I think its funny how so many of you posters think you know more and could do a better job of coaching than people who have been playing/coaching all their lives. Give me a break. Mr Mean didn't lose this game the players did. It's as simple as that.
DN1282, Either you are r****ded or you have very poor reading comprehension, because in your reply you basically proved Oski's point. You likened Francis' ISOs to AND1 style of play and Oski made the point (a very good one I might add) that there is very little similarity between the two. He is right. You are wrong. When was the last time you saw an AND1 player get 10 assists? Guess what else you're wrong about? The offense was not run through Francis last night, in fact it was the same offense that the Rox have been running and Seattle just did a good job of taking away some of the options. That and the wrong players were taking (and missing) shots and when the primary options were taken away (entirely too many 3pters from Posey tonight). I agree with Oski' that folks like yourself and Yetti need to find a new way to gripe about our gaurds because I think that the following b**** points have been disproven: Gaurds are Selfish - wrong Gaurds are about stats - wrong (Steve was one rebound away from a triple double the other night and went to the bench instead of trying to get the extra reb) Gaurds ignore Yao - wrong Gaurds play streetball (AND1 style) - ya mama
From what I read it's a "fainting goat", a breed of goat that has some genetic disorder that causes them to fall over when they get startled. Apparently they were placed in herds of sheep so that the wolves would grab the goats while they were paralyzed instead of killing the sheep.
To be fair, it's not like Mr. Mean has had any previous training at being a head coach. It would sure be nice to have some assitant coaches with some head coaching experience instead of a bunch of Yes men for Rudy.
How can you guys blame Mr. Mean? This is the same darn thing that has been happening all year. No ball movement, low assist numbers, dumb turnovers, and questionable defense. These are the real Rockets, they have reverted to reality after a short winning streak. The thread was really original though.
Whose to say we couldn't. I know I could be just as good a coach as some of these NBA coaches in time - no, not tommorrow, but give me a year or two on a bench, and I'm sure I could do it. Just because I never played professional or college ball doesn't mean I couldn't be a good or even great NBA coach. You can't deny the fact that (a) the gameplan last night essentially reverted back two or three weeks and (b) the substitution patterns lacked any of the consistency that Rudy has said time and time and time and time and time again is so important. Both of those are coaching difficulties. Further, Kevin Ollie gets open under the basket once, ok, twice, don't let it happen again, 5 times and your coach shoudl have done something at time 3. All that said, the players lacked any enthusiasm or energy and the lack of true leadership on this team was very obvious.
So your substition strategy boils down to benching players who make mistakes. Really, it's not that simple. If you are going to put in TMo and Boki because Mobley and Posey made mistakes, the team is going to suck, period. A lot of people are b****ing, but I haven't seen a detailed analysis of what Mr. Mean should have done differently. I bet you guys can't even tell me the rotation that was in at the end of the 3rd quarter. The bottom line is the Rockets played yesterday like they have been playing all year. Little ball movement and uninspired defense.
Hey Larry would have played Tito Maddox and Jason Collier when we were down by 10 if it was'nt for assistant coach we wouldve lost by more.
Actually, benching Yao in the 4th was the best thing Mr. Mean did all game. There came a point, I think the Sonics were on a 9-0 or 10-0 run, and they were feeling pretty comfortable. It became a "who can dunk on Yao/who can score over Yao" contest between the Sonics, and the crowd was very much into it. Benching Yao was a good momentum switch. Besides, in the 2nd half, the Sonics were really frustrating Yao and our post-up game. I think it's a shame the refs called 3 quick fouls early on MoT, and he never got any sort of rhythm. I point to MoT's bad game & Yao's ineffectiveness in the 2nd half as the reason we lost this one. It's a shame, 'cause we got some pretty good contributions from Moochie & Cato. Time to start another winning streak, Rockets!
You do not have to have prior experience in order to be able to follow Rudy's blue print. But Gooosh Larry was just clueless and out of his depth. Hint to Larry - Stick to what was working during your team's winning streak rather trying to stamp your r****ded mark on our team. Why was our guards continuously waving the post player off even when an entry pass looked possible? Wasn't it clear that our guards had little regards for Larry by "running the ship their way" rather than the way Rudy wants it (which though is still up for debate)? Wasn't this performance a lack of respect for Rudy also? Think about it. You (Rudy) are out of the picture for a moment - now lets do it our way - the "right way". Did we show the mentality of a winner last night? With very few games left, there is definitely no room to give games away like that? Why did we not force our will on Seatle rather than laying down and accepting the excuse that they forced us into ISOs. For the umpteenth time - What was Larry doing sitting down Yao and Rice for extended periods of time? Trying to teach them a lesson? Trying to teach the 2 players that were most inspirational in our ball club's biggest win of the year a lesson in sacrifice? Trying to save them for the "big game" against Portland? Did someone say Rudy will rejoin the team earliest Friday? Oh my goodness - say it ain't so. I better go into fast real quick and start interceeding for a miracle tonight. I have a theory which states that most NBA players (Francis and Mobley included) deep down care more about their stats than they care about winning - winning to them is an after-thought. This theory is based on what I have seen over the years in the NBA. It was reinforced last night by the way we played - our guards especially always look for ways or excuses to play this way. It may not necessarily be all their fault - their is a trailer load of money to be had and numbers go a long way in establishing their names in many circles. It is unfortunate because I want to believe that they are hard workers but deep down it is Stat=Win for them instead of sum-of-the-whole=win. Ahhhh.......
