Very interesting insight from Ric Bucher on how political and media-manupalitive JVG was. All-in-all the whole podcast is very interesting, especially the Kobe part, the Kobe-MJ comparision, etc... With respect to JVG, I felt exactly the same way: Jeff invested heavily in being a media darling and it paid off for him with everyone buying into his drama... http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=podcast&id=2912030
Yeah, makes a lotta sense. And Bucher's right, people like Barkley, Van Gundy and others who control what the media spills are doing it right, I like this Bucher guy. Pretty smart and he seems to be pretty insightful and knowledgeable, and I agreed with the points he brought up about Kobe.
like i say, it is NOT about the stats. parker got his b/c of duncan. wade got his b/c of shaq (or how he got his pts and parade to the line). i mean, how many wide open jumpers did parker get b/c of duncan?
He was commenting on fans not liking Kobe because of his personality. I think his take was Kobe's personality even if it makes him an ass, is also what makes him a game winner, ie he only wants to win "He'll throw anybody under the bus to get that".
hey I mentioned this thousand times JVG is very smart at it, he did that with his players and only the few who could not see through it are still praising his ass! Bucher is one of the people that has the most knowledge about the NBA IMO, he puts this out like it is I seriously would not trust JVG in any way
1. Very interesting podcast covering a lot of issues, from Kobe to NBA/media relation overall. 2. People have serious reading/listening comprehension problems on this boad if you think Bucher and Simmons mean to say something negative about Van Gundy. Bucher did not mean to suggest that the ability to charm the media is in any way negative... in fact, he specifically said he has advised certain atheletes to be do the exact same thing in dealing with the media. Simmons, I believe, like Van Gundy, too... in fact, he said a few weeks ago that he likes Van Gundy so much that when Richard Justice retires, he'd like to replace Richard as the official mouthpiece of Jeff Van Gundy. Just because these two know Van Gundy is media savvy doesn't mean they don't appreciate him making their job easier. 3. But Van Gundy is gone now. Adelman, as far as I know, is equally media savvy... in fact, I believe he had pretty much the kind of support that Van Gundy got from the local media when he got fired in SAC (and the Maloofs were made to look like total asses). Les Alexander and Daryl Morey, however, don't strike me as media savvy at all. Daryl is inexperienced. Les, on the other hand, just come across as a cranky old billionaire all the friggin time.
BTW - last night on Gottlieb's ESPN radio show, when asked to bet his life', Bucher said Kobe will not be wearing Lakes gear Novemeber 1...and that Artest WILL absolutely positively be traded (one of the Maloofs, I have heard, swears they will do nada to help Adelman, Artest will NOT be a Rock...so I've 'heard').
So let's say you have two friends. One calls a thief "a thief" and the other friend refers to the same person as "someone who just takes things". The two friends used different words with the same implication. Bucher and Simmons have avoided "manipulative" or "Drama Queen"...but that sure as hell is what they meant.
really. they could have easily said that. you go by whats said as fact...adding other interpretations is purely speculative and more than likely you are hearing what you want to hear, not necessarily whats being said.
JVG fans will hear what supports their theory and JVG haters will hear what supports their side. It is a tired argument, we all know where each other stands and it is kind of moot at this point being JVG was fired..... DD
Wow, way to skew what Bucher said into your own JVG-Hater rhetoric. Bucher, nor anyone else for that matter, has EVER stated that JVG is untrustworthy, or dishonest, or deceitful. Why is being able to manipulate the media a bad thing? The media is not there to befriend these people....if the media sees a story about you they can exploit, they will do it in a heartbeat. And where and when is there any evidence that JVG was anything less than genuine with his players? There are a lot of bad things to say about JVG : he was stubborn, old-fashioned, and uncreative.....but dishonest he was NOT. It's one thing to have rational explanations for not being on board with a coach, but by saying that JVG was untrustworthy, you in turn are the one thats being dishonest. Just because JVG was let go does not mean you can just say things about him that aren't true, and people will blindly listen to you.
My friend, neither you or I need to give our opinion on what we think of JVG. Nor Hillboy, Sam Fisher, Cabbage, Amel, EDC, Almu, Crash.....heck most everyone on this board has chimed in...... It is a dead horse, and one that tends to get me a time out..... DD
i dislike JVG, primarily for his pathetic offense, more than anybody, but let the man live. our players DID like him. but now they're playing for adelman. i do believe JVG is a humorous nice guy off the camera. he just doesn't know how to coach offense that's all. don't bash the person please.
