Adelman Criticizes NBA For "Utterly Ridiculous" Rockets Schedule

by Tom Martin on Dec 15, 2009 4:03 AM CST in Random Commentary Comment 19 comments

OK, I know it's 4:00 in the morning, but I'm studying for a final (ignore the fact that the presence of this post practically nullifies that statement).

From the Toronto Sun:

Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman criticized the NBA yesterday for setting up an "utterly ridiculous" schedule for his team that includes four back-to-back games over the next two weeks.

The Rockets face Detroit at home tonight, then must fly to Denver to play the first-place Nuggets tomorrow. They visit Dallas on Friday and return home to face Oklahoma City on Saturday -- then have to play two games on consecutive nights twice more during Christmas week.

"We have a horrendous stretch here," Adelman said. "I don't know if the league really understands that they gave us four straight back-to-backs. It's awful."

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in an e-mail that the league had no comment on Adelman's statements.

We can take a few things away from this.

First, this criticism isn't coming from Scott Brooks, or Erik Spoelstra, or any other young, inexperienced coach out there. Nor is it coming from a hot-head like George Karl. This is by word of Rick Adelman, winner of a quiet 860+ games, who is speaking up for the first time in who knows how long. If there is anyone who should be given credibility in a situation such as this, it's our good pal, Rick.

That said, the NBA isn't about to comment on this. Most likely, they are going to treat Adelman's comments like those of a professional movie reviewer who didn't care for a particular film: they'll become aware of the critical comments, think better of themselves, and move on. Do you really think that David Stern cares what some coach has to say about his team's schedule?

While I do think that nothing will amount from this, I also think that the league should eventually try to eliminate scheduling biases. Yeah, nobody really knows who is going to fare better or worse than expected upon a season's commencement, but couldn't the travel schedule, or the physical rigor of the schedule be evened out? Perhaps I, as well as Coach Adelman, am asking for too much here. Perhaps the scheduling process is so complicated that a couple of teams are going to get screwed. I guess all we can do is hope that the Rockets were simply the victim of unlucky scheduling.

While we're at it, we can also assume that the Lakers simply hit the jackpot, yes? Or that the majority of last year's playoff teams "struck gold" with cupcake schedules as well, right?

Actually, I had better stop here. You know, before I stir things up too much.

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Well, the schedule is supposed to balance out by the end of the season

by VBG on Dec 15, 2009 4:13 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I've wondered about that every time anyone accuses the NBA of Lakers-bias.

Everyone still plays 41 away games (at least until there start being neutral games in Europe), so if the Lakers start out with 16 of 21 at home then they’re going to end up with a lopsided run away from California sooner or later.

We could debate whether having the homestand at the beginning of the year helps them: they get a bunch of time to practice and gel their roster that might carry them for the rest of the year. On the downside, they’re likely to be see the losses (relatively) pile up at the end of the season, where rest, momentum, and practice are arguably more important leading up to the playoffs.

I thought one of the biggest critiques of Houston’s tough early schedule was that everyone thought the Rockets would take a few months to figure out their new system and so they would be too handicapped in the early games. I’m not quite conspiracy theoried enough to think that the NBA would try to tailor the Rockets schedule specifically to expose a perceived weakness.

I think the place where Adelman’s argument carries weight is that while home and away games even out, back to backs don’t have to. Not sure how Houston’s total number of home/away back to backs compares to the average, but even if it’s unfavorable that means that there will probably be a stretch of 4 games in 2 weeks where they can finally let TMac practice.

And, of course, noone like travelling over the holidays. That part unambiguously sucks. But it shouldn’t affect the team any more than a non-holiday road trip, just their families.

by Moondebah on Dec 15, 2009 8:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I wonder if Adelman will get fined for his comments…

… even though he is absolutely correct about it being total BS. They do this crap to the Rockets, yet they also have zero nationally televised games (except for a few NBA TV ones) for Houston.

