Hey, Don Chaney was a Coach of the Year too. There is no comparison b/t the Carlisle and Rudy firings. Compare what each of those guys did for their respective cities, and that becomes more clear.
I see where you're coming from with that, but I do slightly disagree. People shouldn't use getting voted into the all-star game to increase someone's credibility, but in my opinion you can use doing well in the AS game to increase credibility. I think Steve did well enough in the game this year to prove that he's up there with the best of them.
By Freak: I don't know where you're coming here and I'm not criticizing the comment, because I just don't understand what you mean. What Rudy did was step in for a head coach that was doing a pretty damned good job with a different perspective and history does speak for itself. Carlisle, doesn't have a ring, so I agree any comparisons are bogus. He had issues that simply were at loggerheads with management, and if the Eastern Conference wasn't such a joke, his firing would be beyond ridiculous, which it still seems. You know, I thought Don Chaney in his tenure here was right about a couple of things: I didn't see Dream willing the team to an NBA title, and the fact he didn't like his supporting cast was this franchise's biggest headache ever. Rudy stepped in and God only knows what he said to Dream. I get the sense that Rudy just said: "I might agree with you, but the bottom line is though you may be a HOFer, but if you want a championship, we're going to put you in that position to succeed or fail". We know what happened afterward. Carlisle seems like a single-minded guy and his career in Detroit was impressive. If there's a superstar there that can get you a bucket, I can't see him. And nobody wins a championship without an established star, but almost always two. Whatever friction Carlisle created, the guy is driven and just takes every game as an opportunity to win. His is a throw-back approach. I can't say how effective he'd be here, but the untapped talent in our roster suggests we need a different approach - hence the Rudy mess. But where I'd put Carlisle above Van Gundy is that he'd challenge every player and every front office move. Van Gundy is no synchopant, but he's less likely to speak openly about the team. I do wish now more than ever Rudy was still the coach, but I do think Silas and Carlisle should have had serious consideration.
