Sports / Basketball
Adelman agrees on deal with Rockets
By JONATHAN FEIGEN (Houston Chronicle)
Updated: 2007-05-22 14:13
Rick Adelman, the only candidate the Rockets pursued, agreed to terms
Monday on a contract to become the team's next coach, a person with
knowledge of the Rockets' decision-making said.
Adelman will fly to Houston today and be introduced Wednesday.
"The Rockets organization will get an outstanding coach," said Hall of
Fame guard Clyde Drexler, whom Adelman coached in six of Drexler's
11-plus seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. "I think he's the guy to
get them over the top."
After a series of meetings with Rockets owner Leslie Alexander and
general manager Daryl Morey on May 11 and May 12 �� less than a week
after the team's first-round playoff loss to the Utah Jazz �� Adelman
became the Rockets' choice to succeed Jeff Van Gundy, who on Friday was
fired after four seasons as coach.
"Rick is a really good coach and a better guy," Van Gundy said. "I think
he'll really do well."
Morey, Alexander and Adelman were not available for comment.
Adelman, 60, is 752-481 in 16 seasons as an NBA coach. He has a 70-68
postseason record. He led Portland to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992 and
advanced to the Western Conference finals in 1991 with the Trail Blazers
and 2002 with the Sacramento Kings.
Adelman's .610 winning percentage is the highest among coaches without an
NBA championship. Jerry Sloan (.600) and George Karl (.588) are next on
the list.
Selected by the Rockets in the seventh round of the 1968 draft, Adelman
went to the Trail Blazers in the 1970 expansion draft before the Rockets
moved from San Diego to Houston.
Adelman will join Rudy Tomjanovich as the only former Rockets players to
become the franchise's coach. Of the five teams for which Adelman played,
the Rockets will be the third to hire him as coach, joining the Trail
Blazers and Kings. He also played for the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans
Jazz during a seven-year career.
With Portland and his first Sacramento teams, Adelman had faced-paced,
high scoring clubs. His later squads, while still among the NBA's top
scoring teams, were more half-court oriented and used a lot of cuts and
screens in a variation of the Princeton offense.
Adelman's first seven Sacramento teams were among the top three scoring
teams in the NBA, and his first three Kings clubs led the league in
scoring. His 2001-02 team, which advanced to Game 7 of the Western
Conference finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, won 61 games
by an average of 7.6 points.
Adelman was fired after the 2005-06 season in which the Kings went 44-38
before losing to the San Antonio Spurs in six games in the first round of
the playoffs.
His best season as a coach might have been with the 1990-91 Blazers.
Portland went 63-19 before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference
finals.
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