Rudy you have a had a great career as being our head coach. You have won 2 NBA titles and you have won the hearts of most Houstonians. You had a gift given to you when you started your head coaching job. Number 34 did everything a coach could ask for at the center position. You had great role players around him, and you even added another superstar into the mix with Drexler. The one thing that you did so well 7 years ago was use the same formula night in and night out. You had the same rotation that helped your team develope great chemistry and develope something that your new teams lacks consistency. I think your new team has all the pieces to build another championship caliber team. You have a great point gaurd, and you have a center that could possibly change the way the game is played. You also have a very solid shooting gaurd, and you have been blessed with great depth at the 4. You have 2 young 3's that could both turn into allstar caliber players. Your team has shown flashes of brilliance this year. I have watched everygame that has been nationaly televised and I always check the stats as soon as the game is final. The big problem that I see with your coaching is that minutes that are given to your players changes immensly from game to game. One game you will stat a powerforward and the next he will not even see the floor. That has also occured at the three posistion. You also have a great young talent that never sees the court due to the fact that he is raw. Your team is a very deep one and that will help you down the stretch of this 82 game marathon. Your team is still a few years away from being an elite team in team in the NBA. In order for your team to reach its full potetial as soon as possible you need to develope a rotation and you need to keep it that way. When you tinker your starting lineup every night you never give your superstars a chance to really feel comfortable with the players in thier soroundings. Here is my solution: Starters PG: Francis (He plays 40 a game) SG: Mobley (He plays 40 a game) SF: Morris ( Give him 30 a night and he will prove himself worthy) PF: Griffin ( He is the future at this posistion, let ride out his mistakes, and he will show his brilliance on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball) C: Ming (He plays 35+ as long as he stays out of foul trouble) Bench 1: Thomas (Scrappy player we need off the bench at the 3 and 4) 2. Taylor (Comes in at the 4 or 5 to give starters a break) 3. Boki (Young, but can shoot, gives spark off bench at 2 and 3) 4. Hawkins (Comes in to bring perimeter defensive presence when needed) Norris ( gives gaurds a breather ) plays 8 min or less Cato (in case of starters in foul trouble) Rice ( Brings veteran leadership, no future with team) Rudy this is just an example of what you can do. My lineups may not be what you think is best for your young team, but you need to do something like this. Keep the same starting lineup and keep the same 3 or 4 players coming off the bench. This theory will allow your team to grow and become more comfortable on how to run your new offense. This will help consistency and in the future bring many more victories.
Red Raider, Great post. Good advice for Rudy. The problem is that he doesn't know what he is doing. Since he has his deepest team Ever, he is really confused. SF and CM minutes should be cut. Remember, CM played the PG his rookie year. That should free up some Min at SG if MN is not playing well. Boki should see min at SG. If injuries occur, guys would be able to fill in. Kings are winning with 8 guys! The Rox should pressure the ball 94 ft. Ming is in the back waiting.
It would be great to see what the young guys can do. Unfortunatly if Rudy is going to win he has to play his best players now. Fans would not be satisfied in seeing the young guys develope if it meant losing more games. Winning a championship in the NBA is a very long process. I believe the Rockets are still at least four or five years away from competing at that plateau. Remeber it took the Dream almost ten years and several lineups to win a title. When the Rockets are ready to seriously challenge for it all guys like Griffin, Morris, Boki, and Hawkins will have had their chance to prove themselves. The most important task is getting this young team to the playoffs so that Francis, Cat, and Yao can taste playoff basketball. Those three are sure bets for the future of the franchise and need to experience all they can now to prepare for becoming a champion. I do however believe Griffin has got to get more time. With KT probably gone at seasons end and Taylors inabilities and shortcomings he needs a chance to develope and prepare to become a starter next season.
Great strategy RedRaider! We'll set the rotation using none of the key elements that helped us win in our previous games. I feel I must shout in your ear so you'll 'get' it, but I can't. Boki has not helped us win a single game. He has played trash minutes. Second, you have 2 power forwards coming off the bench first. How does that make sense? From your coaching ideas I can only gather that you haven't watched many games this year. Cato and Moochie will not be on the bench playing 8 minutes a piece. Watch the games, then thread it up with your "Rudy please listen up!". Edit your post and I'll edit mine: This thread sucks.
and no playing time for Cato as well as he has played? I can't believe it was suggested Terrence Morris start and play over 30 minutes a game when I don't think he's shown much of anything in a regular season game except that he can dunk. He shot well in the pre-season but he's yet to show us that in a regular season game. Boki? He may have one hell of a future but he's yet to show that he's ready for big minutes. I'd like to see him get some playing time but I'm not sure he's ready to be part of the set rotation. Glen Rice may not have no future with this team but right now he's our veteran leadership on the floor and one of our only good perimeter players. (nevermind he hasn't been as consistent as I'd like) Moochie only playing 8 minutes? I hope we're not paying him that kind of cash for 8 minutes a game. good god.
