http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2006/11/a_hard_lesson.html Go ahead and say it. Or I'll say it for you: Put in Steve Novakstrong. There's some logic there. The Rockets ended the game making 2 of 27 shots. Novak can shoot. Let him launch, right? OK. But one question: Who comes out, Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming? That's the problem with thinking any one thing could have solved the Rockets complete breakdown on Tuesday. They broke down in every way, not just the one that jumped from the stat sheet. They defended well for 2 1/2 quarters, then not at all. And they got the shots they wanted. Yao and McGrady missed them, going a combined 0 for 8 in the fourth quarter. Luther Head, whose 3s helped rout the Heat, missed his three fourth quarter 3s, too. Scott Padgett missed a couple shots late, too late. The funny thing is that the Spurs sort of demonstrated why you don't switch your rotation and don't suddenly take Novak's shot out of mothballs. The Spurs were nearly as awful much of the night as the Rockets were in the final 16 minutes. But they just kept doing what they do, believing what they do. They did not dust off Matt Bonner, himself a pretty fair shooter. They stuck with the same rotations, did the same things. They just did them better. With so many experts screaming that Robert Horry had lost it, that age had finally caught him, and with him looking like it for much of the first two weeks, Gregg Popovich stuck with him and was rewarded. Horry went 3 for 4 for 10 points and helped key the run. Had Horry not come out of it, eventually he would have been replaced in the rotation. If the Rockets continue to lay bricks as they did in the final 16 minutes Tuesday, they will change things, too. And if Novak or someone else that finds his way into the rotation struggles, the Rockets should stick with him until he shows he cannot come out of it. But the idea is not to panic, not to get hit with technical fouls or call timeouts to suggest that players make those wide open shots. That's a college thing. You don't clear your bench, or for that matter, and perhaps more important, you don't change what you do as a player, either. The Spurs demonstrated that vividly. They were the Spurs down 19, and would have been up 19. The Rockets got whacked with that hard lesson.
Geez how far up Van Gundy's ass are you Feigen. Why don't you report some original thought just for once and stop with this pathetic kiss ass blogging. We have the most dominant big men in the league who is constantly getting double and triple teamed and we aren't making anyone pay for it because we have Jho he couldn't hit a 3 if his life depended on it and Tmac who is shooting 22% from behind the arc. You don't have to even guard those 2 guys out there. Steve Novak isn't about switching the rotation. Novak should have been a part of the rotation long ago and that is a no brainer in my book. Sure he has some other deficiencies but on our bench we have arguably the best 3 point shooter in the league who would punish any team who dared to sag off of him to double Yao. I am not even talking alot of minutes but there or times when he should get more and last night was one of those times. Stupid blog.
I cannot agree with you more. But Van Gundy is so immune to any changes. I bet he won't move his ass even when his ass caught fire.
Exactly. The biggest flaw in his argument, is that Popovich played guys liek Udrih, Parker, Oberto their rookie years. He trusted what he and RC buford did to build the team, and get those guys, and he gave them playing time. Sure Udrih didnt play that much, but he did get in games his rookie year. Unlike JVG who just refuses to play rookies. Thats why the spurs even have that bench, because Pop gave the guys a shot to play and get some NBA experience...
I really like Feigen. With that said, it's been obvious for a long time that he's not going to critize ... either can't or won't. I believe pretty strongly that if Van Gundy had put in Novak and that is what went wrong and fans were upset about it, you would not see Feigen writing about how the coach needs to stick with his rotation. Instead it would explain how putting in Novak was the right move by Van Gundy in order to give them an offensive spark, but it didn't pan out, etc. etc... just like Popovich and the great Spurs went to their bench to find a spark, etc. etc. To me, it's more of a mentality that he understands the coach and the coach isn't wrong.
he is also Immune to Critisism Most losses are both Players and Coaches fault but here it is all the players fault Coaches are more than Xs and Os they are motivators etc Rocket River
The players were tired....JVG did not help by calling timeouts during the Spurs run, or inserting rested players to help compete...ala Synder, V-span, Novak, etc. DD
I agree with DD. Trusting in your starters is very important but so is knowing when to rest them and developing your depth. When your starters are flagging in th third and you got a big lead swtich things up so they can get some wind and your bench some experience. True the Spurs might make a run on the bench but then again they might make a run on tired starters, which they did.
I don't understand why with a 19 point lead, and the Spurs pulling all their starters, we didn't counter by doing something similar? Get some fresh legs in there and if they start coming back, put your starters back in the game. I saw dead legs last night ...all through the 4th quarter. NINE points scored in the 4th....PFFFT !! DD
Van Gundy should have put Novak in instead of Padgett just because Novak is a better shooter and has quick release. Spurs defense got tough in the final minutes and Novaks ability to space out and quick release could have helped more than just plain 3-pt shooting of Padgett.
