Are the Rockets better than they supposed to be? e.g., is JVG making bigger impact?

Very well put, NY.

 

The reason is that Rudy had Hakeem. So, it's much more easier to get those titles if you have a player of that caliber. Francis on the other hand is another story. So, add ISO, RUDY and Francis, and it's a recipe for disaster.

Enter JVG, and we actually have an offensive scheme put in place added to some guards that don't like to run offensive sets that require smarts and thinking....well, then you'll have some struggle. And that's why it might seem like we are evened out a little.

Trust, me. An ISO / Francis-centric offense is the last thing we need. We'd be a lot worse off.

So, it's "better" to deal with the struggle now of learning/teaching an actual offense, rather than suffer the pain of becoming ISO/predicable. The benifit today is that Yao actually has already been acclimated to run offensive set that require movement and passing. That wont be a problem for Yao. Even JJ seems to like mesh well with this offense. He can do both movement and spot up 3s.

 

Bingo!

Rudy expected his best player(s) to already know the details of the game. Hakeem, already a vet came ready to go. Same with Drexler.

Rudy wanted to believe in Francis. But SF was lacking in soooo many skills and knowledge that he was put in the worst situation. Add the fact that Rudy loved the ISO just made matters worse.

ISO + Hakeem still equaled 50%FG just because Hakeem was so dominant in the first place.
ISO + Movment + Hakeem would have probably produced more results, IMO.

 

Daoshi,I don't think I missed you point here. But I do feel your logic saying Rudy's offsnese will result in more points this year is flawed.

Just because offense under Rudy increased last season doesn't mean it will increase the same amount this season. If that's the case, Rockets should score well over 120 points after Rudy has been head coach for so many years. You can argue Yao was a rookie, Mo just came back etc, but you also can argue that Steve missed a large chunk of the game in 01-02, and he was the major part of Rudy's offense, etc.

My point is, compare offense increase between 01-02 to 02-03 and 02-03 to 03-24 tells nothing about who's offense is better.
Our offense this season is improve as the season goes on. But it was not the case last year.Our defense is also better, that's why we are in top 3 of field goal percentage against.

 

Yeah, we don't disagree often but ...

I was rather terse in my original post; I'll expand more now

If you look at the Yoa's stats from his play in China, he was completely lethal from 15'. Of course, this was against inferior competition and a 2/3 zone. Now if Yoa took half of his shots on the elbow (15'-18') and hit 60+%, how is the opposition coach going to defend that. He could make his 5 get in Yoa's face, which would lead to two things: more layups from Yoa passes and more tick-tack fouls for the opposing center (since refs allow less contact 15' away from the basket than on the low block). Both of these should yield higher points per possession (hence ppp).

I agree with you that this high post offense will lead to less 3 point shots taken, which usually has a high ppp ratio. Yoa also depending on the matchup could have a distinct advantage in the low post, where running an inside-out offense could maximize the ppp. There will be also times where Yoa is getting roughed up badly in low post and getting no calls; the high post offense could then be the answer. Thus, I am not seeing this as an either-or situation.

Running a Kings passing style offense should give Yoa looks at both the high and low post. Francis should also flourish in that style of offense (though it probably still not the best fit offense for him).

 

My point is: Nothing is for sure before it's done. From what I've seen, under JVG, our defense is better than under Rudy, our offense keeps improving through out the season.I'm satisfied with what the direction they are going. I failed to see why Rudy's team would have done better at this point.

The topic is just all speculation, not a fact. You are entitled to your opinion ,I'm entitled to mine. That's it.

 

Now that's just a bit too cynical for me...

 

The players tend to fit the coaching style. Steve was perfect for Rudy, who, by all accounts, is a laissez-faire coach; Steve was much better as an improvisor, when he could use his athletic ability.

JVG preaches more discipline and can't stand turnovers and hogging the ball.

So we will not improve much in the W-L column this year, but we should make the playoffs, and what's more, next year, when some changes will be made, we can make our judgments on just how good JVG can be for the team. Seems a cheat to have to change the players to see how it will all go but in the West, will a two-speed system of dump-in-to-Yao/let-Steve-improvise go far?

 

How many games over 500 were last year's team?

How does that compare with the 12 games the Rox are currently over 500?

