Just to be clear, I read the Yao and Tmac semi-endorsement about JVG as being politically correct, but Yao openly questioning JVG's rotation against Utah tells there is more to the story. I didn't see either one of them openly concerned with keeping JVG, there was no ringing endorsement of him, and they were both happy when Adelman was hired. I think this article is totally exagerated, but has some merit, if you read between the lines, there is some truth in it. Such as V-Span coming out of the dog house for one game against San Antonio after his agent met with CD. or that JVG took the comment about him playing with the ball like Tmac out of context. IMHO, JVG was the biggest obstacle to getting out of the first round...... The Rockets will be a much better team without JVG as the coach, and I never understand why people give him so much credit, he has not exactly proven himself to be a Rudy T type of coach, he is just a very detail oriented coach, who, IMO, gets outcoached in the playoffs because of his lack of innovation. DD
So that's why people keep bashing JVG? Let's not pretend this has anything to do with the Spurs getting better. This is because of the massive amount of love heaped on to V-Span and the equally massive amount of hate heaped on JVG. Those who feel that way will continue it into perpetuity and this trash talking about JVG and lover's lament over V-Span will never end. Don't try to sell it as anything else.
This is true.........Because as far as the Rockets coaching is concerned I am a certified JVG hater. Card carrying member, glad he is gone. DD
Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I'm just saying I hope we don't keep talking about it over and over again - he's gone so I don't know why it matters anymore.
of course this is probably exaggerated a bit, but I can believe this ... we're talking a conversation in english being discussed in greek and then retold in english ... the original conversation could have been "VSpan can be a Nash-type player" or something like that
If VSpan plays for the Spurs, I say the Spurs are getting better. For Christ sake, the Spurs' backup PG is Jacque Vaughn. Everytime JV enters the court, the Spurs fans scream "say no to Jacque Vaughn". Everytime JV shoots, the Spurs fans scream "no shooting". JV is such a poor flopper that he fells down before the contact. VSpan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jacque Vaughn.
Look I'm neutral on Vspan. I neither liked him or hated him. If you have read my historical posts, I did not fawn all over Vspan saying he's Steve Nash. What I am is a certified JVG hater. The guy cannot coach his way out of a shoebox and the fact that your team is in disarray because of personality conflicts is not the sign of a good leader. A coach needs to teach, set the strategy and bring the team together. The key word here is TEAM
This of course is the biggest piece of fiction and bullsh/t I have ever read Saying that, I actually WISH this were true. It would be a good feeling to know that JVG completely pwned this whiney b/tch ha ha ha ha ha..... hah Reading this made me miss Van Gundy =/, I like aquiring Adelman but Van Gundy was just awesome.
I don't buy most of the specifics of this story but my guess in general there is some ring of truth to it. V-Span and JVG didn't get along, the Rockets management were up on V-Span but as long as JVG had no confidence in V-Span he wasn't going to get playing time. I admit to not liking JVG and like jopatmc and DD I think V-Span has a lot of potential. If V-Span plays for the Spurs I'm going to be worried about him when he plays the Rox. I can see a pissed off V-Span causing lots of problems for Francis, Alston or Brooks on D.
Uh, yeah, but there's a difference in being a middle-of-the-road coach and being Satan himself, which this "article" makes Van Gundy out to be. It's complete nonsense. You'd have to be high on PCP to believe that a respected coach in the NBA with his job on the line would behave in such a way, or that Spanoulis warranted that kind of attention. If you truly believe that this is a factual account of what happened, then you need to take a step back and examine how you could be so blinded by hatred.
