It's only 4 games into the season, but from what can be seen so far, this team is playing with GREAT chemistry... what is amazing is considering what Rick has had to work with... Aaron Brooks: <6'0" "point" guard who plays more like a shooting guard, drafted 26th Performance so far: 21 ppg, 8.5 apg, 3 rpg, has been the closer for a couple games, great scorer, good ball distributor, speed breaks down teams' defenses, looks like one of the team leaders Chuck Hayes: <6'6" power forward with NO offensive skills, undrafted Performance so far: 2.5 spg!!, has been able to shut down Greg Oden and Carlos Boozer, leader on defense, smart decision-making, still able to get a basket here and there Luis Scola: 6'9" (maybe less) non-athletic power forward, drafted 56th Performance so far: 11.5 ppg, 9 rpg, hardest-working player on the floor, another leader of the team, doesn't look 100% but still getting job done Carl Landry: 6'9" (maybe less) power forward, drafted 31st Performance so far: off the bench 11.3 ppg, 5 rpg, 0.8 spg, 0.8 bpg, aggressive player around the basket on offense and defense, provides energy, rebounding, and scoring Chase Budinger: rookie, picked 44th Performance so far: off the bench 9.3 ppg, 50% FG, 40% 3PT, two good games including clutch breakout game against Jazz, has shown minimal rookie learning curve Trevor Ariza: role player with minimal playmaking skills, drafted 43rd Performance so far: 21.3 ppg, 3.3 apg, 1.8 spg, 47% FG, 52% 3PT, career-high of 33 point against Blazers while not being a ball-stopper Shane Battier: strictly half-court player, hesitant offensive player Performance so far: 9 ppg, 40% 3PT, 1.3 spg, solid team defender, comfortable in fast-paced offense, leader of the team Kyle Lowry: 6'0" guard with a shaky jumpshot, drafted 24th Performance so far: off the bench 8.3 ppg, 3.8 apg, often the toughest guy on the court, smart player, doesn't play like he's 6'0", primary ballhandler and playmaker, 3 made threes so far Rick maximizes the potential of his players. He lets players play to their strengths, while still minimizing exposure of their weaknesses. I don't know if anyone else has noticed that. This team is more undersized and less talented than almost all other teams. It's not a coincidence that this team so far has had GREAT performances against Portland and Utah and is 3-1... Rick and his coaching staff has our guys playing the right way... here's hoping they keep this up and keep improving...
this should be a sticky. RA needs to win coach of the year this year b/c i don't think we'll let up. obviously we're not going to shoot/score this well, but the resiliency led by adelman will have us fighting for a HIGH playoff spot. lottery
I can't remember how many times i b****ed him out last year for playing stubborn (which he did). But holy siht..... All our players are like 2nd roud picks and he does all this . This guy is truly amazing, no matter how many games we win tihs year.. RICK THE RULER!
This is a great post. Reminded me of what we're actually working with.. I can't think of any other coach that could develop such results with what we have. But we have to give credit to the players themselves and management for bringing these guys in. Of course I appreciate their talent and all, but really.. Is there a better group of guys in the NBA collectively? So much modesty/respect/class.. It blows my mind. This two-folds my fanhood for this team. I absolutely love these guys. I feel as though I almost take it for granted... Seeing teams like the Grizzlies/NY/etc. implode just makes me explode with gratitude. Looking so forward to seeing more out of these guys. At the end of the game, when the starters were subbed, watching Battier give high fives to everyone and praise the team (saying great job, etc) just made me all warm inside. Sounds gay, but damn... how could anyone hate this team? Blows my mind. I'm a big fan of Tracy, yet I almost want him to wait longer to see more out of this group without him... But I have to take into consideration that it's only been 4 games.. Can't get too excited just yet. Plus, It's not like we can just play with a 40 million dollar roster hole forever.. We're gonna have to plug in some talent, and honestly, I believe a healthy McGrady is our best option. His playmaking ability (at it's finest), is unsurpassed by all but maybe the likes of Nash, Paul.. Anyways... Rockets <3
He should have won it last year, the award is so one dimensional, it has a lot to do with the players on the team b.c year after year its the coaches with the most wins. Mike Brown? Really?
Rick Adelman is a freaking coaching genius (that's an understatement really). They should enshrine Rick into the Hall of Fame by posting up a statue of him doing the Heisman pose with a basketball right before you enter.
Rick is old now, but it really is sad to see the new threads that try to knock the indisputable success he has had over numerous seasons. People seem to forget how hard he got this team to play night in and out and how he turned guys like Brooks, Lowry, and so many others before him into great players. You won't find another coach admired so much by his team. To all the haters, you can push the message of the rockets being a good team currently without being unfair and classless towards him. The two are not mutually exclusive.
The guy is gone. He had his chance here and brought as much success to this team as TMac and Yao. RUDY T is a Legend and the Ruler until another brings us a ring. He got us two championships. Houston and Adelman also had "a mutual breakup." In other words there is bad blood between Morey and Adelman and they both quit on each other. The man has no rings and at the pace the wolves are playing he's just going to keep dreaming about one.
Yeah, this is an old thread. The fake fans don't respect what he did as a coach but real rockets fans knew that he changed a horrible rockets offense into an exciting team. He actually won a playoff series as a coach for us. Guy has won everywhere he's been. He'll go into the hall of fame.
Well we can hang his championship banner up at the Toyota Center, the Kings can hang his banner up to at the Sleep train Arena, and the Blazers too... heck the Wolves are so awesome this year that they are going to win it all again. Lowry was awesome with Rick and is awesome now without Rick. The same goes for Louis Scola, Landry and all those players that MOREY picked up. JVG, Adelman = success rate in Houston = 0 rings.
So wait, I have to like disinterested adelman to be a real rockets fan? Horrible Rockets offense? Assists are good. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rockets&src=hash">#Rockets</a> also w/ consecutive 30+ assist games (31 vs Utah, 36 vs MIN). Last time they did that - Jan. '07. (JVG was coach).</p>— AdamWexlerCSN (@awexler) <a href="https://twitter.com/awexler/statuses/446851143549722626">March 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Spoiler
I was referencing the change from JVG to Rick Adelman. (this thread started in 2007) Still proud of what he did for this organization. He's a class coach.
Misleading considering all the injuries and drop in talent level. You ACUTALLY think Adelman's coached Rockets was good enough to beat the KG's Celtics or Kobe's Lakers? C'mon son
Well put and repped. Also if these guys think McHale is such an improvement on Adelman they should check out what McHale did as coach and GM of the T-wolves. The T-Wolves are just a cursed organization. Adelman to his credit has gotten from the worst in the league to mediocre. My own opinion was that Adelman should've retired after the Rockets but if he still wants to coach and someone wants to hire him then good for him. What I am not going to do is to trumpet his misfortune just so I can feel good about what my team is doing now.
Honestly I believe that if the 2009 Rockets had stayed healthy could've won it all. Considering without Deke, McGrady and losing Yao halfway in the series they took the Lakers to 7 games (including a blowout win in game 6) I think a health Rockets team could've won that series beaten the Nuggets and dominated the Magic.
