Rockets Hire Adelman to Replace Van Gundy
By CHRIS DUNCAN, AP Sports Writer
Posted May 23 2007 3:39PM
<!--related items--><!--related video-->
Rockets Introduce Rick Adelman as Head Coach
The Houston Rockets held a press conference Wednesday to introduce Rick Adelman as their new head coach.
<!-- Close Dataset, get rid of cache -->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=40 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
Stephen Dunn/Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images
Rockets' new Head Coach Rick Adelman and former coach Jeff Van Gundy.
<SCRIPT> //Define properties of image var imageLocation = "/media/adelman_van_gundy.jpg"; var imageCaption = "Rockets' new Head Coach Rick Adelman and former coach Jeff Van Gundy."; var imageCredit = "Stephen Dunn/Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images"; var imageWidth = 0; var imageHeight = 0; var iFrameEmbed = false; var omitEmailPhoto = false; var imageLink = ""; var linkWindow = ""; </SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/js/emailPhotoLegacy.js"></SCRIPT>E-mail photo|Buy photos
<LINK href="http://www.nba.com/media/adelman_van_gundy.jpg" rel=image_src>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
HOUSTON, May, 23, 2007 (AP) -- The Houston Rockets have hired Rick Adelman to replace Jeff Van Gundy, hoping the veteran NBA coach can break the team's recent history of postseason flops.
"I always knew I was going to look for something eventually,'' Adelman said Tuesday night as he arrived at an airport in Houston, where he was met by team officials. "This is obviously just a great situation with the city, the organization. I'm really excited. This is a team that played so solid last year. You can build on that.''
The Rockets were set to introduce Adelman at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Adelman, 60, brings an up-tempo, high-scoring system to Houston, a stark contrast to Van Gundy's more defense-minded and methodical approach. Van Gundy was fired Friday after the Rockets were bounced from the opening round of the playoffs for the third time in his four seasons.
Adelman has been out of coaching since the Sacramento Kings chose not to renew his contract after the 2005-06 season. The Kings had a winning record and made the playoffs in each of Adelman's eight seasons.
The Rockets fired Van Gundy after the Rockets finished 52-30, their best regular-season record in 10 years, then lost to Utah in the first round. Houston went 182-146 under Van Gundy, but went 7-12 in three postseason appearances.
Adelman previously coached Golden State and Portland. The Trail Blazers made two NBA finals appearances under Adelman in 1990 and '92, losing both times. With the Kings, his teams were among the best and highest-scoring in the NBA but they couldn't get past the Lakers of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
Adelman has a 752-481 record in 16 seasons and his teams have made the playoffs 14 times. His teams made it out of the first round seven of those 14 times, and he is 70-68 in the playoffs. He reportedly met with Rockets owner Les Alexander and general manager Daryl Morey on May 11, when Van Gundy was still deciding whether he wanted to come back to coach the team.
Alexander has been unavailable for comment since Van Gundy was dismissed. Van Gundy said Alexander had issues with the team's slow style and wanted the Rockets to play more like the fast-breaking Phoenix Suns.
The Rockets only interviewed Adelman to replace Van Gundy and become the 11th coach in Rockets history.
"I've had a pretty good track record over the years,'' he said. "Obviously, they thought I could do something good here.''
Van Gundy succeeded Rudy Tomjanovich, who led the team to its only two championships, in 1994 and '95. The Rockets haven't won a playoff series since 1997.
Adelman became Portland's head coach in 1989 and Portland reached the finals the following year, losing to Detroit. The Blazers, led by Clyde Drexler, were back in the finals two years later and lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games.
Portland fired Adelman after the 1993-94 season. After two unsuccessful seasons with Golden State, Adelman moved to Sacramento and the Kings reached the playoffs in all eight seasons he was there.
He was dismissed after the Kings lost in the first round in 2006 to San Antonio. The Kings were eliminated in the first round four times during Adelman's tenure.
Adelman said the main draw of this job is the chance to coach Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.
"In this league, I learned a long time ago, it's a lot easier to coach when you have good players,'' Adelman said. "This team has that. I watched them at the end of last year, when they came to Portland. I was really impressed with the way they played.''
Morey said last week Adelman will have final say in choosing his own coaching staff. Tom Thibodeau, Van Gundy's top assistant, is seeking a head coaching job and has interviewed for the vacancy in Sacramento, Morey said.
Adelman said he's already thought about changes he'll make, though he wouldn't specify them upon arriving.
"Ever since we had our first interview, when I started talking to them, you look at it and say, 'Geez, what can you do with that team?''' he said. "The things we've done in the past will work for anybody. You just have to put players in good positions and they'll respond.''