This very well may be the lineup for the future but it is not the lineup we need right now. Rudy is doing an excellent job so far. We are one the top 5 teams in the west and still are just now starting to get the engine running. I like what I see so far and I expect BIG thing in the future.
calm down guys, this is what happens when people that dont get to watch as many games as we do decide to post their ideas. RedRaider, possibly you should look for other threads that have this same stuff in it..this has been discussed ad nauseum in the last couple of weeks. RT is still experimenting with his lineups and once he finds his most effective lineup they will get used to their roles and playing time. Until then we should all be patient and let him feel out who works best together and who is gonna be the spark plug off the bench. When the rotation is established and you still dont like it, then feel free to start another thread telling RT(who I guarantee you doesnt read here) what he should do.
Hey Red Raider go throw a chair at bobby Knight and wait for him to choke your throat until you can't type anymore.
Cato is playing well so you drop him out of the rotation? Moochie is our only back-up PG active and he is playing well lately so you cut his minutes? Rice has been playing well, finding his shot, and was key in the Rockets win against an athletic Seattle team and you want to drop him to the end of the bench? And start Terrence Morris? This is the quickest way to wear our starters out by January and go on a long losing streak. The team is 11-8, the future is now.
Yeah he doesn't have your years of experience coaching and your championship rings. He just has a young team that is 11-8 and has the 3rd best record in the West. What is the record of the NBA team you're coaching again?
In the following RocksMillenium posts a statement to nineteen and red raider concerning their advice and comments for RudyT hey RocksMillenium, I think you are bieng a bit harsh with red raider and nineteen. Just because RudyT has been with the Rockets for over 30 years and has attended almost all of the 5 to 10 thousand practices the Rockets have ever had....dosent mean their advice to Rudy has no value. If Rudy T and his coaching staff would read this thread..they would have a good laugh.... Im sure this thread is a joke.
You tell 'em RocksMillenium. Nineteen and RedRaider, you got to remember that this is the regular season, not the playoffs. Nineteen, you mention that the Kings are winning with an 8 man rotation and its not because they want to but because they have to (injuries). Why increase the chance of Yao hitting the wall by giving him 35+ a night? Cato has been awesome off the bench.
As we're all seeing so far, the playing rotation will work itself out by player performance. All we need is patience. No trades, no shake ups, no drastic measures... just time.
Too many mins. for the starters you suggested. Rudy is trying out so many combinations inorder to reach his set position on which players are his starters. The one thing Thomas should not play at the same time as Yao Ming, they dont play well together!
This statement, while many times repeated, is not true. If you have some stats to back it up , get them out. No BS, just facts. As far as passing the ball to Yao, and I know that is what you are referring to, thats not KTs job. While none of his 11 assists in the last two games were to Yao, it was nothing personal, he simply passed to the open man. While Yao played great in both of those games, I dont think you can blame KT for the fact Yao had no assists, in either game. In the New Orleans game when the Hornets decided to play Yao so tight that they couldnt help against KTs drives, KT made them pay. The inside=out game the Rockets are using is working great, with Yao and KT, when the guards get the ball to Yao..expect him to go to the basket, just like KT does. Just dont expect KT to play point guard too.
Rocks, If you had read my entire post, you could pass on my advice to your man Rudy. I understand, as President of Rudy's Fan Club, you refuse to use the right side of the floor. I suppose with your logic, only 29 men know basketball in the entire world. I see the safety net you have set up for Rudy. He has a "young", barely over .500 team. At the start of the season, you sent out a Memo saying that this is Rudy's deepest team ever! Can you commit to be impeached if the Rox don't make the Playoffs?!
nineteen, I think your Rudy hating is getting old. I have no problem with people criticizing the coaching staff. But yours is beyond objective critique. It's getting very personal and it is very obviously hatred. How has Rudy hurt you personally so you have to react to him like that?
