Well, last night was a lesson in a coach that trusts his whole team vs a coach that trusts only a few players. When the Spurs were struggling Popovich benched his starters and gave their backups some court time. And the Rockets relaxed, and got outcompeted by the Spurs 2nd unit. The next thing you know, they bring their RESTED starters in against our tired and punch drunk starters and it is easy to see where the game got out of hand. JVG is trying very hard to win every game, but he is hurting his team overall by not developing a bench, and in particular he is leaving out 2 players that provide things this team is in desperate need of... 1. Shooting 2. Competitive fire 3. Perimeter Defense Novak clearly provides the shooting, but is not all that great on defense, so at least get him a couple of minutes in each game to let him develop confidence and learn the NBA game. V-Span is a player that is volitile, he can create on offense, is by FAR the best creator on the team and is the ONLY decent perimeter defender the Rockets have. And, V-Span energizes the team by competing hard...... Again, at least get him a couple of minutes to see what he will bring in the game, if he messes up, put him on the bench....but let him get his confidence, as we need a backup PG desperately. We can not keep running Rafer out there for 41 minutes a game like last night. Spurs used their bench, Rockets bench rotted on the pine None of their starters played more than 37 minutes. Also, Synder - our 2nd best perimeter defender and probably our best chance at stopping Ginobli, only played 9 minutes.... JVG wore out the starters last night.....and the Rockets paid for it with a loss. POP > JVG I am not saying that V-SPan and Novak are the answer to the problem, but at least JVG should try something else to send a message to his starters when they get soft, or tired....compete or sit !!!!!....ala Greg Popovich. DD
Good Post but that being said I am just tired of JVG. I don't want to compare him to other coaches anymore or or call him stupid names anymore or hate on him anymore. I just want him gone. It doesn't have to be done maliciously. He can resign and the Rockets can thank him for his efforts, pay him what is due him and wish him well. But please let him go. With all the talent the Rockets have they will compete and will make the playoffs but will they ever win a championship with Van Gundy? I doubt it and even if they do it won't be like it was ours. Van Gundy will some how make it less. I don't want to see anymore Vangundy sucks threads or uglyball anymore. I just want to see him gone. Please Les let it be!
As i replied to you in another thread, JVG still has no time to know what his starters can and can't do together at this moment. We are a totally new team compared to previous two years. Especially after last year's tragic injuries, JVG and we fans alll need to take time to figure out what is the best for this team. I think last year, when Yao just recovered from injure, JVG played him a large amount of time to push Yao to his limit. Then he know Yao can do so many things that he wanted him to. IMHO, the situation for now is sort of like that one. Like I said before, give him one month or so, it will not too late to judge him after then.
I think JVG is a pretty good coach in regards to game plan and X and O's. However I think to emulates Parcells too much. Basketball isn't football where the game plan is more important than players for the most part. The players win games and the coach is there to set up an environment for them to be successful.
I have trouble agreeing with the sentiment that our bench should have played more. Maybe Snyder.. but that's about it. Let's look at the bench players on each side that played and didn't play: Spurs Elson - played Finley - played Udrih - played Horry - played Barry - played Vaugh - didn't play Bonner - didn't play Rockets Mutombo - played Snyder - played Head - played Padgett - played Lucas - didn't play Novak - didn't play VSpan - didn't play So here are the points I see wrong with your sentiment that Pop utilized his bench more than JVG: 1. Pop used 1 more bench player than us. 2. The only players JVG didn't use were rookies or inactive players (JL3). There aren't -any- rookies on the Spurs team. 3. Pop was able to use his bench more because they were actually producing. Our bench shot 6-17, while their bench shot 16-28. 4. Maybe we could have put in Snyder more, maybe we could have put in Novak as a desparation move.. but VSpan? You want to put in a turnover machine when the Spurs have their defense firing on all cylinders? The game was within reach until the final couple minutes.. why would you put in 2 players that haven't had any experience in a real NBA game yet? Sounds like you would be asking to lose the game..
Did you guys read this exchange between JVG and Pop after the game? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4335986.html Who do you think would win that one?
The only thing I would argue here is that Pop didn't have anything to lose at that point, his "starters" were getting killed out there. He turned to the bench and luckily found some life, but let's be honest, how many nights will Udrich come in and outperform Parker, OK then... Horry too... JVG on the other hand, stuck with his starters for too many minutes, in fear of letting the foot off the proverbial throat. He finally lets Yao put up over 20 shots, but on a cold night, T-Mac plays 40 minutes, etc... This may fly as we get in better shape, get all of our players back healthly, and move along in the season, but not 2 weeks in IMO. JVG should have let V-Span come in and guard Udrich to give Rafer some rest, Deke should have played at least 5 more minutes, Synder too, perhaps on Ginobli?
