[CBS Sports] Morey's contract is also up, status described as "questionable"

Thanks. Interesting to hear. I just think that Adelman is about as good a coach as you can get among the conventional candidates: high win total, high winning %, getting extremely high offensive efficiency out of a squad without a star, etc. None of the Larry Browns or Jeff Van Gundys are significantly better by any of the usual measurements. Also, if they are making a regime change, I doubt they just bring back Adelman's lead assistant, Turner.


So, that leaves something completely out of the left field... Maybe Brad "I-was a Teenage Coach" Stevens. Maybe someone coaching an European team now (Ettore Messina? David Blatt?). I was thinking maybe even a player coach (Shane Battier? He reads scouting reports anyway... You can't pay him extra as a head coach under the current CBA, but I think you can pay him as a player but give him coaching duty-- yeah, I know crazy, but we are talking about "out of left field" ideas here. Perhaps even Chuck Hayes? He WAS having lunch with Les Alexander to talk about the state of the team. Would he be the youngest NBA head coach ever? Hmmm... ).

Anyways, I am eager to hear what Les and Morey pull off with the head coach hire. Wouldn't mind if they retain Adelman (who has many positives) but wouldn't mind if they take a risk with this choice, either.

 

I can imagine that's frustrating, but I think you have to blame that one on Morey, not Adelman. From what we have seen of T-Will, he really doesn't deserve to get on the court. His head isn't in the right place. I think it's just as likely Morey is sorry for giving Adelman a lemon.

 

Morey and Adleman need to stay. The team we have now is just a decent C and SF away from being a serious playoff team.

DM has had to rebuild this team from the Yao/McGrady mess and has done so pretty well considering.

Adleman made the best of the players he had available, and still barely missed the playoffs, just imagine if we had another star player how many more games would have been won this year, I say we'd be a 5th seed at the worst!

I just hope management is smart enough to actually wan't Adleman back and offer a damn extension already.

We are so close to being dangerous, why screw everything up now when progress is being made?

 

Goodbye

Goodbye, Adelman and defenseless Rockets :grin: Hopefully we can get a coach who can teach DEFENSE.

 

Adelman is a great coach, but when a coach and GM is not on the same page, then the coach is the first one to go. Besides a potential conflict between Morey and Adelman (if it is true), the salary part could be another factor to not resign Adelman. You do not want to pay a champingship level coach to coach a rebuilding team.

 

Fixed.

 

I agree with Clutch in that Adelman likely won't be back. This would be consistent with Les' pattern for the past decade: The head coach becomes the fall guy for the organization when things don't go quite as planned. It was that way with RudyT, then with JVG and now Adelman is up next in the "Dead Coach Walking" queue. It will also be such for whomever is next up on the Rockets' coaching carousel.

As for Morey, he has proven to be a much better GM than his predecessor but that's really damning him with faint praise as anyone with a brain stem would look good compared to the joke of a GM that Dawson had become. Morey has done a reasonable job considering the mess he was handed but he has had his share of CD moments (Artest) along the way. He also continued to pursue the flawed Les-Dawson TMac/Yao blueprint for far too long which is a prime reason the Rockets now find themselves stuck in mediocrity. Going forward, the question that must be asked of Morey is whether or not he can pull a rabbit out the hat and come up with the type of players this team needs to be really competitive in the West. On that note, the jury is out.

 

They had such a coach in JVG. But Uncle Les and the red koolaid drinkers got tired of watching the Rockets play boring defense and not win - they wanted to see a more uptempo, exciting game so Uncle Les hired RA. And they got their wish: now they have a team that plays exciting, uptempo basketball (along with no defense) that doesn't win. With regards to the Rockets: the more things change, the more they remain the same.

 

The difference in the Rockets D has been Yao. It's as simple as that.

 

If Alexander gets rid of Morey, I will be very upset. The guy's done an excellent job. He inherited Yao and T-Mac, neither of which has been a real differnce maker since Morey gained full control of the team. Thanks to his good decision making and talent evaluation, we now have a young, fun team to watch, that simply lacks a superstar to be a perennial contender. We are on the right track. We are better than we were last year, and our assets are more valued around the league than they were last year. You can't force teams to trade with you so you really can't blame Morey for the superstar void on our roster. The key is to be patient and wait for the right opportunity. A couple of shakey decisions aside, Morey has done a fantastic job keeping us competitive while building for the future.