Copyright 2006 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited
By CHRIS DUNCAN, AP Sports Writer
Posted May 23 2007 3:39PM
<!--related items--><!--related video-->
Rockets Introduce Rick Adelman as Head Coach
The Houston Rockets held a press conference Wednesday to introduce Rick Adelman as their new head coach. <!-- Close Dataset, get rid of cache -->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=40 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
Rockets' new Head Coach Rick Adelman and former coach Jeff Van Gundy.
<SCRIPT> //Define properties of image var imageLocation = "/media/adelman_van_gundy.jpg"; var imageCaption = "Rockets' new Head Coach Rick Adelman and former coach Jeff Van Gundy."; var imageCredit = "Stephen Dunn/Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images"; var imageWidth = 0; var imageHeight = 0; var iFrameEmbed = false; var omitEmailPhoto = false; var imageLink = ""; var linkWindow = ""; </SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/js/emailPhotoLegacy.js"></SCRIPT>E-mail photo|Buy photos
<LINK href="http://www.nba.com/media/adelman_van_gundy.jpg" rel=image_src>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
HOUSTON, May, 23, 2007 (AP) -- The Houston Rockets have hired Rick Adelman to replace Jeff Van Gundy, hoping the veteran NBA coach can break the team's recent history of postseason flops.
"I always knew I was going to look for something eventually,'' Adelman said Tuesday night as he arrived at an airport in Houston, where he was met by team officials. "This is obviously just a great situation with the city, the organization. I'm really excited. This is a team that played so solid last year. You can build on that.''
The Rockets were set to introduce Adelman at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Adelman, 60, brings an up-tempo, high-scoring system to Houston, a stark contrast to Van Gundy's more defense-minded and methodical approach. Van Gundy was fired Friday after the Rockets were bounced from the opening round of the playoffs for the third time in his four seasons.
Adelman has been out of coaching since the Sacramento Kings chose not to renew his contract after the 2005-06 season. The Kings had a winning record and made the playoffs in each of Adelman's eight seasons.
The Rockets fired Van Gundy after the Rockets finished 52-30, their best regular-season record in 10 years, then lost to Utah in the first round. Houston went 182-146 under Van Gundy, but went 7-12 in three postseason appearances.
Adelman previously coached Golden State and Portland. The Trail Blazers made two NBA finals appearances under Adelman in 1990 and '92, losing both times. With the Kings, his teams were among the best and highest-scoring in the NBA but they couldn't get past the Lakers of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
Adelman has a 752-481 record in 16 seasons and his teams have made the playoffs 14 times. His teams made it out of the first round seven of those 14 times, and he is 70-68 in the playoffs. He reportedly met with Rockets owner Les Alexander and general manager Daryl Morey on May 11, when Van Gundy was still deciding whether he wanted to come back to coach the team.
Alexander has been unavailable for comment since Van Gundy was dismissed. Van Gundy said Alexander had issues with the team's slow style and wanted the Rockets to play more like the fast-breaking Phoenix Suns.
The Rockets only interviewed Adelman to replace Van Gundy and become the 11th coach in Rockets history.
"I've had a pretty good track record over the years,'' he said. "Obviously, they thought I could do something good here.''
Van Gundy succeeded Rudy Tomjanovich, who led the team to its only two championships, in 1994 and '95. The Rockets haven't won a playoff series since 1997.
Adelman became Portland's head coach in 1989 and Portland reached the finals the following year, losing to Detroit. The Blazers, led by Clyde Drexler, were back in the finals two years later and lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games.
Portland fired Adelman after the 1993-94 season. After two unsuccessful seasons with Golden State, Adelman moved to Sacramento and the Kings reached the playoffs in all eight seasons he was there.
He was dismissed after the Kings lost in the first round in 2006 to San Antonio. The Kings were eliminated in the first round four times during Adelman's tenure.
Adelman said the main draw of this job is the chance to coach Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.
"In this league, I learned a long time ago, it's a lot easier to coach when you have good players,'' Adelman said. "This team has that. I watched them at the end of last year, when they came to Portland. I was really impressed with the way they played.''
Morey said last week Adelman will have final say in choosing his own coaching staff. Tom Thibodeau, Van Gundy's top assistant, is seeking a head coaching job and has interviewed for the vacancy in Sacramento, Morey said.
Adelman said he's already thought about changes he'll make, though he wouldn't specify them upon arriving.
"Ever since we had our first interview, when I started talking to them, you look at it and say, 'Geez, what can you do with that team?''' he said. "The things we've done in the past will work for anybody. You just have to put players in good positions and they'll respond.''
Copyright 2006 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited
