Prediction : Lakers will have better year than the Rockets

JVG no passion or heart? He must have bags under his eyes all the time from staying up late watching seinfield.

 

dickishness and acerbity is not the same thing as passion and heart.

 

I'm so happy that rudy is GONE

Almost as happy as i am that JVG is HERE

 

Rudy's coaching philosophy doesn't fare well against Zone.

He relies too much on 1-on-1. Ball movement is always a big
problem for Rudy's team. It's no wonder that back-to-back
champion Rockets struggled against the semi-zone of Sonics.

 

To be fair, they're in pretty good shape:

Divac, Brian Grant and Mihm are a good 3-man rotation. Throw in Malone, and you have a very strong PF/C rotation.

Lamar Odom is one of the league's blossoming stars, averaged almost 20/10 last year. Great passing skills.

Kobe is one of the best players in the league.

Chucky Atkins isn't all that great, but they have a rookie, Vujacic I think? He's pretty damn good. If they acquire a PG before the season, they're in damn good shape. Look at what a damn good passing team they have:

Divac
Malone
Odom
Kobe
Atkins or whoever

Any one of those guys can dish out 5 assists a night. Odom and Malone can grab 17-18 rebounds between them. There's still Brian Grant off the bench.

If Malone comes back (Rudy said he will) and they trade either Butler or Devean George for a PG, they're in good shape.

They won't be the Rockets, but they'll be close. Kobe will be putting up 30/5/5, and the rest of the team are capable of doing a damn good job.

 

He should also post this on Lakers' site

 

I think JVG has shown that he compliments and stands by his players a lot more than people give him credit for.

 

Think what you will but I am not a JVG hater... I call it the way I see it and I saw at least 75 games last year. SO maybe I described him wrong and emotionless isn't the right word. Yes he did have his tantrums on the sidelines, but what is the point of ranting and raving on the sidelines if your players don't listen too you. His emotional outbursts don't seem to get results... His madness mostly seems to alienate his players. So while he appears to have emotions the end result is ifhe was talking to himself like a nut... He is a lousy motivator. You could argue that the team played it's best in the playoffs and that was more because Francis was on a mission to will this team to a series win. JVG can scream all he wants but if the results are the same this year I hope he screams somewhere else. The Rockets should absolutely have had a better season last year and while I blame that partially on the players... I blame more on JVG... He doesn't seem to have what it takes to work with players in this league...

This year he has 2 of the top ten players in the league. (the way Yao is playing in the Olympics maybe 2 of the top 5)... They have a good supporting cast and should be as good as anyone in the league... anything less than homecourt in the 1st round is a failure. I hope last year was a fluke and we go all the way next year... I hope he proves me wrong and If so I will be the first to admit... but I just don't see it... I don't think he has what it takes to coach todays players... Only time will tell

 

Come on, pick a season where the Rudy-led Rockets did well WITHOUT a dominant center.

If Rudy is such a genius, how come we SUCKED after Hakeem melted down?

Look, I love the guy, but he had Dream. His offense based on Steve and Cuttino and the ISO was a pile of crap.

Rockets will kill the Lakers.

 

yeah, that was his biggest downfall, I think. The ISO allowed us to overachieve so much, and hid some of our bigger flaws so well that it made us think we were better than we were. That really set expectations too high for us, when more realistically we should've been expecting a few mediocre, possibly losing seasons before we had the whole thing turned around.

 

Come now. I think that the Olympics are exposing the fallacy of the dominance of individual play.

I was a bit on the fence concerning whether the recent one-on-one phenomenon was a result of (1) improving physical abilities or (2) declining tactical abilities.

After watching more international ball, I'm convinced it's the former. The international game is superior except for the talent.

 

errr... meant latter, obviously

 

I beg to differ.

Look at the team that won 45 games that year.

Steve Francis. Moochie Norris.
Cuttino Mobley.
Shandon Anderson/Walt Williams
Mo Taylor. Kenny Thomas.
16 games of Hakeem Olajuwon. Kelvin Cato.

Who's going to run the offense? Where's the depth? What about the fact that we played most of the year with non-factors at SF and C? The ISO disguised all of that. Based on the performances of all the major participants in that team in subsuquent years, I think it's safe to say that the ISO was an effective way to disguise issues that would've sunk the team otherwise.

And don't get me started on the Olympics. Mid-major chunk-fests are nice and all for a change of pace, but I'll take Major Conference Basketball ten times out of ten - even if it can devolve into a slugfest.

 

exactly... this prediction is as bad as it comes. lol

 

Yeah. Steve and Cat show was great before the zone, and
Rudy was mediocre in making adjustment.

 

IMO ther is nothing wrong with making good offensive players play both ends of the court.

 

I think I know how you feel whiplash.... but have to disagree in regards to the final outcome.

As much as I would prefer Rudy to be coaching the current Rockets team, there is no way even he can make the Lakers better than the Rockets will be - even if they are led by JVG.

Still, it WILL be fascinating to see how this season goes for both teams and coaches. I've never before looked so forward to a new season.

 

Come on, questioning JVG's heart is just wrong. The guy is a fanatic about basketball. Besides, Larry Brown never showed "the heart of a champion" before this year, and isn't exactly showing it in the Olympics right now. Popovich didn't exactly show incredible heart when the Spurs won their chapmionships. "Heart" might matter at times, more so when you have a veteran-heavy club like we did in 95. But it's definitely overrated.

As for players liking Rudy more than JVG, I also never thought of that as being a big plus. JVG seems to be one of those coaches that annoy you when he's pushing you hard, but one who you'll thank when the results show up in your game. That's probably why JVG's ex-players think so highly of him. They might not like his attitude, but they still respect him.

 

Rudy T couldn't manage to win with a 25-year old freestyling one-on-one player who looked up to him (and an all star center)

how will he be able to do anything with a 25-year old freestyle player who is an egomaniac and WON'T look up to him

(oh yeah.. and WITHOUT the all-star center)

I liked Rudy T - but he is a vetran payers' coach.... and he was NOT the first choice of Kobe (or as Rudy will soon be calling him... "Mr. Bryant")