Total BS…

I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...

by steeler-hater on Dec 15, 2009 6:34 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

So, err...

why would he be fined?

by jasonmicron on Dec 15, 2009 8:27 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

question

Does anyone know why the NBA refuses to schedule home-home back-to-backs? It would seem a whole lot more fair if the team playing two nights in a row didn’t need to travel as well, and the team burdened with traveling at least had the off day. I remember reading somewhere that it’s league policy NOT to have home-home sets. You just create the most unlevel playing field possible when the home team often has days off and doesn’t travel while the visiting team is coming off a game the night before and needs some crazy all-night flight just to get to the game.

by Metalate on Dec 15, 2009 8:45 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Blazer fan here

I do a lot of schedule analysis which I post on Blazersedge. I’ll link to my preseason analysis, so that you can see how justified you can be in complaining about schedule imbalances.

Of particular note in this particular discussion:
1. Of the 9 teams who competed for a playoff spot last year in the West, Houston and Denver play the most back to backs, at 22, and L.A. who was mentioned in the post plays 20.
2. You have more back to backs with the second game at home (8) than any of the others. Since players are home sleeping in their own beds (even if they arrive late), as well as the other home court advantages, a back to back finishing at home is easier than one on the road.
3. You have 14 back to backs which finish on the road, which is much harder. Only Utah (12) and Dallas (13) have fewer among these 9 teams. LA has 18.
4. On nine of your 22 back to backs, the other team is also on a back to back. That means there is no particular disadvantage to the back to back compared to your opponent in those games. By contrast, LA has only one back to back game where the opponent is also on a back to back, so they get no help with their back to backs, unlike Houston. Portland has only four such games.
5. Netting out the games where both teams are on a back to back for the second game, you have 13 net back to backs. This is middle of the pack. Phoenix only has 9. L.A. has 19.
6. Then there is games where you are not on a back to back and your opponent is on the second night of their own back to back. You have 11 of these, slightly on the low side compared to some others. LA, by contrast, has only 8.

If you want to find pro-LA bias, you’ll have to look to the officials, where you’ll find plenty. It isn’t in the scheduling office.

But Rick Adelman is going to find little sympathy, I’m afraid. This is life in the NBA. The L@kers are on 3 straight back to backs, then start a 4 in 5 nights on Christmas Day.

You guys have two days off twice in this stretch of back to backs. Portland had one two day break (Nov. 4-5) between the start of the season (Oct. 27) and Nov. 28. That’s 18 games in 33 days, only once getting two days off. Is that a factor in our injury problems? Probably not, except for possibly Fernandez, though some blame his problems on the Ariza foul last year.

In this eight game stretch, you get three at home, none of which are elite competition. So you’ve got some pretty winnable games there. Want to know what we’re facing?

We host Phoenix on Friday, have one day for a cross-continent flight (you guys never have to do those, never have to adjust to a three time zone change in a day), and play back to back at Orlando and Miami. Then, we get a day off, and play back to back at Dallas and San Antonio, then another day off and we host Denver on Christmas Day. That’s six games against playoff teams in nine days, four of them on the road, including games on each coast. There is no longer flight in the league than Portland to Orlando/Miami, and we get one day for it.

You have six games in nine days, too. But three of them are at home, and the toughest of those is OKC. Who has it tougher?

I’m not looking for sympathy for Portland. I’m just saying that every schedule has rough patches, and Adelman knows this. In reality, the Texas teams usually have it easier than teams on the coasts, because you have shorter distances to travel on your longest trips, and because a lot of teams get scheduled for back to backs in Texas, so you get a lot of teams coming in tired from the night before in Dallas or San Antonio (and often a little down, too, because they most often lost the night before). Either that, or they come with half an eye on the next night.

And “practice”, Rick? You’ve played two fewer games than we have, in the same amount of time. You’ve had lots of practice. You have two days off between home games right in the middle of this stretch. You’ve had three days off three times this season. Portland has had three days off precisely once. Are you installing a new offense or something, that you need that much practice?

Bottom line: it is going to mostly even out over the course of the season, this is a rough stretch for you but everyone has rough stretches, if anything (due to geography) Houston’s schedule is lighter than most teams in the Western Conference, and I don’t get why Rick Adelman, who knows all these things and is one of the very best coaches in the league, is complaining.

Good luck. I see no reason you can’t get four of the eight, and that will position you pretty well with one of the roughest parts of the schedule behind you.

