The Houston Rockets announced on Monday that Rick Adelman would not be back as the team’s head coach after four seasons on the job. The sides mutually agreed to part ways and it’s pretty obvious there was a divergence regarding the way the team should be run. Adelman was discouraged by all the trades management made. From the time he took the job to now, only two players have remained with the team — Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes. That’s a lot different from the team led by Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady Adelman envisioned he’d be coaching when he got the job.
Despite the differences in philosophy, Adelman led Houston to a 193-135 record giving him the highest winning percentage in franchise history. He also helped the organization break its streak of seven consecutive first-round losses in the playoffs. He got a lot out of his players including Hayes and Scola, and he helped Carl Landry become an extremely valuable player.
Matter of fact, Landry who is now with the Hornets, had nothing but praise for Adelman after learning of the firing. “Is it true that the Houston Rockets let Rick Adelman go?” Landry asked on twitter. He followed it up saying “The man wins 50 games every year without T Mac and Yao and you get rid of him? I don’t understand … Thanks coach Adelman on helping me become the player I am today.”
What Landry has become is a strong bench player who can give you 26-27 minutes per game of scoring and energy. In his third year in the league, he emerged as a 16-point-per-game scorer for the Rockets before being traded to Sacramento for Kevin Martin. Landry didn’t appear to have much going for him his first two years in the league, but Adelman surely helped him reach a new level. I don’t know who Houston will hire next, but it will be tough to find someone better than Rick.
