HAHA I think accusing other YOFs must be your strongest agrument you would have made. And accusing others "incorrect grammar and poor punctuation" might have made you feel that you have won the argument. It just shows how hard you are trying to "inject reason into discussion". Cluth must feel so "good" about what you have brought to this board.
Yao will either respond to this criticism or he won't. Either way, it was bad coaching. If Yao responds, that means he will be back to chasing guards at the three point line, playing that full court offense JVG loves so much. This means Yao gets tired earlier, picks up more silly fouls, and scores 18 points instead of 36. Yay, great job JVG! If Yao ignores JVG, then JVG is only conditioning Yao to stop listening to him. When you hear the same tune 24/7, pretty soon all you hear is white noise. Now, I'm not saying JVG doesn't have the right to call out Yao's defensive efforts. He's the coach and his frequent defense of Yao has certainly earned my respect. However, I question whether after the Dallas game, where Yao had obviously played his heart out, was the best time to criticize his defense. The correct words should've been, "Thank you big fella, good job."
I wasn't aware that Jackson, Auerbach, or Brown treat some players differently than others when they're behaving the same way. Jackson may get on Kobe more than Shaq, but only when Kobe is jacking up a number of stupid shots and Shaq isn't. As far as Tmac being mentally weak, I guess you never saw the game last year against San Antonio when he single-handedly erased a double-digit lead in less than a minute.
I think KeepKenny meant to say that Tmac was emotionally fragile as opposed to mentally weak. Like someone said earlier in the thread, some players need to be coddled. Tmac and Swift, for instance.
It's obvious that JVG's comments weren't as harsh as they were originally made out to be. It seems like he's just got a very high standard for Yao, and isn't afraid to mention when Yao isn't reaching it. But on the flip side, you wonder if he's just being too demanding. I mean, how much better can you realistically expect Yao to play. He's carrying the offense through collapsing defenses and phantom support. He's got a history of stamina issues, and JVG pretty much acknowledged that Yao will probably always have those issues to some degree since he's a 7'6" giant. And how often do dominating offensive players in this league take possessions off on defense. Kobe, Shaq, Mcgrady (Orlando Days) do or did this regularly, and they are all much better conditioned than Yao. I just don't see how anyone can really expect Yao to go full-speed at both ends of the court the whole game. Especially considering that a tired Yao is also a foul-prone Yao.
we're selling yao short if we want and expect him to only deliver on one side of the ball. van gundy's not criticizing him, he's trying to instill in him the mindset to dominate on both sides of the court. it's working thus far.
Brown and PJ are willing to criticize the stars, while leaving role players alone for the most part. Auerbach wrote in one of his books that while he tried to treat guys equally in principle, he would still sometimes give Bill Russell some special privileges. Despite having his mind in the right place, he realized that is impossible to truly treat different guys equally. Here's an example off the top of my head: PJ is willing to openly criticize Kobe's game when necessary. However, he learned a lesson about saying anything bad about Kwame Brown after the debacle that occured after he jokingly called Kwame a (sissy). Kwame was read the quote and shot back, clearly not understanding and comprehending what was said. Since then, PJ has avoided hurting Kwame's feelings with any 'harsh-sounding' criticism. Regarding Tmac: I was at the game, and agree that he is an amazing player when things are going well. However, this season (and past seasons) have shown that he doesn't exactly handle adversity well. Criticizing Tmac when he's down this year could just make the problem worse. We know what Tmac thinks of Weisbrod, who ripped into him two years ago. Last year, Tmac was playing so well that there wasn't much to criticize.
Kobe deserves to be ripped as much as he takes his own game too serious and continually plays outside of the system Weisbrod was a liar and said dumb things like he cursed Mac out when that wasnt the case. He was a clown and a moron, which is why he got death threats. He lied and talked crap about tmac to cover his tail for trading away a superstar. ORL is known for doing that ya know. Its funny how people rip Mac because things arent going well, and I sure would like to know one thing How do you handle "diversity"...LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! such as 9 people in your life dying well? Please explain because i've yet to hear one real sound answer for that. If you dont know, please stop what you're talking about because its crap. LB ripped Chauncey's behind to the moon, and not in the media, and Chauncey said he almost quit the game a couple of times. Dont use these people as an excuse for what JVG is doing. They have rings and he doesnt. He's not on their level.
