I firmly believe management and ownership fumbled the ball on this one. They were pretty set following the Game 7 loss that JVG was gone. Instead of handling things professionally, they bobbled around, crafting different lies about what was going on and generally making a mess of things. If there's one thing you learn in business, it's never burn any bridges. They have clearly done so with JVG. If we had a smart owner and GM, who knew how to handle business relationships properly, then they could have eased things over with Van Gundy. Handled properly, is it so far out of the realm of possibility that we could have had Adelman as head coach on JVG as defensive coach? I suppose it's possible that JVG would never accept a role where he does not have near-complete control, but I think we should all realize that management did a poor job of handling this situation. Side note: If we had a decent management team, then it would be safe to say that things wouldn't have soured with JVG (which apparently started happening a year ago). Proper planning could have created a scenario where Stan Van Gundy was the head coach with his brother as defensive coach.. Now that would be an amazing coaching staff. But that possibility was thrown out over a year ago thanks to ownership/management.
This was solely on Les, not Morey. It's like the Rockets had 2 guys with 2 different visions. Les should go ahead and sell this team to a better owner. I've heard from too many people who have worked for the Rockets that he's not the greatest boss.
It kind've makes you wonder what kind've long term plan they have in place... The Battier for Gay/Swift trade was obviously a move to benefit the Gundys system... If all along Alexander was looking for a reason to dump Gundy it doesn't really make sense to pull that move... This isn't a knock on Battier, but rather the management, who seem to be flying by the seat of their pants...
I for one want Les gone as the owner... I've been wanting the rumors to be true ( About him selling the team )... No way the new owner wold move the Rockets because this is a great Market... New Owner willing to spend a little more money would help greatly.
Agreed.. there doesn't seem to be any long term planning. Like, why only interview Adelman.. you should always explore all options!! There are a good handful of potential coaches on the market now, why interview one??
I wonder if there any excentric billionaires out there willing to take on the challenge...make that excentric billionaires who aren't complete doucehbags...
I don't care how good of a relationship JVG/Mgmt. could have had, no way JVG would have accepted a demotion. It almost never happens in the NBA, I don't ever recall an established head coach like JVG taking a demotion with the same team. I agree that mgmt could have done a better job handling this situation, but let's not make JVG out to be the poor old victim here. For all we know, Les/Morey asked JVG to resign and he chose not to (wanting them to fire him).
no wayt would JVG take a reduced role... why? because that means a reduced pay check. he will be a HC again. there is no reason to settle for less. additionally, no owner would pay 2 HC's fair salary. get 1 HC and then hire assistants. JVG is gone because he underachieved. yao and tmac were not paired to play defense. it's time for an offensive coach who has playoff expereince. you won't find many better candidates than adleman. plus, there is no guarantee that there would be a better coach than JVG available next summer. les struck while the iron was hot. good move! i think the only bad move by management was hiring darryl morey too quickly. this summer we could've landed west or kiki. i don't have a lot of faith in morey but i sure hope he proves himself to be one of the better GM's.
