One good thing: Unlike NJ, who have no clue what "half-court offense" is, we've been forced to do it for ages. Our players are comfortable with it, know what they're getting into. They stillhaven't begun playing a running game. I read an article today that said the Nets will be in big trouble, because in the playoffs, they won't be able to defeat the (assuming they make it) Knicks or Heat. Physical play, halfcourt. NJ have no clue. But right now, we have that down, and we're not making the playoffs, so we can work on the running game. Then, we have experience with both.
Detroit beat NJ tonight by turning the game into a halfcourt contest. Kidd shot 2-18 because Detroit sealed off the lane and invited him to take the long jumper. Of course, Kenyon Martin leaving the game in the first half was a huge loss for NJ. However, I think the Detroit game supports the idea that NJ is going to be in trouble in the playoffs when defenses get tougher and you have to score in the halfcourt set.
"what's sad is that the fans, imo, have "dummied down". the fans have accepted that "running a fast break" requires practice time. that "not dribbling the ball till there's no grip left on it" requires practice time and the schedule hinders us from working on it. B..U..L..L..S..H..I..T. "
Sorry for the late reply. No - the sentence you qouted were mostly in jest - thats why I added the nice smiley.
The fact that he gets in, is one thing, the fact that he knows what to do when he gets in and is so developed at nineteen is another. Rudy brought along both Horry Cassell fast as well. The guy has a track record of being good at that kind of thing. I think Rudy has done a great job with Griffin. I agree with you on the dribbling, and too many iso plays. But at the same time not much of the offense can be run through Cato, drive the lane and dish is about the only way to utilize some of the players the team has. Also if the team did have time to practice and get down some other plays, I think Rudy would probably love to run a wider variety of offensive schemes. Again if the offense remains one dimensional with a healthy team over a prolongued period of time, I'll cry for a change as well. Though I think a lot of what happens is from players abilities. KT added some 'to the basket moves' and he now gets more offense called for him. I think Rudy probably gives players what they show the apptitude for. 1.The players in the park aren't playing against NBA quality defense, for one. 2.Our fast break does need a lot of work, but playing together will help. I'm not saying it should be required just that it will help. 3.Because some fans disagree with you on what requires practice time and what doesn't require practice time, doesn't mean the fan base has been 'dummied down'. Some could say that anyone who doesn't understand about time and practice developing chemistry has been 'dummied down.' It's just two different opinions. One isn't necessarily right and the other is dummied down.
Verse i agree with you. I've been saying it the entire season while others have been so blind to place blame on injuries and everything else. This team barring everything is not well coached which translates into a poorly executed team. Show me a team with 2 20 pt scorer's that is this bad. Itsnot just that, its just the system vs the personel. I can maybe see the Hakeem/Barkley era slowing it up so much because beyond everything else, we could always get a good shot from those two, but this team is built for the open court and anyone can see that. I remember Tommy Heisohn talking about when he coached the Celts and when they practiced, they pushed the ball and ran after evrything including misses,makes, turnovers, everything. If a player didn't run into the offense or the guards didn't push the ball, they had to run sprints to beat it into their heads. Maybe this is what needs to be done or taught to Francis,Mobley ,Norris all of them. Next time anyone get a chanc to watch the Rockets, look how they run a basic break after the rebound. Look how many times they make a backwards pass in the backcourt. Watch after a make and watch the guard wait for a big man to take the ball out. I look for the little things to improve upon instead of the larger things. I do agree Griffin is progressing, but to say he's coming along fast is not even worth stating. Griffin with his limitless potential even as a rookie could be so ahead of the curve its crazy. Right now he's pigeon holed and handcuffed. How do you ever expect him to develop any kind of post game if all he does is shoot 3's? Whats so wrong with him starting in and moving out later? He has good footwork ,a huge wing span and long arms, and a decnt lift on his shot so why not run a backscreen for him so he could get the ball catch and shoot from 8ft like the old Utah play down low. Pigeon holing him is not to the benefit of him nor the team. I get a chance to watch other teams and coaches coach the game and when I look up I still see no reason why we are as bad as we are. The west is tough as nails, but Denver ha been without Mcdyess, Odom has been hurt a lot also, and Googs still hasn't regained his form, but yet we are tied with Denver and behind the others. I thought at the beginning of the season before and after the injuries we were between 8-10 and I took a lot of flack from people talikng about this teams talent. What people didn't expect was for Rudy to make such a poor transition to the new rules. Not this yr, but Next yr is a hot seat yr for Rudy. I hate to gt rid of the guy, but if he's saying he's telling his guys to do this or do that and they're not listening, then thats the sign of a failed coach when he loses his team.
