De-spice me willya? I de-sugar you and turn your club into a rotting swamp with nothing but snakes, spiders, Steve and Cato to hug and give high fives to. I'll give Cat a pass.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. I'm tired of making excuses when it is very clear that the offensive system JVG uses SUCKS. He has never been able to get teams to score and things won't change. You said we don't have a Parker to break down the PG, but I could have sworn we had a PG named Steve Francis that could. DavidS- obviously we're not going to agree on the coaching issue, we never have. I remember Steve Francis commentating on JVG Ball "He makes the game harder, more complicated." We brought in JVG for some discipline to Francis/Mobley. Well, he ran them out of town and we have a brand new team, a team that doesn't need the same discipline. DavidS- Go look at JVG's year by year stats from 95-99 w/ Knicks and 03-04 w/ Rockets, and this season so far. The stats are EXACTLY the same, its almost scary. That's all I'm saying. JVG is known for being strict and stubborn, he's not going to change the way we play basketball, when we need to with this team.
Why do you say, "but I could have sworn we had a PG named Steve Francis?" Why? Hmmm, lets see, Francis vs McGrady, Francis vs McGrady? Decisions, decisions....remember that trade we made? The *point* that I was *trying* to make was that we do NOT have a PG NOW. Francis was not part of the deal. We are better off because of that. I will never accept his TOs. Never. It takes too much out of the team. McGrady was the deal. We got him. Now, we move on from here. We go and find better pieces to the puzzle. Francis is the last person you should listen to when it comes to complexity. He thinks a give-and-go is "complex." What's simple for Francis? The "killa cross-ova! We will not be a 86PPG team like the 1998 JVG team. But we also wont be a 95PPG like JVG first year with Ewing (1996), either. Not yet. It will be somewhere in the middle, similar to what the San Antonio Spurs averaged last year (91.5). Or even what the Pistons did last year (90-91ppg). You will just have to deal with this until we make improvements. Note that the Pistons get their points from all over their roster + great defense (steals and blocks). We don't. Our team, right now, is centered on McGrady and Yao. The chances that our point production will change as our team gets better as does the chemistry of the players.
A BS offensive call against JJ vs MINN. A BS no-call when Mihm grabbed Yao's wrist during a dunk. Charlie Ward making Royal Ivey look like Payton in his prime. Yep...clear as can be...it's time to fire Van Gundy. I guess the Pacers need to fire Carlisle too since the Hawks are up by 7 at half time.... I only read the first 2 pages, but this thread is the biggest crock of s**t I've read on this board.....
Tell me, what changed over the last eight weeks. At that point, you were insistent that this club *could* score 95 PPG, and called my prediction of 91 PPG "ridiculous."
You'll have to just deal with it and suffer. Even if we make 92ppg, you still wont be happy. And you said so many times before...2nd round play-offs, 6 games....
I brought up Francis because you said we don't have a PG that can break other PGs down. You were talking about this season, but why didn't Francis do it the year before? Why didn't JVG use Francis in this way? Pop lets Parker/Manu break their man down and get to the basket, they either make it, dish it off, or get fouled. You say you don't like the iso, and I agree, I don't like it either. But its basically how we are playing basketball right now, just that we set a bunch of useless picks and pass it around the perimeter for 20 seconds, then we pass it TMac/Yao/JJ for ISO anyways. Like I said, we will probably never agree on this coaching issue. I PERSONALLY feel that JVG isn't the right coach for this team, you do. How bout we agree to disagree.
Francis didn't *break his man down* last year (as much) because our management was pushing for more offense out of Yao. That was the focus. Plus, Yao was clogging the lane. The skill level of Francis "break their man down" is debatable. It comes with turnovers, which is a catch-22. That's why I don't want him on this team. I'd rather have Parker or Bibby. They can do the same as Francis except w/out the TO. As far as Parker/Manu. Yes, it's nice to have player like that. They actually have nice skills and play smart. That's why the are starting for the Spurs (and not Ward). Two of the best players in the game (non-MVPs). But take Parker and Manu off the Spurs and Duncan would not have such a fun time.
About 95ppg. Sure, it was wrong (lowered expectations). But what about next year, at 93ppg? And the year after that, at 94.5ppg? This is after 2-3 years of roster changes and improvements here and there. That being said, what would it matter? As long as we build a higher production team? But no. You want it now! Today! Yesterday! You're setting yourself up for disappointment no matter what. Because even if we did reach 95ppg, and LOSE, you'll still have to come down to earth and deal with real problems with this team. It's like any team that can score 100ppg, but loose in the first round. It wont matter. Winning is winning. And losing is losing, no matter what the ppg is. Sure, entertainment is nice. It would be great to have guys like Bosh, Daniels and Amare blocking shots, stealing the ball, and running down court dunking! But we don't have thoes type of supporting playres. YET! We have Ward and MoT. Mr. Slow and Mr. No-D.
