Carl Sandberg once wrote ( In A Prelude To Playthings of The Wind) of an imaginary conversation ( which I will try to get as well as I can remember it) which took place on the deck of the Titanic between the Captain and a female passenger.. Passenger: Oh, Captain! Captain! DO you see that iceburg!?!? Captain: Yes, ma'am, I do see it. Passenger: Well, Captain...is seems to be getting awfully close...what will happen if we hit it? Captain: The iceburg, madam, will carry right along as though nothing has happened... Now, Sandberg was making an interesting place about man's role in the universe vs. his percieved role, but I have always wondered about that Captain...I mean, contrary to Plato's theories, I have never agreed that philosophers make the best ship Cpatains...and this one certainly seems lacking. Doesn't his wisdom, wit, and insight into the human comdition seem a triffle undermined by his seemingly blase attitude towards the fate of his ship and passengers? Or has he merely such a fatalist/and or futilistic outlook that he feels he can do nothing? I have begun to see Rudy in this light, just a tad. In interview after interview Rudy has espoused his view that this is a player's league, and that a coach is just there to make there jobs easier...and that is true...some of the time. With a veteran team, like Hakeem, Thorpe, Smith, Drexler, Barkley, Pippen, etc..yeah, you're not there to mould, but rather to ease. But with young kids, he has stuck with his passive approach to coaching, and I don't think it's because it works in this case, nor is it because Rudy has no basketball knowledge, but because I feel Rudy is really, really, really slow to change. Think about many things...problems with rookies getting enough minutes/touches, slow to adapt to new talent, several players historically complaining about going to a system that was supposed to be adapted to include them, but finding out that the roles are set in stone, the players adapt. Repeatedly trying to get Matt Bullard/Glen Rice type of players, year after year...Announcements that we are incorporating new offensive schemes, under various names, only to find that we are in fact seeing pretty much the same old same old...I have really begun to see that ability to change quickly is not among Rudy's many strengths. Does this stem from his belief, like the Captain, that there seems to be little he can do that will make a difference? Is that Player's First coach thing inapropriate for a younger team, which needs a firm guiding hand, not a soft pat on the back...or is he taking the whole idea so far that his ability to make the offense run the way he says he wants it run is made impotent by virtue of his unwillingness to mandate?
You need an ESPN page 2 column, MacBeth . I'd agree though. Rudy is an excellent coach for veteran's because he facilitates their leadership. With young players short on strategy, he's not so good, since he fails to impose his will on the team and lets them exacerbate their own problems with discipline.
A young team like ours requires far more teaching of basic fundamentals and guiding them on the floor. Rudy has to implement a system that can maximize the talents of the players within a team concept. He has been trying to make changes but it's been slow going. I also feel that he and the team are unable to counter the adjustments that opposing teams make throughout a game and this along with poor ball movement and execution is a huge problem that needs to be overcome.
MacBeth, Yes and no. Yes, Rudy is slow to change, too conservative, stubborn, whatever you want to call it. And you are probably right that his approach is good for veteran teams but not for young teams. No, I don't think the offensive schemes this year are just "same old, same old." It is clear to me that Rudy has game plans and new offensive shemes adapted for the new league environment this years. I hold the players responsible for executing them. Now is it Rudy's responsibility to make the players execute them? No for a veteran team. Yes for a young team.
Also his assisting Coaches are not experienced Basketball Coaches, only Larry Smith was an NBA Player. He need serious Coaches to support his weaknesses, the first person that comes to mind is Calvin Murphy, when it comes to Basketball he is direct, firm, can see the problems and the wrong direction that the Team has been going! If Les realy wants to keep Rudy T. then he needs to surround him with a strong suppoting cast!
Slow change is the most effective way to get where you are going. Unless of course you are going nowhere (see Eddie Jones and Otis Thorpe)
