trade for Tmac. orlando isn't doing anything. They'd take francis and cato. cato is one of the top centers in the east. Tmac for fracis and cato, do it now!!! tmac and a point hahaah
god...it wont improve the team? do you even know wtf an inside-out offense is? him flopping on the DEFENSIVE end has nothing to do with him on the OFFENSE jesus why do i even bother....
Ok, so the champaign room at Treasures is something I'd do even if I wasn't Van Gundy... But seriously, I like some of these trade ideas. Seems like fans here are losing interest (the TC doesn't even come close to selling out). A big name like T-Mac or Kobe would really invigorate the franchise and provide some much needed leadership. Some posters will say that landing a big name like T-Mac is a pipedream, but is it really? T-Mac and Kobe are both very disgruntled and will probably change teams as free agents. If you were the GM of the Lakers or the Magic, wouldn't you be trying to get something for these guys before they leave? A Francis and Cato for T-Mac sounds pretty good for both teams right about now. Then, maybe we trade Cat for a real PG like Wade, TJ Ford, or Tinsley. I'm not sure how the salaries will work out, but I still believe that SF commands a premium in the NBA market and we should capitalize on that before it's too late, IMHO...
He should bench Francis to knock some sense into him. But JVG is too scared of Francis, he treats him better than Rudy T. I'm tired of hearing JVG saying how great francis is playing this year. Is he freaking blind or just that afraid to offend him?
Van Gundy has a really weird motivational style. He usually: A) Complements individual players, sometimes for performances that are not that great. I'm not sure how high he is on SF, but Van Gundy loves JJ. Why? Yeah, the guy plays hard, but offensively, he's not that distinctive. Great defense, average offense. B) Criticizes the team as whole for lack for performance. Ok, so the team knows that they need some work, but seems like no individual player is willing to assume the blame for the poor overall performance. Thus, SF will say to himself "I'm fine, I just need better teammates". Someone tell me if I'm totally off on this one...
Im getting tired of JVG.. when you team plays piss poor play bench him and give someone from the bench a chance. I liked what padgett was doing at the end of the game or whats up with Alton? I would have benched Cat and MoT by halftime.. and gave some of the other guys a chance. Why is JVG so reluctant to play people from the bench? im getting a lil frustrated and tired. I dont whats causing the bad shooting.. we are getting open looks.. WIDE OPEN but we dont knock it down. Yao should be taking more shots too.. personally I dont like forcing shots against double or triple teams and I think he made the right decision passing out to the open man but it didnt work out today. However, when his team is struggling he needs to hoist this team onto his back and find a way to win! *sigh I dont know what to do.. J
i would try to get SAR for mo taylor and change. if possible, i would trade francis and cato to orlando for mcgrady, as people mentioned earlier. i really doubt orlando would trade its superstar player though, especially since hes popular with the fans and the team is starting to improve. then i would sign a free agent pg, perhaps mark jackson, or try to trade for charlie ward. i would also resign torraye braggs. pg ward, moochie sg mobley, pike sf t-mac, jj pf shareef, padgett c yao, braggs this will never happen, but its x-mas.
I have said ealier a couple games into the season that if they let Yao shoot as much as anyone on the team, they will have a excellent chance of winning, not just good, but excellent chance of winning any game. Well, so far it seems like he aint' getting enough shots every damm game, let alone taking the most shots on the team. I don't care if he's double teamed, if the Rockets can't solve this problem either by making teams pay for double teamming Yao OR getting Yao more shots in whatever way possible, then their chance of winning isn't very good in my opinion. And so far, my prediction has been right on the money.
I guess the storm is coming very soon with losing. Two veteran star players missed practice at the same time. I am smelling something. Do you?
If I were JVG, here are the things I would do right now: 1. Shave my head (Those few hairs need to go) 2. Stop being so damm negative (His negativity, especially when he talks so bad about the team to the media must have an effect mentally on the team. Why would you want to battle and give it your all for somebody that is constantly belittling you to the media. I know I would hate it, they must feel betrayed by him, what happened to the Van Gundy that had personality when he was on TNT???). 3. Start Mo Taylor and have Cato come off the bench. Substitute Francis with 3 to 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter to rest and have Mobley out there so then Francis can play the 2 spot for a few minutes while Mobley rests.
