I saw this poll on Rockets.com today. Almost 10,000 responses. I thought the results were interesting enough to post on here. I voted C.
The primary response was: aren't the Rockets better than expectations. My answer is: No. Not really. Everyone expected the Rockets to contend for an 8th seed. Nearly everyone on the court for us had upside (except Rice), Francis was expected to play more after suffering from all those migraines, Griffin was expected to become a serviceable player, and Mo T was returning. Nobody really knew what to expect from Yao, but he couldn't but help. I believe that I predicted just under 50 wins. If you'd told me that Yao would be as dynamic of a player as he is... and I'd have predicted more than 50. The Rockets have the second best 2 guard in the Western Conference (Francis). They have one of the best sources of "instant offense" in the Western Conference (Mobley). They have the best back-up C in basketball (Cato). They have a starting C who's either the 2nd or 3rd best at his position. Moochie does dribble too much, but he's a pretty respectable back-up PG. They're 2nd in the league in shotblocking. That's a very, very nice collection of players. In the West, only Sacramento, LA, and Dallas are clearly better. In the East, no team obviously has more talent. They're young. Yao's new to the league. You can make allowances for that. But what you can't make allowances for is ugly play for which there's no reason. You can't make allowances for Rudy's obvious inability to control Mobley and Francis. And you can't make allowances for treating Yao alternatively as if he's the second coming of Hakeem (dump it down!) and Kelvin Cato (let him dunk it occasionally after dribble penetrations). There's no creativity. There's no control. I see a team dominated by Francis and Mobley, in every sense of the word. Raven: I think you make the best point in the thread. It would be tough to fire a coach who made the playoffs a year after having the #1 pick in the lottery. It would be a trifle unfair, perhaps. But I still think it'd be the best decision in the long-run, and contrary to your claim... it would NOT be setting a precedent. Many coaches have been fired after making the playoffs, even if they weren't expected to win a title or anything.
Woofer: Why did you post in my thread, when you obviously never read the thread? I addressed that precise point. Please re-read my post... think very hard... and you'll see that your concern was anticipated.
The reason that Rudy won two Championships is because he had an unstoppable center whom the offense ran through. Do you think that we would have won those 2 championships if Olajuwon got the same amount of touches taht Yao does? I dont. Now am I also not saying that if Yao touched the ball every time we would be champions, but I know we would have more wins. Rudy told Kenny Smith and Sam Cassell(who is a true point guard) to give the ball to dream and go from there. His coaching works if you have a good center and you follow the plays. I haven't seen any plays out there being run.
One other thing. Rudy has no fire. The only time he has fire is when he is complaining to the refs because Steve or Cat is complaining to the refs. He has no fire with his own players. I dont remember if it was yesterday in Chicago or the Detroit game(play is so awful they all run together) but Cat lazily walked the ball up the floor, with no one within 20 feet of him, and did not get across half court in the alloted 8 seconds. The game was close and it was a crucial turnover. No reason for it at all. There was no pressure, just plain ignorance. They showed Rudy T. and he didn't even move on the bench. Didn't even blink an eyebrow. He should have laid into Cat for such a stupid mistake. Rudy T.'s fire is out. He cannot motivate anymore.
I think codell's poll pretty much sums it up. You guys have listed two publications out of probably hundreds. There were posts here every day during the off-season about how everyone was disrespecting the Rockets by not predicting them for the playoffs. The team we just played, Chicago, has as much talent. Atlanta has as much. New Orleans. Phoenix. The Clippers. Portland has gobs more. The Rockets have potential and athleticism, not talent. Talent is what Sacramento and Dallas have. haven, you just stated the problem -- you expected this team to win 50 games. You just called Moochie Norris a respectable backup to try to justify that prediction, for crying out loud.
Rudy needs veterans. He can coach the Lakers, Blazers, or Sixers to a title right now....But for a young team...You need Pat Riley, or Jeff Van Gundy..... These guys need a good old-fashioned ass-whoopin.
I hate these friggin' threads. I like how we, sitting at a PC in a hot cubicle, sipping cowboy coffee from our mugs, can type up a thread about how to coach an NBA basketball team. Rudy has no clue how to do this and that.........yeah, and that's why we're here in our cubicles typing about it and Rudy T has two rings, years of playing and head coaching experience, and is STILL THE guy in Houston. Obviously everyone in the front office has lost their minds. OK, sorry. With that having been said, I am all for critique and opinions. But come on, Rudy knows basketball, knows how to coach, and this team will grow, come together, and be great. IN TIME Be patient.
