This page requires registration so i'll post the link and text. http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/189100.html Rick Adelman needs a job. The Houston Rockets need a head coach. Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady need someone to speed up their attack and add a little flow to their halfcourt hustle. And owner Les Alexander needs someone he can commiserate with once in a while. So who better than Adelman? Really, no one. Sell It Yourself Excluding the last qualification -- the one about returning the boss's phone calls -- the Rockets' anticipated hiring of the Kings' former coach offers a safe, soft landing and concludes the embarrassingly bizarre Jeff Van Gundy departure. The respected Van Gundy didn't want to stay. Then he wanted to stay. Then the Rockets wanted him to stay. Then they didn't want him to stay. Then everyone finally agreed that the owner was married to someone who preached defense (Van Gundy), was attracted to someone who favored offense (Adelman), and that the only way to resolve their differences was to part ways. And you thought the Eric Musselman meet and greet -- and be gone -- saga was weird? While Van Gundy was debating whether he wanted to return, he indirectly endorsed his apparent successor. "He (Alexander) wanted to be faster, Phoenix-like," Van Gundy told the Houston Chronicle. "I said, 'You owe it to yourself to go and search for someone if there's a better fit ... ' " Coaching in the NBA is a niche sport. It's all about fit. Don Nelson was a hit in Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State and out of work in weeks in New York. Rudy Tomjanovich was an icon in Houston and a quick escapee from L.A. Pat Riley is tremendous with a healthy and talented roster, not so tremendous with a bunch of stiffs. Gregg Popovich was born to coach Tim Duncan. Jerry Sloan is the Utah Jazz. Adelman, who took Portland to the NBA Finals twice and the Kings to eight consecutive postseasons, yet struggled with an underwhelming Warriors roster, will excel with the Rockets for several reasons, not the least of which is his experience coaching skilled centers and unconventional guards. Following his one-year respite, he will devise a system that exploits Yao's passing abilities -- much as he did with Vlade Divac and Brad Miller -- features the gifted McGrady, and creates openings and angles for entry passes. And here's another reason this marriage should be fruitful: Yao and McGrady are class acts and willing pupils. This is not a young Jason Williams and his encouraging older sidekick, Chris Webber. Latrell Sprewell doesn't reside anywhere near the Toyota Center, either. Barring some unforeseen offseason personnel moves, Adelman should be free from polarizing discussions about the appropriate supervision of Williams, about the benefits and detriments of a loose locker room, about whether indulging ailing former stars prevents conflict or, as some of us contend, merely serves as a prelude to a bitter ending. The major criticisms -- here and elsewhere -- of Adelman during his eight-year tenure in Sacramento can be condensed into his dealings with Webber post-knee surgery. Specifically: Why he continued enabling his limping power forward when everyone with two eyes and a television knew Miller and Divac belonged in the lineup. Miller was never the same. Nor were the 2003-04 Kings. A demoralized Divac signed with the Lakers. Peja Stojakovic asked for a trade. Mike Bibby became permanently conditioned to a slow-paced offense, the predictable two-man game on the left side of the floor. And be clear about this: The Rockets won't become sprinters merely because Adelman is the coach. What he will do is implement a system that emphasizes movement and screens, capitalizes on his players' individual talents and leans heavily on offense. Other than their considerable reputations and mutual respect, the only things Adelman and Van Gundy really have in common are that both can be sour-faced and a little prickly, and not particularly accommodating to the people who sign their substantial paychecks. (This also drove the Maloofs to distraction.) This time, Rick? When the boss calls? Pick up the phone, at least once in a while.
exactly, the only time i see any movement on our offense is JVG paces the sidelines. JVG basically put al lthe creativity of this offense on tmac.
It seems like a Rockets fan's dreams can come true. The Dream coaching Yao and a system that will use all of Yao's tools. Can't wait until the season starts!
