I have to agree wholeheartedly with m_cable's read of the situation. The problem presented with sitting both TMac and Yao is a personnel problem. The only go-to guy they have to come off the bench is MoT, and he's not the kind of guy that can change a game on a consistent basis...only the type that may be able to sustain momentum. Thus, I'll have to echo New Jack's comments to address this problem (among other problems). This team needs a roster shakeup. JVG has crafted an old team full of has-beens and never-wases. CWard and Deke probably should even be in the league right now. Juwan has exactly the same game as your other over priced PF, MoT. Why didn't CD insist on Drew Gooden instead in that trade with Orlando? Bob Sura hasn't had a productive year on a playoff team, like ever. TLue is the best PG on the team, and he's a back-up, at best. I agree that it's nice to have some experience on a team shooting for the playoffs, but that's what JJ's there for. Pathetic. is the only word that comes to mind. Also, JVG may be a defensive guru, but I can't understand or identify any offensive scheme besides the give-it-to-Yao-on-the-block. How has this scheme differed from Rudy T's inside-out game? That was such a success in the post-Dream era. What's wrong with passing the ball, finding an open man? I'd like to see the Rockets implement something akin to the offense used by Sacramento. This would also address the problem with the defensive schemes used in fronting Yao. That being said, I'm not sure this team can handle a passing game. It seems like it's full of guys that are a bit slow on the draw. As soon as a guy flashes open, pass the ball! Don't think about it long enough for the defense to recover. Also, when someone passes you the ball, it's a good idea if you're ready for the pass. Look alive out there! I'm not advocating blowing up the team...I would just like to see a sensible trade or two to get rid of the dead wood that JVG seems so reluctant to part with. Also, try changing the starting line up. Give less used players more minutes. Could it be much worse than it is now? Finally, this is not the Knicks of 1999...this team has much more talent (Yao and TMac). Quit approaching the team as a second class team and I believe the results will be refreshing.
I'm not talking about strict scheduling or exact minutes. Keep in mind that 35 minutes for Yao ON AVERAGE would be the most he has ever played. That means he will have some on nights when he is in foul trouble or its a blowout and more minutes on nights when they need him or they go into overtime. But, ON AVERAGE, if he gets up to 35 per night, that is a big jump for him. He still does not have the conditioning to go 40 minutes. In fact, most big men just don't. Big men wear out more quickly than guards which is why it is almost all small forwards and guards at the top of the list of minutes-per-game average. There is no way, realistically, that you can keep one of those guys on the floor for all 48 minutes for the whole season if you want to maximize the amount of time they are on the floor together and keep them from wearing down.
Now this I can agree with. I'm still like many others, in wanting to see what a little more time can do with this team, but I think you're dead on m about some of your points. There is a lack of adjustment here, and seemingly bad management of our players. But at the same time, we're still rather early in the season. There are good flashes, and hopefully those blossom into what we can do on a nightly basis.
you had your math reversed in your first post about this. they can be on the court for 28 minutes and not together for 20 minutes. if yao plays 34 or so and tmac plays about 40 then they would get 26 minutes together and 22 minutes with one on the court. this isn't an unrealistic load for either and minutes without either of them are more detrimental than minutes with both together are good and thus one should always be on the court. keep them together for say 8 minutes in the first quarter, then 5 in the 2nd and 3rd, and then the final 8 of the game in the 4th. this can easily be done. there really is no reason to ever not have at least one. i never remember shaq and kobe not being on the court at the same time and shaq didn't log enormous minutes in recent seasons. as for m_cable's post. i agree with it all but #3 and #5 especially. on #3, really one assistant coach's entire job should be to draw up ways to counter the fronting. and a huge portion of practice should be dedicated to practicing these. over and over until our only solution isn't bower shooting a 20 footer from the corner just like the defense wants us to do. on #5, i've been on this forever. this is the most inexcusable thing possibly in the history of coaching in professional sports. you have complete control over if you're going to take a time out and you know exactly how many you have every game. how we are always out with 30 seconds left down 3 is beyond me. it's as if gundy simply doesn't give a crap and is going to call a timeout after every 4-0 run by the other team no matter what. as much as i dislike his smug do-nothingness during games, one thing i really liked about phil jackson's laid back approach is that he was always loaded with TO's at the end of a game. the lakers could score, foul the other team, then call a timeout to move the ball to halfcourt and set up a play over and over again at the end of games. sometimes up to 3 times. that was huge for when they were down 3 or 5 and could score and score quickly over and over to pressure the other team. meanwhile, when we're down 3, we've gotta race up the court with 5 seconds left and get off a desperation heave. it's so unbelievable to repeat a mistake over and over that is something you have plenty of time to think about and have complete control over. the other team can't somehow force you into a timeout and you don't just call time outs in the heat of the moment. you can control it and gundy refuses to and its inexcusable. and it happens over and over and over and over....
