Sports

If Rockets fail, it may be time for Rudy T to go

Cougar Pause

Christian Schmidt

The Houston Rockets might not make the playoffs, and that should be a disappointment to all the fans of the team.

If the team does not beat out the Phoenix Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, it would be the fourth consecutive year the team didnit make the playoffs.

And if that happens, head coach Rudy Tomjanovich shouldnit be the coach next season.

No NBA coach has ever survived four consecutive seasons of not making the playoffs, and Tomjanovich has had his chances.

The team is the second youngest in the league, but it is far more talented than it has shown this year. This team should have secured a playoff spot with far less trouble.

The Rockets have Steve Francis, a two-time All-Star point guard who is arguably one of the top 10 players in the league. And his supporting cast isnit shabby either.

Center Yao Ming has become a solid player in his rookie season, averaging more than 13 points and seven rebounds a game.

Shooting guard Cuttino Mobley is still an explosive scorer, if a bit suspect on defense, and the forward duo of Eddie Griffin and James Posey is young, athletic and talented.

Griffin hasnit lived up to the potential that made him the No. 3 overall pick, and that lack of development has to be blamed on the coaching staff.

Tomjanovich won two NBA titles with the Rockets in the 1993-94 and i94-95 seasons with former players Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

With that team, Tomjanovichis double-post offense was perfect, utilizing the inside skills of Olajuwon and talented perimeter shooters like Sam Cassell.

But Tomjanovich and general manager Carroll Dawson havenit brought in the necessary talent to make the team better.

They traded pieces of the championship teams for aging veterans (Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen) in an effort to win another championship, which never materialized.

Once Olajuwon, Drexler, Pippen and Barkley left, the team had no winning talent left.

The Rockets management started drafting players for the future, planning to struggle for several seasons until the young players matured into talented veterans.

The time for those young players to mature is now. Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley are in their fourth and fifth years, respectively, and they should be the leaders of a young, playoff-bound team.

Tomjanovich hasnit been able to create a new offense that best utilizes the talents of the players on his roster.

Francis has only begun looking more comfortable in the past few weeks, and Mobley still throws up far too many bad shots. Griffin has shown almost no improvement from his first season to his second.

Rudy Tomjanovich is on a leave of absence from the Rockets while he gets treated for bladder cancer. Everyone wishes Tomjanovich the best in his recovery, and we all hope the Rockets win some games down the stretch and beat out the Suns for that final playoff spot.

But if they donit, it just might be time for a change. Tomjanovich and Dawson have had plenty of chances to make this team better.

Until then, seven games are left to go, and the Rockets are just one game behind the Suns.

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