If I were Van Gundy I would: 1) Start MoT and bring Cato off the bench at the first sign of fatigue or foul trouble for either Yao or Mo 2) Start Boki at the 3, and make him shoot the open jumper. Teach Boki to funnel his man towards Yao or Cato at the basket. This would help cover Boki's defensive liability. 3) Bring in Mike Wilks to spell Francis late in the first quarter and have Wilks' primary assignment be getting the all up the floor quickly 4) Consider flip flopping Pike and Mobley in the lineup. Start Pike and bring in Mobley when the opposing team's reserve big guard checks into the game. Mobley will kill any team's second unit. Pike may be better working with Yao doing the inside out game, and shooting the threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Bringing Cat off the bench would makeup for the offense that you give up having MoT in the starting lineup instead of Cato. Cato, Cat, and JJ would make an awesome second team. 5) Sit Moochie's derrier on da bench and tell CD to find a way to trade him as soon as Wilks shows adequate performance as the backup PG. 6) Bring in Alton Ford on Christmas Day specifically to hack Shaq. 7) Get a hairweave and cosmetic surgery to lose the Lee Harvey Oswald look. 8) Quit eating sourkraut and vinegar before every game. 9) Let Yao shoot from the outside when Yao finds himself out there. Don't make him stop until his shooting percentage falls below 50% for the game. 10) Don't let Cato shoot anything but a dunk shot. If Cato shoots any shot but a dunk shot, bench him. 11) Dump Amaechi and bring in any rookie big man for the 12th spot. Non-guaranteed salary doesn't hurt the salary cap. 12) Sign Ward and either Thomas or Wallace in the offseason, whichever can be had. 13) Trade some spare parts for a medium 1st round draft pick in next year's draft and draft Jameer Nelson if Wilks doesn't work out. If Wilks looks good, draft a quality SF or PF. Cato may be tradable by then if Badiane has shown improvement and can be the defensive presense that Cato is now. Badiane's offensive game cannot be any worse than Cato so we may be able to duplicate Cato for a tenth of the price. If so, then trade Cato to an East Coast team looking for a big man that will give us quality in return........Cato and the trade exception for Caron Butler and a bad contract............or AL Harrington and a bad contract? 14) Spend the rest of the season and the off season watching tape of Paul Westhead's Loyola Marymount teams, the Showtime Lakers teams, and Don Nelson's Warrior and Maverick teams to see how to put together a high scoring fast breaking offense.
I like these proposals. However, JJ should be in the starting lineup along with Steve and Piat to provide defense. JJ and Yao will be the only guys playing defense, but it should be good enough.
I like some of these proposals to mix up the starting lineup, but do you think it will really make that big of a difference? During the course of a game, Van Gundy uses a wide range of lineups, and none really have seemed to consistently work.
I thought about the prospects of free agent wanting to play for Van Gundy especially if the Rockets aren't winning. Why would any free agent choose the Rockets over another team?
I think you're right Charvo, I don't think a FA would choose the Rockets over another team. That's why a blockbuster trade is the only answer.
Trade Steve Francis. He has not cured his bad habits in 4 and a half years so why would I possibly think that he will ever brake his bad habits in the future. Steve's decision making and poor passing are our teams worst enemy. Start MoT. We need his offense on the floor to get the offense going early. Make a new policy that any time: 1. Yao gets outworked by the opposing center or any time 2. he plays volleyball with the rebound instead of going up strong and pulling it down and any time 3. he passes the ball back out when he is one on one within 10 feet of the basket or any time 4. he tries to lay the ball up when he is in dunking territory... ...pull his ass out of the game and chew his but out for a large number of minutes. Let him know that you demand that he play a mans game and not the little sissy basket ball that he has a habit of playing. Drill it into his head that more is expected and demanded of him. He has the tools and the skills to dominate on a nightly basis and he should stop ignoring that responsibility. Enough is enough, his culture can only be used as an excuse for so long for not being aggressive.
