If, as expected, Hakeem Olajuwon is sidelined for six weeks and comes back to this team in mid-January, his starring role will no longer be available. I love Rudy T, but for all his gutsy moves in the offseason, he's deeply conservative during games. He always goes for the "percentage," always turns to veterans when possible, and always sticks with plays and players that have been working OK instead of taking a chance on something new. Getting PT from Rudy when you're young and on the bench is like getting blood from a stone. The only way you get a shot at proving yourself is (1) a starter in early foul trouble, (2) a minute or two of garbage time, and (3) an injury. Rudy had too little courage to yank Hakeem out of the lineup, and Hakeem had too much stubborn pride to yank himself out. So Arvydas Sabonis did the yanking. The rest is history. Cato gets his minutes. Francis gets his space. Mobley gets his touches. Anderson, Drew, and the other guys get a chance to find their roles in a system that better suits their talents. Everyone starts to get comfortable. Things start to click. By the time Hakeem gets back, he's no longer the guy whose style is being disrupted. He's the guy causing the disruption. Rudy doesn't like disruptions, particularly when things are going well. Hakeem will sit. Maybe not in the first 5 or 10 minutes of each game, but he will sit a lot. And he will have to decide whether to embrace and define his new role gracefully or to spend his final days as a Rocket complaining about not getting enough touches. Because he's not going to get those touches, as a matter of presumption, any more.
Maybe this injury will be the impetus for Hakeem to retire, allowing the Rockets to use the "retirement for injury" exception to create salary cap room for next year. And maybe if the Rockets can use that money to pick up a big free agent in the off-season, and we can get a good draft pick or two, we could convince Barkley to stick around for one last hurrah. Just a couple of thoughts.
Blasphemy.....but I agree...Im glad you at least had the guts to say it because I never would. Funny, I always said that when Hakeem got old, I would stick by him no matter what because of what he did for Houston. But Cato just looked so energetic and threw in some unstoppable dunks. Most importantly, your right Will, he doesn't clog the lane. Hakeem though still has gifts. How about an Hakeem that just concentrated on defense and nothing else. Pride may be a factor in screwing that up. Lets hope Hakeem makes the right choice. ------------------ GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!! [This message has been edited by Rocket101 (edited December 02, 1999).]
Will, Great post! No matter what will happen in the future, Rudy has proven to me a man who has won so little with so many. ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude.
tod the bod: lol. but the injury probably has to be legit. the league hires their own doctor to examine the players who retire under that pretense i think.
Caveman, Things take their natural course. Rudy is not perfect, and has made many mistakes this season. But he has been a terrific coach and the players love him to this day. It isn't easy letting go of the past. It's easier for you to run your mouth than it is for Rudy to look at those rings on his hand and say, "gee, that #34 over there isn't going to get us another one of these if we keep playing the inside-out offense." Change takes time, Caveman. It doesn't happen overnight (or here in 15 or so games). The Rockets will get better. We are seeing that now. But in the mean time quit balming everything on Rudy and admit to yourself that players need to be brought around to a new system, not just dumped right into it. I do not want to sound rude, but I can't help it. You are a myopic piss-ant; you see only one side of a situation and get all angry about it. Try to wear Rudy's and the players' shoes. In the meantime, shut up with your constant Rudy sucks crap. We know what you think about that issue. If you can't discuss any other issues, then "Caveman" in your case is more than a username, it's a way of life... ------------------ "When everybody doubts us, we can do it. When every -body criticizes us, we can do it. But we have to work together." — Hakeem Olajuwon
This is definitley a whole new team I'm seeing play since Hakeem's injury. Was I the only one who notice what a great game Thomas Hamilton played tonight. He was running the floor, tipping rebounds, and had a awesome dunk even. More importantly he seemed very interested in the game, by running and hustling. He was fun to watch.
What is happening is exactly what happened to Ewing and the Knicks. It's not up to Dream anymore provided that the Rocks win half of the games when Dream is out.
P 1st, S 2nd: It seems that you get very angery and "EMOTINALLY" disturbed by me when I attack Rudy. Well, I don't give a .... to what you think my opinions. I am only replying to your emotional post not because I care to explain my thoughts to you and your emotionally charged heart, but to make a point that this Rockets team have all the talent to be 10-4 right now, it is only the coach that they are 4-12 instead. And Rudy is the main problem. I have been right, during offseason, during pre-season and in last month, even though enduring all those emotional attacks from Rudy groupies. As I said, I DON"T CARE! I will not change, if Rudy wants to win, he hads to change. So take that as my reply, p 1st. BTW, you can call me all the names you want, as matter of fact why don't do you use some even nastier names, then lets see who will get shut up. ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude. [This message has been edited by Caveman (edited December 02, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Caveman (edited December 02, 1999).]
