Larry Smith's trigger finger is itchier than Rudy T's. Rudy T would consistently leave his starters in for the entire 1st quarter, but with Mr. Mean running the ship, you're likely to see Moochie, Cato, and maybe even MoT make a 1st quarter apperance. Also, Mr. Mean has shown much more confidence in Moochie & Cato than Rudy T has. Moochie is getting quality minutes under Mr. Mean's direction. He seemed to just give Francis and/or Cat a breather under Rudy's rotation. I think Mr. Mean's #1 pupil is Cato, though, and likewise, I think Cato enjoys performing for his tutor, Larry Smith. Cato plays with a fire in his belly, and Mr. Mean responds by extending his minutes. For example, last night Cato came in for Yao who picked up 2 fouls in the 1st. Cato picked up his 2nd foul in the 2nd, yet Cato stayed in the game. I found that interesting. As much as some want to attribute the 2 wins to Larry Smith, you also gotta realize that the Rockets players all know that the season is coming down to the wire. If they want to play in the post-season, they're gonna have to put forth the effort. I don't think it takes Larry Smith to remind them of that.
I do not attribute the wins to Smith. I just welcome the fact that he did not screw it up and it appears he is doing somethings we would like to see Rudy do. He is running a tighter ship and not leaving anything to chance. The resting of Cat and SF and reducing their minutes have to be a welcomed change. The lengthening of the rotation is another joy to see.
Is it just me, or is Mr. Mean really giving Moochie signficantly more minutes? I also noticed last night that Francis and Mobley were not on the court at the same time for a lot of the game. This could be due to the blow-out or the second night of a back-to-back. In any event, these two moves seem to have made the offense flow better and have kept Steve and Cat from hogging the ball all night.
Pace. Offensive and defensive.Substitutions. Back to the original question, tho -- has anyone else 'read into the comments' that Larry Smith may be coaching longer than thru last night? Is Rudy running the next practice (shoot around) and game, or is there something else going on? LS is doing a good job, yes. We ALL wish Rudy best health. But, is there anything else going on?
But that pattern contributed towards sinking us in the first 2 road game. Guys lets not confuse ourselves here, we have enough talent to win in spite of Larry or Rudy's shortcomings. There is not point playing Cato the entire 2nd quarter of the Seattle game. There is not point playing him 7 minutes deep into the 4th quarter as well. Francis and Mobley need rest - I agree. But I don't want to see Moochie play extended minutes unless there is an injury or illness. Possey Plays a lot of unncessary minutes under Larry - there is little need for that. What Larry needed to do on this road trip was just keep the ship steady while Rudy is out NOT reinvent it. He is mediocre at best and I will prefer Rudy add an former head coach or a top prospect coach to his staff in the future. I pray Rudy returns on Wednesday before I lose my nerve.
There is also a false notion going on about our offense lately - I will give little credit to Rudy or Larry for the recent change but most of it to Steve and Mobley. Steve game dictates the tempo our game. If he playing erratic and dumb basketball - our offense looks bad. QED. It matter little which coach is leading us - it is all about Steve "team management" and ball control. PS. We have scored at least 100 points in three straight games but we have also given up more than 100 in 3 of our last 5 games. One of the games we did not give up a hundred their team was without their 2 best players. Prior to this scenario, the Houston Rockets had not given a hundred to any team under the tutelage of Rudy T in the whole month of March (6 games) save for the the overtime game against the Clippers. Go figure! Just perspective.