 

"rudy = iso ball"

Yeah, but when he was Isoing guys like Dream, Barkley, Thorpe, and even Drexler on the low block it was the right thing to do. I'm thinking he was trying to develop that with Yao and iso wouldn't be quite as dirty of a word this season if if meant getting it to Yao.

To be honest I wasn't for Rudy's replacement, but with that said their are three things the JVG has done that I like

1. Defensive emphasis
2. Discipline
3. A change in the assistant coaches

These three areas would not have improved much under Rudy. So, although, I said they were not better just different this year, I think they are on a better foundation for success in the future, especially come playoff time.

 

Jeff Van Gundy is the best coach for Rockets at the begining of this season, period.

Rudy is not available at the begining of this season.

JVG is much better than Mr. Mean and the organization made the right choice on the head coach candidate.

Case closed (even in Colorado).

 

I had wanted Paul Silas originally. I still think that he was a better fit for the team.

 

Let's compare the players we had last year at this time and the current players. Note that I am comparing players with similar game. All remaining players are the same except Yao because only Yao can be considered a "different" player than last year due to natural progress.

Yao < Yao
Cato = Cato
Taylor = Taylor
EG < Spoon
Collier < Padgett
Posey < JJ
Rice = Pike
Boki = Boki
Mobley = Mobley
Hawkins < AG
Francis = Francis
Moochie < MJ
Maddox < Wilks

Last year < This year

Seven roster spots have been upgraded. Of those, four (Yao, Spoon, JJ, and MJ) are key players in the rotation. No spot is a downgrade. JVG clearly has better players to work with. And we have the 12 games Mr. Mean melt down at the end. If we don't have more than a 6 games improvement over last year, I'd say JVG is not doing a better job than Rudy.

 

Why is everyone saying last years offense is better than this years??? You people are ignorant. We play a SLOW downed (playoff style) game this year, defence oriented. PPG means jack squat, just like PPG allowed. ALL that matter is FG% and OFG%. We are freakin 0.002 less than last year! in other words, we have the SAME FG%. However what is amazing, and what proves our offense is better this year than last year, is that even at a significantly slower pace, we have one more assist than last year = more efficiency, passing etc. I mean dont you people have eyes??? We are actually trying to oass the ball now! ball movement! WOW If u miss the iso ball of yesteryear.....go watch the clippers or something, cuz we aint havin none of that! once again i reiterate, PPG means NOTHING, a slowed down offence does not equal a bad offence. Our fg% is the same, our assists our up, our OFG% is down, and the best part......we are still improving! Our offence has gotten better by the month due to players getting aqainted to a *gasp* proffesional, non-streetball, offensive scheme. Call me crazy, but im like this ball movement thing

 

CX, I agree with the main points of your post, but please don't insult people by starting your post with "you people are ignorant." If you want people to consider your arguement, then let it be considered on its merits and not as a lecture.

thanks,

Jeffster

 

Nice one, Le$. Rudy WAS available - but if he weren't, Dunleavy would've been the best coach for this team.

You're supposed to coach to the strengths of your players. This team's strength is offense - Yao, Francis, Mobley, Taylor, ... yet Gundy has turned the team into a defensive juggernaut that is actually BAD offensively. You can have the best defense in the world, but you're still not going to stop the best players in the game when they want to get their points. The best defensive team in the league wasn't going to stop Jordan, Shaq, or Hakeem from scoring. The cliche 'defense wins championships' is pure b.s. GOOD defense and GREAT offense will win more times than GREAT defense and GOOD offense.

What's bad about Gundy is the Rockets take on more of HIS identity than that of their players. That makes Gundy an OVERCOACHER, whose coaching doesn't make enough of a difference in their performance to warrant his presence on the bench. The fact that he's brought Ewing, Oakley, etc. with him just makes it even harder to take.

 

also remember the key loss of Eddie Griffin!!!!! I know he disappointed hi first 3 seasons, but he was supposed to break out this season( and i dont'e mean from prison) or be an imprtant part of our team. long-term investments where given to griffin and JVG is playign minus one key weapon, in a weak Area, a true defensive minded rebounding power forward. though Eddie is to blame for his role, JVG is doing this without a potiential star and was to be our starting PF.

JPG in Austin