Uh oh Rock, you have reached that indifference stage with Gundy, like a marriage that can not be saved, you no longer cared! I too am kind of sick of Gundy. Too stubborn, too set in his ways and I have seen him got outcoached way too many times.
I tend to agree with more. Pop have the luxury of developing the bech last year when they already had the solidified core and winning habit whilst our core is just coming together. Literally we are just 1-2 years behind the Spurs at least! I think the key thing about the success of Spurs has been their patience. We do see some positive changes in Van Gundy's mind-set lately, don't we. Giving him 20-30 games at the beginning of season to get the core clicking wouldn't be too much to ask. Don't forget Battier, Snyder & even Hayes are just beginning to get deeply involved in this new team. Only after JVG get new guys like Battier, Snyder etc. into relatively more firm establishment, the newer guys like V Span and Novak could begin to see more sunlight. Presumably, they can pick up more experience and stability through practice and even by watching the game from the sideline. It would be a dangrous position if we put 5-6 new team members in the rotation at the very beginning of the new season and everybody becomes unsure of who to go to in various situations. That would have messed everything up. So November, December and the beginning of January is very crucial for the team. If they can get a healthy winning record and everybody knows what to do with each other more fluently on the floor, Mr. Gundy would have good oppurtunity of tossing new pieces in the equation and add more depth. It's a hell of a job comparing with Mr. Popovich's steady 3-year bench developing plan isn't it.
LOL - talk about creative accounting. The Spurs bench played 97 minutes, the Rockets bench played 62 minutes....to say that it had no effect on the game is silly. Their starters were rested and ready to play the 4th quarter, ours were winded, and tired, and it cost us the game. JVG is going to burn out the starters, and this is a primary cause of injuries as well...... You HAVE to use your bench...especially during the regular season... And as for Pop having his bench longer....that is true, but you still have to PLAY the bench to find out what they are going to give you. DD
completely agree here.... some of yall are making it out to seem that popvich has this magic touch, making all the perfect subsitiutions at the perfect times, but what yall are forgeting is that popvich had no choice but to go to his bench early and often; his starters were getting killed out there. it just so happened that their bench was playing extremely well. now i do put some blame on van gundy for not exploring some more options off our bench when SA was making their hellacious run - definitely would've liked to see snyder more. and our intensity in the 2nd half was practically non-existant... but you cant put too much blame on him for wanting to keep yao and mcgrady in there to seal the game. it just seemed like a complete lack of focus once SA started to turn up the heat... no direction, ill-advised shots, poor shooting, added on top of the fact that their bench caught fire.
So did Yao and Tmac in the 2nd half....but they still played.... When a player sucks...sit him talk to him, and PUT HIM BACK IN later to show you that he is responding. DD
we can't see what happens in every day's practice, so we are not able to know whether VSpan and Novak are ready to play. So as a non-JVG-Hater, I would rather believe he is right to not play rookies so early in the regular season. For JVG-douters or JVG-haters, they can just put all the blame on JVG and believe he deserves it. Standpoint is the only difference when we are looking at the same thing.
I don't HATE JVG, I just want him to realize that he is BURNING out our starters, and that will cause injuries and loses throughout the year. How can he tell if V-SPan is ready? They don't go hard in practice during the regular season...mostly just shoot arounds and a few adjustments for the games. Playing someone 5-10 minutes a night will not hurt, and you may find a gem... DD
My very minority opinion is that it has nothing to do with Van Gundy or even who he does or doesn't put on the court. That's looking through the wrong end of the telescope IMO. The Rockets have bought into a flawed concept that all you need to do is pass the ball into the low post and teams will sag in leaving standstill shooters wide open. That works well against bad defensive teams...Bucks...Knicks. It's very marginally successful against teams playing playoff level ball...Jazz, Hornets, Spurs... Championship caliber teams rotate well on defense. They "close out" the perimeter quicker, better and with more athletic players. Saying categorically that VG was outcoached totally ignores the fact that the Spurs have players that can get their own shots. The Rockets have a collection of standstill spotup shooters. That IMO is not the correct approach in a league where the perimeter offensive players have been given a huge edge in recent rules interpretations. You can fire VG this afternoon but the next coach is going to be saddled with the same collection of standstill spotup shooters. It will take awhile to correct. Meanwhile, Yao, TMac, Deke, JHO, and Battier all get older. Like I stated at the top....a very minority opinion but total low post emphasis without greyhounds that can successfully get their own shots is a flawed concept in todays' NBA.