He definately overdid the Tmac bashing once the trade was consummated. That's inexcusible, and clearly just damage control. I don't know if Weisbrod's criticisms during the season before the trade were an attempt to fire Tmac up or just to pave the way for moving him. If it was the former, it obviously didn't work because it just pissed Tmac off to the point that he wanted to leave. My guess is that JVG recognizes that Tmac's a sensitive guy, and he doesn't want to risk alienating him. On the other hand, Yao has had people bashing him for years and he doesn't bat an eyelash. Yao is used to all kinds of ridiculous pressure, so his coach asking him to play better D is like a drop in the bucket.
Great post. T-Mac's a sensitive guy and Yao wooses out and JVG is great as long as he sounds like our old high school gym coaches. About time a coach in the NBA did that, eh? For about a hundred reasons I just wish Yao would take the rest of the season off and bow down to JVG's wisdom and then speak to every player on every roster in the NBA. He could start every conversation with "you know I really suck" and it would do him good.
Contrary to the seemingly popular opinion, there was no JVG bashing of Yao tonight. Someone asked a question about Yao's performance, and he gave an honest answer. Yao's defense hasn't been all that great . . . And understandably so as he's had to shoulder the offensive load. It's really all good. The big news should be about his thoughts on the sh*tty shooting of the rest of his sqaud. What's real funny is that we're supposed to be a defense-first team. But people consistenly get broken down in the backcourt anyway, and those same people miss wide open shots. It's really beginning to seem like the Rox wouldn't lose much on the defensive end (we can't stop anybody as it is) and would make major strides offensively if we got kenny smith, steve kerr, reggie miller, and tim legler to join Yao for our starting 5. Our guys play hard. Give them all their due. But we gotta make shots. Let's Go Rockets.
It's no big deal, Yao will feel the pressure and respond at the defensive end. BTW, we have no chance to advance the playoffs, why not play the young players more minutes.
JVG did give an honest answer but on the flip side he has praised Yao for his dedication and help defense as well, have to take the good with the bad. I always felt it was hard to for any player to give max effort on both sides of the floor so I think that Yao's consecutive 30+ point games do take away some of his defensive intensity.
Of course it is. Yao is at at sensitive point is his growth. When players experience a breakthrough and reach the next plateau, they will often relax a little. Yao has more...probably much more potential. It has nothing to do with the causes for the loss...JVG does not want him to not get too comfortable. He wants Yao to stay focused on improvement, and I'm certain that Yao wants that also. I doubt that Yao will not 'lose respect' for JVG for wanting him to reach his full potential.
It wasn't as bad as it came off in the original thread...believe me. JVG gave Yao credit for his offense...BUT he also made a very true statement...and honest. Yao had only 1 rebound in the second half. Not great. Even Yao knows this...and JVG was just reinterating a fact...when your shot isn't falling OR you're not getting the ball...DO OTHER THINGS TO THE BEST OF YOU ABILITY TO HELP THE TEAM. Yao agrees with this I'm sure. JVG wasn't being disrespectful...he was just COACHING. If Yao would have been more DEFENSIVE MINDED in the 2nd half...he COULD have had 20 boards...It is a mindset. Yao is playing his ass off...no one is arguing that. Just another coaching cue that will help him become a better ALL AROUND PLAYER.
Is it possible for the thread title to be changed? I mean a "rip" please, that is not a rip. If you wanna see coaches ripping players just watch a few interview with Larry Brown... Yao has been playing extremely well and JVG knows that, he was asked the question and he answered it. Simple as that. Last game it was JVG yelling at Yao during a time out, now this, next game JVG didn't give Yao a towel when he came to the bench and so on and so on.
