I have always loved Rudy and always hated JVG. JVG is just a plain ass and I know that for a fact. I have never liked the way JVG micro manages a game and always seemed to slow down the game with his defensive style of coaching. Having said all of that...the last 3 months have been a pure joy to watch. What JVG has done is to convert someone like me into a fan because whatever he is doing is sure as hell working now. The Rockets are as much fun to watch right now as the show time lakers were in the 80's. Rudy 2 JVG 0 But I am turning into a JVG believer. Rudy was the absolute perfect coach for our 2 championship teams. Likewise I think JVG may be the absolute perfect coach for this current team. Because of JVG I think the Rockets have the deepest team in the league and with Yao, T-Mac and James we have some good youth that will be on the team for years. Rudy gave us a lot to be excited about and JVG is now giving us a lot to be excited about.
Too many bandwagoners here. If you really want to compare the two, you can't be so shortsighted. The Rockets are playing great and we've seen a great week and a half of basketball, so JVG is better than Rudy?!! And the last time we saw Rudy, we weren't that great a team. Why don't we compare the highs of both coaches and also the lows? How did you feel about Rudy when we went 15-0 to start the season? Try to recreate that feeling, and compare it to how you feel about JVG and our current streak. Also add in how good of a coach you thought Rudy was when we won our first championship, or when we came back in those series to win the ring as a 6th seed, and take out the top 4 teams in the league. Too many people are forgetting the great things Rudy did with the Rockets, and only remember his lowest points as our coach. I won't EVER forget Rudy and what he's done for this organization. He deserves that. On who is the better coach? I think both are great coaches when they are in the right situations for them to succeed, but Rudy is a bit more versatile and can succeed in more situations. JVG does great when he has the players that fit his system, know how to play the game, and don't need him to motivate them. He's probably the better one when it comes to X's and O's, and that is why he needs those smart players who can comprehend and carry out his plans. Rudy, on the other hand, is probably the better man at rallying his players and getting them in the mindset to play hard and with passion. Many times this passion will make up for a player's physical and mental lack of skills..and if the player is a smart player as well, then it makes them incredible. For examples, let's examine some Rockets players and see how each would fare (or did fare) with each coach: 1. Steve Francis - plays with great emotion but not the smartest. JVG was not able to get much out of him because his lack of basketball IQ. Rudy was able to make him a superstar because he was able to use Francis' emotion as a weapon. 2. Yao Ming - smart player who is also a bit emotional. I would think Yao would probably be a bit better under Rudy because he needs to be motivated, and Rudy was great at motivating his players. Yao needs the motivation more than a good gameplan to succeed. 3. Bob Sura - Plays with emotion and has a good bball IQ. I think JVG has been great for him. Sura doesn't need to be motivated and plays with passion regardless of who's the coach, and JVG is able to provide a great framework for him to work with. Probably would not have been as good under Rudy. 4. Hakeem Olajuwon - Also like Yao, smart and a bit emotional. Didn't need to be taught and contained to be effective. I don't think JVG would have gotten as much out of Dream as Rudy. Overall, I think Rudy was a better coach because his strengths can be applied to more players. It's not often that a team is able to get players that fit into a coach's style and philosophy all the way down the bench. I'm just glad we're pretty much there right now, which is where JVG is great!
Rudy did more with less in 94. Sure we had dream, but who else did we have that was a star? Cassell was a rookie and we had a bunch of role players.
What has JVG done for the Rockets for you to even consider comparing him to Rudy? The guy has been a Rockets for his life, and won this franchise's only two Championships. Wait until JVG win a title or two.
JVG won me over last year with his brutally honest approach to addressing the media. I didn't like when we first signed him, but maybe a quarter of a way into the season, he won me over. Rudy T, on the other hand, will always embody the Rockets. It wouldn't be fair to not give JVG a chance to win it all with his new-look Rockets. But if ANYONE would replace him, I'l look no further than hometown hero, Rudy T. The guy knows what he's doing - ESPECIALLY with a guy like Yao.
comparing rudy and jvg is like comparing coke and sprite both taste good (imo) and both are sodas some people say one is better than the other but at the end of the day they both will quench your thirst when it comes down to it we've been really lucky to have had two really great coaches for this team in the past (rudy) and now in the present. just be happy with that, comparing the two will get you no where people will always remain true to their opinion especially since its impossible to compare to two when rudy isnt even coaching anymore.
If we're comparing the coaches by their accomplishments, of course, Rudy would win. He has 2 championships. But if I had to choose who I'd rather have coaching this team right now, it would be Van Gundy. Unlike most people, I do think coaches can peak. A coach may be great in one era of basketball and completely stink in a another era of basketball. The game has changed so much since Rudy won those 2 championships. I think Rudy's coaching career peaked 10 years ago. Not saying that Rudy stinks, but just because he's a championship level coach 10 years ago, doesn't mean he's a championship level coach now. So while Rudy (10 years ago) might have been a better coach than Van Gundy is now, I believe Van Gundy is the better coach right now.
Van Gundy and Rudy T are very similar coaches and very similar styles. Both strong defensively, both believe in spacing and leveraging the three to exploit double teams of thier stars. Difference is, Rudy had a lot more to work with then Van Gundy.
