verse, you are going too far by saying so matter of factly that we won't make the playoffs next year. that's bad Rockets karma shame on you
Can the Anti-Rudy crowd come in here yet? Not that you need help or anything. Ok...I'll just go back to reading about Coach-for-Life RT, and his unique place in the NBA.
REPRESENT BABY! We are the Pro Rudy Crowd! With only 5 members! We stand tall! And on this message board.... We express very loud!
I have to disagree with you. I think basketball requires a lot of coaching. True, most of the coaching and learning is done in practice and the execution of the learning is done in the games but do not doubt that coaching is a hard and time consuming task in the NBA. Look at Van Gundy's bags under his eyes from staying up at night watching tapes of the opponents and trying to figure out his opponents.
If that's the case, then why does everyone here seem to be saying all our players suck except for Yao. Many people say Francis is overrated, Mobley is a selfish one-dimensional player, Glen Rice is a geezer, Mo Taylor is a p***y, Moochie Norris is worthless, trading for Eddie Griffin was a huge mistake, etc. I would say over the half board has said things like this. When you think about it, how much talent do we really have?
Talkin about geyzers......OMG Steve Smith! What happened?!? No wonder he doesn't play anymore..below Stephen Jackson and Manu Ginobili. He is like slower and more rusty than Glen Rice!
*lol* Let Phil Jackson, Rick Adelman, Greg Pop', Don Nelson have Yao & Francis and they'd be the best inside-outside tandem in the NBA, sans Shaq & Kobe. Don't make it seem like Francis WOULDN'T be able to play in a system that fits Yao and Yao would be able to play in a system tha fits Francis. Francis has never had to b/c of the offense Rudy T implemented; Yao struggled in it. But these are both talented players and given time and enough coaching to play in an offense that compliments them BOTH they'd thrive. Not being able to have Yao and Francis on the same team would be the real crime fi you ask me...as opposed to having Yao adjust "Francis-friendly" system.
*lol* True. I bet evey player on the Rockets has been the scapegoat @ least once this season EXCEPT Yao -- as if he can do no wrong. It's all good, though...Yao is great, Francis is great...just get players that compliment them wel we (the Rockets) will be fine. To me Yao will need a great guard to play with b/c I don't he'll ever be as dominant as Shaq, Dream, Duncan, even a Ewing, D-Rob-type player. I think those Rik Smits comparisons aren't valid either b/c he'll be better than him. Greg Anthony Tom Tolbert and other analyst seem to think Yao will be a solid player...I think he'll be much better than solid, but not quite dominant; somewhere in between, y'know? That, along with the fact that he's a great passer, are reasons I don't think he could excel in a one-on-one offense. Francis will need a great player down low like Yao for the simple fact it will take soooo much pressure off of him to do it all. Also, defensively it makes things a lot easier. I think the Rockets would take a step back of they traded either Yao or Francis and not keep them both. Who was it that said give them a few years to play @ least (with Rudy) b/4 HOU blows this thing up.
I think enough is enough. 4 years is enough for rudy t. unfortunately, he might get another year considering his situation. Rudy is a good guy and hopefully he recovers from his illness. But I really do think it is time for him to step down. Maybe Les could give him a management job or something. The rockets desperately need a coach who can control the players. Someone who can inject a new system and not let the players just play and do their own thing. Rudy is a player's coach and that's all good. But his system do not fit the characters of players they have now. First of all they are young and inexperienced. I've been saying that they need someone from old-school (someone like Larry Brown, Frattelo, Van Gundy, Popovich) who can be tough on these guys. Van Gundy might be in the coaching staff of the Knicks who lost to the Rockets in the 94 Finals. But remember the series went to a maximum of 7 games. The Rox did not dominate the series. It could gone the other way.
Well there will never be a time where I would like to see him go, it'd be a heart-breaker no matter when it happened. Obviously, that's a big part of why he's still here in the first place. But anyways, I honestly don't know what I'd have to see to be convinced that Rudy's the main problem. I never believed in how the coach is so often one of the first people to receive credit/blame for a team's successes/failures. I mean, if Rudy could get us wins before (which he, nor any other coach ever has done on their own), what has changed in just a few years to make him completely unable to do that now? And I still have to take this back to one of the most overused arguments: None of this would be an issue had Rudy been able to stay with the Rockets at the end of the season cuz we'd be solidly in the playoffs, IMO.
