I didnt read the entire thred ( I mean, there were lik 200 responses before mine) but I read enough to get the jist of the thread. Rudy has doen a great job on the whole. Are some of the lineups he puts out there interesting, yeah, but on a whole, hes done a great job. I keep coming back to this point- they had 28 wins last year, this year we now have 30 after the big win in Boston. Last year was just a disaster, but it, and not the 45 win 2000-2001 season, looks like the fluke. I give Rudy tons of credit for starting out with a team full of stars, the going into a rebuilding mode with an team of 25 and under guys, and having the respect of both groups (except Pippen, but who cares about him).
Oh yeah, thanks for welcoming me to the board. I've psted randomly of the last, I dont know, year or so, but hopefully I'll do so more often.
Another example of Rudy T.'s incompetence: Rockets-Knicks game (2/25/03). 18 secs to go in game, Hawkins checked in for Yao so we have a quick guy to foul intentionally. After Francis's foul, Rockets were still not in the penalty. With 16 secs to go, Yao checked back in, still Knick's ball. After 30 yrs playing and coaching, Rudy still does not know how to do a defensive-offensive substitution right!!
How come this thread keep staying alive? How about giving Rudy some credit for the win in Boston? He made the defensive adjustment in the 4th Q and got the come back and the win. He stuck with Yao (even though the Celtic defense kept collapsing on him) so that the other guys could have good looks. But I guess the hatas will still say, "Oh, it's the players who did it. The Celtics just gone cold. He's lucky."
To all of you who keep making excuses for the pitiful attempts by the Rockets to become a winning team with Rudy at the helm, and who continue to trot out the overused and overhyped "we're young, and we just need time to jell" lines over and over again (not to mention the tired old "but Rudy helped us win two championships almost a decade ago"...) I offer the following: Spurs' transition to youthful team leaves Rockets guessing By JOHN LOPEZ David Robinson, the gentlemanly giant, has left the building. In his farewell regular-season appearance here, Robinson left a 97-88 Spurs win and a double double at Compaq Center (14 points, 10 rebounds) for the Rockets to remember him by. Soon, he will leave the Spurs and the NBA. He will leave a legacy of great play, great character and possibly a second NBA championship for San Antonio. He also will leave the Spurs about $14 million to $15 million worth of salary-cap space they can spend on Nets superstar guard Jason Kidd. Presuming, that is, the free-agent-to-be will be inclined to play with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and a cast of young, rising stars that has more upside than Mount Everest. But why wouldn't he? If you look beyond the wise, old face of Robinson, San Antonio has the best young team on Interstate 10, if not the league. We mention this because for much of the past three years, when youth and potential have been mentioned when these I-10 rivals met, it often has been the Rockets talking about a promising future. Wrong. The Rockets looked at youth being served Sunday afternoon -- youth rising and developing into something special, youth playing at a championship level. But the Rockets weren't looking in the mirror. They were looking at the Spurs, who were an aging, veteran team when they last played for an NBA championship but seamlessly have turned into a young, athletic team much closer to playing for another title than the Rockets can dream about. What happened? The Spurs have done what the Rockets only talked about. This should be disturbing for anyone with even passing interest in the Rockets. A funny thing happened on the way to the Rockets' return to greatness -- the Spurs, and Mavericks for that matter, got there first. Until last season's 28-win blunder, the Rockets' company line was always a prideful one, hinging on the contention this team never really sank to the lowest of lows in the transition from the Hakeem Olajuwon-Clyde Drexler-Charles Barkley days to those of Cuttino Mobley and Steve Francis. And the Rockets built around the two young guards with some degree of promise until last season's 28-54 