I don't understand what you're saying. Guys on our team were saying last years squad was the most close-knit squad in the league because of coaching. They stood up for them until they scored. Juwan told VSpan and Novak how lucky they are to have JVG and his staff as coaches in their rookie years after one practice. We had no personality conflicts whatsoever. Ask scouts around the league. They had nothing but praise for the Rockets. Opposing coaches hated coaching against us because of our gameplan and strategy. Read postgame quotes from every single game we played. Same old comments: "They are very well coached, they play great defense, they have 2 superstars, they are extremely unselfish, blah blah blah." The day JVG got fired, Popovich said something like "Good, that's one less team to worry about; this league is crazy because you can win 53 games and still get fired for one temporary moment of insanity." The ROckets just couldn't get it done in ROund 1 because of lack of talent. Give JVG James, we make it out of Rounds 1 and 2 last year. Give JVG James, Scola, Francis, and Brooks (instead of JL3), and we win the championship. Defense wins in this league, and my one worry is that we'll forget how to play it under Adelman, especially since we didn't retain Thibodeau. Now that Thibs is in Boston, they're my pick to win it all. Couple his defensive prowess with their 3 superstars: they're going to be tough to beat. They're still in a very week conference, so they can take it easy all year long and turn it up around March. And if you want to see how Van Gundy would have done with better talent, then watch the Magic next year. I think they'll be a top 4 team with Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland. They have Van Gundy and our assistants CLifford and Ewing, so same coaching staff pretty much.
Probably some truth to it, but too biased to be accurate. I find it hard to believe the depth of JVG's willingness to sabotoge Billy's NBA career. Billy didn't play because he was a turnover machine, not a good 3 pt shooter, and not a good defender. The Rockets played half the season with at least either Yao or T-mac injured. JVG had to play the guys he thought would give him the best chance to win. He may have been wrong not to play V-span, but I doubt he would cut his nose off to spite his own face. JVG wants to win just like everyone else. He obviously thought V-span was more of a liability on the court than a help. If the Rockets promised him 25 minutes a game and a starting spot before he ever took the floor with the team, they were wrong to do that. Billy should have bit his lip and just worked hard instead of b****ing non-stop. This thread is hilarious though!
You don't? Well then you should talk to Vspan, Bonzi, Novak, Snyder and even Dikembe after the playoffs. Even Yao complained about player rotations. Lot of pissed off guys there.
Anyways...about Vspan. The Rockets weren't the only team with a whiny Euro on their bench. Look at these comments from Beno Udrih from the Spurs. How satisfied are you with the past championship season? Before the season the coach promised me that I would get a chance to play during every game. Playing with stars like Manu and Tony I knew I could get 10 to 15 minutes max. The first part of the season (approx. 40 games) I played great, since I was averaging 8 points and 3 assists playing the aforementioned minutes. All of the sudden you were confined to the bench. Do you know why? The reason for me not playing was a small mistake that snuck up on me during a game against Dallas. During that game I played 1 minute and 30 seconds and during a play I didn’t play aggressively enough. The coach immediately yanked me out of the game and to my bad luck the player that replaced me dove after a lost ball and hit the coaches bench. The coach told me after the game that that was what he demanded from me. Interview with Beno Udrih All of the sudden you were confined to the bench. Do you know why? The reason for me not playing was a small mistake that snuck up on me during a game against Dallas. During that game I played 1 minute and 30 seconds and during a play I didn’t play aggressively enough. The coach immediately yanked me out of the game and to my bad luck the player that replaced me dove after a lost ball and hit the coaches bench. The coach told me after the game that that was what he demanded from me. But you were confined to the bench for the whole remainder of the season? The non-American (especially European players) in the NBA are discriminated against and have to pay dearly for every mistake we make. In a champions team like the Spurs we even have big names like Barry and Finley that come from the bench after stars like Tony and Manu. Jacques Vaughn, who has a similar status to mine in the team, took advantage of my mistake - we both fight for the same 10 minutes of playing time. What I find really amusing now is how the Spurs fans are calling for Vspan to join their team and getting rid of Udrih.
Why did you leave this part out of the post you quoted? That's how I remembered the whole T-Mac in Greece thing coming out. Someone else took it out of context, presented it to JVG and he replied with T-Mac is T-Mac here.
oh, geez...so now this is an "article." I thought it was an email from one brother to another about what V-Span told one of them. There isn't even a link. Yes, one rumored brother said to the other rumored brother that there was a rumored article that "apparently" "seems to indicate" that V-Span "supposedly now hates the city of Houston." haha. "I think this <b>article</b> is..." good one DaDakota. Does it lend the post credibility to call it an "article." let's get this straight... The bulk of the post is a rumored conversation between someone's brother and V-Span....that was rumored to be posted on another board by a rumored other brother.
