And Adelman really hasn't been able to "create" anything better thus far...you keep putting the cart before the horse. I'm still looking for somebody to explain to me why Adelman produces better offenses when the only differnce between the two appears to be pace.[/QUOTE] U have to be delusional if you dont see the differences in offense from the JVG era and Rick Adelman era. LMAO..The Rockets points per game SKY Rocketed last year. Are you blind? What about that doesnt register? Rick Adelman has rebuilt this team through trade, FA, and mainly DRAFT. Which is the biggest difference in their coaching. JVG didnt like to play rookies or young players. Adelman has instilled confidence in our young players which has set us up to be good for years. A JVG coached team will always have a short window being that he plays old ass veterans. Again, NO COMPARISON! Handed Landry? Lmao. We DRAFTED Landry in the 2nd round. Adelman's staff worked hard w/ Landry in the offseasons and in practices. Landry wasnt handed to us, he was given confidence from Adelman and staff to be a good player. Again something JVG didnt do much of. How many young players did JVG work with in the offseason? How many rookies did JVG give a shot to make the rotation? I take it you'll avoid the question again.. Howard, Wesley, Weatherspoon, Baker, Ward, Oakley, Brunson & Jackson were PICKED by JVG to come here. They didnt just land here. JVG WANTED there services lol. I dont know how you cant obviously see a JVG team had Tmac doing ALL the creating thru one on one & pick and roll. Absolutley no offensive game plan..In Adelman's system everybody touches the ball and we have movement. With Yao coming back, our defensive will be top 10 like it was before he got hurt.
DM would have never gotten rid of JVG in favor of Adelman, that's for sure. When you really think about the differences between JVG's Rockets and Adelman's Rockets, it's DM CD never gave JVG much to put around T-mac and Yao. It's a real shame. I like JVG a lot. People say his offenses suck, but you know what, he never had an offensive team. He took teams with crappy offensive talent very far. You look at the Knicks team that made it to the finals in 98 and wow. Their best player was Sprewell! Just amazing.
If Tmac & Yao were healthy during most of JVG's era, then how can you say JVG didnt have enough talent?
Adelman might wet his pants if Morey could just give him the best center in the game and an elite wing player.
First of all, JVG has zero NBA experience as a player hence ZERO practical knowledge or experience , relying mostly on theoretical knowledge. Adelman has played in the NBA , has both theoretical and practical knowledge of the game. There are intricacies to the game that only a Player/Coach can understand. The current championship contenders Boston and LA both have former players as coaches. Generally, the trend now is towards former players like Scott Brooks, Byron Scott, Avery Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, among others but there are exceptions to the rule. JVG's much hyped defense could do nothing to stop Avery Johnson's Mavs from penetrating inside and overcoming the two game deficit to win the series. Thats because after winning the first two games, JVG stuck to his rigid , stubborn style and we continued to rely on Tmac's jumpshot that went sour along with rafer alston. I believe Adelman has roots in Portland, and was the one who saw first hand how Aaron Brooks excelled in Oregon, and recommended to Morey the said acquisition. There needs to be good chemistry between the coach and the general manager which exists between morey and adelman. No one knew how they would pan out, but Adelman gave them a chance to prove their worth. JVG and CD did not seem to be cohesive with the team's acquisitions. Is it a coincidence that during JVG's tenure , we acquired a lot of his former knicks players and during Adelman's current stint there are a lot of former kings players coming over? the coach is partly responsible for the players he recommends or vouches for the gm to acquire.
JVG is still stuck in that era of mandated man to man defense where you just dump the ball to the star player and isolate him, the league has become more complicated with the lifting of the illegal defense rule and there are now more complicated zone and man zone combinations. You can't succeed with that old formula even if you have lebron james. just ask mike brown. We all agree we trust Morey in his assessments, and Morey has much trust in adelman instead of JVG. In Morey we trust.
JVG's team was more talented than Adelman's team. Yao>Hayes huge drop in talent T-Mac>Ariza huge drop in talent younger more effective Battier>Slow Battier that has lost a step Alston<Brooks big upgrade Howard<Scola small upgradde
Adelman has played with a 20 million dollar hole( tmac out) or even close to 40 million dollar hole ( tmac and Yao out) in the payroll absent and was a game away from going all the way. And may I add has yet to have a season with the payroll intact. JVG has had several seasons with the WHOLE PAYROLL INTACT and has never managed to get past the first round, his much hyped defense could not stop the Mavs or the Jazz offense.
Adelman has coached with a 20 million dollar hole( tmac out) or even close to 40 million dollar hole ( tmac and Yao out) in the payroll absent and was a game away from arguably going all the way. And may I add has yet to have a season with the payroll intact. JVG has had several seasons with the WHOLE PAYROLL INTACT and has never managed to get past the first round, his much hyped defense could not stop the Mavs or the Jazz offense.
The whole JVG defense >>>>> Adelman defense assumption is baffling. And shows just how much we simply look at stats rather than the big picture. The difference between Adelman and JVG is that Van Gundy will sacrifice everything for the sake of defense. This includes, but not limited to, running conservative offensive sets to limit transition basket. Or opting for defensive players(how is Ryan Bowen EVER a rotation player?) in order to keep the defensive effort high at all times. Or running the clock down in order to limit possessions and keep the pace factor low. Adelman has always been a more well-rounded coach. One who understands that there's always a trade-off. That if you give up 2 transition baskets in order make 4 easy layups yourself each game, that's a trade off that you should take. And that having a player that really helps your offense, but hinders your defense a bit is better than having an all-defense/no-offense player. That picking up the pace may get you more wins if your roster is not suited for the grind-it-out style because your center is 6-6. To me, that's why I'll always take Adelman over JVG. Because I feel Adelman actually looks at things in a broader sense. That he doesn't have tunnel vision both in terms of judging talent, nor in terms of game planning.
A game away from going all the way? Are you kidding? JVG had T-mac and Yao and that's it. There was nothing else on that team, and two guys can't win in the playoffs in the Western conference against stacked teams.
JVG had more than Adelman in game 7 against the Lakers. T-Mac and Yao is better than Artest and a 6'5" Chuckwagon against 7'0" Bynum and 7'0" Gasol.
Ron Artest said the same thing, he said if the refs didn't screw us , we would be the NBA champions. If you win game seven against the lakers, since the latter went all the way, hence the statement that they were a game away from "arguably" going all the way. Its debatable but is reasonably possible that had they defeated the eventual NBA champs their confidence would have been off the charts and all bets are off. theoretically speaking of course. Again, that was with a 40 million dollar hole in the payroll. It still does not alter the fact that JVG had several full seasons with the payroll intact , and Adelman has yet to coach a full season with the whole payroll intact. Not to mention , Adelman put us in the HISTORY BOOKS with the winning streak and this notwithstanding Yao was out, a 20 million dollar hole in the payroll. Next year he plays wit tmac out, another 20 million dollar hole manages to get past the first round. Coaches the team against the lakers and takes them to seven games, mostly with a 40 million dollar hole during the series. third year , he plays with a 40 million dollar hole, and the team still plays decent. JVG had the whole payroll intact for several seasons, had bob sura, david wesley and john barry, mike james, pretty decent shooters, and a two game lead over avery johnson's mavericks. All first round exits. and Adelman never had to spend thousands of dollars of his own money to buy tickets just to maintain popularity with the fans.
Ron Artest also said the 07/08 Sacramento Kings were championship contenders. Ron Artest always says his team was great, probably because he believes any team with Ron Artest on it is great.
