What did Yao Ming do his first year. Is that really enough to get you a fifty game win season. Is what he did good enough to get you a fifty game win season just this past season. As far is Francis being the scapegoat, the Rockets were presented an offer they would have been fools to pass up. When you trade a player for a better player, the player you traded isn't a scapegoat, he was a commodity. And lastly, I'm arguing exactly against your point that Rudy got fired for mostly this team's performance. His personnel decisions got him run out the door more than anything elses.
I would have to agree. Besides, I think what everyone is forgetting is that Rudy had bladder cancer. I think it was just a matter of timing if anything else. Rudy was going to have to take a leave of absence either way to make sure he followed his treatment regimen. At the time, nobody knew for sure whether he would ever be able to return to coaching, and I think the timing was not right to have an "interim" coach for a year. Maybe if the Rockets were at the beginning of rebuilding, they could have given Rudy a year off and plugged an interim in there. But, the timing was such that the Rockets HAD to hire someone and get to the playoffs the next year. I think unquestionably Rudy would still be the coach had he not had bladder cancer. There is also the possibility that had Rudy stayed on as coach we would not have landed T-Mac, simply because JVG is the one who put his foot down and said "enough is enough" with this Steve Francis PG thing and made the change to bring in a real 2 guard. Rudy may not have made that call.
Yes, I agree. The fact is that the team didn't improve all that much the last few years, and the blame lies with the players, not the coach. HOWEVER, we must remember that Rudy was the one who believed in Steve in the first place, and made him the franchise player. So he should share in the blame.
Evidence? I guess you've missed all of Jeff's posts about how the Rockets are run? If it was personnel, the GM would not still be around.
Haha...I hope you don't really believe that. From all indications Rudy was told to step down or be forced out. It wasn't his decision. I absolutely love Rudy T, but I don't think there is any chance he would still be our coach if not for Steve. I think even if he had finished that last season and gotten us to the playoffs, the Rockets still would've went in another direction...very similar to this situation with Steve and Cat; as much as they tried and fought in the playoffs, management still felt it was time to go in another direction and T-Mac just happened to be available.
Because most of his latter personnel decisions sucked. I don't know what posts of Jeff you are referring to, but Rudy made the calls on the players he wanted. CD makes the deals.
If Rudy were not fired, the front office might not have totally given up on Francis and gone after TMac with such conviction.
The players didn't suck, the contracts they signed (may have) sucked. Sounds like you're pointing the finger at CD here. You wouldn't get a new coach for problems with talent evaluation, and you sure as hell wouldn't make the guy who was supposedly bad at it a scout! Regardless, Jeff has pointed out many times that the Rockets are run by committee. This is all just speculation by you anyway, just like you SPECULATING that Francis wasn't a 'scapegoat' - his last season sucked, so that must mean he was traded b/c he sucked, right?
That's actually a valid point. You're absolutely right. I'm glad we were able to expose Francis last season for the lost cause he was. Clearly he was no longer progressing as a player, and the team reached a plateau with him heading up the offense. While firing Rudy was, in retrospect, arguably not the change that needed to take place, it did usher in a situation where we were more amenable to a trade involving Francis.
I disagree. Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Otis Thorpe, Mike Dickerson, Kenny Thomas, etc., were all 'given up on' as well.
Again, answer two questions or you have no valid point. How many games was this team supposed to win? How can Steve be a lost cause when he landed this team a superstar in a trade.
You're right, I'm just speculating that Rudy was fired more for personnel decisions. That's just my opinion, but my larger argument is that Francis's play wasn't the reason.
More than 1 in the postseason, ESPECIALLY considering the fact that two of the losses were well in hand, but were blown by erratic, inconsistsant play by none other than Steve Francis. His poor decisions reared their ugly head at the only time that matters. As for the regular season, this team was SUPPOSED to make the playoffs two seasons ago, but they didn't. They choked. Without Rudy. How many people in the NBA think that Orlando got the better end of that deal? No one. Oh wait... maybe Chad Ford agrees with you.
Steve was the only one who stepped up in the playoffs. W/out him the Rockets would have lost every game by 40 pts.
And who was the main player that didn't finish strong down the stretch of that season? I guess Yao's fatigue was Steve's fault also since everything else wrong with the guy is. Steve was the only one who stepped up in the playoffs so that point is ridiculous at best.