FACTS: *Ex-Teammates Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, and Hakeem Olajuwon have all gone on record and said the young players Francis and Mobley did not want to listen to anybody, coaches or veterans. Instead, they clearly showed they wanted to "do things their way". *Rudy T developed many a CBA player into veteran NBA career players. Players that NOBODY thought were worth a damn. *Rudy T is well respected in the coaching community SPECULATION: *Rudy T can't control his guards Francis and Mobley, allowing them to continue taking low percentage shots instead of passing the ball into Yao I think the problem is the players and not the coach. I'm not close to the Rockets organization so I can't be sure. It just seems to me that that's where the facts lead. For Francis' first three years with the team, he was the only option and I can excuse Rudy for running the offense through Francis for those three years even though the result was a low percentage attack. The trend continued throughout Francis' 4th season and Yao's first season. I think Rudy gets a pass on this first season as it was the first season in which he was able to assess what he had. Now that he knows, I think he has to structure the offense to go through Yao, no more guard isolation. If 2004 season ends and this hasn't happened, I agree that it's time to fire Rudy.
I'm going to assume this is directed to me.. I have stated my opinion clearly...what about it was not clear to you? He has the 2 players that this team/system should be built around..everyone else are just pieces to the puzzle. Institute a system for next year that incorporates Yao and Steve's skills to their best advantage..make sure you have other players that are willing to work to that effect... That is what I want to see. If he cant/wont do it...then maybe we need someone that will. That is my viewpoint...plain and simple.
Dude, make sure you're here next year, same bat time, same bat channel.........I can't wait to hear your innovative comments then, I'd pay for a time machine just to hear them right now, If you think we shouldn't be in the playoffs gettin some experiance you're..............even getting booted in the first round would actually help this club, thats probably the next excuse however
OK, a late response. Better late than never. It's simple. We don't have Shaq and TMac. And, we currently don't have any players that are close to that level. If we did, there would be no question that we would be in the playoffs. When Rudy had Hakeem and Clyde (similar duo), we were in the playoffs every year. Unfortunately, age and injuries got the better of both of them eventually. But, for crying out loud Rudy has already proven that he can win it all, given the right players. How many active coaches can say they've won an NBA championship as a coach? You can count them on one hand. You actually end up proving yourself wrong by making this argument because the two best players in the league on this team, and we'd probably win the championship with Rudy coaching. End of story.
Oh, one more thing. Francis is a tremendous player, but he is overrated. He is a mediocre passer, turns the ball over too much, and has a totally inconsistent shot. Even with that, he is such a superior athlete that he can manage to do some amazing things and he is better than most. But, he will never be the best PG in the league. We all expect way too much out of Francis. What you see is what you get. You can bring in 20 different coaches and you're going to see the same basic Steve Francis. Let's not also forget -- those of us who think Steve is such a great player and just needs a different coach -- that Rudy is the coach that has been developing Francis into what he is. He won ROY. He has been a starter on the All-Star team for two seasons now. And, he loves Rudy as a coach. What does that tell you? Tells me that Rudy is doing something right.
Axeman, no one has shaq and t-mac on their team! duh! my point is that rudy apologists will make excuses for him regardless of the situation. i won't bother rehashing what has been said over and over in this post. i will ask you this: are you satisfied with the type of basketball that we play? are you satisfied with our player development? are you confident rudy can get 100% out of yao ming? oh...and please tell me why you believe it... and, would you please answer the original question that was posed? when you avoid answering, it makes it look like your a blind sheep that will follow rudy anywhere. if that's true, cool. i just want to gauge where you're coming from.
No..I thought the Rockets quality of play took a dip when KT left. KT was one of our most experienced starters..but at Philly hes the youngest player on their playoff roster(except for John Salmons, a rookie who dosent play). Our big men just had too much to learn and the guards were having to change their game to accomodate them. At Philly they use Keith Van Horne a lot like we use EG, VanHorne was drafted earlier than EG, is a vet.. and plays smarter..that said EG still shows promise to be a much better player that KVH is now. Its taken KVH 6 years to get where he is now. EG was in the 9th grade 6yrs ago. Derrick Coleman was a #1 just like Yao and at one time was expected to be the next big thing. Yao is already a better player than DC, but Coleman with 13 yrs experience doesnt neeed to be taught about the NBA and Philly sure dosent make a special effort to get him touches. Yao was 9yrs old when DC was selected #1. Expect EG and Yao to improve the type basketball they play as they get some NBA experience. Player development.. with the exception of Cat with 5yrs, every starter the Rockets have is developing..we dont have AI with 7yrs,. VanHorne 6yrs, DC 13yrs, and a raft of vet role players with starting experience in the NBA. But we do have a group of highly talented guys whose game will improve with experience. Yao Ming...I think he will be the next big thing. He must develop more aggressiveness in the post and hit the boards on both offense and defense. He has some stength building to do and some conditioning problems to overcome. The things Yao learned in China aren't enough to make him a great player in the NBA..the more touches the Rockets got him this year, the more his fg% plummeted, he has a lot of work to do and its not going to happen overnight.
Not 100%. But if those things alone are enough to fire a coach, then about 20 teams need to fire their coaches every year.
