Unless you've got a hell of a returning team, you take some bets every year. Last year, those bets paid off. Bobby Sura was tough as nails. Jon Barry was offense off the bench. Deke still had a year left. Mike James was a great scorer when our stars were out. We took risks on just about all those players. We were a couple of plays from the 2nd round of the playoffs. David Wesley had some juice left. This year, we took some gambles again. And we pretty much struck out. Derek Anderson flopped. Barry never really played. Sura never played. Deke and Wesley are cooked. Alston didn't "reform" under a task-master, defense-minded coach. Swift didn't harness his potential (just as he didn't in Vancouver/Memphis), and continued to flatter to deceive. What does it all mean? Not much. Yao has finally emerged as a top 10-15 NBA player. And he's unique. There's a chance McGrady will become the new Grant Hill, but more likely he'll get over it. Luther Head will improve. We'll make some new bets - and almost certainly won't strike out that badly again. The core of the team still consists of two people. Everything bad that happened this year - it's a wasted season - but it's temporary. So relax, enjoy watching Yao score 30, and rest safe in the knowledge that your hopes for next year aren't as unrealistic as most fans whose teams have losing records.
As far as this coming offseason goes...I don't see a majority of this team coming back...the few players that will return are likely: Yao T-Mac Head C.Hayes J.Howard (this is borderline) ...another hunch is that JVG is gone this offseason, he won't get fired...he'll just quit and blame everything on the management.
Thank God if that happens. His style is effective, but it's not complete. He tries to mold this team like the Spurs IMO. Well, the Spurs get it done effectively on offense while the Rockets do maybe 5 times a season. The Spurs have grind-it-out suffocating defense AND effective offense. The Rockets have grind-it-out suffocating defense...only.
i'd pay long odds on that bet ... but i suspect ole man grumpy will be back. we've got, at least, another season of unimaginative, uninspiring, robotic, route method, system oriented, player strength be damned, my way or the highway, my way aint working but i can't be wrong, aint got no halftime adjustments ... JVG ball.
Who cares if JVG is back? Quite frankly, it doesn't make much of a difference. People put far too much of a premium on the coach of a team. What matters? Tracy and Yao. If they're healthy, we're a playoff team. Add a decent 3rd scorer, a PG who can hit the 3 and doesn't turn it over, and a decent PF who can rebound...and we win between 52 and 56 games a year. If we luck out, and pick up a Manu Ginobli or Tayshaun Prince in the draft...and...well...we're winning 60 games and challenging the Pistons, Spurs, and Mavericks. We struck out on every personnel bet we made this year. That doesn't happen often. To top it off, we lost Tracy for the year (essentially). Next year, we get Tracy back. Whether JVG is here...isn't here...doesn't matter. What matters is that we have better than absolutely abysmal luck.
i agree. we will have a more productive offseason this summer. we will have a high draft pick. if we found luther in the late first round i can't wait to see who we get in the mid lotto. the MLE can be used on a second PG like cassell or claxton. our team will be much more well rounded.
And that's the Larry Brown ball as well. Both Larry Brown and JVG lack some motivational skills. Anyway, there is no better coach out there. I am sure fans will say the same thing about Larry Brown IF he quits his Knicks job and comes here. I do think Phil Jackson is better though because of his tri-angle offense and unorthodox motivational style.
I have to laugh on this. We might get EG II with that mid lotto pick. Never trust the Rox management with mid-round draft picks, especially this is going to be a weak draft class. We can also blow the MLE on another Swift.
Good post haven - sums it up well. And I thought this years team was better than last years team. But even with a healthy McGrady, hindsight tells me we are much shorter on talent. But you are right, just sit back and enjoy watching the core Rockets grow.
Haven, well said. To put it more succinctly, this year we ran into a 'perfect storm." However, out of that storm emerged a beast - Yao. With a healthy TMac and Yao, despite all the failed gambles, we still make the playoffs this year. If TMac and Yao can stay healthy, which I think they can, we're a perennial playoff team. I anticipate signficant off season changes with with moves involving Howard and/or Stro, and also finding a 2 guard who can fill it up. D R
Mcgrady needs a backup and a wing player on his side. CD should be shot if he uses the pick on ANOTHER PG
Who wants to bet that we will draft yet another under-sized guard? You guys should know by now that JVG is in love with undersized, defense-playing, shot-making guards (Charlie Ward, Chris Childs, Head, etc.) Just look at how short out lineup is compared to almost every single team in the league...I can't help but LOL whenever I see us playing a team like Dallas with a bunch of lengthy swingmen and athletic players. I don't like binding someone to his past, but you can't help but see the similarities in the players JVG wants to bring here to those he had in NYK.
Good point. And I think many teams in this League know this and are taking advantage of this. Nets and Mavericks basically beat us in this way. Carter, Jefferson, Dirk, Howard, we just cannot find the right(tall enough) guy to defend them.
The only short guards the Rockets have had when talking about height is Wesley and Head. And with NY it was only Childs and Ward. Is that really what your going to go with here? Are we forgetting about Sprewell, Houston, Harper, Starks, Jim Jackson and so on? Are we forgetting about Sura and Anderson who were penciled in at the begininng of the year to be main rotation guys? and then there's Barry and Alston who aren't exactly little people. What I'm getting at is, I can point out more of the type of guards that have played under JVG that you say he doesn't like, than the type of guards you say he does like. I'll take that bet though. JJ reddick doesn't count though right, he just a talent that they have to get if there. ; )
If JVG ad CD continue on this team they will continue drafting players that they think fit the system and later blame it on their physical limitations. I have heard a lot of times JVG talked about how undersized Head is for shooting guard. So, why did he drafted him? The Rockets should draft people that meet the requirements of this league first (size and strenght) and then make sure they can learn defense and shoot some open baskets.
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Rockets healthy = 21-10
JVG is a very bright guy, but his "Old Knicks Reclamation Project" has really bombed, and he either needs to give up his dream of making Ming into Ewing and recreating his "Knicks years," or hit the road. I am sick of this direction, injuries or no injuries. I want a healthy TMac, a few new players, Del Harris, and a more upbeat, "positive energy" direction for the "Ming years" ahead. Les, the Rockets are in a funk, make us happy.
