i don't expect JVG to give him a h@ndjob. But i'd reevaluate the way i talk to the media about my players especially when he's been putting in 100% effort ever since he got back from his injury. there are MANY MANY other ways to critique Yao. The first is by NOT doing it second handed w/ the media. Going to the media is a cop out. It's mind games. If JVG had any balls to speak of, he'd just say it all to Yao and not put it out there. He thinks that Yao is tough mentally like Kobe or AI or Shaq. PJackson and Brown does that because the players they do it to responds well to it. Yao hasn't built up that strong mentality yet and it's not helping him knowing that the coach thinks he can grab more than 2 rebounds after putting up elite-center numbers on one of the best teams in the league. as for his growth, he can improve but you cannot deny that he's been playing out of his mind ever since he got back. if he put this run into a whole season i doubt you'd think he had "a lot" to improve upon.
This is something that happens a lot in sports talk, and it's pretty annoying: taking a quote from a person, out of context, without considering the question he was answering. JVG was asked if he could expect this effort from Yao. Basically, Van Gundy said that he expects even more from Yao. Some you take that as a diss, but in fact it's actually a compliment because it shows that he thinks Yao can be a great, all-around player. Van Gundy has some annoying qualities, but him expecting all-around excellence from Yao is not one of them.
I have been disgusted with JVG since the beginning of the season, when it became clear that the stagnant offence and the 3-point-nondefense was the real JVG. The wonderful chemistry we had near the end of last season was only an accident, and happened only because we had tough guys (Sura and James) who were willing to ignore the coach when necessary. When the team lurched out of the gate this season playing just as ugly as it did a year ago, it was as if JVG was saying, "Welcome back to the coal mine, slaveys, 'cause I'm back in charge." So I've been wanting JVG out of here for a whole season now. I just can't stand him any more. Tonight's undercutting of Yao is just the icing on the cake. Hey, JVG, what do you want Yao do? You aren't satisfied with at 36/12 game? You also want Yao to play like Kirilenko on defence and be hurt half the year, every year? What a moron. I'm with most of the others on this BBS: JVG, please get yourself fired.
Bowen has unflattering pictures of JVG so there's no point of him "improving". Just cashes his check and lives like a king!
i think you all gave fine explanations on why jvg said that. here my theory ( arising from a pretty dark corner of my mind), that is jvg wanted to show the world that the rockets are not giving, "see, i am criticizing my star player, because we are still trying hard to win games, folks", while in reality the management have already decided to call it a season and let's just get a good seat at the lottery. pretty stretched, i know, but you got give jvg is not stupid. whether a great coach or not, i don't know.
This team is terrible, and it's ridiculous to call anyone who thinks so a "fake" or non-fan. How can anyone watch this team and think the coach cannot hold any responsibility? HE helped put the team together. Remove JVG.
Yo genius, it's easier to get 10 units of production out of 10 people, than it is to get 5 units out of 1 person. JVG doesn't need to scold to get his point across. Nor is Yao's lack of D the reason why we lost the game. I feel that people are most upset because JVG has a tremendous double standards with each of his players. Compound this controversial tactic with horrible coaching decisions, he deserves rows after rows of fans holding up "Fire JVG" signs during all the home games.
Except JVG is not hitting on the problem: himself and the rest of the team. He put Hayes on the bench too long. He insists on playing Rybo game after game (not this one). He failed to develop Swift and Head to our expectation. He failed to design offensive plays with good ball movement. When was the last time he admitted a fault on his part? Last season? How about focusing on what the rest of the team can do better? How about tell them reduce TO's, don't commit stupid handcheck fouls, and tell Rafer Head Bogans if they fouls then foul hard don't give opponents 5 or more 3-pt plays every night? No, JVG is not doing that. So does he know what the problems really are or not?
I'll admit after looking back on the quote it wasn't as bad as it seemed and the interview on tv seemed more like an open response to the game in general than a direct response to a question, so sorry for starting this rant. But the first time I heard it, it struck a nerve. and I was in shock. I don't think I added much exaggeration to the comments though in my first post. I still don't think yao's defense is worth calling out in a press conference, not with the effort he's been giving.
