The Jeff Van Gundy Legacy on the Rockets

edc · May 18, 2007

rhester said:

he brought a championship focus to a team
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Considering Mr. Van Gundy has never WON a championship, at any level, he has no idea what "championship focus" is.

Long-term, I think they got rid of the guy just in time. Another season or two of youth and athleticism burned at the altar of 29-year old role players, and the Rockets would be dangerously close to becoming the Knicks of today.

Yaozer · May 18, 2007

Jeff's greatest contribution: Red Rowdies

DonkeyMagic · May 18, 2007

weslinder said:

I've made no bones about the fact that I have become a Van Gundy fan, and I really want to post why.

Jeff Van Gundy made Yao what he is today. Like many, when the Rockets drafted Yao, I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited. And then he got to town and I was pleased. He was big, he was more athletic than anyone else his size, and he was a good passing, good shooting center. It was fun to watch this 7'6" guy pull up and knock down the 15-footer. Rudy utilized the player he got in Yao perfectly.

But then JVG showed up. And he forced Yao to play down low. He took this sweet shooting big man that I was getting excited about, and forced him out of his element. It looked bad at first. Yao's low-post moves varied from bad to mediocre, and his strength wasn't enough. He was certainly uncomfortable, and it was ugly to watch. But JVG, in all of his stubbornness, stuck with it. (I should give Tom Thibodeau some credit here, he executed JVG's vision.)

But it worked. Since he's such a hard worker and had such a good teacher, Yao developed his low post game quickly. He learned how to position himself. He learned spin moves. He learned interior passing. He got stronger and was able to post deeper. He learned to reposition and repost. He has become the most effective offensive low-post threat in the game today.

Yao, the rookie looked promising. He was a sweet-shooting, sweet-passing pivotman who was fun to watch in the high post. But that Yao would have never been the best center in the league. The low-post force Yao has become the best center in the league. JVG deserves the credit for creating that Yao.
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good post wes.

ubigred · May 18, 2007

Yaozer said:

Jeff's greatest contribution: Red Rowdies
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EXACT!

dreammvp · May 18, 2007

jvg wasa a good coach..good guy...I'll miss him..he put his heart into this team...I think people /fans will miss him.....if you looked at the recent poll it says now %40 of the people here wanted JVG back after nes broke that he was fired....that was 10% higher from the poll a week ago...people are already missing him now that he is gone...

pradaxpimp · May 18, 2007

NewYorker said:

I don't hear Yao complaining about JVG at all. I hear a lot of people complaining on behalf of Yao.

I guess Yao should listen to his fans rather then his actually experience of working with JVG for the past 4 years. Fans know better than Yao.
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obviously, they freakin follow him to his house.

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