Rick Adelman Puts Von Wafer In His Place
No matter what you think of his fashion sense as a mini-George Karl with more hair, you have to admire Rick Adelman right now. He’s got his Rockets playing their best basketball of the season without their highest-paid player. He’s winning the mental war against L.A. right now – the normally even-keel Derek Fisher went Hines Ward on Luis Scola, and Kobe elbowed Ron Artest in the throat out of frustration.
And at the first sign of trouble on his own bench, Adelman threw one of his own guys out of the gym. If that move didn’t show Von Wafer who’s boss, his comments yesterday definitely did.
Adelman said that Wafer would be back on the bench tonight after protesting being taken out of the game in the fourth quarter in Game Two.
“He’s on the team,” Adelman said. “We talked about it and it’s over with. He didn’t like coming out (of the game). He doesn’t have to like coming out, but it’s his job to accept that.
I love that he starts off by saying that Wafer is still on the team. Of course he is. He’s been giving Houston more than eight points per game on about 15 quality minutes per night. But the idea that Adelman would have considered kicking him off the bench for acting like an idiot really shows everyone that he doesn’t feel like screwing around.
Source: Chron.com
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May 8th, 2009 at 11:46 am
doc says:
Good coaching.Same way Curry shoulda treated AI.U GONNA be a bench player because I said so now sit ya gunning ass down until I call your name.Why not try that.Whats the worst that would happen the motherfucker left the team anyway.Remember when I was getting killed on here for bashing that trade for Detroit.I was a hater and sellout for bashing AI.If I had no life i would go back and name names.Half of them switch they names up once some bullshit they said is proven wrong.The other half fell off the map with Detroit,like fed and his cronies.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Big Daddy Ben says:
Thats nice european toughness on a coach.
But a coach from Serbia would have literally kicked Von Wafers ass.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Dukesman2000 says:
Rick Adelman is one of the most respected coaches in the League. He has enough clout that will allow him to “son” any caliber player
May 8th, 2009 at 11:59 am
loganlight says:
Is Wafer the illegitimate son of Jason Terry?? Just saying, slap a head band on that guy and they would look very similar.
May 8th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
rlf says:
i know you are not good at reporting the real facts. kobe never hit ron in the throat. if you did a little research, which a journalist should…watch the video and see how artest hit kobe in the back of the neck and kobe was just making space and elbowed him in the CHEST. it wouldn’t kill you to read what stu jackson said and report the facts.
also who knew ron was a liar and a coward? i mean, you dish it but you can’t take it.
real manly of him.
May 8th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Lakers Nation says:
hahah . . 4 – good call on the Jet v2.0 . . . wafer’s always had mental issues – that’s why his draft stock dropped and that’s why the lakers dropped him . . at least the Rockets have use for our trash
May 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Wafer know he don’t wanna cross Pretty Ricky! Rest of the team knows the same.
May 8th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Brown says:
Define “european toughness.”
May 8th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Simon says:
Of course players are going to listen to Adelman! I’d listen to a guy that looks like Hitler too!
May 8th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Big Island says:
I am pretty sure “European toughness” is an oxymoron. I love when coaches do this type of thing because it sends a message to everyone that they know what they are doing, get on board or sit. I really hope the Rockets get this series…
May 8th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Vince says:
Let’s get to the real juicy part. T-mac is now expendable and done in houston. Now if they can get YAO some help next season and get healthy, they will be OK
May 8th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ ANDREW KATZ
Act like somewhat of a journalist and call it like it is please.. you know DAMN WELL Kobe elbowed Artest in the chest and Artest pulled that lil kid shit and said it was in his throat..
I never get on u Andrew even though u do say some BIASED ass DUMB shit sometimes so dont get me started.. Shit i HOPE you read the league report and watched the replays.. thats what you are supposed to do right?? RESEARCH your facts??
And get it straight.. Fisher Polamalu’d Scolas ass..
May 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
James says:
I think adelman is a good coach….but that’s just it…a good coach….he seems to be able to make a team “great” but not a championship team….just a contender….he got portland there but not past the bulls…and the kings couldnt get past the lakers…the rockets seem more than capable but history shows otherwise
May 8th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Big Freeze says:
Breaking news: Yao Ming has a big head.
