I don't think Rudy's a bad coach... I think he's a very poor w/strategy, very good w/being an emotional leader. Some people on this board (not you, heypartner) have a tendency to polarize a debate, and it annoys me. The main reason I became involved w/this discussion is that I thought Dreamshake was making some valid points, and several people were basically dismissing them out of hand, for irrational reasons.
The fact the Rockets came out this season much more in the post is still mysterious to me. At training camp they were all over the court, running at every chance -- much like you see them do now. I think Rudy was right that in many regards having Dream and Chuck go out was a blessing in disguise (albeit well-disguised)
Now, what about that "can't win against good teams" stat you've been throwing around Haven ? Last 10 days shots that down. (Another one bites the dust.)And, of course, the "never wins when behind in the forth period" just flamed out as well. Oh yeah, it was only the LAKERS. Hm. Gee, maybe we ought to give THIS team a chance to jell, like say, next year, then write Rudy off if it doesn't happen. ( Exactly what most folks have thought since the beginning of Peepee free camp.) And yes, Mike Fratello is a very interesting coaching prospect, but most of the others, no thanks !
Mike Fratello? Umm, no thanks. I pride averaging more than 80 points a game... [This message has been edited by thacabbage (edited January 31, 2000).]
jscmedia... Ok so he's now won 31 percent against top teams and is 1-22 when down in the 4th. Impressive?.....hardly thaCabbage...Right now, scoring doesn't seem to be a real problem most nights. Defense is a problem every night though. Id like to see some Mike Fratello influenced D in H-Town. After all whats the old saying..... Defense wins what?
Dreamshake- my bad. Shortsighted of me to leave your arguments incomplete. I think you should doublecheck your stats for at least last year. I followed team turnovers very carefully over the last season, and they consistently improved. We started by leading the league in turnovers (I'm sure that's the part you remember) and consistently lowered it from there. In the last ten games, we were over 14 TO's a game, not awesome, but league average. And that was in a shortened season with all those new players. Also, I don't recall seeing our team rebounding stats being below average for either of the last two seasons. That certainly doesn't cancel out your other points. But as the title of this thread states, I think very little will shake your stance. Are you reluctant to give Rudy any credit?
Nolen...Regardless of what the notion is on my thoughts of Rudy, I think hes done a pretty good job over the last 20 games. Now that the Rox are implementing a new brand of offense. What upsets me is that if it were not for his rugged stance on the Dump it down low offense, the rox might not of started off so horribly and may still of been in serious contention for a playoff birth. To me he should of stuck with his plan in preseason and differed the game plan. Instead he found himself going back to "Left Block Mania" in every game. The most bothersome point to this is look at how well the rox are doing without the low post offense. Without Hakeem, Barkley, Cato, and TMAss. Its a shame that this Rox team has more than enough talent to be in the playoffs and won't. Regardless of weather or not theyd get swept in the first round, Id love to see Steve in the Playoffs in his first season. It would be of huge benefit to him.
Dreamshake, I see what you are saying to Nolen, but Rudy said at the beginning of the season that he was sticking with the old "bread and butter" because "that was what worked." I firmly believe that had neither Hakeem nor Charles be injured right now, we would still have more of a motion offense. I would have loved for Rudy to snap his fingers and have all the new young guns learn all the ins and outs of the offense he wanted to teach, but it just couldn't be so. Each play takes time, and until the guys on the court could all be counted on to know a play fully, they went with the tried and true (and easy to understand) dump it in to the big guy. The injuries just sped up the inevitable, and now that we were forced to cater to the strentghs of our younger players, Hakeem--the old dog--is gonna have to learn some new tricks, because NOW our newer motion plays are the ones that are the most effective. The young guys have learned enough to start winning games, and I know there will be more plays to come--as everyone learns them. My question is this: We have almost all the talent we need, and a coach who can get the message across. Over the past ten years or so, the league has seen MJ and Hakeem as players so dominant that they could take there teams to the promised land almost single handidly. We've also seen two really dominant styles of play on different teams. The triangle in Chicago, and the constant picks they run in Utah. Do we want to gravitate towards one of those styles of play, and if so, why? Is one or the other better suited for the talent we have on hand?
chicken and the egg... did we lose early because francis and the other 6 new players weren't ready and comfortable in motion...so Rudy had to proceed slowly with revamping (my experience), or were they always ready and Rudy was the one that had to learn to let them play (your experience). that's the main difference, between our two positions. remember...most of the early loses were excruciatingly close, and mainly lost on the defensive end. The best game was the Phoenix game, which was very fast and fun to watch and left you saying; "I wish they could execute like this every game." The Phoenix game with Barkley proved to me Rudy wasn't the one who learned, the team was learning from rudy, barkley and the coaches to run motion plays. Francis wasn't just going to flick on a switch game one and be able to get his teammates involved. It is a team learning effort (ask Francis). Dreamshake, it just doesn't make sense to say Francis and the youngsters would have won early if Rudy would have just let them play. Now ask me why didn't we start changing in 1999 season...and I'll blame it on Rudy, barkley and pippen with a little bit of a uninspired hakeem. I'm ready to allow you the last word and close this thread. good thread....I learned a lot about you. Keep giving me your defensive take anytime.
Ok, down to the nitty gritty. I was astounded last year that with two fast as hell guards (allbeit they were Rookies) Scottie Pippen, who proved he couldn't adjust to the half court game, Charles Barkley, who loves to hit the open court pass and break from time to time, that the Rockets depended on the low post offense. After Rudys promise of being a more uptempo team. Then this season came along. Anderson who by Clutchs report, was the fastest man in camp. Francis, who needs a quicker tempo or he is being wasted. Mobley and Cato who aren't low post options all seemed ready to make this season a fun one. Rudy impelments a faster style in preseason, and it looks ok. So my problem is...If the low post isn't going to get you wins. As evident by the Rox record. Why not lose learning the ins and outs of a better suited brand of ball? I believe Rudys "stick by your old dogs" allowed the rox to stay close for many of those games, but also impeded the progress which we are able to see now. Once Barkley and Hakeem went down. It took about 10-15 games for the Rox to get settled in what they were doing on the court. And since then, they have been playing pretty well. Which is why I don't have a problem with turnovers, shooting percentage, and defense. Now Rudy has a true, for lack of a better word, crutch to stand on. He has a young team that is learning to play together. Those things will come with getting to know each other. Im just peeved that right now, I think that the Rox could be at about 23-25 wins, and challenging for a playoff spot.
