According to Larry Brown, he was all set to sign with the Rox, but CD was diddling around, waiting to interview Silas. BOOM, in jumps Detroit out of nowhere. You get a shot at Brown, you don't wait to interview Silas. You blew it, CD. AGAIN. I don't think JVG was a good choice. I hope it works out, sure, but I don't think a guy as pig headed as he is (Yao down low, Pat Ewing) is going to get as much out of our talent. Plus, it's God-awful boring. From a biz standpoint, we needed a more dynamic splash. JVG is the opposite - a killjoy.
We are missing the boat of we again blame the coach instead of the players. The bottom line is nobody could coach this group to be a championship contender. Rudy's less disciplined, more free style didn't work. Now JVG's defensive oriented, slow it down style is getting pretty much exactly the same results in the W-L column. It's not about the coaches anymore. It's about the players getting it done on the court. Why can't Steve shoot and why isn't he grasping the offense better? Why is Yao so tired and unproductive?
Everyone is up on the trading block in my opinion. If Jeff Van Gundy wants defensive stoppers who can shoot the ball, they are available around the league. They are available in college. I still think Yao can be the Herschel Walker for the Rockets.
To answer the question asked - absolutely NOT!! This is my first post in many months but it picks right up where I left off - JVG was absolutely the WORST POSSIBLE CHOICE FOR THIS TEAM! Once Brown was lost (by CD in a spectacular screw-up rivaled only by the Eddie Griffin debacle) the very next choices should have been either Dunleavy followed by Silas. The only reason JVG is here is because he's a fellow short, whiny, New Yorker who is as stubborn as he is clueless. Yes the guys are playing better defense, but my contention when he got here was that our offense would suck and it does. For all of his work on defense he couldn't coach offense to save his life, and hiring people like Ewing only proves what a 1-demensional guy he is. Yao needs someone like Donnie Nelson who really GETS the international aspect of players like Yao...Dream would be the ideal guy to coach Yao because of his understanding of cultural differences and his similar "nice guy" image around the league, plus Dream had an inside-outside game where Ewing was pretty much an 8-15 foot player. For anyone who expects the Rockets to do more than get past the first round this year or next under JVG, you're kidding yourself. By the end of this year Seattle (who I predicted would be a playoff contender) and Denver (who I thought would be replaced by Golden State in the playoff hunt), may well finish ahead of the Rockets and may even knock them out of the playoffs altogether. JVG was supposed to make us a 6th seed or better. It's not happening folks and it's because JVG cannot coach offense or do anything that approaches psychological flexibility. Later...
That is absolutely not the case. They were playing well, in Yao's first season, on track to make the playoffs. They were a million times more fun to watch. When Rudy went down, they did a complete flop under Smith. That is what killed last year. If Rudy were back, he would have better players, more continuation and would at least have them at this record. Probably safe to say that it would be better. JVG is a horrible choice for this team.
I'm with Mr. Clutch. I think everyone is up on the trading block. If Les wants to stick with Van Gundy, get Van Gundy guys in here. Get guys who enjoy playing defense. If the players are the reason, I see no reason for the Rockets to stay pat while the team spirals downward.
R-R-U - I wanted Brown, too. I got over it. Regarding Dunleavy Sr... The Clippers score a lot of points. According to Denver's announcers, Andre Miller's style was misused and under utilized in LA. IMO, Jaric is a better fit. The Clippers have Elton Brand and Cory Maggette and a great rookie center pickup in Chris Kaman. Quentin Richardson is playing well. Dunleavy Sr as a discipliarian is closer to RT than JVG. The Clipps to the man (with the possible exception of Brand) jack up shots everytime they are open. Not disciplined. The Clipps still give up 98 ppg, have a nearly identical conference and division record as the Rox and ain't goin' to the playoffs. IOW, IMO the Clipps don't play enough D to beat the teams their supposed to beat. At least the Rockets do that. Respectfully, how does Donnie Nelson teach Yao cultural differences? Yao must learn them for himself. Would Yao be a good fit on the Mavs? Sure. But it has nothing to do with Donnie Nelson easing cultural differences. It has to do with the fact that Yao wouldn't need to be Dallas' primary offensive option. I've seen a lot of interviews with Dirk (who averaged about 8 ppg in his rookie season) and I have never heard him once credit Donnie Nelson for easing cultural differences. The Nelsons may full well recognize international talent, but that's hardly the same as easing differences. Should we also promote Rick Adelman as one who eases cultural differeces for players? At some point it's the talent of Vlade, Peja, Hedo and Dirk and not some easing of cultural differences. The subject has been hashed and rehashed more times than I can count. Olajuwon would not be a good coach for Yao. Almost everything Olajuwon accomplished was due to his freakish athleticism. That, like Olajuwon's quickness can't be taught. If you or anyone else expected this years Rockets to finish with the 6th seed and make first round noise, ya'all are the ones with the "psychological flexibility".