#52

by jscot on Dec 15, 2009 8:53 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

complaining

Is likely more of a motivational tool/mind game than anything else. Either that or Adelman, like everyone else in the world, simply likes to complain and talk about his troubles.

by Metalate on Dec 15, 2009 6:29 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you for providing the context..

I continue to be impressed by the depth/breadth of discussion at the Blazer land.

Thanks
Kari

by Kari on Dec 15, 2009 10:31 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I'm a Blazer fan and saw this posting on Blazersedge. The schedule sucks.

Also I think LA’s schedule has been very very comfy. And I believe San Antonio’s schedule has been pretty cake walky also…but really there should be some kind of a rule against this. Can the league be sued? What if some injury were to occur due to pure exhaustion? I bet some clever attorney could work it….

by Natsthecat on Dec 15, 2009 12:07 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

But you gotta remember...

this is how it is in most sports. Look at the NFL, the elite teams, for the most part and I’m not talking about division games, get to play the crappy teams while the middle of the road teams just beat up on each other. It is just how it goes. Same with the MLB, although they just schedule good teams back to back to destroy bad teams. And I’m not sure there is anything we as fans can really do about it.

Miss-placed Houstonian living and going to school in the wilderness of Wyoming. GO WYO!!! Beat Fresno in the New Mexico Bowl!!!

by BigNate7 on Dec 15, 2009 4:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry to tell you youre wrong about the NFL schedules, but you are

The NFL schedules are probably the most balanced of any league. I will use the Texans as an example. The Texans are in the AFC South, which means there are 3 other divisions in the AFC, and 4 divisions in the NFC. Each division plays two other full divisions each season. This season, the AFC South is playing the AFC East and NFC West. Those 8 games, along with the 6 division games equals 14, leaving two games open. The other 2 games are played against one team from each of the other 2 divisions within the Conference . This year for the Texans that is the AFC North and AFC West. To get those 2 teams, the division place from the previous year is used. Last year the Texans finished 3rd in the AFC South, so this year they played the 3rd place team from last year’s AFC North and West, the Bengals and Raiders.

What this means is that the best teams play the best teams from the year before, and the worst teams play the worst teams from the year before, in 2 games, and the other 14 are equal by division. Some teams may get two easy teams in a row, but with the parity in the NFL, thats not a huge advantage.

"Every time you turn on ESPN you see Bama" - Earl Thomas' answer when asked what excites him most about the National Championship.

To all Houston sports fans, Houston is the 4th biggest city in America, there will be traffic on the way to your respective sports game. Come Early, Be Loud, Stay Late.

by TexasHoosier on Dec 15, 2009 6:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

yep

This is a grass-is-always-greener situation. Baseball certainly averages out. At least with football, you can get lucky or unlucky (get Colts final week of the season after they no longer case about winning, get a team the week their quarterback is out injured). But in basketball with 82 games, there is very little that won’t even out.

The only reasonable argument that I’ve read for schedule fairness is confidence: teams that win early tend to think they’re good, and play with confidence; teams that lose early, the opposite. So you could argue that it’s much better to have easy stretches early and harder stretches later. But I’m not really sure how much I believe that argument.

by Metalate on Dec 15, 2009 7:06 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Since you brought it up...

Hi Guys,

Andrew Feinstein of Denver Stiffs here. I’m a firm believer that schedules matter in the NBA and that no, it doesn’t “all even out” as many people foolishly claim. Given that my Nuggets are saddled with a Western Conference high 22 back-to-backs and the Lakers schedule is an absolute joke, I wrote a piece on this before the season started and it caused a bit of a stir…

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2009/10/28/1104216/the-mockery-that-is-the-lakers

I’m looking forward to seeing your Rockets tomorrow night…especially since you’ll be on a back-to-back against my rested Nuggets!

Andrew Feinstein | DenverStiffs.com | denverstiffs@gmail.com

by Andrew Feinstein on Dec 15, 2009 10:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Hi, Andrew

I’ll give you some facts, comparing you and the L@kers.

You play 22 back to backs, the L@kers play only 20. Advantage LA, on the surface. However, back to backs with the second game on the road are harder than back to backs finishing at home, right?

You play seven BtoBs finishing at home, L.A. only 2. That means they have 18 that finish in a road game, and you only have 16. That kind of starts to redress the balance, doesn’t it?

