There is nothing more moronic to me than a fan calling Rudy a moron for essentially not fielding the same line-up for 48 minutes. Next time you see a "wacky line-up" in the game, at least please, look at the line-up the other team is fielding in response. Rudy gets blasted for a short line-up once again, and gets called a "moron", yet the Spurs were fielding 3 guards, a SF and Duncan, too. I'm so sorry KT is shorter than Duncan. But it is not moronic to go small when we see the other team go small, too. please, look at the other line-up whenever you want to break a beer bottle on your head over who is in the game for us. Try to figure it out. Give the coach the respect to at least do that before calling him a moron.
Duncan is a true 7 footer. KT is all of 6'7". Oh I can see where we matched up real well on that one. Get your eyes checked! Mo or even Los should have been in the game. And don't leave out Walt! He was part of the wacky rotation. Collier has also been sitting on the bench what about him? Oh I guess according to you KT was our only choice and should have been in there with Walt! ------------------
I have no problem with putting our best guys on the floor most of the time, small, tall, whatever............. Our guys have a winning record on the road for a reason (we are better than our overall record shows, but we a are inconsistent). We have beaten some of the better teams in the league for a reason (we create mismatches). But, San Antonio beats us every time for a reason (height). They had 12 blocks on us last night to our 4. (i didn't call anyone a moron and these comments are really off the posted topic) ------------------
Ok I wouldn't go as far as verbally calling Rudy a moron, but his coaching abilities and his rotations are "MORANIC". What is it gonna take for Carlos to get more minutes? Everytime he comes into the game he does nothing but positive things. He also plays way better defense than Kenny does in the post and when Kenny isnt finishing point blank shot in the paint then he is useless. I love Kenny's hustle and heart but unfortunately GOD didn't bless him with enough height to play his position or any other attribute to make up his shortcoming like Barkely was able to do. And ok so at what point in the game is it ok to let 6'7" Kenny Thomas guard 7'0" Duncan? Never, I dont care if it is small ball, tall ball or Rudy Ball. That matchup should never happen, unless in the case of the last game in Houston where we didnt have a choice since all of the big men were hurt. Too long we have been defending Rudy and his coaching abilities with the phrase "Well he led us to two championships" That is getting old and he needs lay off the drink and study up on the Xs and O's of the game. ------------------ Rockets Season Ticket Holder
One thing we need to keep in mind is not only was Kenny Thomas matching up against Duncan, but Duncan was matching up against Thomas on the other end. Thomas is supposed to pull Duncan away from the basket so all the little guys can drive. Another thing we need to keep in mind is, everyone keeps saying Rogers needs to be in, he's better than Thomas. Well where is he? I agree that he has shown some things when he 's been in, but I don't see what goes on in practice, there has to be a reason he's not in there and I'm in no position to second guess anyone about what it is. j ------------------
Rudy T is just doing the best he can with what he has. Hakeem has become a cancer. Cato is still out. The team has potential trade bait and players may hear rumblings about being moved, for whatever reason, and lose motivation; and Shandon, Walt, and KT have flat-out sucked recently, possibly for the reason stated above, possibly for other reasons. All the players know the team wants to make the playoffs, and this is how they perform? I can't blame Rudy very much for getting mediocre results from mediocre players. Steve and Cat can't do everything. ------------------
Hakeem a cancer? I think you are taking his comments a little too far. A cancer would be Rodman, or Isaiah Rider...not Hakeem. He says a few things about playing elsewhere and you start calling him a cancer...I disagree with what he has been saying but I still think we need him on this team and still think he can help us out to an extent. And about Walt, he hasn't just sucked recently, its been just about all season. He has a good game here and there, but overall he has sucked. Shandon is on a slump I guess, and KT has been overmatched latley. ------------------ "Steve is good. Steve is real good." -- Cleveland's rookie point guard Andre Miller on Rocket rookie point Steve Francis
heypartner's right, you have to put a unit on the floor that can match up with what the other team is putting out there. ------------------ The whole world we travel with our thoughts, Finding nowhere anyone as precious as one's own self. Since each and every person is so precious to themselves Let the self-respecting harm no other being. -from the Samyutta Nikaya
Man, if Carlos Rogers is our answer to Tim Duncan, we are in deep ****! We are a lottery team facing one of the best teams in the Western Conference, we lose by a missed 3 and everyone is complaining because...? heypartner is exactly right. The rotations on the floor were based on who was best suited to be out there at the time. KT may not be a good matchup against Duncan but we don't have anyone to match up with him. Few teams do and the Rockets are particularly short-handed inside. We have one of the worst defenses in basketball and our home record is worse than our road record. We just got waxed by the Clippers. Our aging star is wanting the ball more or a trade or a release despite the fact he is wheezing his way up and down the court and getting schooled by centers he used to dominate. We have two very young emerging stars who still make a lot of youthful mistakes. This is a BAD team. If the West wasn't so damn deep, we wouldn't even be close to fighting for a potential playoff spot at the moment. The reality is this team has a long way to go before it is in contention for anything but the winning lottery pick. If putting in Carlos Rogers is our best option, we are obviously out of options. ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
Jeff, I'm not quite sure what you mean here. If the West wasn't deep, we'd be in the playoffs. Look at the East. There would be less competition in terms of playoff positioning, and a much easier schedule. I don't get how the West not being as deep would make us a worse team. I don't think that's true-- look around the league at the backup centers. Carlos is better than half of them imho. That's a testament to the lack of centers these days, not to the Rockets being out of options. I don't think you are being fair to the Rockets here Jeff. We are not a bad team. Our defense is not that bad, particularly statistically speaking. We are a young talented team that will have its ups and downs. Right now we are in a down stretch. But that doesn't make us a BAD team. Coincidentally, earlier this season we played excellent defense against the Lakers and waxed them, like the Clippers waxed us. We are young and inconsistent-- but I don't think BAD is the correct term at all. ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Teams win and lose games, not individuals. Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
The one thing that surprises me, is that our defense doesn't force many turnovers. Usually young athletic teams get lots of steas, but that's not the case (with us or the Clippers). I think the Rockets need to look seriously-do we have the pure talent to win here, or do we need to make a move that gives us the chance. Our quality big men are very limited right now, question I have is-how did Olajuwon get more shots than Mo in 8 less minutes, and how did Walt get only 2 less shots than Mo in practically half the minutes (really only one if you discount the forced heave). Walt shot freaking 1-10. Our FG% lately has been garbage, and thus far, Mo's hovered around 50%. Most games, we have no presence down low, offensively OR defensively. Part of that blame should probably go to the guards, who need to get more aware where they are. ------------------ The Serious Police are watching. Follow the rules or be assimilated. Shandon is underrated.