Get JVG guys in here. Empty Toyota Center even more. Get JVG outta here. Uptempo, probably win as many if not more, gain some attendence, create some excitement. Not a championship formula? Tell that to Kings and mavs fans that flock to every game.....
I'm in favor of trashing this entire team like the Suns did and going to a Kings formula. Draft guys who can shoot and pass. However, Jeff Van Gundy is not the right coach for that kind of system. Les needs to can Van Gundy after the 2nd year if the attendance continues to recede. What's the economic value of having a sellout on a given night vs the 10,000 average attendance the Rockets are getting? It's gotta be more than Van Gundy's contract.
The team is the wrong choice. In basketball, the coach probably has the least amount of in-game influence compared to baseball or football. Van Gundy can't really tell a player to not pass it into the third row on a fast break, nor can he tell a player to get deeper post position when that player is clearly being outmuscled. All Van Gundy can do is make substitutions and call time outs to stop a run
Good post(s) Gater. And Thanos. I think most people will agree that this is -- and has been -- one of (not THE, but one of) the most undisciplined teams with this much talent around for a long time. We need a three-year plan to improve to the point of being a championship contender and it will consist of learning to channel that talent into playing SMART basketball. Fewer turnovers. More -- but more importantly more Effective -- fast breaks. As I see it, JVG has several things he wants this team to do -- less dribbling, knowing WHEN and HOW to run a fast break (we STINK at it, when we try it right now.) You want playoffs this year -- we can get there by playing the way we are now -- with strong defense and a very inconsistent, ineffective offense. THAT'S PROGRESS!! JVG's focus, for good reason, has been on the defense. And on reducing the amount of dribbling. You can't run the fast break without a solid -- and QUICK -- outlet pass. Yao isn't at the point where he thinks quickly enough to find the outlet receiver instantaneously the way Ralph did with Lloyd. He's a good enough passer that he can learn that. He needs to work more on rebounding technique -- but that's another post. We have to reduce turnovers. Bad fast breaking produces a LOT of turnovers. A good fast break requires the right people to be in the right place consistently. It requires good timing and a LOT of hard work in practice. We can't afford more turnovers this year. I predict that the number one focus in next year's camp will be on the fast break. Gater, you're right. Given the current consistency on defense, the difference between consistently winning and winning inconsistently is a VERY SMALL improvement in a few areas of offense. Give JVG two full seasons and we will see that consistency.
Nope. JVG's improvement to a "pretty good" defense does not counter the complete collapse of an "average" offense.
come on, kids, it only have been the first steps of a long trip. Rudy.T was let go because his trip was finished, and no result. We will see about JVG, he is basically playing with Rudy's personnel, live with the bad contracts we have. You dont question a veteran coach so quickly. The up-side is we are above .500 mark, we are in the playoff hunt, we didnt play worse than any of the last 4 years. If it's the playes to blame, there will changes during off-season, that's for sure.
JVG is following his track record to the letter. He is making a young-ish, talented (if undisciplined) team look like the convalescent home he quit in NYC. Besides, JVG said it himself, anything short of "Win and win now" would be a failure. By those guidelines, these Rockets are FAILING.
