Were would the Lakers be if Rudy Stayed? Here's a hypothetical question. Would the Lakers have been better if Rudy T had stayed for the whole season?
They were 6th, and looking like a competive squad. They tanked after Rudy was forced to bail (reminding me of the Larry Smith Rox, only worse).
Out of the playoffs with a .500 or very close to .500 record. They just played hard every minute for Rudy T and that would make all the difference, they haven't played like that in a long while. Although, it wasn't ever all that pretty to watch, but it was cool to see Rudy get yet another team to play hard and make up for their lack of talent at times. Oh and the reason they'd still be out of the playoffs is because a coach can't stop injuries, their three best players missed a lot of games, their third best player basically missed the entire season.
The Laker's early season record was very deceptive. They played a huge chunk of their home games early on. If Rudy had stayed, they might have gotten a winning record, but I doubt they would have made the playoffs.
Like Barkley said "The lakers are one injury away from a bad season.." and thats what happened, no coach can keep that team playing well without Kobe for almost 10 games Vlade out for the season and other role player out for little stuff... WOW, pigs do fly... Barkley got one right!!
Kobe, like Scottie Pippen or Stephon Marbury or Dominique Williams, is a great player, but not one who makes his teammates better. He's the perfect 2nd option on a great team, and he hits big shots, but if he's your franchise your team just isn't going to be upper-eschelon. He does everything right, in terms of defense and work ethic and what not, but he's just not a leader. He's got a Jordan ego, but he's not Jordan. I can't blame Rudy for ditching that team, he saw the handwriting on the wall.
Given the Nuggets late season surge, Odom and Kobe's injuries, and their brutal late season schedule, I don't think any coach could've led them to the playoffs. Rudy could've gotten a few more wins out of them, but it would've taken around 45 wins minimum to get into the postseason in the West. There's no way he could've pulled that off.
Odom got injured. Chucky was grumbling when Kobe came back with his 35 shots, and Caron just didn't play until Odom was out and Kobe didn't care anymore. It's hard, but Rudy left at the right time. There were already rumors of shouting between them and the schedule up ahead would've put Rudy back on the wagon plus ulcers. In all the mess, you heard nothing from Jerry Buss. There was no vote of confidence and after Rudy left, the Lakers lost the distinction of being one of the top 5 teams in rebounding. Seeing their crowd at Staples was pretty pathetic. The fans were either silent or looked at my seat in disgust. I was cheering against the Lakers unopposed.
injuries of course rudy could not have stopped, but there was a clear difference in the games where rudy coach with the full squad (minus vlade) and the ones with hamblen. the rudy coached teams fought harder and knew their roles, even minor role players came in contributed. they were much more cohesive as a unit. when hamblen came in and brought the triangle so kobe could get more touches things started tumbling down. players didnt know their roles and spots and many lost confidence. kobe of course became more of an alienator when the triangle was in place than when rudy was coaching. i'm glad rudy got out of there, i would hate for him to have been the whipping boy for kobe's arrogant and unintelligent style of play