Mr. Mean thought by using Rice and Posey at the same time (one of them as PF) and using 3-guard line-up ... he could stop Seattle's outside shooting. We did not accomplish that. Seatlle either knock down the outside shots or drive for layups or drive and dish to their front line for easy shots. We also allowed them to get more rebounds as well. A game plan that did not work out but I could excuse Larry because not everything you try will be successful. What inexcusable is the decision to bench Yao Ming for most except for 2 minutes in the 4th quarter. You don't do that to your star player no matter how bad he plays, and he did not play that bad. Our guards got beat constantly and Yao had trouble helping out and also getting back to his own man. (There were no helping the helper at all!) Cato had the same problem, he stopped that by fouling people instead. No matter what, you don't bench Kareem Abdul Jabbar because he could not play defense. Who does mr Mean think he is? I know it is just one game but real head coaches could get fired for doing this repeatedly. If I was Yao Ming, I would feel it is a slap in my face to be benched at crunch time. When my contract is up, I would just sign with another team that would play me. On the same token, Mobley did not play that well, offensively or defensively, why did he get 40 minutes? This is not the first time either. Mobley always gets playing time even when he does not play well. What was Larry thinking?
Jeeze, what did you expect with Rudy gone? One former player with no other coaching experience and a couple of VIDEO COORDINATORS with NO coaching experience. Would any of these guys get so much as a seat on the bench with any other team?
How is any of this different from what Rudy would have done?? The guards often go ISO when they feel like it. Yao ALWAYS gets benched early in the 4th quarter. Mobley ALWAYS gets 40 minutes a game. You guys need to get a grip. Our players need to step up when our regular head coach is out, and it just didn't happen. It's the same old story. We're a mediocre team.
Looks like the comparison between Mr. Mean and the goat is even more accurate with this revelation. Larry goes out and does his fainting thing, and the wolves (cc.net posters) come out of the woodwork to tear him a new one, keeping the heat and pressure off of Rudy for a few days- you know he deserves a few days of peace now. Plus, when he does come back, everyone will be so grateful, a real attitude change from before. So I, for one, would like to say thank you to Mr. 'Mean' Larry Smith, for taking one for the team (and Rudy). Larry Smith- official fainting goat of the Houston Rockets!
Larry can't expect much help from his fellow assistants. From Rockets.com: Jim Boylen College - Maine '87 Jim Boylen begins his ninth season with the Rockets and his fifth as an assistant coach. His duties include working with the guards on shooting and positioning. In his first four seasons with the Rockets, Boylen served as the club's video coordinator. An assistant coach at Michigan State under Jud Heathcote from 1987-92, Boylen handled scouting, on-campus recruiting and game preparation, as well as serving as the computer video coordinator. Mike Wells College - Mt. Vernon Nazarene '93 Mike Wells enters his seventh season with the Houston Rockets and his second as a bench assistant on Rudy Tomjanovich's coaching staff. Wells joined the basketball staff in October 1995 as the assistant video coordinator after serving an internship in the Rockets corporate services department (?!?!?!?) during the 1994-95 season. He was appointed the video coordinator during the 1996 offseason, and prior to the 1998-99 season, Wells was promoted to video coordinator/assistant coach. His responsibilities include computerized video editing, scouting of opponents, game preparation and aiding in the review of free agent talent. Wells also assists with Rockets practices and individual player workouts.
What?? When did I say anything about TMo or Boki or what my substitution pattern would be. Here's a detailed analysis of what Mr. Mean should have done differently: (1) Consistent gameplan - The Rockets didn't seem to have any solid idea of what they wanted to do offensively last night. The result, as we saw, was an absolutely horrid balance in terms of playcalling and reversion to isolation on the offensive end. Defensively it was even worse, as at times it seemed as if Francis was literally playing zone, but no one else was, craeting open layups for Ollie. (2) Spacing - The Rockets had the worst spacing I've seen from them in a while last night. Having a center double and triple teamed is a good thing. Just ask Seattle - for some reason we decided to double James a couple of times in the 4th and they burned us with layups. The Rockets crappy spacing negated any good that came out of the double teams. (3) Rotations - Call me crazy, but on the 1st game coached by someone different in 10+ years, I don't think it's time to bring out completely new lineups we've never seen before. It does make sense, though, to stick to the rotation that has been working.