But I’m not done. If both teams are on the second of a back to back, your team isn’t disadvantaged, is it? You’re tired, they’re tired. In six of your 22 BtoBs, on the second night the other team is also on the second of a BtoB. So really, you have a net of 16 BtoBs. L.A. has only one of their BtoBs where the second night they face a team also on a BtoB. That means they have a net of 19 BtoBs.

When you factor in the other team being on a BtoB, the L@kers, evil as they are, have a tougher schedule than Denver.

I’m still not done with you and your assertion that the Evil Empire’s schedule is a joke. You play 23 games against opponents who are playing the second game of a back to back. That’s right, more than one quarter of your games are against teams that played the night before. You face a tired team 23 teams. Sort of makes your complaint about having to go back to back 22 times look different, doesn’t it? Now let’s talk about L.A. They play 9 times against a team that is on a back to back. Nine. More than one quarter of your season is against tired teams. Less than one ninth of theirs is.

Of course, as I said previously, 6 of your BtoBs are against teams that are also on a BtoB. So there is no advantage there for you, either. But if we net out those games, we see that Denver plays 17 games where they are not finishing a BtoB and the opponents are. L.A. has 8 such games.

Boiling it down, if we count all BtoBs, you play 22 and your opponents have 23, while L.A. plays 20 and their opponents play 9. Who has it worse? If we factor out the games where both teams are on a BtoB, you play 16 and your opponents play 17, while LA plays 19 and their opponents play 8.

Based on number of BtoBs and opponent BtoBs, LA’s schedule is MUCH worse than yours.

Based on the home/road breakdown, LA’s schedule is marginally worse than yours.

I’m still not done. When does an opponent being on a back to back most help a team? Obviously, when they are going to be affected by fatigue anyway, which means when they are on the road. You play in Denver, at altitude. So teams are going to be fighting fatigue when they play at Denver anyway, and if they are on a back to back, that’s going to really increase your home court advantage, right?

Now, if it is a bad team, like Minnesota, you should win anyway, right? Um, well, let’s move on from that one. But the ideal time for Denver to face a team on a back to back is when they are a good team and coming to Denver. That greatly improves your chances of holding the home court. Those teams like LA, Phoenix, OKC, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Utah, Dallas again, OKC again, Portland, San Antonio, teams that could win a game on your home court if things go really well for them. That’s 12 games you have against teams with .500+ records where they are on the second of a back to back and have to play at Denver at altitude. How many of those games are you also on a back to back? Well, actually none of them.

Since over half of the tough competition in your home games is on a back to back (and since you only host Minnesota twice), Denver should coast to at least 35 home wins. You have the biggest home court advantage in the NBA, due to altitude, and the league ratcheted your advantage even higher. You have more home games against winning teams who are on a back to back than LA has total games against teams on a back to back.

Oh, and by the way, of your 22 back to backs this year, 13 of them finish against teams who currently have a losing record, which means you’ll win the vast majority of them anyway.

OK, now I’m done. But since you posted about how bad your schedule is compared to LA’s, if you want me to come post this on your site, I will.

#52

by jscot on Dec 16, 2009 2:04 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

dude

i think dm started to post on the site ^^

by AlDe2356 on Dec 16, 2009 3:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Who's dm?

#52

by jscot on Dec 16, 2009 9:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

:)

by Metalate on Dec 16, 2009 11:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't mind you guys laughing at me

(too thick-skinned to be bothered about that) but I wouldn’t mind being let in on the joke. :)

#52

by jscot on Dec 16, 2009 3:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

come one...

“it doesn’t ‘all even out’ as many people foolishly claim?”
That’s a bit bold and unnecessarily unkind. For perception and confidence, how a team plays at the end of a season is closely related to how “feared” it is in the playoffs, so you could argue the opposite: it is better to get the tough games over early, then win a lot in the spring so you roll into the playoffs. This seems to be the Spurs’ strategy every year.

You’re going to need some significant data before claiming everyone else is “foolish”. There are many random variables such as timing of injuries, suspensions, coaching changes, and trades, that probably have a bigger impact than the inherent benefits of a schedule.

by Metalate on Dec 16, 2009 11:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs