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.