Well he may not be the answer but he sure is a better answer than Kenny "stumpy" Thomas. If you just watch Carlos while he is in the game and the little things that he does. He doesnt play bad defense either. Rudy lately hasn't been coaching too smart. H*ll for the whole season. Carlos would make Tim work 10 times harder. This is a not a bad team, they just have a bad coach who makes stupid decisions at key times in the game. I think you need to give Carlos a little more credit and take a little harder look at Mr. Rudy T. I have seen other coaches do more with less, ie., Doc Rivers with Orlando. ------------------ Rockets Season Ticket Holder
What if with that combo, we get on a 10-0 run? Would you still be calling him a moron? My point is that it's a gamble when you play small ball...sometimes you make them match up with you, sometimes you have to match up with them...sometimes you win, sometimes you don't....if that combination isn't working and rudy leaves them in there for the long long stretches, then you could call him a moron... [This message has been edited by ChenZhen (edited February 04, 2001).]
the one point i have seen here that has yet to be refuted - at least well refuted - is the most obvious one: that Rudy should have had carlos in instead of kt. that's a simple truth. the only was kt stays in that long is if he's hitting the outside shot or making tim do something uncomfortable or just making an impact somewhere. for those that are backing rudy's decision on this, or if your name is jeff, and you paint yourself (in this thread) as a rudy apologist, answer a simple question: who had a larger impact on the game: carlos rogers or kenny thomas? my answer is carlos, unless you're speaking in negative terms.
The Rockets are more talented than 3/4 of the teams in the league, I think. They are underacheiving big-time, because Rudy does not coach defense anymore. One game they will play great defense, and win. The next, they give up 120 points. Rudy needs to coach defense first, and remind them to play defense in EVERY game. They have the personel to be a great team, defensively and offensively, they just need to put in a consistent effort every game. By the way, Carlos is a great hustler. Something that every good team has. The Rockets should take advantage of him. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
It amazes me how many fans here think they can coach a professional basketball team not knowing how difficult it is... verse, what if KT found his touch and draws duncan out and allowing our penatrators to roam free inside? ------------------
I cant see why Rogers wasnt in the game guarding Duncan after how weel he has been playing. Is rogers injured or something? He could have probably guarded duncan much better than kt.. ------------------
I've rarely criticized Rudy since the '99 playoffs, but the only complaint I had, and it was a MAJOR one, was that Hakeem should have been on Duncan in about the last 6 minutes of the game, or at the very least for the last 3 minutes. Hakeem was in the game during this time (last 3 minutes), and there is just no excuse for him not being on Duncan. I say put him on Duncan and make Robinson beat you by trying to post Mo. Don't just let Duncan have a field day in the final minutes of the game.
Why do people cling to the "match height with height" philosophy? I just don't get the logic. You match or counter in other ways as well. There are so many complexities to the game of basketball and matchups. I gotta go with Heypartner on this one. An example I can think of, back in junior college, was against a rival team in McLennan County. They were always strong and always had BIG centers and PF's. This particular year, they had a 7 footer in the paint. Now, what they thought they would do, since they had a monster in the paint, is send their guards to the other end anytime we would shoot a perimeter shot. They figured, their big man would get all the boards, throw the outlet pass down court, and get some easy scores. However, we went with a smaller, quicker, 3 guard rotation, along with the forwards who could shoot the ball from the outside. That pulled the big guy out some, and to counter him getting all those boards....we in turn sent our guards to the glass. We were quicker to the ball and ended up getting a lot of offensive boards and easy putbacks with their guards streaking to the other end. I know, this is JUCO ball, but my point is, you don't always play height with height or quickness with quickness. ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