I have seen 91 games coached by JVG, I think this is large enough samples that can make me draw a conclusion. He sucks on offense. no clue at all. period. His defence is not smart either, he only knows to force those players run and run. and make them no energy at the offensive end. Tmac is going to get totally lost in his system. Every time when I see Yao or Tmac playing ISO and the other players are just standing there watching or don't know where to run or how to run, my heart is broken. so do many other fans i believe. therefore, JVG must go.
Yao cloggin the lane? What about Duncan? Shaq? They certainly spend more time in the paint then Yao. How is Francis "break their man down" debatable. Rudy let him do it because it was effective, Francis was able to do a lot of things on his own. It wasn't good for the team however. I'm not saying to drive in everytime, but atleast mix things up a little. The JVG offense is stale and predictable. But oh well. No point debating this. I don't think I am wrong, just like you think you're not wrong. And, even if we knew we were wrong. We wouldn't admit anyways.
Yao was "clogging the lane" as in, it had a negative effect on *Francis.* SF could not roam free like before. Once Yao was drafted the offense shifted, even under Rudy. As far as Duncan and Shaq...yes, they spend time in the paint. Duncan is the star of that team. So was Shaq. Is Yao? That means, Francis gets less touches. He not featured. That was my point! Not whether or not Yao is effective in the paint. It's about how Francis game was effected on by Yao becoming more the focus. The reasons we changed focus...SF was turnover prone (five years of it). And Yao was clearly going to be the future of this team. At the expense of Francis. Which leads me to this.... I said, "Francis breaking down his man is debatable" because, just as you said, "It wasn't good for the team..." That was my point! Please tell me. What does "mix it up a little" mean? Tell me. In X's and O's. Tell me what you want our players to do. What plays to do want to see run? What ISO plays? What setplays? What? I'm trying to figure out what you mean by "mix it up." Mix what up? I'm just waiting for you to say, "Let McGrady go ISO more..."
I think this... The offense is setup to get the best possible shot which is initiated by our best players; McGrady and Yao: Inside-outside, outside inside half-court offense (some pick and roll)...Right now our players are shooting average from the field (.433) and a little better than average from 3PT (.373). Our TO rate is average. But needs to improve (16.11). So, *efficient.* Not yet. Now, I'm talking percentages (efficiency). It would be great if we could get the FG% to 45% and the 3PT% at 40%. And TO to around 14.5. That should be the goal for "efficiency." And I think this CAN be achieved as the season goes on. Now, as far as our role players. That's another story. When McGrady is on the floor, I see good things happing. Yao too (when he plays hard). But as soon as the ball is rotated to Ward or Lue or MoT. I cringe. I never know what will happen when they have the ball in their hands. It's almost like the offense STOPS! Especially Ward. He doesn't turn the ball over much, but he does not get into position for the pass very well. It's like he's in slow motion. I like his 3PT shot. But I hate his speed. Nachbar? Bowen? Not sure what type of game they will bring each time. Scott Padgett suprises me sometimes. Howard and JJ have played good so far. But, our PF can't rebound or block shots. Yao's not that good either (blocks and outlets). So, we can forget about inside blocks, rebound and quick outlets for easy buckets. We can't generate any offense from our defensive pressure. Sure, we can hold teams to 87PPG. But our defense really isn't that good at creating easy points. Not like the Pistons or Spurs. I really don't like our defense. Yao does well holding up the lane as a deterrent. And McGrady does well at steals now and then. But the rest of our players can't really cause TOs. So, no fast-breaks. And Ward running a break by himself? Not likely. Lue, can do this sometimes. But he's not really a creator. So, given our roster, we can't play like the Suns. It's not physically possible. But what we can do is play the efficiency game until we make changes to this team. Thus, I think these things WILL be a problem and they will have to be addressed. Trade? FA?
Hear! Hear! Amen! Yessir! "Hear Ye, Hear Ye" and all that good stuff... down with pessimists... GO ROCKETS!!!!
That's because Dawson is the teflon man. None of his sh*t ever sticks to him and he's as much to blame (if not more) for this team as is JVG.
