What are you talking about? How am I * on Doc? Doc deserves props for being secure enough to hire Thibs and turn him loose. If you don't believe Thibs owned the Celts defense during his 3 years there then keep your head in the sand. And if you interpret giving Thibs props for Boston's defense as disrespecting Doc, that's a personal issue.
I think there's a legitimate argument to be made for treating the regular season as a marathon, not a sprint. For all the flak Rick caught about trying to win every game, I thought that was pretty much BS. He holds a pretty long-term view of the regular season, compared to JVG/TT.
This thread makes no sense. Van Gundy didn't have a number 1 seed here in Houston so how did his teams play over their heads in the regular season. As for Thibs, so you think the Bulls would easily advance if they were not a 1 seed?
That argument would make sense if Bulls players were tired or breaking down in the playoffs, but they aren't.
I don't think the Bulls should beat the Heat. They're not as good. But don't pretend that this criticism hasn't been leveled at JVG/TT before now. I'm not even saying I agree with it. I just don't think it should be dismissed so easily.
No, Sloan never won a championship because the basketball gods hate the dirty grappling and flopping style that they play.
rockbox, I somewhat agree. Van Gundy/Thibodeau teams play with max effort all the time and do not have another gear to get to in the playoffs. But, that is not the problem. The problem is that they do not develop offensive talent throughout the year or they do not encourage management to bring in talented offensive players as much as they should. They prefer to play defensive workhorses. You know what those guys will give you every night. Players with more responsibilities on offense don't (or maybe they can't) bring the same intensity on defense throughout the grind of the regular season. However, many of them do show a little more effort in the playoffs and that can be enough to win it all. The only way without having a more developed offense (even if you have the best record) is to hope there aren't any teams close to your level with players that can step up defensively.
Or, it could be that Miami played below their capabilities throughout the season as they were trying to figure things out and are now playing better. Or maybe the series is simply 2-1 between two very good teams and no one has come crashing down to earth. If Chicago wins tomorrow, it will be 2-2 and we'll be right back where we started.
It's too early to generalize about Thibodeau's coaching style after one season. But I do agree somewhat with the OP that van Gundy teams often burned out in the playoffs after overachieving in the regular season. The biggest reason for this was that JVG played a shortened roster, giving major minutes to 8 players and overplaying his starters. Many coaches do it in the playoffs, but JVG did this way too much during the regular season. It may have been out of necessity but by the playoffs, the starters were worn out while few bench players were ready to contribute. Though I haven't watched a lot of Bulls games, I haven't noticed the same tendency in Thibs. Even in the playoffs, his roster goes 10 deep with bench giving support at every position.
I have no problem with coaches who get the most out of their teams. If their teams had championship talent they'd win championships. The Rockets' problem during JVG years was that we were never fully healthy and the Bulls problem right now is that they just don't have enough talent.
All I meant was that their teams aren't as good as their record indicates. Its like driving a civic at 120 mph constantly. It sure looks fast, but it gets blown away by a Porsche when there is money on the line. The only exception was the 99 season when I don't how the hell they were such a low seed with all that talent on the team.
Did anyone else catch Van Gundy characterize Durant's passing to "Lebron, someone else (either Melo, Wade), and McGrady. Its like he wants to stir **** up on this board. Gotta love the Rockets red bleeding through.
Should have specified but I was talking more about JVG's time with the Rockets. And not sure how JVG's taking an 8th seed to the finals negates anything I wrote.
I don't know if its the same thing,but it kinda goes back to playing hard as a skill or talent. Its seems from watching thibs teams or jvg teams is that they play so hrd,they can overshadow or mask the lack of talent during the regular season. However, in the playoffs,everyone plays hard so talent factors bck into the equation. Now I'm not sure the rose led bulls totally fit into this because they have good talent. The heat have better talent and so does the mavs. In fact,they would be last in terms of talent of the final 4 teams. I just hope they don't think they're a role player away from wnning it. They're a really good 2 guard and some bench player away imo.