May 8th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
David Brandon says:
this guy james is a dumb ass… what are you talkin about?? lol
what up J!! bout time you got on here man. you musta been takin care a the daughter…
yeah, rick’s a good coach. i liked him when he was in sac. i think we just needed some different players there after awhile to get over the hump. i think he brings out the best in teams offensively. and since houston was already a strong defensive team before he got there, thats not something he had to really worry about. he kinda just inherited a good deal for that one. if he can really balance out both sides of the ball and use these guys to their full potential (and keep von’s mouth shut lol), houston can actually beat LA…which sounds crazy even typing it, for some reason lol
May 8th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
SWAT says:
boy yall laker fans are ready to kill andrew…get a life fellas. take the article for wht it is and wht the main point is…which is von wafer. not kobe. the series is tied and yall are supposed to win the chip right…so yall lake show boys need to just breathe. Lol all the hostility…un-necessary
May 8th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Ekstor says:
Love the spin on how Houston is winning the mental war. Kobe elbows Artest in the throat (actually in the chest) “out of frustration”… and of course Artest running clear across the court to confront Kobe and get ejected was not?
May 8th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
SWAT says:
no eksotr it was not…if it was artest would hv just whopped his ass. he went over to tell the dude wht he wasnt gonna allow kobe to do…and everyone agreed with artest doing tht. i think kobe was still mad about bron getting mvp
May 8th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
For Adelman having that kind of control of his players I give him props.
For frustrating the Lakers’ players so much, I’m very surprised that his team is doing so well with the upperhand.
Its still a series but the Rockets swagger right now is in full mode and they really look like a team that can beat L.A. Through all the bullshit, these playoffs have been entertaining.
May 8th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
E$ says:
I need Von Wafer to dunk on Bynum – that will be the Youtube of the Year!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7wWD8thcZg
May 8th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Taj says:
Von Wafer’s been playin nice, but who the FUCK is he to not wanna acome out of a game?? Do your dirt, sit your ass on the bench till coach calls your number again… Or find your ass back to the D League.. I can appreciate his competitiveness, but go go as far as having the coach send you to the locker room is ludacris!!
May 8th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Diego says:
Yeah, good straightforward coaching.
By the way, Rockets, LA and Denver look solid–and can give the Cavs a battle I think. But, hey, can we just call the Eastern Conf. playoffs off and mark the Cavs down for the finals, so folks could be spared watching the other 3 east teams?
This Hawks fan couldn’t stomach much of that game last night–thank goodness I could switch channels to CSI at 9:00 p.m. (I just hope they’re giving away t-shirts Saturday night, so my ticket $ is not a total waste!)
May 8th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
frankie says:
LakeShow: STFU. Please.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Ekstor says:
Swat, I don’t disagree with Ron telling Kobe not to elbow him in the chest… but while we can argue that the ref shouldn’t have kicked him out, no one was really surprised with the level of animation Ron displayed following that play.
In the end, Ron got himself kicked out of a close game while Kobe was just “whatever” about the whole ordeal.
I’d say the frustration went the other direction.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ Frankie – And who the fuck are you? Right, nobody.. Thnx for coming..
Dont trip ya’all im just giving our boy some tips on his writing practices.. Would you guys liked it i wrote about Football and said some dumb shit like “Adrian Peterson never fumbles”.. as a reader i expect facts.. not people hating on people they actually hate.. if thats the case i would just debate with my friends all day..
@ SWAT – this is probably the first time i’ve ever directed any malice toward AK.. if the article is about Wafer there should be no hidden shots at our guy.. i got a life, a job and a bad ass woman so i guess i can be as hostile as i want right?
May 8th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
weng santos says:
@ 10.
“European tougness” is not an oxymoron. You call their game soft because their players are shooters who hit jumpers, finish at the basket without over-dribbling, and know how to draw a charge? Have you ever played high-level FIBA game, and have you played it for a living? It is more physical than a pro game. Refs over there don’t protect players, and a high level of physicality is allowed.
