I was at the Detroit game in Section 114 lastnight; ive been an avid Rockets fan as far as i can remember, and i have to say i think we are at a point in which we have to make some drastic moves. The expectations on this season were to be better than last season and try to improve our playoff chances with the additions of Sura, McGrady, and Howard. I thought the team made a very tough but needed change when we decided to remove Franchise and Cat from our winning equation, but so far it just hasnt panned out. We all have our gripes and complaints on what has gone wrong and what hasnt happened with certain players "potential", but Les just needs to step in and make us all believers again. One more thing on "potential"... I'm sick and tired of the Rockets and for that matter any other teams claiming that they are signing someone based on "potential" to make millions of dollars and take my hard earned 70 dollars (tickets and drink) to watch some high school, middle school, elementary school, european, redneck, whatever kid come in and turn the game into a boring turnover ridden, foul prone, 70-point game. Please bring guys in who can help right away! Enough venting on that. Now my reason for this thread is to make a few suggestions and get some feedback from other Rockets fans. Coaching Situation My option is to ride out VanGundy through December (Although I was one of the Fire Gundy Chanters) and if the team still shows no signs of life then cut him out of the equation. Either way get Ewing out of here and bring in Kareem or someone with similar skills to Yao to come in. Replacment Candidates Im just going to throw names out, if you wonder why ask and ill respond somewhere in this thread Kenny Smith, George Karl, Mario Elie, Pat Riley, Paul Westphal, Donnie Nelson Players Situation Who needs to go who needs to stay... Ill start with my list of keepers since it will be smaller. Keepers Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Jim Jackson, Bobby Sura, Scott Padgett, Unsure Of What To Do With Bostjan Nachbar, Cookie Monster, Andre Barrett, Ryan Bowen Gotta Move On Maurice Taylor, Juwon Howard, Tyronn Lue, Charlie Ward, Reece Gaines, Clarence Weatherspoon Keepers i have only one comment, Work hard on every single play and good things are bound to start happening. The Unsures, These guys seem to have the tangibles to make a good supporting cast but none are spectacular. GottaGo Group, Something seems similar with these guys... oh yeah it just happens to be our glut at power forward and at point guard. Im sure we could come up with at least one decent to above average PF or PG for a package of two of these guys and one of our Unsures. Feedback....
The problem with JVG is that he creates massive leadweights on the team due to his inability to produce statistics for any of them. Look at Juwan Howard. This guy played with the Mavericks a couple of years ago and averaged over 30 minutes and got around 14 points/game. Mavericks were a very good team. Juwan has effectively become an anchor on the payroll. How can Les Alexander stand by and see his assets depreciate at such a great pace? This is just JVG's way of handling players. If a player does not fit into a specific mold, he gets benched and doesn't play at all. At least Don Nelson gave Juwan Howard good minutes on a competitive team. Don Nelson is known for creativity with his rosters. JVG is known for inflexibility.
I agree with that assessment of Gundy... We saw the exact thing last season with Steves play that we are now seeing in TMAC. I think Gundy slows the game down so much that it allows other teams a better chance of winning if we are having the slightest off night.
Which, unfortunately, seems to be every night lately. When I compare the Astros situation from this past season to the current Rockets, I see many similarities. Teams with obvious talent not playing up to their potential. In the Astros case, it was proven that the manager and coaches had a lot to do with the general malaise of the team through the All-Star break. I still think that the Astros would have been much closer to St. Louis had they fired Jimy a lot sooner than they did. I don't want the Rockets to wait too long to do something drastic. If they are going to cut JVG, do it now. Give a new coach a fighting chance to turn things around before it's too late.
I would also add Avery Johnson's name to the list. I think he would make a nice replacement for the Rockets. BTW, I would remove Pat Riley's name. That's the last guy the Rockets would need to take JVG's place since he coached under Riley in NY.
True, but Riley also was a key to the West Coast Lake Show in the 80's... I left Avery off since Dallas is pretty committed to making him the successor to Don Nelson.
You know, I know trading a bunch of guys might seem like the solution but what bothers me is that our "keepers" in general have played like ass in recent weeks.
Donnie Nelson is an interesting pick. He coached one of the international teams in the Olympics. I think it was Serbia. Assuming JVG gets canned and has to get bought out, Donnie Nelson could work for cheap. JVG's ego has gotten just too big for his own good. Donnie Nelson may introduce Yao to a different manner of playing the game rather than the continuous posting up down low.
