Rick Adelman in Houston
- Thread starter Bricklayer
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Depends on whether they can hang on for a top 4 seed after this streak is over. Tough schedule coming up, and the lack of talent has to catch up with this at some point. Doesn't it?
Doc Rivers (perhaps stained by the tanking last year), Byron Scott, Stan Van Gundy, Phil Jackson though will all be stiff competition. Jerry Sloan may also garner some sympathy votes for lengetivity.
If Phil Jackson gets it - then I don't get it! Lakers were languishing around the 6th seed until they literally stole Pau Gasol away from Memphis. Maybe Mitch K. for GM of the year - but no coach of the year too. I'd say Rick Adelman deserves top consideration if his Rockets finish really strong similar to the tear they're currently on. Jerry Sloan definitely deserves it if there's no clear front runner for COY at seasons end.
LA was the 1 seed in the West when Bynum went down. As rare as that award goes to Jackson-Riley types, he may have been a serious candidate before the Gasol trade. Now LA's fully expected to win. The Jazz have been considered a "good team" since the Summer, so I doubt Sloan is a serious candidate. Scott seems like the most likely candidate. He's been coaching NO to a good record all year. While they have talent, I wouldn't say it's extreme talent (beyond Paul). Adelman probably will get snubbed in a tight race unless he can manage a better record than NO. Even then, the voters would have to put more emphasis on Houston's success w/o Yao than on NO's success ALL year w/o a center the caliber of a Yao.
Scott may be an old Laker, but the above is clearly just a slight slant on the whole thought process. Yes New Orleans did not have Yao all year, but they did have a pretty damn good center themselves in Chandler, and an All-Star PF to boot. I think Scott and Doc are the frontrunners, but its not because Scott has been coaching the sisters of the poor.
I'm just going by what "only human" voters might perceive, or at least what I would if I were one of them. They may see Yao and Tmac and a team that did well last year vs the Hornets who:
-moved back to NO this year
-missed POs last year
-don't have a Yao (Chandler's good, but he's not a household name; David West probably isn't known even by casual NBA fans)
-were the top seed on and off for nearly 3 months, etc.
Doc Rivers won't get it for coaching KG, PP, RayRay...he won it in Orlando in 2000 vs Jackson because he had a Shaq. I think it's "who's the biggest underdog" pretty much every year. Scott has a good team, but compared to the other powers of the league, he's probably overachieving more than the rest. Plus, he's from the demonstrative Riles school of "practice, practice, practice". That kind of thing probably appeals to the voters.
-moved back to NO this year
-missed POs last year
-don't have a Yao (Chandler's good, but he's not a household name; David West probably isn't known even by casual NBA fans)
-were the top seed on and off for nearly 3 months, etc.
Doc Rivers won't get it for coaching KG, PP, RayRay...he won it in Orlando in 2000 vs Jackson because he had a Shaq. I think it's "who's the biggest underdog" pretty much every year. Scott has a good team, but compared to the other powers of the league, he's probably overachieving more than the rest. Plus, he's from the demonstrative Riles school of "practice, practice, practice". That kind of thing probably appeals to the voters.
21, and the second longest streak in NBA history now.
Also 9-0 since losing Yao. And 4-0 since losing Carl Landry. In fact its going so well that they signed a scrub named Mike Harris who they had in training camp to fill in for Landry and he puts up 12pts 4rebs for them.
Tied up the Lakers for #1 in the West at 45-20. And sets up the big showdown this weekend. Now Pau looks like he may have sprained his ankle too, so it might even be a more or less even battle.
Also 9-0 since losing Yao. And 4-0 since losing Carl Landry. In fact its going so well that they signed a scrub named Mike Harris who they had in training camp to fill in for Landry and he puts up 12pts 4rebs for them.
Tied up the Lakers for #1 in the West at 45-20. And sets up the big showdown this weekend. Now Pau looks like he may have sprained his ankle too, so it might even be a more or less even battle.
Man this streak has been simply unbelievable. I don't even know what to say after these games anymore. We've lost Yao and Carl Landry for stretches and yet keep chugging along. And its cliche as hell to say someone always steps up but really that's pretty much it. This time is absolutely flawed in its makeup with zero post presence now and an overly large reliance on jumpshots but grit and hustle are just carrying us.
Props to Adelman on this run, I think he's done a lot of things that a lot of Kings fans unfairly accused him of not doing. The Rockets are playing phenomenal defense right now and I think we've heard to know end that it was Adelman who couldn't coach it. But wow they've been great. And secondly, he's been willing to play anyone. Today we play a guy we picked up off the street for a good chunk of time in the second half. I think we've heard over and over about Adelman's conservative rotations, but he's been anything but conservative. He's basically tried everything and seen if it works. He said it himself, you can try a lot of things in a single NBA game. Putting in a new guy for 2 minutes won't break the game but it can show you something good. Exhibit A - Mike Harris.
Props to Adelman and props to Morey who in my opinion is hands down the GM of the year with all the under the radar moves he's made with a team that was at the cusp of the luxury tax. It's been a fun year.
