I blame the players. This season I have seen so many wide open shots missed. I currently have a mixed opinion of Jeff Van Gundy (i.e. he has definitely made mistakes) but- 1) He cannot force Maurice Taylor to actually make a layup when he he has an opportunity, instead of constantly finding a way to be blocked 2) Force Jim Jackson (before he was traded) not to catch a ball with one foot on the 3 point line or make other bizarre turnovers 3) Force Yao Ming not to go through spurts where he looks like Tyranosaurus Rex with no arms emberassingly not attempting to go for a rebound 4) As aformentioned, force the guards (except for T-mac) and the forwards to make wide open shots Expect for Dikembe (who has done everything we have asked of him) and, for the most part, T-mac, I have been disappointed in the play of every player who has played for the Rockets this season. I hope they start putting forth EFFORT every night or I would be happy for some massive 6 player for 6 player trade with another team.
The coach is at fault because the players gave up in the 2nd half? How? Player play the game. I'm not saying I'm happy with everything JVG has done but he can force these guys to give effort and he can force the ball into the basket.
Too easy a question. JVG's fingerprints are all over the roster moves (Ward instead of Jones, etc), the lack of young player development (Yao, Nachbar), the frustration within the roster from playing against their strengths/not being free to 'play their game' (Francis, McGrady, Yao, etc) and so on. JVG clearly wanted a veteran team. He ended up with players that lack athleticism and drive. JVG and his staff have shockingly little ability to teach younger players (likely the main reason he wants veterans). Nachbar is gone and Yao's learning curve has flatlined. JVG, despite proclamations after his hiring, has demonstrated stubborn resistance to adapting his system to his players, and insists that players conform to designated roles. He turned Francis into an ineffective role player and then shipped him out (though the McGrady deal probably gets made no matter what). He limits Yao's game to the low post and allows his unique high-post abilities (passing, shooting, screens) to atrophy. The funny thing is - the real coach (that I wanted off the bat) who possess all the attributes that Van Gundy lacks (teacher, creatively works with the roster strengths) was a guy that we did not even sniff at. Paul Silas. IIRC, we did not give him serious consideration because Les/CD were adament about having an authoritarian whip Francis and Mobley into line. Silas was thus out of the question because of a player's coach rep (but ask Newble and Snow about that rep). Evan
This has nothing to with Yao, right? This offense is set so he can be productive and he has not done it on a consistent basis. It's JVG's fault: Yao doesn't get deep enough position Yao doesn't rebound but taps the ball to other players Yao lets a NOBODYs like Pachilia (SP?) rip the ball away from him Come on, enough with the JVG bashing and lets put a portion, I say a large one since the players play the game, on the players.
A coach's task is to (1) prepare the game plan, (2) prepare the players, (3) keep the players motivated and playing at a high level. If the coach loses the players and can not motivate them to give their all, he's not done his job. It's how George Karl crashed and burned, with the Sonics, the Bucks, and the World Championships Team. An analogy would be taking a class from a professor who's the smartest guy in the world, but doesn't make things 'click' inside the class' heads and instead bores everyone to death. Is that teacher better than a less knowledgable guy that can get the class excited and delivers a simplified view on the subject? If Yao is doing things incorrectly, he has to be TAUGHT. JVG, for all I've seen, expects Yao to be Patrick Ewing. He's not. If Yao doesn't grasp certain aspects of the game, he needs to be TAUGHT them. Do you honestly think Yao is an Eddy Curry that just doesn't pay attention? Evan
Come on, anyone who steps on the basket ball court should be able to do 2 things, play D and rebound. If you can't do anything else you should be able to do that. So, to use another NBA example, Jerry Sloan sucks as a coach now? At the start of the season his team played at very high level but now they are 11-17, so he's not doing his job and should be fired.
They lost their best player. As far as I've seen, we still have both of ours, and our record is barely better than their's. Evan
Yeah but he should be able to prepare and motivate his team to continue to play at high level. They lost thier best player but they still have a fairly high level of talent, the converse is true in our situation, we have our 2 best player but the supporting cast is horrid at this point.
Right now I am blaming Les for not realizing that JVG has lost the team and CD is doing nothing to help it. It is time for at least JVG to go and to go after some youth and energy. Is Mario Elie ready to take over a team?
