Houston Community News >> Yao's Home Fans Welcome New Head Coach
5/22/2007 -- Chinese fans have
hailed the appointment of Rick Adelman as the new coach of Houston Rockets, home
of All-Star center Yao Ming.
The Rockets fired Jeff Van Gundy after the team lost to Utah Jazz 4-3 in the
first round of the NBA Playoffs earlier this month and announced it has settled
on Adelman as leading candidate.
"The former head coach of Sacramento Kings had talks with Rockets chiefs and is
likely to take his new post in the coming days," Sohu.com reported yesterday.
"Van Gundy should be responsible for the humiliating setback and Adelman is a
good substitute."
In a poll conducted by the website, 53 per cent of fans believe Adelman is a
better coach for the Rockets while only 37 per cent said they are sorry for Van
Gundy's exit.
"I support Adelman for sure," said Liu Ailin, a member of the Rockets Fans
Circle, a fan group in Beijing. "I like his fast style and outside attack. This
is obviously a great move, the Rockets played dull basketball this season. They
should be more passionate as they have the best scorers in the league - Yao Ming
and Tracy McGrady. They should be more successful than they were in the
playoffs."
Adelman is reportedly Houston's only target since he met with Rockets owner
Leslie Alexander and general manager Daryl Morey last week. He has met several
times with Morey since.
Morey would not talk about Adelman specifically, but if hired, Adelman would
have the best career winning percentage of any Rockets coach.
Adelman, 60, is 752-481 in 16 seasons as an NBA coach, reaching the NBA Finals
with Portland in 1990 and 1992. He has a 70-68 postseason record. He also would
join Rudy Tomjanovich as the only former Rockets players to become coach.
Adelman took Sacramento to the Western Conference finals in the 2001-02 season,
losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime of Game 7. He was fired as Kings
coach after the 2005-06 season and did not coach last season.
Van Gundy himself said Adelman is the first choice to replace him.
"He is a great coach and an even better man," Van Gundy said. "They'll have
tremendous coaching coupled with a group of very, very good, hard-playing
professional players. Hopefully, they'll break through next year."
However, there was some sympathy for the departed coach.
"I will miss him, we shouldn't deny him just because we lost to the Jazz in the
first round," said Luo Qi, a Rockets fan in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. "The team
chemistry was good and the players were playing hard. The Rockets just need a
few more pieces to complete the roster to be the top team in the league."
Despite playing without Yao and McGrady or both for more than half the season,
the Rockets finished 52-30, their best record in 10 years.
Van Gundy is 430-318 in 11 seasons as an NBA coach, the best career winning
percentage of any of the Rockets' 10 previous coaches. His 182-146 record in
four seasons with the Rockets is second only to Rudy Tomjanovich.
(Contributed by China Daily)