Del Harris is not the answer. He has an amazing roster on the Lakers before Phil Jackson showed up and he couldn't win. Phil Jackson got the Lakers to win the following years with less talent.
Del landed his initial NBA job with the Houston Rockets in 1976, spending three years as an assistant coach under Tom Nissalke. The Rockets promoted Harris following Nissalke's departure prior to the 1979-80 campaign. He led the Rockets to playoff berths his first three seasons, highlighted by a trip to the 1981 NBA Finals where Houston lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. The Rockets established a then-NBA record during their march to the Western Conference Championship that season, winning eight games on the road during the playoffs, including the decisive game over the Lakers at the Forum in the first round.[/B] ........................... The 63-year old Plainfield, Ind. native has flourished at virtually every level, including the NBA, collegiate, overseas, and high school ranks. His reputation for extracting the most out of his teams is well documented. As the head coach for Earlham College (Indiana), he led the team to a school record 176 victories and the first three confere championships in the school's history during his nine-year stint there. Harris also gained international experience as he coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record and winning three national championships. Harris has also developed many young players into All-Stars in the NBA. In four years at Los Angeles, he had five different players make the All-Star Team, four for the first time (Cedric Ceballos, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and Kobe Bryant). He had three players make the All-Rookie Team, including Jones, Bryant and Travis Knight. He also worked with Moses Malone at the Utah Stars and Houston Rockets in Malone's developmental years. Food for thought: Yao will remain a Rocket till 2012, JVG is staying till 2008.
Hey! While we're dragging out ex-Rockets as an excuse to can Van Gundy, what's Bill Fitch up to, anyway? I mean, he's like the "The Guy That Got Us Akeem." Maybe he can get us Chris Paul, too! Let's not forget Don Chaney, Tom Nissalke, Johnny Egan, Tex Winter, Alex Hannum, Jack McMahon, and Rudy! Maybe they can ALL be coach... AT THE SAME TIME! It's genius! Whatever, as long as it's NOT Van "Never Had a Losing Season" Gundy and his .583 career record!
His problem in lakers was that both Kobe and Shaq have too much ego for Del to handle. But now we have two humble stars in TMac and Yao, and I believe Del can bring out the chemistry easily.
Then I guess you must be ecstatic over JVG's 293-209 record? Or his awsome winning percentage of .584? Ooh! What about his 248-172 record with the Knicks? Wait! What about last year's impressive 8 games over .500, 7th place in playoffs, and 1st round exit season. But let me guess? It was Steve's fault. What about quitting the team after 19 games? You must love that. Sorry for posting a link so people can get a little more insight on the man. I thought he had an impressive resume, if you don't, then fine thats your opinion. When I say impressive, I looked at his winning percentages increasing every year. He's been able to improve his team every year. .554 (4yrs w/ Bucks) to .585 to .646 to .683 to .744 11 playoff appearences in 13 years, thats not bad. So he's only made the finals once. So has JVG, and that seems to have gotten him some prestigous award from some of ya'll.
Del's career winning percentage is .548. Last time I checked, .584 > .548. What about Del's 141-187 record with the Rockets? At least Van Gundy has never had a losing season. Del had his WORST SEASON EVER with... wait for it... the Houston Rockets. Sigh. Del Harris in the playoffs: 38-50 (.431). Van Gundy in the playoffs: 38-36 (.513). Scoreboard. Actually, I DON'T like that at all. Hopefully, he won't pull that crap again. Actually, Van Gundy has gotten to the playoffs EVERY year of his coaching career (except for when he walked out on his team). Pretty good, in my eyes. Look, I'm not a JVG fanboy. It just drives me crazy when everyone wants to run his ass out of town after NINE games, especially since the Rockets went to the playoffs last year for the first time in 5 years. So you don't like his coaching style or personality. Boo-hoo. Give the man the benefit of the doubt for HALF a season... as opposed to 11% of it. He's earned it.
He also got that team to the finals, you might have left that out. You're right I don't like his coaching style, half the people in the city of Houston don't like his coaching style, and the other half doesn't even bother watching the games, even though we have Yao/TMac. But I will give JVG more time, and I hope he proves my ass wrong. But that doesn't mean I have to like the guy. BTW, How has he earned it? By replacing a Houston Legend? (not his fault, but its hard to replace Rudy in my eye) By improving our record by 2 games? By giving us a 7th place finish in the West? By making us a ridiculously boring team, and not winning enough to negate that factor? You don't have to reply to this post. No matter what you say, I still won't like JVG. Just like no matter what I say won't change your view either. 3.5 hours til gametime, damn.
urh....did I say anything about the nine games? What I stressed were: 1. ugly offense, this has been true for JVG's games 2. no youngsters development, this is also true for JVG' career. Think about it: Rockets have the most marketable NBA player in the world (Yao) and arguably the second most marketable player in the nation (TMac, I rank Lebron ahead of him), but how many fans show up in Rockets' game?
I like that idea alot.I still like van gundy approach on defense.like i said in another post everybody has flaws.iam pretty sure if we just hired del and firend gundy that our D would probaly look bad and our offense will be pretty good.
Honestly speaking, I enjoy watching Pistons' offense now. Have you ever watched Spurs' game this year? It is a defense-minded team too but their offense is much enjoyable to watch than Rockets. Intense defense doesn't necessarily mean ugly offense, although it is true for JVG.
He led us to the playoffs. Irrefutable, right? That alone buys him half a season. If the team still looks awful then, b**** away to your heart's content. I promise not to stop you. But for now, you have to promise to stop feeding the JVG lynch mob. Not true. I can become anti-JVG like the rest of you. However, I prefer to have faith and remain optimistic right now, especially after only 9 games. I've learned my lesson from the 2004 Astros.
I think we should hire Guy Lewis and bring in Paul Westhead as the lead assistant. No, seriously. Elie? Avery? Avery is interesting. Played under Pop and Nelson, got both the offense and defense goin, a leader, very positive person, great personality, intelligent, native houstonian, picked as a future head coach. Id like to see Avery Johnson come here as head coach. He knows Pop and Nelson inside out, we would have a strategic advantage playing the Spurs and Mavs. Come on Les, give the next great NBA head coach a chance here.