Maybe, just maybe, Rudy is not interested in winning THIS year. Tank about it a minute, they are trying to set themselves up for the long haul. With all the injuries, and Steve having headaches (not migraines according to the Rockets) they have written off this season. They are still competitive, so maybe they are just giving some of the babies a baptism under fire. DaDakota
Well said. I don't like everything I see either. But I find it tough to justify harsh criticizm given his past success and given the tribulations of the current team. Walk a mile in his shoes and I bet you'd sing a different tune. I agree Rudy is on the "watch" list. If we don't see better results with a healthy team, then dump him. But to fire him for poor performance when 3-4 starters (MoT, Rice, Wiz, Steve) were not available for lengthy periods of time is just plain unfair. Adversity is one thing but a complete mid-season retooling is another. I would hope that in my job review, my boss would take such factors into consideration before firing me. Given that, Rudy still motivates his players to work hard every night. I'd rather they work hard and make mistakes. His players don't miss practice. There isn't infighting. They try hard...even Cato now!!!!! These things are important and he should be given some credit. <b>Excessive dribbling can be fixed. Bad attitudes cannot.</b> I say give him one more season! Da, you raise a good point too. I remember many posters suggesting we should tank the season. I'd hope it isn't the same people suggesting we fire Rudy.
Who is the cart and who is the horse? I know many on this board, including myself, had been critical of Rudy and in particular the defense and running. Of course, I really do not think that the wisdom written on this board get back to RT or the coaching staff. However it is interesting that all this talk by RT should come out now. What triggered it? Well check out this Feb 9th Sporting News.com article (excerpt): "SEE A DIFFERENT GAME Regardless of injuries, this team is supposed to stress defense yet is the worst in the league at forcing turnovers and allows opponents to shoot 46 percent, the second-highest mark in the league. Griffin's emergence as a big-time shot-blocker should help, but Cato is averaging less than one block per game. His aggressiveness on blocking shots seems to have disappeared. It can't all be blamed on the interior defense. Opposing guards face very little pressure form the Rockets’ backcourt as they bring the ball downcourt. The Rockets’ inability to force teams into bad shots has hurt them tremendously down the stretch in a number of games. With their athletic ability at all five spots, the defense can be improved dramatically over the last 30-plus games of the season. "
I really don't understand this quote. Pushing the tempo, running fast breaks, and playing tough defense are cornerstones to working back to winning ways. It has nothing to do with "winning THIS year." All the stuff that's being discussed is important, not only to winning this season, but in all the seasons after. Those three things don't absolutely require all your starters. So it is something they should be able to work on, and something they definately need to.
Kobe who also had amazing potential wasn't at the same spot his rookie year as Griffin is. What I really find amazing is that people are saying EG should change his game to going inside more. He's shown amazing potential at what he does so far. I think he could add all kinds of offensive weapon given enough time, but now is too soon. I think Rudy, and the coaching staff have been at more practices than any of us and know Eddie's potential at posting up, or moving and shooting off screens better than those of us on the board. Rudy has shown by the role change that KT has undergone this season, that when people bring the tools to practice they will get a chance to try them in the game. Mcdyess is only one player. There were stretches when we were without Mo, Cat, and Franchise. KT's been hurt, Cato's been hurt, Rice is out, Walt's been out, Torres has been hurt, it seems like everyone has been hurt. So to say that us being tied with Denver is a bad thing I see almost as a plus. They've had one major injury, we've had plenty, and are still tied with them. I say way to go Rudy. It's the same scenario with Odom being out. That's different than the countless lineups we've had to run, and not being able to have real five on five practices. Is Rudy doing a perfect job? I don't think so, but he isn't the demon that's dragging this team down either. Again I point to our record when are even relatively healthy with Steve, and we aren't. To me that points to the biggest culprit being injuries. That doesn't mean there aren't things that can and should be improved on, but they are minor and probably at least in some parts by-products of the injuries. Maybe it's not as easy to fix problems with injuries as it would be to fix a coaching problem, and everyone is frustrated with the losses and wants to find ways that they can fix it, but sometimes it's out of our hands, and I think for the most part that's the case here. Of Dadakota also has a point. What if Rudy isn't necessarily tanking, but is using this blown season to try different things, get different players experience, so they will be ready next year? And while doing that the team also ends up at better point in the lottery. I don't know if that's what's going on, but all of these are possibilities.
