do yall think Cd will get canned this summer. Reason i think he should is look at the turnaround of the nuggest and grizz. ANd even the jazz are still good when they lost their 2 starts.Yet the rockets seem to be the same as last year. If Les is smart CD will be gone.
If the Rox make it to the playoffs, neither CD or JVG will get canned. If they do not, JVG will certainly go and maybe then CD.
If he is I bet Toronto snaps him and Rudy up together. CD did just get a 3 year extension at the start of this campaign. I'd say no. He'll get a chance to make trades this summer. If he bungles that trade exception, though ... fire away.
no, both Jeff Van Gundy and Carroll Dawson will keep their jobs regardless of what happens. If for some strange reason they don't make the playoffs then the roster would be overhauled and that's it.
exactly. you dont fire a coach after 1 yr. JVG did his job this season, that was to make us a top defensive team, and bring us to the playoffs. it will be cd's time to imress this summer. we have a large TE and a decent center to part with. that should be enough to get us a PF that fits and the back up PG we are looking for.
In my opinion CD has not done anything positive for this team. He has messed up so many drafts that it is time to look to somebody else.
I am going to be furious if something happens to JVG after this season! He has done a SUPER job this year. Carrol Dawson is a different story though. He's had some good trades for us during his tenure, I approve of pretty much everyone he's done, but the guy doesn't know how to draft. I don't know if it was more Rudy's fault or his, but our drafts have been HORRIBLE the last several years. Some things he couldn't have controlled like EG being a total dumbass, but we've had some bad draft decisions nonetheless. I am starting to lose my patience with him, but I'm not about to say fire him...just yet...
I personally can't see Les Alexander paying a combined $10m to Rudy T and JVG for 2004-05 and having to hire another coach to boot at ~ $4m. The current team was built to the specs of Rudy T which IMO lets both CD and JVG off of the hook for at least one season. It would take something of the magnitude of not making the playoffs or getting blown out in all 4 games of a playoff series sweep. Pretty unlikely IMO. Also worth remembering is the CD got a contract extension from Les in October of '03.
Lets count how many drafts he's messed up. 1.) last year's second round pick....??? 2.) Yao Ming's pick, Boki. 3.) three for one for the guy who everybody predicted would be a star. Now, of the top three things, the only one that could be criticized is us picking Boki at 15. But, seeing as how he's yet to get a chance to prove himself, we can't rule him out completley. And even if he is a bust, these things happen... there are such things as first round busts. You can't fault him for EG, you can't fault him for picking up guys like JJ and Spoon... all the while getting a trade exception and holding on to a MLE. He got us a coach who completly changed the mentality of this team and its fans... notice how we all expect tough defense and wins every night (and we complain like hell when we don't get them). That tenacity hasn't been here since 99, and Rudy wasn't going to get it with these young guys, because he's just too nice of a guy... he needs players who know what they're doing already (see Phil Jackson). He's also one of the most respected person's in all of NBA front office, he knows a helluva lot more about basketball than just your avg. GM (based on his playing/coaching experience), and he has yet to fully put together a team that can be built around a center... remember, before last year, we were building around SF3. Finally, guys... this isn't baseball. NBA GM's don't have THAT much power. There's no minor league system they have to manage, and since this is more of a team game than individual one, sometimes u put the parts together and they work... sometimes they don't (unlike baseball where good parts almost always work). In fact, there's only one guy who's been able to do things that GM's in baseball can normally do... that's Jerry West, who was able to completly remake the Grizz in his image (plus, he inherited a team with 8 lottery picks... that helps). But the days of wheeling and dealing and signing big name FA's are long gone in this league... the new CBA saw to that.
If he doesnt rebuild[sorry Jeff ] tinker with the Roster he will be , but at the end of the 04/05 season.
I can see CD getting the boot, Les might feel there's been toomuch complacency in the front office lately and you know he cant be happy about the whole RJ-EG deal plus every other draft pic who hanst worked out except for the once cant miss prospect from China. Anyone who thinks JVG would get the boot for missing the playoffs in his first year is an absolute idiot. Unless the players absolutely revolted and refused to play for him period, it aint gonna happen
I agree completely. JVG isnt going anywhere anytime soon. No matter what happens this season's end. People tend to forget how much of a great JVG is. He could have gone anywhere to coach, but the PICKED Houston himself because of YAO MING. Just to name a few, JVG could have gone to Cleveland or Detroit.