I think the blueprint for failure during the game is too similar to the Atlanta game to say JVG threw the game. JVG cares nothing for Atlanta.
It's early, but they do suck. If they plan to suck for the rest of the season, I'd rather see them suck under the premature guidance of a soon-to-be great coach in Avery Johnson. What a player's coach! Seriously, what's with Grumpy showing nothing but one face. He obviously controls what he does. Does he think it's cool? Does he think players will be 'scared' of him being angry? Soon they will realize that there's nothing to fear when it's not their fault. I definitely sense a revolt brewing in the future. No way this guy coaches beyond next season Unless he radically converts his offense. And I still and always will dislike Charlie Ward for his stupid remarks. What a dumbass. I'd hope that Houston will find any way possible to acquire a guy like Mo Williams (whom I've discussed since the draft) when T.J. Ford returns.
I am starting to get bothered by what JVG is trying to do. Last year he had guys that did not fit his system, so this year he and the Rockets assemble the types of players that would work in his system 5 years ago, but cant do it anymore. The Rockets put enough faith in him to bring these guys in to do his thing, but it still ins't working. Im a high school coach and believe it or not we get heat too from parents and administration, and all coaches worth anything are a little hard-headed and think what we like will work, but sometimes it doesn't. Then we have to try to do something that fits better with the players we have, and if we don't we are unemployed. JVG may have to try something else, good coaches adapt. The problem is now the players he has may not be able to play with TMAC in a quick style. I am willing to wait longer and see what happens, but I hate ugly basketball too. Hopefully things will look up.
1. Why al of a suddent ROLE PLAYERS are an issue I screamed for years that Yao and steve need MORE shooters that is why we brought in pike . .and boki to an extent their 3 ptrs just never panned out 2. MAJOR POINT FOR ME - Half Time Adjustments or even Pep Talk never seen the rockets come out of half time flying all over the court. . . .the never seemed like they come out INSPIRED or with a plan Rocket River
I have not given up on Van Grumpy but I am having my doubts. I really think this season is going to make or break him. For him to be a truly great coach, he is going to have to bend and adjust his thinking for the personnel that we have instead of trying to make the players something that they CANNOT be. If he accomplishes this, then he has a chance to be a great coach. If he continues to be unbendable and tries to force players to play in a way that they cannot possibly play, then I think it is hopeless to see him ever being much more than he is right now, which is to say, he is an outstanding defensive coach, who will keep tinkering with his personnel thinking that he will solve all his problems by having the right players, instead of adjusting his game plan to maximize the talent that he has to work with. The things that I can see that Rudy is far superior to Van Gundy is dealing with the players that he has to play with and maximizing their effectiveness by drawing a game plan to their strengths, creating confidence and relaxing his players so they play better by taking pressure off them, and developing younger talent, which really is the same thing as creating confidence in themselves because that is what they need. Van Grumpy has to make these adjustments this season for me to not lose confidence in him. If he doesn't make them this season, I don't think he ever will and it will be time to bring in someone else, hopefully Avery Johnson. I really like that guy.