disappointment. But look now. The Rockets still consider themselves young and promising, especially after the stroke of lottery luck that brought Yao Ming. But the Spurs are younger. Yao and Eddie Griffin might be just NBA toddlers, but Francis is 26, Mobley 27, Moochie Norris 29, Maurice Taylor 27 and Kelvin Cato 28. The Spurs boast a franchise player in Tim Duncan, who is 26, and supporting-cast members in Stephen Jackson, 24, Parker, 20, Emanuel Ginobili, 25, and Malik Rose, 28, who are collectively as young or younger than the majority of Rockets figuring into playoff plans. The Rockets (30-29) might be much improved this season, despite losing for the sixth time in their last nine games and slipping more in the playoff chase Sunday. But the Spurs are better, playing dominant basketball and improving to 41-17 with Sunday's win, their 13th in their last 14 games. The Rockets are talking playoffs. But they are beginning to feel more pressure from 10th-seeded Golden State (29-30) than they are putting on eighth-seeded Phoenix (31-28). The Spurs are talking championships. Plural. They are beginning to put the heat on division-leading Dallas and possibly are on their way to setting up a winner-take-all match for the NBA's best record in the season's home finale against the Mavs. But that could be only the start of a Spurs title run. With Robinson, the Spurs are poised and powerful. Without him next season, the Spurs could have a unique Parker-Kidd backcourt to go with Duncan, Rose and Ginobili, who showed just how big a force he can be Sunday with a career-high 20 points, along with four assists and three steals. The Spurs are probably the only team in the NBA that will be able to afford Kidd's free-agent asking price, and he has voiced interest in going to San Antonio. The Rockets were talking about blowing opportunities against the Spurs after Sunday's loss, Mobley saying of San Antonio: "They're a veteran team. ... You have to come out with more energy against them." But look closer. Outside of Robinson, the Rockets have more veterans, or at least more age. The Spurs have been on their winning tear with Robinson mostly sitting out because of injury. They have made the transition the Rockets only dream about. Next year, the Spurs will be as young or younger than the Rockets, and they just might have Kidd in the lineup as well. A funny thing happened while the Rockets were talking about youth being served. The Spurs served it. If you're a Rockets fans waiting for the long-advertised return to greatness, that can't leave a good taste in your mouth. www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1801948 Thanks John! I couldn't have said it better myself !!
What a great article! But I'm confused if I want to say RudyT is a good coach or a bad coach. For one thing he coached a bunch of nobodies to a bronze medal while George Karl couldn't even do that with very good NBA players. But then I always hear Rudy T saying he has a young team indirectly saying some or more losses were because of that. But it looks like San Antonio is handling that pretty well with younger players with far less talent. So I'm confused. Right now though, I'm not a fan of Rudy T and will be more so if Rockets miss the playoffs. And if Golden State passes Rockets, I think Rudy T's time will start counting down really fast. I'm sorry Rudy fans, but there is just no excuse for that.
Easy, Why is this thread still alive ** Witness our dysfunctional, confused offense ** Witness our lack of effort and preparation ** Witness a defense that's regressing ** Witness a team that doesn't play like a team ** Witness our pathetic assist/game total -also regressing ** Except for Yao, witness a team that is not learning and growing ** Witness a team that barely beats the 8 second shot clock over midcourt ** Witness a team with a soft defense that produces few turnovers despite incredible athletic ability from our 1-2 & 3 ** Witness a team without leadership on the court or from the bench Anything else I love RT but he is not for this team. Regarding youth as an excuse - just read the Chron. today. Whole << sum of the parts. D R
Rudy's gotta go. I wouldn't be so hard on him if he could do the simple things on his job....like...I dunno...<b>coach</B> (or something close to it).