He just got a contract extension, so unlikely. I don't know him and I don't know what role he plays, BUT SOMEBODY has negotiated some abysmal contracts during the last several years. Plus the current talent mix has minimal chemistry. Besides Ming, the Rockets have squandered/wasted ALL the draft picks in recent memory. We need some FRESH personnel thinking from some where. And I don't like the KNICKIFICATION process going on right now. The Rockets are on the verge of becoming an "oldtimers" team of ex-Knicks. Please, a new vision from somewhere. Bring in some talent that will "free the Tiger." Currently he is confined by "mindless" guard play. (How do you like that one, Yetti!)
JVG is 'a great' what? All I've ever seen, up to and including this season is a mediocre head coach that has never won anything.
Yeah, i just hate the way he stresses team defense and how he likes to run the Inside/Out offense. What is he thinking
He is a good defensive coach. No doubt about it. Offensively, this season has been a complete waste. Yao Ming has improved tremendously, but the TEAM offense has taken a serious nose dive. The net result is nothing extraordinary. Even if they manage 46 wins, it is not really an improvement over the 43 or 45 win seasons.
It's not so much his drafts that annoy me as much as his FA signings. I cringed when we were giving out big contracts to the likes of Moochie, Mo, Cato, and Shandon(subsequently became Rice). I was supportive of the Francis extention, since at least we were overpaying for quality(at least at the time). And besides, it's infinitely easier to get rid of Steve's contract than Mo, Cato, or Weatherspoon's. However, I think he's come around. Look at our recent contracts for Pike and JJ. Both fairly short term and for about $3 mil each. I wish he'd make more of these type of signings in the future for role players.
Hindsight, unfortunately, skews everything. At the time, when we signed each one of those players, nobody (not this bbs, not the chronicle, not espn) criticized those moves as bad signings... in fact, especially with Mo-T and Shandon, they were praised. Moochie was considered the penultimate backup PG, and at the time, many were calling for him to run the team and move Steve to the 2. (the players change, but the complaints remain the same). Mo-T was instant offense, and looked like he could continue to improve as a dominant low-post scorer like we had in Barkley. Sure he had his rebounding problems, but his offense would compensate. Shandon was the FA signing of the off-season... an up and coming youngster who had good shooting touch and great athleticism, who would now blossom with the increased playing time he never got in Utah. Cato was a monster on a mission. A combination of the raw force inside of a Shaq, and the defensive tenacity of an Olajuwon. The triple double in pre-season sealed the deal in the minds of CD and Rudy, as they had watched this man everyday in practice devour anything that came into the lane. man.... how times have changed. But, even though you may feel as if I'm talking about different players, those were the views shared by many when those big contracts were handed out. Its funny how some players just stop working hard once they get paid... or they get injured and never really recover (mo-t). Funny thing is, this will always continue to happen in this league... and it may just happen to some of the players that everybody is salivating over right now. Carlos Boozer? Zach Randolph? even Amare Stoudamire? How will all these guys fare once they get the ultimate contract? Buyer beware... (Hey Mickey... don't use this as one of your next columns in the chronicle, okay?)
Yes, you are absolutely correct. It's that horrible offense of Van Gundy's that forces Steve Francis into having a career worst season in FG%, 3pt%, & FT%. And what the hell is wrong with Van Gundy's offense that Steve has to make decisons that give him the 2nd most TO's in the NBA. But what really PO's me is when the Rockets get into high gear and start flying down the court for a great fastbreak and Van Gundy yells at them to slow down and wait for Yao. Just horrific offensive coaching... And you're also right about the 46 wins being nothing special. I still don't know why Van Gundy had Cuttino foul Voshon Lenard behind the 3pt line with 12 seconds on the game clock. Stupid Van Gundy telling the players to close out on shooters...what's up with that? Hell, we were ahead the whole game only to lose 95-94.... How about the 88-83 loss at Memphis were Van Gundy's stupid offense could only generate 12 4Q points? Any team with a half-way decent offense can shoot better than 28% in a quarter.... And he even expects players to come into training camp in shape. And then they wear out and have injuries in the training room like Cato just did...stupid JVG... And that stupid thing about not letting Francis catch a later flight so he could stay in Houston and take care of personal matters....Van Gundy cost us that win we could have had in PHX....jerk.... And what kind of dumb coach allows Francis to dribble out the clock against the Spurs...any good offense would have gotten a shot off in the 15 seconds we had...what a lame offense... You're so right on the money...with any kind of offense the Rockets easily win more than 46 games...what a jerk Van Gundy is...
