Although it's hard to watch some of the games, I'm behind the Rockets 100%. The players are used to being under Rudy's easygoing personality and system. It's hard for players to just change from one system to another overnight. Some take longer than others to adjust. Eventually they'll all be on the same page and good things will happen. In my opinion, the reason why Steve isn't adjusting as well as the others is because he's so used to Rudy's ways [not saying that Rudy's ways are bad or anything]. When he was under Rudy, he basically did anything he wanted and carried the team. He was used to it being his team and being able to tell the others the plays. Now that Jeff is here, Jeff's hardass doesn't take anything from anyone. Jeff wants Steve and the others to play teamball. Steve's ego gets in the way of listening to his coach and backing down. He will adapt to the changes eventually and things will go well for the Rockets and the fans. I believe it will take awhile for everything to fit into place.. but until then, I'm still going to support Jeff and I believe he will be able to make a difference.
By "win now", I believe he meant "make the playoffs", not "win the championship". Anybody who expects this team to win a championship before the 2005-2006 is psychotic. Unless you mean winning a championship this season, how are they failing? They are on a pace to tie the Mavericks and the Nuggets for 5th seed with 48 wins. Given that Seattle is on a 46-win pace, Utah a 44-win pace, and Memphis a 43-win pace, that is not a huge margin for error, but I expect this team to have a better record in the second half of the season, not to collapse like last year's team. You couldn't have actually expected this team to reach the San Antonio-Laker-Sacramento level in his first season, could you? The only other team in the west which is clearly doing better than the Rockets is Minnesota. That's not a bad start. We need to continue improving, but I would be quite happy to finish tied for 5th seed!!
Yeah now that I think about it, it's a shame the rox didn't get Larry Brown. If he's willing to butt heads with Allen Iverson, imagine what he'd do with a premadonna second tier pg like Francis. That would have been great to see. No more bs talk to the press about how francis is so good and playing such great defense. That just insults the intelligience of the fans.
No u totally misunderstood. Rudy allowed to guys to play and not slow the show but sometimes he gave too much freedom. I don't like JVG offensive approach in slow down temp. What I meant was I like his defensive tenacity. Too bad b-ball isn't like football where you have an offense & d-fense. They would make great coordinators. Ugly ball is watching 65pt games unless it is the opposing team.
And they score 66 points how often to average 86 ppg? And last years high-powered offense did what to the 'allas Mavericks? ....103-90, 107-86, 104-81, & 100-85 whippings. And this years early season game against 'allas was? 97-86. Hmmmm......
this confuses me Why exactly should they not shoot. . . WHEN THEY ARE OPEN? I think the major issue is MISSING OPEN SHOTS Rocket River
Let's say that JVG ran the offense like Rudy T did, and did his style of defense. Wow, that would be nice. The Rocket's could score last year, and it looks like they forgot how to score this season. The defense kind of sucked last season, but it's stellar this season.
They are failing because they are not playing as well as they did last season. The 19-15 record is the same, but the play is at a lesser level. They started pretty well (11-7), but have been .500 (8-8) over the last month. They continue at that pace (24-24), they end up exactly where they were last year : 43 wins, very iffy for a playoff spot in the West. However, remember, this is a sub-.500 team on the road. They end the season with eleven road games, and five home games (Dallas, Denver, Sacramento, Minnesota, and Toronto). It is entirely possible they melt like butter.
How is this relevant? The Mavs are worse this year and the Rockets are better. Whenever you bring up last year, you must factor into the discussion that this is Yao Ming's second season - that he was learning a new language, new country, new teammates, and new league last year, all without training camp or pre-season.
"the Rockets are better" I wouldn't say that. As far as defense, I think a lot of that is putting in Cato and JJ. I think even Rudy's D would have been better by default with that...