Let me add that Donnie Nelson is part of the crew that has revived basketball in Dallas. The Mavericks were just awful and were the 4th team on the totem pole just a few years ago. Now they might be the top ticket in town.
Im not a big fan of trading a bunch of guys either, especially in the middle of the season. That was only thrown out as a suggestion to mabey stir up some ideas.. I think the biggest solution will be to move in a new coach.
Donnie was my first choice to replace Rudy T but Uncle Les was committed to bringing in a "name" coach, hence we got JVG. At the time of his hiring, I was among those who openly questioned whether his "Eastern Conference" style of sloball would really work in the uptempo athletic Western Conference. Well we now have our answer. As for Donnie, I really liked his keen eye for finding talent (Nash, Nowitzski, Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels) and his ability to correct his personnel mistakes (trading the two Antoines for Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry & the no. 5 pick in last year's draft where he took Devin Harris who will be the Mav's PG of the future). Come Thursday, take a good look at the makeup of the Mavericks and compare it to that of the Rockets and you will begin to understand the true depth of the disparity in our personnel. However, there is now a ZERO chance of getting him because Mark Cuban has paid him beaucoup bucks to keep him in the Mavericks organization.
Phil Jackson is a proven winner and with our talent would be a great fit for him. Del Harris deserves another chance to be a head coach. PJ Carlesimo would be an interesting candidate since we seem like Spurs Lite and might be able to bring in some interesting sets. J
I don't think JVG will be canned in the middle of the season. Les has sold a boatload of season tickets already. People have bought tickets to individual games already. If Les makes a move, it will be in the offseason in order to further the demand for tickets for the coming season.
If JVG goes, I think we can forget about getting a marquee name to replace him. That would be two huge coaching contracts running simultaneously. Donnie Nelson, on the other hand, is unproven as a head coach and couldn't ask for as much. And he might be the best choice of the bunch.
PJ Carlisimo or Del Harris would be my mid season replacements. Phil Jackson if we wait until the end of this lottery bound year. DD
Good lord we need a rebounder. Then we can worry weather any of these horrible replacement candidates are worth it. Kenny Smith? Please. The guy couldn't guard anyone. What makes you think he can coach? His suits? The fact that he's on TV? George Karl? Coached his way into two player revolts. Notoriously dour. Yeah. Right guy to replace van grump. Mario Elie? Sorry, but other than being a bench guy for the Spurs and an ex-Rocket, I don't see it. Lots of heart, but no way is he ready to be big time coach. Its not like GS is off to a shining start with him as an assistant (3-10). The Spurs have been succesful because of their organization (always adding to their talent and doing a fantastic job of scouting new talent), their coach and Tim Duncan. Elie is just along for the ride. Pat Riley? I guess you forget that JVG is a disciple of Riley. This is dead, absolutely dead as an option. Paul Westphal? Another guy who directed his way into a player revolt in Seattle. Hasn't Pepperdine struggled a bit over the last couple of seasons with Westphal? If he can't coach college, I'm not thinking he's your guy. Nelly Jr.? Neither Nelly Jr. nor his dad ever stand a chance of winning a championship with their all-offense style. Frankly, Nelly Jr. has been riding dad's coattails for a while. You bring in a Nelly and, with our mediocre offensive talent, I can guarantee that we will not win more than 10 games the rest of the year. A Johnson? Too inexperienced. I like AJ, but he's not ready for prime time. Just a guy that happens to be in the news right now because the Mavs organization is bizzaro world. If that's the set of characters available, I think the team is fine sticking it out with JVG. The only coach I could conceive of being worth it is Phil Jackson. Phil is a damn good coach and can't be blamed for the nightmare created between Shaq and Kobi last year. Despite that horrible situation, he still managed to coach the Lakers to the finals.
Who would your post mid-season replacements be after you start calling for Carlesimo/Harris' head within 24 hours of their first 2 game losing streak? And who would then be Jackson's midseason replacement?
PJ would be an interesting choice but he can obviously be a bit abrasive. I don't think the guy has the personality to bring a team together. Del is a good choice for a replacement. Good basketball guy. Strong ties to Houston. Has worked with Yao. He's always been good at getting the most out of his players and teams, but he hasn't reached the ultimate pinnacle. He's at least a playoff caliber coach. He's represent a nice contrast personality wise to the dourness of JVG. I still think you stick with JVG and ride it out though.
