Reading the article below and how Dumars has reshaped the Detroit roster with different coaches, why isn't our former GM getting more blame for this roster and the lack of playoff wins? Dumars' stamp all over Pistons
he has absolutely gotten a free pass. eveyone blames the most public figure in JVG as the reason for the rockets downfall. JVG isn't innocent, but he deserves no more blame than the owner and GM. if you look at our success at DRAFTING alone, CD has done a less than stellar job. i do like the the yao pick. that took guts. the battier trade and also the tmac trade were CD's doing, but all in all, you could (not that i would) argue whether the trades even made the rockets better. JVG was not innocent, but he should share the blame equally with LES and CD.
The draft picks have been horrendous, with the only exception of Yao, and that was a very easy choice for the top pick. They better start drafting nice talent who at least have some trade value in the future.
Because 1. Houston media tends to give CD a free pass 2. Many Rox fans can not tell the difference between a GM and a coach. Since they see coach, JVG every game, they just blame JVG. Did you notice the thread that some fans ask who Adelman drafted? this shows you how lack of knowledge some fans are.
Dumars has made numerous dubious decisions (Okur and Darko come to mind first), and he has been lucky to have fallen into some things (like Rasheed). His team has done more, yes.. but I don't think he's been much better than CD was of late. There was an article (or maybe an excerpt from Simmons?) about how Isiah is a better judge of talent than Dumars..
My fondest memory of CD is him giving Kelvin Cato a huge contract extention after he got 7 blocks in a preseason game.
It's becoming clearer over time that Steve Patterson was largely responsible for those championship teams. Once CD moved from the bench to the front office, this organization started squandering one draft pick after another(when they weren't giving them away in trades): Rodrick Rhodes, Bryce Drew, Mirsad Turkcan, Jason Collier, Eddie Griffin, Bostjan Nachbar, drafting Eduardo Najera only to trade him for Dan Langhi. The only truly successful picks during CD's tenure were Othella Harrington, Michael Dickerson(who had a good rookie season and was one of the keys in getting Steve Francis who in turn was the key to getting T-Mac), Cuttino Mobley, Kenny Thomas, Yao Ming(which doesn't count since it was a no-brainer), and Luther Head. I used to blame Rudy T for a lot of the dumb moves made by management. And he does deserve some heat. Especially with those horrible contracts handed out to mediocre talent. But things didn't improve much with Van Gundy. At least not in terms of drafting. I guess the good news is that Daryl Morey will be hard pressed to do worse. But for a franchise whose standard used to be to compete for a championship every year, it's pretty sad when that's the state of their front office.
Didn't Rudy T say Kato would lead the league in blocks? I just think those guys aren't the best at evaluating talent. But then again, most people aren't so....
Probably the smartest thing the Rockets did last year was trade their first round pick for Shane Battier. Horrible Horrible record with the draft. Their only good draft pick on this team are Luther and Yao. And even Luther is a respectable pick; a rotation player, not much more. After all the botched drafts, I guess a new GM should help out. But give CD credit where it is due. He excelled in trades. He usually was not on the wrong end of deals. He got us Drexler, Barkley, Francis, and McGrady. Plus he also landed us Quitten, Kevin Willis, etc. He was also pretty good at scouting out CBA guys back in the days. Chucky Brown, Moochie Norris, etc. CD was horrible in the draft. But he did excel in trades and FA's. So there!!! CD earned his stripes
Drexler and Barkley was all Rudy. As for as the other trades if it didn't net an improvement, how can you say he excelled in trades. Remember it's been a whole decade since the rockets won a playoff series.
Do not give Steve Patterson too much credit....Steve's dad = Ray Patterson(excellent GM IMHO) functioned as President of the organization after Steve became GM - Don Cheaney should get some credit for talent too. Steve Patterson got canned at Portland in March-so evidently he was face man only in last years draft. Rudy had a lot of bad luck with players- Pippen nutting up -losing his balls comes to mind- who we got nothing for-that was a terrible setback for the Rockets- Cato was about the only asset we got out of that trade. Aquiring Steve Francis was a major deal......Eddie Griffin was a bad disappointment- so with Cato - that is 2 big men that disappointed.... Add to that a declining Hakeem in 98,99-2000-major money - resources tied up in Hakeem. Rudy should get some credit as you mentioned for scouting Othella and Kenny Thomas- good big men-drafted late. Their legacy on drafts will be disappointment
Yes, absolutely, need I chronicle the horrible drafts, dumb trades, and ridiculous contracts? But, in all fairness, Rocket's management is not just CD, it is a large team of people responsible for every aspect of the organization. IMO, that organization has failed to rebuild the team after the championship years. Other organizations have done a better job in half the time, rebuilding time and time again while the Rockets have continued to bumble and fumble. But most recently, the org has failed to surround Yao and TMac with the right supporting cast. And that is the bottomline.
absolutely ridiculous. the pistons are one of the most well balanced teams in the nba and the guy continues to keep them going, like picking up chris webber. we can all point out mistakes, but nobody's perfect.
All you need to answer the question is to go back to the 2001 draft and follow what CD has done since then (for those with short memories, does the name Ediie Griffin ring a bell?). First, Rudy T gets to be the fall guy , then JVG and now it's Adelman's turn. When the big Tmac trade was announced, some here like myself openly questioned the wisdom of assuming that the folks responsible for those 4 NBA lotto years were the right people to build around Tmac & Yao. Well 3 years have passed and we all know the answer to that question as well. All I can say is to enjoy the NBA middle while you can.