This is typical JVG, at his best.Blame the players but not himself.Other than Yao Ming,every single player in Rocket's uniform is hand picked by him.How is that Yao's fault when Dallas shot 62% from 3 points land and 52%from field goals.How can he improve his assists when the guards can't shoot when he pass out from double team.How is he going to get 15 plus rebounds when he has to leave the paint to guard the opponents.With the scrabs that we have,we will still lose the game if Yao put up 50 points every night because those scrabs cant guard ,they cant score.Even Michael Jordan can't help this team if he were to replace Yao.We wanted a shooter and JVG got us Bogan who shot 1 for 12 and that is 8 freaking %.Sure we have injuries,but look at Dallas ,they have 4 out of their 8 key players injured ,they are still the top in the Western Conference.I hope JVG will take a good look in the mirror,not at his hair,but what team he has turned this Rockets into,instead of blaming his players .
dude this is getting old, you're way to infatuated with getting rid of van gundy to look at this reasonably. first off yao is way more mentally tough then you give him credit for. secondly, van gundy hasn't done anything that would put yao's psyche in question. he was asked a question and he answered it honestly. you think in practice he doesn't "have the balls" to criticize yao in his face. that's one of the most ludicrous things i've ever read. i imagine a van gundy tirade behind closed doors is far more brutal on all his players than anything you've read in the papers. that goes for pretty much all coaches. yao hasn't built up the mentality to withstand the biting criticism of "we can expect much better from him defensively" ? wow. i certainly hope he has. why would i deny that yao's been playing "out of his mind" since he got back? i already said, in this thread, that he's been one of the best players in the ENTIRE league since the break. i freaking love yao ming but i can also recognize that he's a 25 year old who just recently figured out that he can be the best player on the court any time he wants. OBVIOUSLY he's still improving. hakeem olajuwon put up great numbers from the day he stepped in the nba but he didn't stop learning and growing at 25. his prime wasn't until 6 years later.
You make a really good point about him never having the nerve to ride Tmac about anything. Not that Tmac needs someone riding him either, but it shows how Van Gundy treats different players differently and only b****es at those that put up with it. I've had coaches like him before and they always suck. If he really had some argument for how in spite of him grabbing 12 rebounds, he's making some error then he could told him in the locker room instead of running to the press to always look like he's in charge of the team. If I were Yao, I'd rip him in the press as well to at least let him know he'll retaliate. Van Gundy needs Yao a lot more than Yao needs Van Gundy.
the question that was asked to van gundy and the reason this thread exists was "Is yao ming's play tonight what you expect of him?" you guys are acting like the question was, "why are the rockets losing?" and he's answering, "uh because yao isn't playing defense." try stretching this thing as far as you can haters.
like i said, i've been a JVG supporter since day one. but this takes the cake pretty much. this isn't called teaching. this is called nitpicking, b****ing, projecting, etc. instead of saying 'he did great but he could do a lot better' he should focus on the Juwan Howards, the Rafer Alstons, and the Luther Heads of the team. yao hasn't built up the mentality to withstand the biting criticism of "we can expect much better from him defensively" ? wow. i certainly hope he has. i, too, hope he can but to hear the same shtick after a bad game, after a mediocre game, after a good game, after a great game...you'd start to wonder what else you CAN other other than try to score 81 points. i hope we can squash this because, i know you can agree on this as well, this team has more pressing issues right now. frustration might have taken over me right now but it's just hard to hear our coach nitpicking about what his current-best player is doing and not what the other 11 guys aren't doing.
JVG's quote from Rockets.com : Doesn't seem so evil to me... but I'm a JVG supporter. He's been playing great O and hasn't been as good on the board or on D in the last 3 games. OMG KILL JVG!!
Certain people here need to chill the f%& out. Van Gundy was/is trying to make Yao the best player he can be. Van Gundy openly acknowledges that Yao's the hardest working player on the team and when EVERYONE else was crapping on Yao's career. Van Gundy was the ONLY one defending him. Hell when a lot of these YOFs were ripping Yao because he wasn't making them feel like men, Van Gundy was still defending Yao. During one of the games Bill Worrell said, and I quote, " Yao Ming is the only player he (Jeff Van Gundy) gets emotional about defending" In other words, No one appreciates Yao more than JVG. It's called tough love and you know what? Yao's tougher than before. If he misses shots, he doesn't get rattled. If the opposing team gets physical, Yao gets physical back. YOFs, suck it up and stop b*tching. JVG is loyal to his center to the tune of a huge ass fine and nearly getting kicked out of the league. Yao is loyal to his coach and he won't ask for him to get fired (what a stupid suggestion) despite what all of these weak minded YOFs want.
On the topic of why Yao and TMac get treated differently... y'all can't be this blind. TMac needs to be babied... it's sad, but true. You don't bash a TMac or he'll go into his shell. TMac is already 99% of the player he's ever going to possibly become. Yao isn't going to become withdrawn if he's chastised for his mistakes and Yao is possibly 75-80% of the player he could be. JVG's doing his damndest to draw more out of him... maybe he thinks babying either isn't necessary or isn't going to draw it out of him. Besides, like I said, his quote isn't anywhere near as bad as the OP and others who hadn't even heard the comments made it out to be.