I can't really say I'm surprised. There's only less than a handful of coaches that wouldn't want to test their skills with T-Mac and Yao. Defense is mostly hustle and motivation. I never thought it took a brain surgeon like JVG to preach defense. But it dies take someone like Adelman to draw up good offensive plays.
plain and simple: the rockets have never been effecient or profficeint at executing on offense. this is the reason we can't get out of the first round. the teams which execute the best usually win the series. the top teams in the league shoot a high fg% and get a high # of asts. now we will be among the elite. already a top 5 overall record (only behind contenders dal, pho, sas, det), the rockets will now make a big jump to catch the big 3 out west...possibly forming a big 4 in which any of those teams can win it all.
Um, we finished fourth in the west this year despite big injuy issues - whether or not you call it "the big 4" is kind of silly - it seems like you're saying we should go sideways. Then our players missed a lot of open shots in the playoffs. YOu think a magic offense might save things - but if open shots are missed than its irrelevant.
Having no flow on offense and no rythym in your shots because you have become one-dimensional on that side of the court due to simplistic schemes, short benches, and lack of creativity cause you to miss shots.
I can't wait till next season starts. The first half of the season is gonna be REAL sloppy. There's already all these talks about up-tempo, Yao's 3-pointers, Yao's fancy passes, etc. and we don't even know what Adelman is gonna do. I feel like the players are gonna get all these freedom on the offensive end that they would have never even dreamed of seeing under JVG and not knowing what to do. To be fair, I'm not expecting the Rockets to have that much playoff success next season. However I am expecting a much, much more entertaining ball. It's the first season. I don't see the Rockets going further than the second round. At least not with the team we have as of now. I can't wait till draft day comes and the FA and trading frenzy starts!!!
Did JVGs system magically have less complex schemes and less creativity in the playoffs than in the regular season? Because Head shot a blistering 44% from downtown in the regular season and a miserable 26.1 percent in the playoffs. If the offense did change that drastically, why wsa Battier able to take his three point shooting from 42.1% to 44.2%. Was the offense simplistic for Head but complex and nuanced for Battier? Or isn't it possible that some guys stepped up and others checked out come playoff time?
It is strange that Head and Juwan were all but absent in the playoffs. It would have taken just a little morre offense from anyone to get us past Utah in one game. This is not the fault of the coach- just lack of clutch time effort from a few players. I do not understand with so much on the line.
Seems like alot of you over look this part: The performance of the offense has to do with the quality of the roster. I'm hoping for improvement next year and that we bring in some younger players that have room to develope rather than more average veterans who have peaked or are past their peak. Just keep in mind that Sacramento fired Adelman just like the Rockets fired JVG. The coach can only do so much. Still I'm sure it will be an interesting journey seeing how it all works out
Howard at least had a hot game 5 and contirbuted in other respects... His shooting was just off in parts of the series... same kind of open shots he got alll year, he misssed.... Head is a bit differetn... it seems they really closed out on him, and basically dared him to drive past them and make something happen... he just couldn't either shoot over the closing defenders or do much damage with his drives. At least for this series... I think Rafer might have finished drives better than Head... and that's horrible. Chuck, too, was neutralized effectively because he's essentially a one-trick specialist. If you put a body on him, he's much less effective.
I don't blame JVG for players missing shots in crunch time, but I do blame his offense for relying too much on long jumpers and 3-pointers. Maybe with a little motion on offense, we can actually get a layup or two for a change.
call it what you want. the point was not in the title or grouping of our team as much as making a point that we will join the powerhouses. all will have a chance at the ring just like the top 3 all had a good chance of winning it this year. the point was that i believe with adleman as the coach we would've still been playing. the jazz didn't have to out execute us. if we matched them in that area we would've won the series. the same goes for the next round against golden state. maybe next year with a piece or two added to compliment R' system we won't have to worry about utah or golden state, just dallas, san antonio, and phoenix... or rather, they will have to worry about us.
Right, and you see this is one of Assistant coach Gundy's weaknesses. He sticks with things that don't work. Stevie Wonder could see that this team needed to do something different to get going, but he overrated Tracy McGrady thinking he can be superman on his lonesome when they needed a collective effort. That's how they won in the regualar season with Yao's injury, but apparently he didn't learn from that. Oh well, bye bye. No more calling the same pick and roll for 40 of 48 minutes
