Tuesday, December 06, 2005 Print this Comment on this E-mail this NBA Notebook Rockets could be reworked Van Gundy wants team (4-12) to 'stand for something' Chris McCosky / The Detroit News They are starting to do the dreaded "watches" in Atlanta for coach Mike Woodson and in Toronto for coach Sam Mitchell. Watches -- as in coach watch. As in, dead man walking. As in, they are counting down the days before the ax falls. They are doing a different kind of watch in Houston. The Rockets, at 4-12 easily the NBA's biggest disappointment thus far, could be on a total overhaul watch. As David Wesley told the Houston Chronicle: "I would think the only people I can be sure they won't change would be Tracy (McGrady) and Yao (Ming). Other than that, it could be me, it could be anybody." Coach Jeff Van Gundy didn't dispute that, saying he had "hard decisions" to make. The Rockets started slowly last season, too, opening 6-11. And they retooled the roster, adding Wesley, Bob Sura and Jon Barry. Sura is hurt, but the rest of the formula that worked last season is still there. And, even allowing for McGrady, who has been injured for most of this season, the formula seems to have lost its magic. The Rockets do have many movable pieces -- Wesley, Barry, Derek Anderson and Moochie Norris are in the final years of their contracts. But the Rockets also are above the salary cap and luxury-tax threshold, and they aren't looking to take back players with multiyear contracts. There has been talk of bringing in Latrell Sprewell or Darvin Ham, but that would be only a Band-aid on a wound that requires stitches. There is another option. Maybe it's time to change the coach. Maybe it's Van Gundy who doesn't work. To his credit, Van Gundy appears willing to jump on a sword. "No, no, no, it's really on me," he said. "It's on me to make some hard decisions right now about how we're going to play, who we're going to play and what we're going to stand for. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. "Right now, it would be very hard from the outside looking in at our team to say what we stand for. That's a coach's fault. You should always be able to watch a team practice and/or play and tell exactly what the coach and the best players stand for. "It's my fault and my responsibility for us to stand for something that our fans and the people who pay good money can be proud of." Sound byte Van Gundy, fed up with his team: "We can't guard a pick-and-roll. Just lead with that every story. The Rockets can't guard a pick-and-roll.No. Change that. The Rockets won't guard a pick-and-roll."
i don't blame this start on JVG. tmac was injured (still is a little), jb and alston are still hurt, wesley and da couldn't hit anything, stro doesn't seem to do anything...this can't be the coahes fault. lets get healthy and makes some trades to fill the needs that we thought we filled with stro, da, and alston. if we are successful in making those moves then lets give it some time to set in and then make a judgement. the season might be lost at that point but the blame on JVG can't be made so quickly.
Where exactly is this sword Mr. Van Gundy is jumping on? This feels like the captain of the Titanic saying "It's all my fault I steered into the iceberg, but I can fix everything by throwing people overboard, and moving the deck chairs around."
I wonder if Van Gundy wan't out? I don't think he'll remain a Houstonian after his days (however many) as a Rocket coach are over...
Like it or not, JVG must assume a large helping of the blame. I am being carefull not to say he needs to be let go because sure as hell the team will turn around and I'll end up eating crow like last year. Having said that...there is a lot of talent on this team even with out T-Mac. Starting 4 and 12 or even 5 and 12 simply can not be explained with out factoring in coaching. We have multiple players have career worst or close to career worst years at the same time. Anderson, Howard, Wesley and Alston are all having a horrible start to the season and Yao is shooting a career low f/g%. Once again I am not calling for JVG's head but this slow start even with last nights win to bring us back up to 5 and 12 is very alarming.
Right you are...He does need to bear the blame and there is a lot of talent here. Talent that could have been forged into a winning team even in the absence of McGrady, but talent JVG mismanaged and openly blamed and disdained, when it was his own overt failure. That posture has hurt him with fans, players, and media around the NBA. I will say again what I have said in other posts, JVG must immediately and consistently show signs of turning this team around or his days as a Rocket are over. My guess is until the end of 2005, maybe as long as mid-January. I am sure you would, like me, be happy, no elated(!), to have to eat crow to see the Rockets and JVG back in the hunt with a winning record...
The six game west coast swing will be crucial if JVG is going to survive this season. The Rockets played great D against the Celtics and they even scored 30 points in a quarter. What team will show up for the next game? The one that beat the Celtics or the one that was beaten to a pulp by the Grizzlies?