Props to Adelman on this run, I think he's done a lot of things that a lot of Kings fans unfairly accused him of not doing. The Rockets are playing phenomenal defense right now and I think we've heard to know end that it was Adelman who couldn't coach it. But wow they've been great. And secondly, he's been willing to play anyone. Today we play a guy we picked up off the street for a good chunk of time in the second half. I think we've heard over and over about Adelman's conservative rotations, but he's been anything but conservative. He's basically tried everything and seen if it works. He said it himself, you can try a lot of things in a single NBA game. Putting in a new guy for 2 minutes won't break the game but it can show you something good. Exhibit A - Mike Harris.
Props to Adelman and props to Morey who in my opinion is hands down the GM of the year with all the under the radar moves he's made with a team that was at the cusp of the luxury tax. It's been a fun year.
the knock on adelman was not his no defense style; that was actually a myth created by outsiders. adelman knows how to optimize his players' efficiency. the kings, when they were the best team in the nba, were a pretty good defensive team.
adelman is conservative. it looks like he has a certain template in his head for how the team and the players should play and rarely does he let anyone go outside of that. this template forms during his first few months with a new team, it seems. once it is set, it is very hard to change it.
this does not necessarily mean that he does not play youngsters which is not true. his positive impact on peja's career is undeniable. on the other hand, he almost ruined the careers of hedo and gerald.
but that he is very rigid in his style of play means that he does not take risks when he has to. he rides his trusted players even though for one game, one instant there is a better combination. that is why i think he will always be a damn fine coach who will make his teams win a lot of games, have exciting seasons, deep playoff runs while never going all the way, much like sysiphus.
adelman is conservative. it looks like he has a certain template in his head for how the team and the players should play and rarely does he let anyone go outside of that. this template forms during his first few months with a new team, it seems. once it is set, it is very hard to change it.
this does not necessarily mean that he does not play youngsters which is not true. his positive impact on peja's career is undeniable. on the other hand, he almost ruined the careers of hedo and gerald.
but that he is very rigid in his style of play means that he does not take risks when he has to. he rides his trusted players even though for one game, one instant there is a better combination. that is why i think he will always be a damn fine coach who will make his teams win a lot of games, have exciting seasons, deep playoff runs while never going all the way, much like sysiphus.
Rick Adelman is so much like Jerry Sloan it's almost clone-like - except for longevity with a single NBA franchise. Adelman is 6th all-time in wins for NBA coaches, Sloan 4th. Adelman has 70 playoff wins for 10th all-time, with Sloan collecting 78 playoff wins for 7th on that list. Sloan never won an NBA title, but got to the championship round a couple times, with Adelman getting there once. Obviously, their careers as NBA coaches rank very similar and many would say snake bitten as far as getting close with no cigar.
WORD! Nice comparison, although they both have been to the championship twice, I think, which makes the comparison even better. 
Honestly, can't we just be happy for Rick without the "see Maloofs - we told you so."
I went on record as saying that I would have signed RA to another contract. I think he is a great coach. TPTB decided to go another way. Perhaps, they felt that RA had his chance to win it all and they decided to give someone else a chance. Fine. I can live with that decision...hopefully everyone else can too.
I went on record as saying that I would have signed RA to another contract. I think he is a great coach. TPTB decided to go another way. Perhaps, they felt that RA had his chance to win it all and they decided to give someone else a chance. Fine. I can live with that decision...hopefully everyone else can too.
Read my comments again. In response to supamari0, who thought the majority of Kings fans were down on Adelman, I pointed out that it wasn't necessarily true across the board. And I added that someone convinced the Maloofs that Adelman wasn't right for them. I fail to see the problem with either of those statements.
And this is primarily not about the Kings. This is about the fantastic job Adelman is now doing in Houston, pretty much putting to rest a lot of the more baseless criticisms of him and his style of coaching. And that includes the Maloofs. But again, you're taking things a little out of context and putting the emphasis on the wrong part of my comments, I believe.
I told supamari0 to enjoy every bit of the ride and I mean it. And I certainly believe that our loss was his gain.
And this is primarily not about the Kings. This is about the fantastic job Adelman is now doing in Houston, pretty much putting to rest a lot of the more baseless criticisms of him and his style of coaching. And that includes the Maloofs. But again, you're taking things a little out of context and putting the emphasis on the wrong part of my comments, I believe.
I told supamari0 to enjoy every bit of the ride and I mean it. And I certainly believe that our loss was his gain.
If she wants to let it go, I will be happy to take it up.
The Maloofs were idiots about Rick. Period. Thought they knew jack and squat. Did not. Listened to a slimewad whispering in their ear angling for the job, a vociferous columnist (who they fed information too), assumed that winning was a right and automatic for them because they were special, not a privilege that had everything to do with the very people for whom they had developed so much misplaced disdain. They were spoiled. And yes, idiots. And because they were idiots, and they ran the show, we are all still paying for it to this day.
Congrats to Rick for the streak. For another 50 win season. For 800 wins. And congrats to Rick for sticking it to the Maloofs too, in a quiet understated manner as always. All he does is coach a helluva game. And all he did was deliver 8 of the 9 playoff seasons in Sacramento history while he was here. Even if the decision was made to go another way, that deserverd FAR more respect on the way out the door than was ever remotely shown.
And so now he is in the record books for a different franchise. Almost surely in the playoffs for a different franchise (which will make it something like 16 playoff seasons in 18 years). Even brought along nearly his entire maligned staff to do it, and sprinkled in a few ex-Kings players. And so it is both about the streak they are having, and about us as well. Good for him. Good for them. And sad for us. This isn't just any coach doing this -- this is our coach doing it.
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