lol.. I agree with you Free Agent. Rudy has done a great job this year. Most people see it as: if we lose, its because of the coach/if we win, its because of the players. I blame our losses to sub .500 teams on the players. Rudy has made a few questionable calls but alot of other NBA coaches do the same. This man has brought us 2 championships to this city (back to back, I should add) and plenty of great seasons and memories. Let's not end it. This man is a legend in Houston, don't bash him as if he has never meant anything. Keep Rudy for always.
The difference is that you petition is not original - it is aimed at some yet unknown naive attempt to belittle RRU "original" petition effort. In my mind, the fans on this board and world over has helped turn this team around by voicing their opinions and frustrations. Change does not always happen just like that - it takes a revolution, reaction and meaning demonstartions.
how about we sign a petition to send free agent to a mental institution? i support that as a rockets fan.
13 years, 2 championships, 2 losing seasons. Free Agent: The next step is to resurrect this thread every time it slips to the second or third page, to try to get another name on your petition and make sure the thread stays on the front page. I know you can come through for us.
Seriously though, players need to go through different coaches to understand all the different approaches. Only team who's franchise players never changed coaches are the Jazz (I think), and they only got like......Oh, wait a second, they have none. Regardless of this season's success, this team needs the exact opposite of Rudy to coach the team (harsh discipline) so that the players can improve through facing adversity.
Does he really get credit for simply having winning seasons with Hakeem? If so, that's a free ride. Off-hand, I can't think of a team with a player that good that's ever had a losing season, though I'm sure it has happened at least once or twice. In fact, I find the fact that the Rockets missed out on the playoffs during that span problematic. Winning championships does, of course, matter (though in any sport, gratitude certainly doesn't cover for subsequent failures). Yet why is there the assumption that because Rudy was a good coach with a totally different type of team, that he's a good coach, now? There are different types of coaches, and not all of them are best for all situations. Being laid-back does not mesh well with young talent that has trouble with problems of basketball IQ. Maybe this could be covered by an assistant coach. I think that's really the best possibility of sticking with Rudy, Francis & Mobley, and succeeding. I do think that it might be possible to keep Rudy and ditch F&M. Or the reverse. I just don't think they're good matches. Maybe they'll mature... (one can hope).
I don't think Rudy is a bad coach, but I don't think he's one of the best coaches in the league. I believe we have one of the most talented teams in the league and we seem to lack team identity, offensive sets, and general team strategy. If the Coach of the Year vote were to take place today, Rudy IMO would get 0 votes. I'd rank him right in the middle of the pack in terms of coaching ability. In the Hakeem days, his strategy and coaching were among the best in the league. With the changing of rules and the game in general, I don't feel he's adapted completely.
haven: So wins and losses are not a good method of evaluating a coach? Can you think of anything more objective? I don't know, why is there the assumption that after all those winning seasons (particularly 2 years ago), that he suddenly ISN'T a good coach now?
Suddenly Rudy can't coach anymore. what people failed to realize is we have an inexperienced team. You can be young and experienced but we are not. 4 of our starting 5 has never been in the playoffs. 2 of our 8 plaer rotation has been in the playoffs in the first round and lost. Pheonix has a better team then us because we still don't have player of Marion's capability and we are tied with them. A tema like LA the champions are only 2 games agead of us. So don't blame Rudy for all this nonsense. If Rudy sucks then Phil Jackson sucks even more because we all know he has a much better team then us.
I'm not saying Rudy is a good/bad coach, but wasn't most of people, media & many fans here, picked the Rockets to finish at 6 to 8th in the west with 46-36 when the season started? As a matter of factor, many people believed Rudy should be let go if the Rockets miss the playoff. Now, Rudy becomes the "MAN" with the Rockets fighting for the last playoff spot?
How many coaches have taken a team without a superstar to a championship? You have to go back all the way to Lenny Wilkens in '78-'79. Every other coach since then also got that "free ride." But I don't think many people here would say that the Bulls, Lakers, and Pistons would have won it all without Phil, Riley, and Daly respectively. Give Rudy some credit. It's not like Hakeem had his best teams in those championship years. I'm a firm believer that the Rockets needed both Hakeem and Rudy to win our titles. Now, was it just fire in a bottle those years? Could Rudy win with other stars such as Stevie and Yao?? We don't know that yet and I think that's why Rudy deserves another year to see what he can do. I don't see how people can judge Rudy in Yao's rookie season (and with no training camp). The reason why the "experts" picked the Rockets as high as 6th and low as 11th is because some thought Yao would dominate and some thought Yao would suck. Well, Yao's been somewhere in between and the Rocks are also sometwhere in between 6th and 11th. IMO, they are exactly where they should be this season! Rudy's next year should be the one under the microscope. With a weak bench, a weak bunch at PF (but MoT is coming on finally), an oft-injured Rice, and having to rely heavily on a rookie, I think Rudy has done a better job than expected.
bulls in MJ's first season were 38-44. 3rd season 40-42. 2nd season 30-52, but he was injured for a long time i think. strangely enough, they made the playoffs in the 30-52 season. think how crappy last year was for us. it was horrible, 15 game losing streaks, inner ear things, injuries galore, the tankfest. and yet two more wins and we make the playoffs back then. truly mindboggling. yet we get 45 wins 2 years ago and we're not in, such BS.