There is no creativity in the Rockets offense, it's so stagnant and predictable. The Rockets have no plays for players without the ball, to run repeatedly and simultaneously, with a player with the ball. When you have a clever center who has the ability to attract double-triple team. Who can pass and willing to get you the ball if you know how to anticipate and get yourself open to receive his passes but if you don't take advantage of that, then it's a tragedy. The more I watch the Rockets the more it seems like the players aren't being utilized to their strengths. For example, Yao is Yao why abandone his other skills and strenght and force him to play like Shaq full time in the low post? I can understand why Shaq play exclusively down low because that is his strength and it's all he can do, but Yao can do more than Shaq, forcing Yao to play like Shaq is an insult to Yao's other fundamental skills. It's been 59 games already and it's inexcusable for The Rockets coaching staffs not to come up with a strategy to balance out his other skills and take advantage of his strength so they don't get deteriorated. And one other thing that I'm still trying to understand is the substitute patern of the Rockets, it seems so pre-determined. Rookie or not you can never bench any player when he begins to heat up or after he made a big play to help the team and the fans get back into the game. I don't hate Rudy, but I'm just starting to think maybe Rudy's coaching philosophy does not fit well with this particular Rockets team.
At least the <b>Clips</b> know a bad coach when they see one: Monday, March 3 Johnson named interim coach for rest of season -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Marc Stein ESPN.com After losing five straight and 14 of their last 17, the Los Angeles Clippers fired Alvin Gentry on Monday and named Dennis Johnson interim coach for the remainder of the season. An announcement from the team is expected later Monday. Gentry has been under fire all season with the Clippers, tabbed by most experts as a playoff contender. Los Angeles stumbled to a 5-10 start and progressively faded from contention in the West. Johnson, passed over for the job in the summer of 2000 when Gentry was hired, will make his head coaching debut to night at Staples Center when Los Angeles plays host to the New Orleans Hornets. From NBA.com/ESPN: Clips Fire Gentry
The question I have not seen asked is: How many more championships would have we won if Rudy was not here? Even that r****ded coach from Oklahoma won a superbowl with the Dallas Cowboys.
Please add my name to the petition!!!! So that Rudy is fired. I can't even watch another rockets game this year because it has been boring. If it was not for Yao Ming I don't think anyone would even know the rockets exist....
Rudy's substitute patten can be more accurately excuted using a computer program Also, if a computer is used to replace Rudy T, more salary space could be saved ...
He might as well put up a schedule on the bulletin board with the list of players and just give them the times that they're expected in the game and sitting on the bench and tell the scorekeppers to have a punch out clock to when they arrive or sit on the bench.
Rudy T is not the only problem the Rockets have, theres lots of blame to go around. This "petition" you speak of is utterly ridiculous. I do admire that you care enough about the Rockets to do something like that, but your actions are misguided. As the owner of a business, albeit small, I would laugh in your face if you brought me a petition demanding me to fire a long time employee just because you and some others we unhappy with his job performance. Lets get real here folks. Lets say the Rockets make the playoffs, all they would be is first round fodder for the Mavs, Kings or Spurs. As a long time rocket fan it pains me to say that, but its true, and you all know it. Now, one thing that would be gained from a playoff birth is the experience gained from playing in the playoffs. However, will losing 4 straight to one of those teams really benefit the Rockets, or will it damage their psyche further? As a Rocket fanatic, I cant stand losing and being out of the playoffs for a 4th straight year, but its probably going to happen. I think it would be better to get another lottery pick than get booted out of the first round. Get the lottery pick, package it with players and get somebody that can be an enforcer / rebounder along with whatever else we can get. Rockets Forever!!!
Rockets' first round pick goes to the Grizz. Therein lies another frustration if they don't make the playoffs.
I've certainly never thought about it that way, but won't in the future either. While I'll put my name on the list, if and when Rudy goes, he will still be remebered very highly, ala Hakeem.
Hey, you may not like Rudy, but give the guy some respect. There is absolutely no comparison between Rudy's coaching and accomplishments and Alvin Gentry. The Clippers wouldn't know a smart move if it swam up and bit them on the ass. Besides, despite Gentry's problems, the Clippers issues have less to do with him than they have to do with piss poor management and players who are praying for the day they are exiled from that absolute horror of a franchise. Blaming Gentry is akin to complaining about the flat tire on the rusty old car that hasn't run in 20 years. No matter how many times you change the flat, the car is still a piece of ****.
