Again, please ignore the screenname. Yao is the best, and I am an idiot. Anyway, I know this question is not all that practical, but I just wanted to speculate and hear some opinions from people who get to watch the Rockets (I'm in school in Cali, so I don't get to watch too much.) Anyway, could this team run the Princeton offense? I see the Kings running it with a lot of success, and while they have stronger personnel than we do, I'd just love to watch Yao hit backdoor cutters all day long. Also, from what I have seen, I think Francis and T-Mo are probably good enough passers to put it together (I actually think it would help Francis get those assist #'s up and turnovers down.) Again, all this is from checking out box scores, so if I'm way off, please don't torch me!
I think they already run the backdoor. Everytime I watch them & they lose, I feel as though I've been f**ked! j/k
What you see now is some combination of everything Rudy knows and all that the players are able to intellectually absorb. Personally, I do not have a high opinion of RT's ability to coach and teach a sophisticated offense to a group of very young players. Plus, the Rockets only have three good passers at best - Yao, Taylor and Rice. Last, there is much debate here as to the basketball IQ of the team. I fall in line with those that think the team overall has a low bball IQ (with a few exceptions).
there are high schools across the nation that run the triangle offense - definitely a complex offense. offenses can be taught to anyone as long as the teacher is competent enough to do so. when you talk about the rockets running a complex offense, you must first ask if the coach is capable of understading, running and teaching that office. unfortunately, rudy is not. never has been. rudy is a simple coach that believes in (his words, not mine) - giving the ball to the player that can create a double team, then passing it to the open man. well, that sounds great, but nba defenses can: 1) ...play zones that eliminate that simple approach and 2) ...double off of the poorest shooter on the team. here's something to consider - if rudy t had been coaching bill walton instead of hakeem olajuwon, would he have run the same "dump it in, stand around' offense? i believe he would have. i bring that up because yao is much more the cerebral, passing, scoring big man than the bruising, scoring, one-track mind big man. yao NEEDS and UNDERSTANDS having multiple options on a play. unfortunately, rudy does not utilize yao correctly. never should you see a set where yao ming has the ball lowleft block isolated without one person moving. why neutralize yao's biggest strength - his passing??? but you do see it. for the sake of yao, hope rudy is no longer the coach of this team after this season. i have not seen a big man as cerebral and talented as yao ming in a very long time. i believe he needs a coach that can relate to that intelligence and ability, not dummify it.
Rudy T teaching a complex offense is like a Teacher that has a 9th grade reading level teaching 10th grade. The offense is going to be more disorganized than ever.