 

When it comes down to it, Morey isn't getting the job done and the team has gotten worse under his regime. Leslie is still committed to the statistical analysis process, but he knows that he needs to hire a true master rather than a pretender like Morey. Leslie has contacted me to take over the team next season but I have other pressing obligations and have not made a final decision. Until I let the Rockets know, Morey will be in "questionable" status.

 

Wrong

 

I too think there is a very strong chance that Adelman does not return (combining the chance that he walks away with the chance that the Rockets don't want him back). I certainly hope to have him back, though. If we could ever get him a healthy superstar, or a starting five full of upper-level talent, I think he can do some real damage. The team's play over the last 6 weeks proves that, with some continuity, Adelman basketball is a beauty to watch and can win. Pure unselfishness across the board.

I'm wary of bringing in a stat-geek coach that's going to be a company man. We have leaders in Lowry and Hayes right now to keep the team in line, but this isn't college -- the NBA is full of egos. These are the best basketball players in the world. They are going to get pissed off if they don't get the minutes they deserve and I worry about team chemistry with an unproven coach. NBA players look at the GM as the businessman, but I don't think they want to see any of that with the coach.

 

I wouldn't mind giving Mario Elie a shot. He worked with Pops for a few years.

 

Didn't he develop Brooks, Budinger, and Patterson? The only clear missed talent Adelman didn't develop was Gerald Wallace. Why is this "Adelman doesn't develop young player" keeps going around?

It is true that Adelman's game takes a long time to learn. In that sense, young players with low IQ may not be able to catch on, or the team may not have the patience to wait for them to develop. But it is a myth that Adelman does not develop young players.

BTW, I agree with people who pointed out that Alexander had a pattern of scapegoating the coach. That is really annoying. This is why we have to rebuild the roster every few years to adjust for revolving door coaching styles.

 

Without rick, this team wouldn't have won thirty games. the guy is as good a coach as you can get. It would be a mistake to let him walk.

Now on the other hand, I can see why rick wouldn't want to stay. He's ready to win now, the team isn't. Its best for him to move on. it wouldn't be too bad, if the rockets can find a young promising coach like the thunder and blazers did.someone who will still be coaching when the rockets are ready to compete again.

 

Sad to hear about the organization not wanting Adelman back. I'm pretty sure Adelman wanted to return.

I'm more curious as to exactly why they're not on the same page. I wonder what the disagreements are over. Regardless, the way the JVG era ended and now Adelman.. it's quite concerning and it the Rockets organization can't be getting a good wrap amongst coaches.

Hate to say it, but Jerry Sloan is the best option out there. He runs a similar read-and-react offense, but also makes sure his team plays D.

 

Depends on who you have in his place. I think there are another good coach can win a similar number of games, but if you replace him with, say, the string of underwhelming coaches that manned the Kings since Rick's departure, it wouldn't have been nearly as productive a season.

By and large, I think Rick got it right: some of the young guys are improving, the offense is running well. The record might have been better if Brooks and Hill didn't play that much, but it's not they are the difference between a .500-ish team and championship. Besides, no coach will get things 100% right... there's a lot of educated guessing going on, and sometimes your gamble doesn't pay off.

 

Now I definitely get the feeling their is some tension between Morey and Adelman. The funny thing is, IMO, you can't side with either one of them if you're Les.

They've both done some great things for the Rockets. Morey managed to build around 2 lame duck max contracts and Adelman was able to roll with the punches and somehow win 22 in a row and make it to the brink of the WCF.

But... neither has won a title. That's all that matters. You can't fairly pick a side.

 

Adelman has had a great career and he was not dealt the best hand here in Houston. Losing TMac and Yao sunk everybody's ship. BUT, I think it is time for a chance, a fresh start for the team and the organization. If they pick the right one it can be invigorating. The last two Rocket's coaches have been very stubborn and a bit over structured. I would like some new ideas and a better balance between defense and offense. And most of all we need a quality big.