TheFreak: I remember the Rockets generally being picked for the 8th seed in most publications. I'm sure if one of us really wanted to try, we could go back and find copies of them all. Moreover, sites that picked the Rockets low almost ALL predicted a terrible season for Yao. Anybody who predicted that Yao would be even useful, expected a successful season. Regardless, let me ask you 3 questions: 1. Are you truly satisfied that Rudy controls the offense effectively with the personnel we have? 2. Are you truly satisfied with the control exhibited by our guards? 3. Do you really believe that our substitution patterns make any sense (and if you answer yes to that one, I'll truly believe you're crazy... that was the great criticism of Rudy even during the glory days). You say my expectations were too high, I'd say yours are too low. And hypothetically speaking, if Francis really isn't a top guard, and Yao really sucks as a C... then we should fire Rudy for being a horrific evaluator of talent.
No No and No I would say though, these are loaded questions and not a fair sample. For every three questions like this, you can ask three more like this: 1. Are you satisfied for the improvement of our defensive scheme? 2. Are you satisified with the way Rudy has brought along Yao? 3. Are you satisfied with the way the Kenny Thomas situation was handled and how it improved our team (Posey)? Yes Yes and Yes There is no doubt that there are areas where Rudy and the team are lacking this year. But there are some things that have happened that make a conservative fan like myself, smile. I think the results of that poll show alot. Out of almost 10,000 votes, 80% felt we were where we should be or better and only 20% felt we are under-acheiving. I for one, am glad I am in the majority on this.
Actually, the White Chocolate was a REAL PG too. But he, similar to Francis in some ways, made too many flashy but stupid decisions. Adelman didn't really know how to deal with him. So they didn't deal with him. They dealt him. . . for another REAL but much smarter PG. BTW, I seem to remember most publication didn't rank the Rockets very high. And true, nobody really factored in Yao Ming's impact. However, almost everybody predicted big contributions from Taylor and Rice. I think the disappointment of these two players' performance arguably neutralizes the surprising contribution from Yao.
I probably haven't seen as much Rocketball this season as many of you have, but I still think that all the animosity towards Rudy is not justified. And, I really don't ever see him being sacked. If he is truly as bad as some of you think he is, he may be asked to resign, and he will, but he will be around. He will take on an assistant coaching job or something in the front office. Also, if he is fired, I guarantee that at least 3 teams without a coach will call within one week of his removal. What some of you fail to understand is that Rudy is just as new to this as Yao or Steve. Sure, he had the dominant big man in Dream before, but there is no way we win dumping the ball in and kicking it back out. We don't have the shooters, the veteran savvy, or, most importantly, anyone as talented as Dream(I love Yao, but he is no Hakeem Olajuwon.) Are the Rockets really that much worse than expected? At the midway point, they are just a game and half out of the 6th seed, which is as high as anyone predicted them at the beginning of the season. I also have a feeling that this will be a second half team. Young teams improve over the course of the season, while some older teams fade. I could easily see Portland or Utah falling some.
A. espn predicted us to be 6th, but they also predicted a 45 win season, which we are currently on pace for. B. yao is better than expected, but there were about 10 games to start the season where he was a complete nonfactor and his recent 10 or so game slump. funny enough, we essentially have the same record in those first 10 games, the middle 20, and the last 10. we essentially play just a little above .500 in all of those stretches. taylor is much worse than expected, and moochie has been terrible almost every game. eg has not improved like many would like and our pf's get killed night in and night out. also rice has been much worse than expected in terms of hitting open 3's. this kills our offense when we actually have ball movement. so yao is better (along with cato) but mo t, mooch, and rice have killed us for the most part which was not expected for the most part. c. cuttino's 8 sec vio i believe was in the 2nd quarter, not a crucial moment. d. sactown went from the 8th seed to the 4th with jwill. they then went to #1 with bibby. nothing says they couldn't have been reasonably close to #1 with jwill with their natural progression of improvement, though bibby is a much better, more stable player. anyone saying we have 23 wins but could have 30 needs to think about the fact that means we would be on pace for freakin 60 wins, completely unrealistic. anyway, if we don't make the playoffs, rudy probably should go, but if we do i say we're moving in the right direction.
Anyone watch sportscenter last night? The fellows on Sportscenter were mocking the Rockets inability to throw Yao the ball when he was wide open under the basket. These aren't the most insightful basketball minds on the planet. In fact, they usually don't notice more than dunks. When they notice something like that, you know the problem's huge. Funny, I always thought coaches were supposed to persuade their players to pass to the open man. Especially when he's 7'5, has a soft touch, and is wide open.
Welcom Haven, to the dark side of Rockets basketball. I have been a member of the "Rudy must go" club for months now. Together we will gather even greater numbers, and crush those who stand in our way.
The Clippers also traded for a real PG. They got the guy who was number one or at least top five in assists in Miller. The Clippers have not improved at all.
