Houston Rockets • 2003-2004 Media Guide - NBA Media Central
Houston Rockets • 2003-2004 Media Guide - NBA Media Central
Houston Rockets • 2003-2004 Media Guide - NBA Media Central
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SCOUTING<br />
Rudy Tomjanovich<br />
Personnel Consultant<br />
BASKETBALL STAFF<br />
Rudy Tomjanovich has reached the heights of success both on the<br />
court and the sidelines with the <strong>Rockets</strong> over the last three decades.<br />
After earning five All-Star selections as a player, “Rudy T” won the city<br />
of <strong>Houston</strong> its first-ever championships by coaching the <strong>Rockets</strong> to<br />
consecutive <strong>NBA</strong> Championships in 1994 and 1995.<br />
Tomjanovich, who has spent the last 33 consecutive seasons with the<br />
<strong>Rockets</strong>, enters his first season as personnel consultant after 12 years<br />
as the team's head coach. He has been involved in all four <strong>Rockets</strong><br />
division championships — as leading scorer in 1976-77, assistant coach<br />
in 1985-86 and as head coach in 1992-93 and 1993-94.<br />
Tomjanovich posted a 503-397 regular season record and 51-39 playoff record as the <strong>Rockets</strong> head<br />
coach, advancing to the playoffs seven times and winning two championships. Tomjanovich ranks<br />
23rd in <strong>NBA</strong> history in career coaching wins. He holds franchise coaching records with 503 regular<br />
season wins, 51 postseason wins, a regular season winning percentage of .559 and a postseason<br />
winning percentage of .567.<br />
Tomjanovich received many accolades as a head coach, including being named the head coach<br />
of the Western Conference team for the 1997 <strong>NBA</strong> All-Star Game. His coaching peers voted him<br />
The Sporting News <strong>NBA</strong> Coach of the Year in 1993. Additionally, he received <strong>NBA</strong> Coach of the<br />
Month recognition for April 1993, November 1993 and November 1996.<br />
Aside from his coaching success with the <strong>Rockets</strong>, Tomjanovich has coached the United States<br />
Senior National Team on two occassions. He guided the United States Men’s Basketball Team to<br />
an undefeated record and a gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Prior to the Olympics,<br />
Tomjanovich led a United States team of non-<strong>NBA</strong> players to a bronze medal at the 1998 World<br />
Championship of Basketball.<br />
In <strong>Rockets</strong> history, Tomjanovich ranks third with 13,383 points, third with 768 games and fourth with<br />
6,198 rebounds. After joining the San Diego <strong>Rockets</strong> as the second overall pick in the 1970 <strong>NBA</strong><br />
Draft, he averaged 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds over 11 years with the <strong>Rockets</strong>. Tomjanovich has<br />
been with the <strong>Rockets</strong> since the team’s move to Texas in 1971, playing for the team throughout its<br />
first 10 seasons in <strong>Houston</strong>.<br />
After the <strong>Rockets</strong> advanced to the <strong>NBA</strong> Finals in 1981, Tomjanovich retired having spent his entire<br />
playing career with the <strong>Rockets</strong>. He retired as a player on Oct. 2, 1981, and his jersey was the first<br />
retired in franchise history on Jan. 28, 1982. Only five numbers have been retired by the organization<br />
— Tomjanovich (45), Calvin Murphy (23), Moses Malone (24), Clyde Drexler (22) and Hakeem<br />
Olajuwon (34).<br />
Beginning with the 1981-82 season, Tomjanovich spent two years as a <strong>Rockets</strong> scout. He became<br />
an assistant coach in 1983 and served in that role until being named interim head coach on Feb.<br />
18, 1992. Tomjanovich was officially named head coach of the <strong>Rockets</strong> on May 20, 1992. He<br />
became the first coach ever to guide his team from the lottery to a division title in his first full<br />
season.<br />
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