The Euro players may not be as athletic as the NBA guys, but they are technically sound. The game itself allows for more contact- there is no continuation there, for example. Fouls are decidedly hard to make them count, after all, you only have five of them and touch-fouls are never called.
The gyms are small, either too hot, too cold, or too unventilated, and filled with crazy hooligan-fans; no security to help you out or escort you or drive you around. There is no one to babysit you. The coaches are very demanding on players and don’t hand out superstar treatments- just ask Brandon Jennings how being “heralded” has helped him out with his coaches.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Ian says:
james
wtf man so he needed to beat the bulls that were the better team??? or the kings needed to beat the refs??? adelman is a great coach.
lol@laker fans shit fellas how can you type with kobes nuts on your face. so because stu said one thing andrew cant have an opinion of his own??? who cares about this.
they should start bringing in some baseball coaches to the nba bowa , pinella style that would kick your ass right there in front of everyone.
ekstor i think kobe was whatever with the situation because it was artest if its luke ridnour kobe argues back
May 8th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Ricky_oh says:
Rick is a great coach. He handled the Wafer incident well. The Rockets wont win with the crew of refs that were in that night of game two. The same thing happened with Portland and the same refs. That ref crew is very inconsistent in the way they call games. Refs should either call a game close and have little contact or let both teams play it out. The crew in last night would let them be physical at times, and then call it close at others.
And Laker fans… Kobe has been throwing elbows and fists for years. Kobe doesn’t dish it to other players. He pulls sly shit that refs don’t see in hopes of retaliation. He is a little bitch who talks trash as he walks away from the player he is talking trash to. At least Ron had the nutz to get in his face.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Claw says:
I’m still laughing at a foul being called on Artest when Kobe hit him in the chest/neck, so I guess Artest’s throat hit Kobe’s elbow so that’s the foul? Wasn’t worth any type of suspension or you would have to suspend most of the players playing in the post.
Lakers don’t want to be soft but they are playing stupid, you can’t be suspended in a series like this that was just plain idiotic what Fisher did. Von Wafer pulled a Boldin and started yelling at the coach, they should have kicked Bolding off the field when he started pulling that crap in the NFC Championship game, maybe Adelman needs to cross over to the NFL.
Rockets in 6, just saying.
May 8th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
bballinca says:
Can’t wait to see T-Mac released or traded. Rockets are looking like they’ll be a competitive team for some time to come.
lakers in 7
May 8th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
yallnonothing says:
yall dont know anything about adelman. he only had the guts to consider kicking wafer off the bench because wafer is a first year very low paid journeyman. take a look back at t-mac. there were many times during the year when t-mac was limping around on the floor, not playing defense, jacking up shots, and TOTALLY STAGNATING the offense. i remember these horrible days, and adelman did NOTHING. only under coach tracy mcgrady would tracy mcgrady leave. my point is that you guys need not compare adelman benching von wafer to another coach benching some other arrogant star.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Just Jus says:
Wafer was absolutely wrong but that’s been something that’s been building all year. Everytime Wafer gets in a rhythym or gets hot he takes him out of the game. Rick is a good coach and all but he has a really bad habit of not riding the hot hand and not sticking with units that are working. Lakers were up 15 and the Rockets came back to lead. What’s Rick do? Take out everyone that made up that deficit. Rick’s a good strategist but his personnel management in my opinion is among the worst in the league. I’ve seen Wafer as well as Scola go off for double digits in a quarter only to sit for the next 6-10 minutes. I’m not saying Wafer was right but his frustration is deefinitely understood by anyone who’s watched this team closely for any amount of time.
May 8th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
QQ says:
With Rick Adelman taking complete control of his team, I’m sure T-Mac would be gone before next season starts. Adelman’s style is about winning, and fans love that grit from a coach. Now that he is changing the Rocket’s image, players who plays with no heart would be eradicated from the team. And nothing fits that description more than Mcgrady.
Hope you enjoyed dragging your team down when it matters, Tracy. Now, they are ready to FINALLY compete and win. Bye now.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Gunner J. Matthews says:
Owned!!
LOL