Y'all SHUT UP!!! No talk about Hakeem retiring - that's "evil talk". If you really wanna talk about that, the say things like "Hakeem's holdings are losing money in the downtown district" - that new coffehouse is draining his potential funds or something like that. He's looking at the Rice Hotel as a long-term rejuvenation project... (I like the Riverwalk idea) At any rate, Hakeem's not dead yet. Which might be a good position to take...
AS I have said over and over again, the main reason Hakeem disappoints this year is because of Rudy. If one gets paid 5 mil a year to coach a team, especially if he is a MAN, he needs to stand up to Hakeem's ego and say: DREAM, thank you for the two rings you got me and Houston, but I am not going to call play for you in the 4th quarter if the game is close, if you have problem, you can come off the bench". DREAM is a still a very effective and talented player, IF he is used right. A bomb can kill a lot of enemy, but also can blow up your own house. ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude.
Caveman, I haven't disagreed once with your opnion of what the team needs to do, save for Bullard's periodic use. What I do disagree with is your crappy attitude. When you want to persuade somebody, you play to their side a little, then make stronger and stronger arguments that support your beliefs. That's called tact or constuctive criticism. True, my plast post was emotional in the sense that I am irritated with your repetitive bantor. Nobody doubts that the Rockets have talent. Our principle disagreement is what it takes to utilize that talent. I think it takes some time and patience, and yes, the coach's and #34s willingness to change. But you expect too much too fast. As a side note, you do not think that your posts have been emotional? Are you really Mr. Matter-of-fact about the way things have gone? I'd bet that other people than myself would have to you're not. None the less I kind of enjoy calling you out on things. Want a nastier name for you? I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of crying to Clutch and having me booted off the BBS. Unlike you, I wouldn't try to come back on with another username once it became evident that the Webmaster thought I didn't need to post here anymore.
P1st Hey, I like this site, the reason I got on the wrong side of the issue last time was because I gave 2 cents of thoughts on that German.... who appearently is also in trouble now. From now on I will not get trapped by those Rudy Groupies and their attacks. In no way they can get me emtional, cause I AM RIGHT! I can careless what they say. As far as your arguement that Rockets need time to jell, I just want to ask why the sudden when #34 is out they start playing better right away? HMMMMM, could it be the last 4 days worth more than 5 months? ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude.
Caveman, Did you read my last post? You are right about the offense we need to run to win. To respond to your question, teams often step up when an important player is gone. The Rocks are also tired of losing, and they are becoming used to eachother; "gelling" is the key word. Things take time. I for one hope Hakeem comes back and splits the minutes at Center with Cato. Also, I'd like to see Hakeem play PF some. We seem to agree that Hakeem has a pretty 15 foot jump-shot. He could use those jumpers for the benefit of the team if he'd set high picks from time to time and take 'em. We need Hakeem for 25 minutes a night, or more if he'd play like David Robinson. I really do believe that I see your point. But you will not win others to your line of thinking with a "see I told you so attitude", or an "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality. To leave that line of discussion at bay, what role do you think Shandon Anderson should play? I think he's not the man he was hyped up to be. Maybe he needs to learn to shoot a little bit more by taking extra shots at practice. He also could learn a little bit about passing the ball on the run. What do you think?
Hakeem's ready to retire. He's been ready for at least a year. After this year, the name Hakeem Olujawun will have more association with downtown Houston yuppie land development than it will with NBA power players. I want a ring.
Caveman, If you just said periodically that Rudy wasn't doing this or doing that, it would be palitable. No one, including Rudy, is perfect. But to blame everything bad on Rudy is ludicrous. To do it over and over and over and over is bothersome. Expect others to gripe. You might now call me a Rudy-groupie...but that does not achieve much. It only provides yourself with an excuse to stop listening to other's viewpoints. All, The team is clearly getting stronger, but let's not get too excited by the running offense tonight (even though I did!). Phoenix was prepared for the ol' slow-poke offense. They were caught off guard (at least in the first half). In the past when we had multiple starters out, we could steal a few quick games until other teams got some tape on our second-stringers. Then we would lose a bunch until the starters returned. This is different because this is a valid starting squad, and it is the similar in that other squads won't know what to expect from them for a while. Unfortunately, they have yet to reach anywhere near their potential (we sure are getting closer). Hopefully, we can catch a few teams offguard as we continue to strengthen.
Cohen: Bravo, Ho-Ho, etc... good analysis. Though I think we can do more than catch a few teams "off guard"... I think we're due a winning streak in the next month-month and a half...