I think Jeff is doing a great job personally... It ain't pretty right now, but it's gonna' improve. Turn those turnovers into points and look out... I think Rudy needed to go man. Not because I think he's a bad coach, quite the contrary. I just know that he has probably benefited from being able to spend time with his family and not dealing with the stress. I hope he is still active in recruiting 'cause the man has a nack for picking up killer role players from the CBA in my opinion. anywho... yes. I think Jeff Van Gundy is the right man for the job and I think every one of these players is going to be a better player for having played for him than they would be not having played for him. I also have faith that we are going to be a tough force to recon with next year for all teams. Especially if the Lakers win a title and Karl calls it quits and Kobe decides to go elswhere... (a man can dream)
oh yeah... and last in the NBA in steals? come on guys... let's at least move into second to last so we can say we aren't the worst...
That's a good point, edc. JVG said he wanted to win NOW. But what he's doing looks more like a long term project. That's why I'm quite confused about JVG. Frankly, I am still undecided whether he is good for the Rockets or not. That's no secret that he is good at defense. But we were pretty good at defense under Rudy. Yes, we got even better. But that's not our main problem. Our main problem was offense. The one reason why Rudy was let go was that he could not get the players to execute a decent offense. Is JVG doing any better? I don't know. Francis is definitely passing more, more mindful of running the play rather than inprovising (which usually meant making bad decisions). But he is A LOT worse as a scorer this year. And his assist number has not improved. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is adjusting to a very different style of play. Same with Yao. He should be better than last year, having a year of NBA experience and getting stronger in the offseason. His teammates are more deliberate in getting him the ball. But I don't see significant improvement in his game other than playing more minutes and getting more shots. (I have said it and I'm saying it again: WHAT THE HECK HAS EWING DONE?) Again, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is adjusting to a very different system. In summary, it is clear that both Francis and Yao are not doing the best they are capable of. It is clear that both are not comfortable with JVG's system. Now it can be argued that this is for the long term benefit. Once Francis gets under control and gets used to the set offense, he'll be an unstoppable PG. Once Yao gets toughen up inside, he'll be an unstoppable center. But that's not what "win now" means. If JVG really wants to win now, he should let Francis loose. He should let Yao play more high post, face up game. What are you really doing, JVG? I'm willing to give you more time. But I'm confused.
NEWS FLASH: What was the Rox biggest problem last year? The D. JVG had defly changed that. I'm glad they hired him, and I think he is the right guy. Some of you just need to give him time. We aren't even at the All-Star Break, and you want a resignation. Chil. I look at what Dunleavy Sr. is doing in Clipperland, impressive if you think about it. But I still feel that we can and will be a force in the playoffs. We can beat the Lakers, I do honestly believe that. We don't have a chance against the Spurs or Mavs, and for what reasons, I do not know. Sacto?? That would be a great match to see. I think it would use all seven games, but, I think they'd would really beat us. Maybe we could play Minny in the 1st round. Then we are garunteed to make it into the 2nd round, since they can't get there. Whose left? Denver?? We should have never lost that one game to them. All we need to do is play a Box and 1 D on Carmello w/ JJ gaurding him and that should be good.........I dunno whose left. Anyway, at least give JVG a full season before you want him gone.
To me, JVG was not the right choice, but the best choice available and defintely not the wrong choice at least for now. As long as we are in the playoff, hiring JVG is as successful as you can get.
For those of you who want to see highlight films and dunks obviously JVG is hard to digest! Look defense will trump offense most of the time- think about it, if you dont let the other guys score, then you dont have to score heavily to win. If you watched the Knicks game or any of the games for that matter- Yao's mere presence makes a big difference, mean streak or not. If you want proof of how valuable this one guy is pick up the phone and call Isiah- he will put everything on the table to get Yao to NY- so will Cuban.It is just his second year and a totally different coach! If you give SF 4 years- Asking for two more years for Yao is not a big deal. ( timmy Duncan took time before he became an MVP) SF is a very talented player- but he needs to learn from Isiah's example- Point Guards alone Don't win rings. If we have just one more consitent 10 Point scorer- and have 4 less turnovers per game ( trust me We can do this!) we will be competitive in the Playoffs when the players will be more rested.
