And if so, I don't blame Adelman. This core unit (Lowry, Martin, Hayes, Scola, Lee, Patterson) would have won around 50 games if they had been playing major minutes together from the beginning of the season. Adelman didn't figure out Chuck's value until end of December some time. And our team went nowhere until Chuck started getting major burn. But I have no doubt that core would have won around 50 if they had been playing together since the beginning of the season.

But they still wouldn't have been good enough to keep from being toast in the first round of the playoffs, because of our lack of length on the defensive end.

So, here's my bottom line. If Morey wants him back, and Morey shows Adelman that he is going to acquire AK-47 and a smart, proven, long center that blocks shots, defends in the post, boards some, and is a capable passer/shooter (almost sounds like Camby....or possibly someone like Anthony Randolph), then I think he can convince Adelman to stay. But if Morey wants Adelman back and Morey is planning on drafting that Jonas kid or some other rookie big or trading away some of our experience in favor of more youth and upside, then I believe Adelman will fly the coup. In the final analysis, if they part company, I am going to take it as a further indicator that Morey is planning on acquiring more young talent and upgrading with youth while Adelman is not willing to wait another season to compete for a championship.

(I still have a funny feeling that we are going to miss around half if not more of the 2011-12 season.)

 

Definitely hire a coach that's all about defense. You see Thib's success, but it's all thanks to the defensive schemes he uses. I'm actually not against the hiring of an assistance coach of the Spurs since that would mean a Gregg Popovich alumni would be a coach for this team.

I mean, Les has tried the "fun basketball" experiment already, and this team can be better with their offensive skills+ defensive mentality.

 

I disagree with the bolded part about Brooks. Brooks inability to explode because of his ankle took away his his shot balance and his greatest asset. He will probably have to get the ankle cleaned up and rehab. Like i said before, thats the grant hill injury and i had the same thing and it took me 8 months to get pain free. It took almost a year before I could do everything in balance,explode, and just get back to playing at a high level in D-1.

In terms of morey and adelman, its not a matter of morey wanting adelman back as much as rick seeking what he wants or needs to be succesful. This is more about control and rick has way more pelts and is a more known commodity than morey.

 

Having read more of what Feigan wrote, the key looks like is Morey. It is Morey's job to communicate with the coach what his plan is. It's his job to get the coach on board of his long term vision for the team. Of course, if the plan is too LONG term, Adelman probably won't be interested.

But I am coming away with a little more optimism that this might work out after all the negative rumors.

What I worry is that Morey underrates the importance of coaching. He has hinted on the idea that coaching does only marginal effect on winning. While that might be true, chemistry between the coach and the players is a big thing. Right now, the chemistry looks great. The players finally gel and can execute the system well. That chemistry is something very delicate. I hope Morey and Alexander understand that.

 

Full spin ahead for NBA coaching carousel


[rquoter]

Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets: Adelman and the Rockets could soon agree to an amicable divorce, several league sources said.

Adelman and owner Les Alexander don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. The veteran coach also could be attracted to a possible opening on another team that would offer him a better chance to win.

The Rockets want their coach to play their young players and embrace their creativity in the free-agent market, which doesn’t sound like a team adamant about winning immediately. Adelman, who turns 65 on June 16, was in the last year of his contract this season. Injuries to Yao Ming(notes) – and Tracy McGrady(notes) in past seasons – prevented him from ever coaching the roster he envisioned he’d have in Houston.

If Adelman doesn’t return, the Rockets could pursue Brown. Elston Turner, Adelman’s longtime assistant, also figures to be a candidate for some of the league’s openings.

While Brown could be linked to some of the most prominent openings, there will be no shortage of candidates for teams this summer from a pool that includes Jackson, Turner, Frank, former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson, former Rockets and New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey, Milwaukee Bucks assistant Kevin Sampson, former Charlotte Bobcats coach (among others) Larry Brown and possibly Kentucky coach John Calipari.[/rquoter]

Not sure if he's talking about Mike Brown or Larry Brown or ????

 

Pretty sure Spears is referring to Mike Brown.

Another name that makes me want to retain Adelman even more.

 

Larry Brown would annoy me like crazy. Mike Brown would make me have no confidence in Alexander.

 

Maybe the Mike Brown rumor is misdirection by Morey to keep his cards close to the vest from other GMs, like he does with players?

 

this is quite appalling to say the least. The level of respect shown to adelman for his coaching the last couple of years despite the bull**** he's handed straight on a plate is disgusting.


les is a straight up moron if he somehow manages to make such an ill conceived decision.

 

I don't mean to say this with any bad intent,because I acknowledge that Morey seems to have a long term vision for the team,but his shortcoming is related to Moneyball. He over relies on stats. He has never played basketball,therefore he does not know how hard it is to develop chemistry and the challenges a coach faces on a day to day basis.

I'm not saying Adelman is all correct,and that Morey is all wrong. They have done a pretty good job considering the the losses of our star players. Les is looking for guidance,because he is not sure which direction to go.