from the NY Daily News: Cowens looks close to spot Dave Cowens was in town yesterday but the Knicks would neither confirm nor deny that the former Celtic great was being interviewed for a job on Don Chaney's coaching staff. Cowens, a former teammate and a long-time friend of Chaney, fits one of the main requirements for the job: he has had head coaching experience, with Charlotte and Golden State. why cant we look for an assistant coach that has head coaching experience? it seems like for us, we either get a new head coach or keep our coaching staff the same. everyone is ok with upgrading our team of players while keeping the main guy's (yao & steve), but nobody wants to upgrade our team of coaches while keeping rudy as the head coach. bring in a former head coach with playoff experience, that is a defencive minded, X & O's type of coach to sit next to rudy and we will be fine.
Uh, I do! I just don't know if Rudy would have it. He likes "yes men" on his staff. I suspect that's why Bill Berry left.
Some of you guys really need to lay off of Larry Smith. The guy was thrust into a head coaching role with no notice, in the middle of playoff drive. He is an ASSISTANT coach, not a head coach. Is it fair for us to expect the team to perform just as efficiently with him at the helm instead of Rudy? Its not Larry Smith's fault that we had two of the worst offensive games in Rocket history. Its not Larry Smith's fault that Yao had nothing left by the end of the season. Also, I think its unfair for people to call out Smith by saying "we need an assistant who can teach our big men and PGs how to play". Has it every occured to anyone that ALL of our coaches ARE trying to teach them? Is it at all possible that it will take Yao time to fully grasp and implement what the coaches are teaching him? Is it at all possible that Steve just doesn't "get it" despite was is being told to him? Does anyone really think that our coaches are telling the players to dribble down the lock to 10 secs before initiating the offense? Does anyone really think that Rudy is telling Cuttino to intentionally miss Yao when he is wide open on the PnR? Does anyone really think the Larry Smith is teaching Yao not to dunk the ball when he is 1 foot away from the basket? Just some food for thought here ...................
CJD, while the effort is appreciated, dispelling the in vogue notions about our coaching staff is a fruitless cause. I will point out -- not for the coach bashers who won't care, but maybe for the CJD-types -- that there are many coaches who were deemed to have 'lost it' who finally got a good team and now enjoy a good reputation. When Cuban first arrived in Dallas, Don Nelson was seen as a crappy coach who would soon be fired. Cuban didn't fire him and he became head coach of a very potent team. They still call him a mad scientist -- but now implying he's an innovator and not a hare-brained schemer. The same thing happened with Popovich's reputation. These guys don't go from being a good coach to a bad one to a good one again. Their teams are just more or less successful.
What does any of that have to do with Larry Smith or the Rockets coaching staff? It's completely independent. My personal opinion is that what Larry Smith did as coach of the Rockets was a disgrace. The man had been at Rudy's side for 10 years - 10 years as an assistant, for the same coach, for the same team. It was pathetic. Who cares if he goes to another team and turns out okay, or even stays here and turn out okay in 3-5 years?
i think all of us could agree that if we had rudy here to finnish the season we wouldve been in the playoffs. thats why we need an assistant coach like mike fratello for example.
