A Rocket at Heart: My Life and My Team

by Robert Falkoff, Rudy Tomjanovich

Overview

From Simon & Schuster, A Rocket At Heart: My Life and My Team by Rudy Tomjanovich looks back at Tomajanovich's experience as the coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets.

In this memoir, Tomjanovich recounts his life story, speaking out not only on the challenges of coaching a great player like Hakeem Olajuwon but also on the strategies that have led his team to two NBA titles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416552062
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/01/2007
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Rudy Tomjanovich is a former professional basketball player who is now a consultant for the Minnesota Timberwolves. As a player Tomjanovich was a five-time NBA All-Star. As a coach, he has won two NBA championships and was the NBA All-Star Game head coach.

Editorial Reviews

Tomjanovich is one of those increasingly rare birds in sport: he has been tied since 1970 to a single team, basketball's Houston Rockets-as player, scout, assistant coach and, since 1992, head coach. Raised in Detroit's blue-collar enclave of Hamtramck, he joined the Houston team in 1970 and played with them until he retired in 1981. Known as an excellent hoopster, he received his greatest publicity in the 1977-1978 season, when a sucker punch by Kermit Washington of the L.A. Lakers separated his face from his skull and threatened his life. But that is only a minor incident, told in passing, as Tomjanovich details his success as head coach, leading his team to the NBC championships in the 1993-1994 and 1994-1995 seasons, in part, he notes, because he had the great Hakeem Olajuwon as his star, in part because he treated his players as mature adults. He also discusses some of his problems besides motivating athletes, including coping with the NBA salary cap, which meant he had to trade respected players simply because of finances. This informative sports autobiography should please many b-ball fans. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Quick now, basketball fans: name three current National Basketball Association coaches. Yes, Pat Riley. No, Red Auerbach is long retired. Casual basketball fans often know little about NBA coaches, and therein lies the problem with this book. Most people outside the core of serious and regional fans have no idea who Tomjanovich is and, for the most part, may not care. This may seem harsh, but the life story of "Rudy T" doesn't seem to have the hook that will cause a casual readeror even a casual fanto pick it up. Although Tomjanovich's two NBA championships place him among the elite, he and his collaborator have written a standard athlete's biography: success as a player, barely described, followed by success as a professional coach. In fact, He describes his two championship seasons with the Houston Rockets in some detail, but overall his life just seemed a blur to this reader. Clearly, a more in-depth look at the author's championship years might have been in order. Recommended for only the most complete basketball collections.William O. Scheeren, Hempfield Area H.S. Lib., Greensburg, Pa.

Library Journal

This quiet, almost bland memoir of the Houston Rockets coach plays low-key counterpoint to the more raucous basketball bios of recent vintage.

Tomjanovich has been with the Rockets his entire career: He was the second pick in the 1970 draft. Following a disappointing rookie season, which saw the team's relocation from San Diego to Houston, the 6'8" Tomjanovich became the starting small forward. Always a good offensive player, he scored 28 points in his first starting role, relying on a mid-range bankshot that "became a trademark" of his game. When he retired after the 198081 season, he had a respectable 17.4 career average, shooting .501 from the field. He spent six seasons as a Rockets scout before becoming an assistant coach under Don Chaney in 1988, and replaced Chaney in February 1992. The team was wildly unpredictable: They lost seven games in a row, then won eight straight. A 15-game winning streak led the Rockets to the playoffs for the first time in years. Tomjanovich has led the team to consecutive NBA titles, the first in 1994 when they won an emotional seventh game against a physical New York Knicks team. The 199495 season, marked by controversy (which he affably plays down), injuries, and the defection of the unhappy Vernon Maxwell, saw the team win a mere 47 games. It was enough to get them into the playoffs, though, culminating in a shocking four-game sweep of Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic. A few of the coach's asides bear some interest: his argument for Hakeem Olajuwon as the best center in history; a passage on how he learned "to deal with the egos of the players" by listening.

But this is less an autobiography than a mildly entertaining, season-by-season commentary on his career.

Kirkus Reviews