Face it guys in the pat Rudy had superstars to build a team around. Remember back it down, back it down. Rudy for once has guys with talent but has never coached a guard oriented offense. IMO Rudy has to finally coach and has not got it done so far. He has made a team that lives and dies with the jump shot. My god atleast throw the ball into EG or Cato and see if they can establish some sort of threat down low, make the D honor them. What is he waiting for MoT to do it all inside? Playground basketball all the rockets are without an inside threat. I think Rudys coaching is giving Steve the headaches.
Rudy's coaching has also gotten the most out of guys like Horry, Ellie, even Charles Jones, that other teams didn't pull from them. I would say all of those guys had to be coached, and Rudy's done a nice job at it. Look at his track record with Rookies. Eddie Griffin- playing great, Robert Horry- Got off to a great start his rookie(learning under a coach) year. Sam Cassell- another great rookie coached well by Rudy T. Or is it only when the players do something that people don't like that it's Rudy's fault? The quality play of those players couldn't possibly have something to do with Rudy's coaching right?
Griffin does not have a good post game - simple as that. When playing against a credible defender (such as Kirilenko), he got blocked almost every single time on his lil turnaround shot. The only time he gets it off is against mis-matches and players who are simply not expecting it - but scouting reports will prevent that from happening, much like they shut down any sort of "post game" Shandon had. Griffin is weak, he cannot pound down low, and his turnaround is weak also. And No, he does not have good footwork - he is no Cato, but he is no Kenny Thomas either. Once he gets stronger and develops some more moves, then he will get the post touches yall want. But for now, there is a reason he does not get post ups...
robert horry has been doing the same thing he did with houston since phil jackson arrived in la. mario elie was doing the same thing when he played for portland (before houston) and san antonio (after houston). charles jones has been a shotblocker/hacker his whole career. don't assign credit where it isn't due, please. *** also, you are, imo, aiming low. robert horry, had he been coached properly from his inception into the league would have been an allstar. all he had to do was consistently work on his handles and stay aggressive going to the rack. as is, he has been a career underachiever in my book. lots of rings, yes. and he'll earn more riding shaq's coattails. but he could have been a leader, not a rider. sam cassell may not have been the loose cannon that he often plays like had he been granted the starting position he rightfully earned back in his houston days. am i complaining? no. but, i can see how on a personal level it may not have been the best thing for sam to not have his efforts rewarded with a starting spot...then to be traded after helping win 2 championships.. eddie griffin has shown - since high school - the ability to be one of the great ones. he has the ability to dominate on both ends of the court. and it will be absolutely essential to his development as a player to consistently get 35 minutes per, to not be pigeon holed as a walt williams clone, and to receive the starting position. on top of that, the coaching staff should probably ASSIGN someone to be with griffin this offseason (dallas does it) to help work on his body and his game.
Ellie didn't play near as well when in Portland as he did in Houston at all. That's why he was the surprise to many people that he was. Charles Jones had been a shotblocker hacker his whole career, but most figured that career was over, which is why he was out of the league Houston picked him up. Rudy however was able to bring some more out of him, where everyone else in the league figured there was nothing left. Horry has been doing the same thing in LA but to a lesser extent than he did in Houston. It's similar to Ellie who did the same things at Portland but to a much lesser extent. Rudy got more out of those players than anyone else had or in Charles Jones' case was even willing to attempt. Again with EG, yes he's shown potential, but nobody expected it to develop this quickly for him at 19.
hahahah. Can I count the ways I disagree with this post? My favorite is the idea that we pass to Cato and let him create. When Willis is in the game he does gets chances to post up. He's our best post-up player. We are a jump shooting team for a reason. Cause that's all we got.
Rudy is famous for maximizing a player's ability. Another is Chuckie Brown. Remember when he "held" Barkley to 2 point in the playoffs. Hell, what about the Bull? Carl Herrera? Mad Maxx's heyday was in Houston. Kenny the Jet (whatever) was a marginal player that flourished. Eddie Johnson was considered washed up. Hell, look at Cato's recent play. To name a few more. Rudy knows how to maximize talent and I'd say that's what he's doing with EG. If EG isn't posting up in games its for a reason. Those wanting Rudy to leave...how does it go?...grass is always greener... Just be careful what you wish for because there's a good chance it might not be better. A 44 win season last year and we're not in last place this year considering we have 4 starters out (counting Steve). Without Rudy we wouldn't have ammased this amount of talent and wouldn't have even thought about vying for playoffs in our 3rd year of rebuilding. Damn, count your blessings instead of your thorns.
