There is evidence everywhere: 1. Perimeter play: (a) before: guys had their head down, looking to penetrate, dribbling, probing, oblivious to the other 4 players wearing the same jerseys. (b) now: guys are standing up, two hands in the air with the ball, looking hard into the paint, swinging the ball to the entry pass side, making the third pass to swing the ball. Houston, we have ball movement. Houston, we have a team offense. I didn't necessarily expect this from JVG. But his disciplinarian approach has worked. 2. defense: (a) before: oops, there goes my man, waive arm at the guy, no weak side help. (b) now: everyone is in a defensive crouch, teammates are shifting, cutting off passing lanes, crouched to appear to come help, opponents look tenative, not sure if a double team is coming. I fully expected this, and this alone will win us some games. 3. low post: (a) before: Yao - damn, I can't get position, I'll come out further, nearly out to the three point line. Damn, I'm kelvin Cato, I can't possibly do anything decisive offensively. I can only dunk. (b) now: Yao - post, push, repost, slide to the middle, slide to other side to post. Damn, I'm kelvin cato. It doesn't matter if I miss my shot, if it's a good one, I'll take it. Oh my god, I can make some shots. I just never knew i could b'c I was forbidden to shoot. Now, I'll be the first to admit, we have better personnel and Yao is just flat out better, period. Furthermore, the additions of Jackson and the new Cato have made a huge difference. But the JVG rule is what is making the difference - you play to compliment Yao and Steve, or you don't play at all. It's early, but I think Steve has adjusted to the new system better than Mobley. Mobley still suffers too much from head down, probing, penetrating. Steve does it to some extent, but the offense does not grind to a halt. I think Steve will continue to adjust. I just don't see Mobley on this team anymore. I'd like to see us trade him for a quality combo guard or PF. JJackson makes Mobley very expendable. In JJackson, we have our new Mario Elie. We haven't even received contributions from Pike, A Griffin, M Taylor or E. Griffin. But you give JVG those additional parts to work with, and this team should flourish. Bottom Line - this is just the beginning. When this team is up to its full compliment of players and JVG has them all on teh same page, we will be a force to be reckoned with.
Yep!!! Back to that old, boring, dump it down to the big fella, and then swing it around the perimeter for the open jumper or back inside for the easy layup offense that we used to run before Hakeem left. That boring, old post offense, with the ball constantly going down low. That offense that everybody said Rudy needed to get rid of so that we could use our ATHLETIC guard play and win championships. That same old basic basketball that wins championships consistently, decade after decade after decade while ATHLETIC guard dominated teams fail and fail and fail........but the ATHLETIC guard hangs up huge numbers season after season......and wins scoring titles. Yuck! Here we go again, back to boring, championship basketball.
The defense is what has really blown me away. I hadn't expected to see this big of a change this early. Now, granted, the team looked good defensively early last season as well. In fact they were one of the top defensive teams by rank in the first 20 games or so, as I recall. But I see a fire that I didn't see before. I see guys scrambling to help out on defense. I see more general awareness of where they should be, and how they should position themselves when they get there. I loved Rudy, but these are things that I don't know if he ever bothered to pound home like I'm sure Van Gundy is. There are still plenty of tests to see if Van Gundy will do for this team what we all hope he will...but I really like the results so far.
I agree with Raven Lunatic. I really am not surprised. I'm HAPPY though that the Rockets are playing so well...impressive to others... This is still just preseason though. I do agree. JVG has been doing a great job! lol...i like your analogies about cato and yao before and after. But I don't agree with what you think about Mobley...I think Mobley can adjust to the new system as well...he is one of our best shooters...and he can drive...he played well tonight! Hopefully he can make those open shots all the time. If we can trade Mobley for Pierce or Finley or T-Mac or Iverson...then yes, trade him.
That's why I was soooo excited when the Rox finally made a coaching change this off-season. This team defenitly needed it. The first half of the preseason was ragedy but with each passing game the Rox look more like a TEAM. I havn't seen the Rockets play like a TEAM in so long. JVG was a great choice to get this team back to respectability. He's a no-nonsense coach and it appears he's leading/coaching this team and not letting the team lead/coach itself. It also helps that Yao is playing like a monster right now. I wish Rudy T the best in his health and in life in general, but this team was never going anywhere under him, and I'm glad he's finally gone and the Rox now can start heading back toward elite status in the league.
I'm incredibly excited about this team. To the point I don't even particularly care what happens with Eddie Griffin. They can cut him for all I care. Torraye Braggs is looking decent and then there are still players out there available like Tyrone Hill. I'm really excited about this team. And destroying the Kings and the Spurs (even if it is just the preseason) just has me incredibly optimistic. Possibly even foolishly so.
And just think...Cat JUST got back, and AG, MoT and Pike are all still out. This season's looking good!
actually, we were one of the top defensive teams by ranking in the first 82 games. 5th in opp fg%, 8th in scoring defense, 3rd in rebounding %. too many people act like rudy coached a poor defensive team last year. jvg may very well improve us (and from the only game i've seen so far, tonight, it looks like he has), i just don't like when people refuse to give rudy no credit for anything (not that you didn't, just in general). the only other general thing i'd disagree with is all this credit jvg's getting for cato. didn't cato turn it around starting at the beginning of last season and keep it going the entire season? he's playing the same this year (attacking the glass, playing good D, taking his good shots) he's just getting more minutes with both our pf's out. we even let him have about one post up each game in his 17 minutes last season. he always took that turnaround jumper.
great read! nice post riley dog. i agree with you completely! when i was watchin the game, i also noticed all those points you pointed out especially, the cato thing. i cant wait for this season to start!
yeah, but unfortunately rudy lacked the creativity or vision to start him at PF (he experimented a couple of times for a few minutes only). in fact, who did he start most of the time? eddie griffin...not cato, not moT (for the most part). it's not like john amaechi is that much better than jason collier to back up at C (to allow cato to play PF).......
Great thread, Riley Dog, and right on the money. Could it be true? Has PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL returned to Houston!? Is disorganized, playground, "stupidball" over? Oh, I hope so. I am ready for the regular season. I am sure there will be bumps in the road, BUT we are at least ON THE ROAD!
Great analysis...I agree, JVG is the perfect man for the job...The halftime report with Franchise said it all... JVG pays attention to detail and doesn't give in to any excuses...Once the learn and run the O & D the way JVG wants it too, watch out... BTW, I love the inside out game for Yao and the team...Yao is such a great team player and passer that if he doesn't have the shot, he'll give it to someone who does... GO ROX!!!