If you read a few post down from where you previously posted, Jeff, you'll see that Francis 4 Prez broke down the time table situation a little bit better. Nonetheless, I agree with you the at times, we're just simply gonna have to rely on our bench, no question about it. But if you recall from my previous post, I mention the lack of usage in timeouts and I mention how inflexible JVG seemed to coach. All I'm asking for is for JVG to make the switch before it reaches it gets too far. I don't buy the time situation in this Knick game at all, as I said Yao was only 33 minutes in. Maybe those two extra minutes (where he would've hit his average) would've made a world of a difference. This is only one issue I had in the game. Our players need to hit their free throws for crying out loud and start to play some D.
Cable, With all due respect (and I do find your posts informative), but couldn't you just have appended this to one of the countless anti-JVG threads?
Cable, I don't think any of the issues you mentioned really matters here. Those are specific strategies, they could have easily won the last two games if we have made a couple plays at the end of the games. The way I measure a coach is how he implements his system to maximize his players ability, and how the players respond to him. Those two things need to work together to achieve greatness. Since we are still early in the season, so we cannot say that JVG has/hasn't designed a system to maximize both TMac & Yao's ability. But one thing is apparently clear that JVG hasn't be able to have his players buy into his system, if he has one. He has repeatly said this himself that he has failed to get through to the players, and he didn't know why. Last season, many said Francis & Mobley were uncoachable, Cato was too lazy, none of them would have worked under JVG, so those guys are gone. Now we have a team consists of the players he liked, if he still cannot get through to them, have them play up to their potential, then I'd think he failed as a coach.
Jeff, correct me if I'm wrong. " T-Mac is on the floor without Yao for at least 12 minutes and Yao is on the floor without T-Mac for at least 8 minutes" means they are NOT on the floor together 20minutes per game. So they'll be on the floor together for 28 minutes pergame.
It's early and all, and the players need to gel. But still, I am not very happy with the team. Wins are #1 in my book, but at a close second is entertainment value. The team is so slow etc. I wish he would let them run more. This is the first time I have started to have second thoughts about a Rockets coach.
* sigh * Sometimes, I wonder what people expected. Just look at our roster, it's deeply flawed. There is a reason why that orlando magic team lost 19 games in row last season, and don't look now, but our nucleous is that team. With Howard and Lue playing major minutes, just exactly what did you expect? People should just move on. Forget about Francis. We weren't going anywhere with him anyway. People are so quick to forget that it wasn't working out with Rudy before either. Remember how Yao used to be frozen out? Sure, we have given up a LOT on the deal, and the loss of Mobley is specially hurting us, but getting TMAC was worth the price of admission. Obviously Orlando has a far more balanced roster right now than we do. But as some posters have already pointed out bringing Phil Jackson in won't turn Yao and TMAC into Kobe and Shaq overnight. The Lakers might have won with Grant/Walker, Fox and Fisher as their supporting cast, but we do not have such luxury. For starters, Yao isn't (and probably will never be) as dominant as Shaq to make up for a weak 4 as we have. Mo might be a better offensive player, but he is not what we need next to Yao. He would look great next to Shaq, obviously. Jim Jackson is not the stopper Fox was back then, and Fisher was more clutch and stable than Ward and Lue could ever hope to be. Tmac has yet to develop the killer instinct Kobe has proven to have. We have two of the best players in the league locked up for the long run. Wait for management to make the necessary adjustments. If they didn't think they were needed before, they certainly have seen it by now. The team needs tinkering. As it is, it will get better as the season goes by, and if it doesn't i wouldn't despair. JVG has a history of throwing the towel. Changes will come. Now, if we HAD to change coaches, I would think of Adelman if he was available. He certainly knows how to develop an offense around big men with passing abilities.
im pretty sure everyone has something negative to say about JVG's offensive coaching i also think our D is not all that, i was hoping that TMAC was not all hype when talking about proving critics wrong but his Def is not always there I dont think JVG connects with everyone on this team nor have they bought into his D system yet, maybe its too early to tell,,,,,, i think a positive attitude might help a little bit, if im on a losing streak and my coach is always ranting negative its not very inspirational nor motivating, theres a time and place to use negativity as a motivator not when its early in the season and your team is trying to gel if he can connect his D philosophy and change up his offensive well be good...maybe sura is really key to the team should be easy,,,ha
