http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2009.html This is not an entirely fair represnetation since arena capacity, ticket price and city size are not reflected here (for e.g. the Rockets probably cannot be tops in attendance even if they sell out the Toytota Center every game). But 3 of the top 5 teams in attendance are also among the very slowest teams in the league in terms of pace. There is very little evidence that "playing fast" increases attendance. I don't have the time to do it, but somebody can probably take a few teams and track both their pace factor and attendance over, say, the last 10 years and see how it works out. The Mavs (changing from Nelson to Johnson) probably offers a good example.
Off-topic foggy memory question: I remember several years ago (maybe Rudy T's last season) I was reading a season preview magazine in which it listed (former) Rockets assistant Larry Smith as the most likely assistant coach to get a head coaching job, and this was before Rudy got sick. What happened to him? I know he is still coaching, but did his performance as Rudy's replacement hurt him? Or did a job just never come around? I really don't recall how we did under him, so wanted to see if anyone could shed some light.
