The cool thing about this statement is that you might be right. You might be wrong. We'll know at the end of the season. Until then, good luck enjoying the season! It has occurred to me that JVG has had at least a little to do with Yao's development as a player. It has also occurred to me that Yao might have a little to do with JVG growing as a person. We'll know at playoff time. Until then, good luck enjoying the season!
just the fact edc...you said they were a 45 win team the year before...not! 43 wins and 4th straight year in the lottery. why do you never mention that? Lost griffin and posey for nothing and were still better.
The more important question is whether Yao Ming would've developed further had he been under the tutelage of a head coach and staff that knew what to do with big men instead of Mister Van Gundy and his good buddy Patrick.
can you please name one coach that has had: a) more success then van gundy AND b) is obtainable as the rocket's head coach. ex: not phil jackson. i see a lot of crying but no proposed solutions. apparently for you the only coach worthy of heading the rockets is a previous championship winner but there aren't that many of those and there certainly aren't any available ones.
Apologies. It was a 45-win team the prior healthy season WITHOUT Yao Ming, then a 43-win team with a rookie Yao Ming and a substitute coach for several weeks. I stand by the statement. Mister Van Gundy took a team that had won in the mid-40's in the regular season two of the previous four seasons (one without Yao Ming, one with a rookie Yao Ming), and got mid-40's victories in the regular season. The lottery versus a low playoff spot is irrelevant, depending more upon what the rest of the league does. The long haul being a better indicator of overall quality.
please. yao ming is becoming what we all hoped he could be but were never sure if it was possible. he is the most dominant big man on the planet. to imply that van gundy or his coaching staff is any kind of hindrance to yao and his development is straight up assinine.
Playing on an NBA championship team counts almost as much as coaching one. My choice? If he wants it, Le$ should go on his knees to Tomjanovich to take the job again. If he doesn't want it, Mario Elie is my choice. Rookie head coach, but he was a winner as a player, has the NBA championship lineage, is very similar to Avery Johnson, and a Rocket to boot. Again, if he'd do it, the best compromise would be a season with Elie at the head spot and Tomjanovich as an assistant to "show him the ropes."
Spurs fans might question the "most dominant big man on the planet" title. Yao Ming is still passive on the boards and needs to be surrounded by beef to be at his best. Far too often his play reminds one of Patrick Ewing. Both Shaq and Hakeem were far better five years in than Yao Ming is right now.
I agree. He was brought in to get us over the hump and make us a title contender. So far, he hasn't gotten us out of the first round, despite going up 2-0 on Dallas with the next two games being at home. However, if the Rockets continue to struggle mid-season and JVG is on the hot seat, who else is there that can coach this team? Adelman would be one candidate, but do you think he'd want to coach this team? Who else is out there?
in reality, JVG is a dam good coach. yet, people forget whats important (coaching) and want to hate on him b/c of the superficial things. So what that he isnt charming to the media? So what if doesnt have a million dollar smile for the public? So what that he speaks open and honestly? Its easy to fault JVG for the superficial. I know when he was in Ney York he rubbed me the wrong way and i didnt care much for him either...however, i also knew little of him and only judged him by small clips shown of him. But after a while, especially after his NBA commentating tenure, i learned more about him and not the 10 second sound clips of him telling a player what he did wrong. There are a few things that are facts. JVG is a very smart basketball mind. JVG works hard or harder than most other coaches. And finally, no matter what people will hate JVG for the superficial. Of course not everyone will like JVG. Fine. BUt i hate it when people try to discredit his coaching by untrue comments. i.e. JVG doesnt want to score. JVG is too rigid..he doesnt adapt. Why cant JVG be nicer (my favorite)., But if there is something that can be taken as fact, it is that JVG is... at the very least ,a better than average/good coach (and IMO i think he is easily a top 10 in the league). i dont see how anyone else can intelligently argue differently.
Simple. How many coaches in the NBA have taken a team beyond the first round in the last three seasons? How many coaches (not in the first group) have been to the first round? How many have a winning percentage better than .333? Going strictly by the results, Mister Van Gundy belongs *after* all those coaches. I don't see how anyone can intelligently argue that the guy can rate any higher than B- for his tenure with the Rockets.
I wouldn't say I am a Van Gundy fan at all, but what gets old is the constant criticism of coaches in general throughout sports. Fans play Saga, read preview magazines, and get subscriptions to "insider" sites, and assume they know something about the sport that is even in the range of a collegiate, let alone professional coach. I agree that results are what matters, but blaming Van Gundy for a #5 seed in 2005 and a 7-game loss to Dalllas with that ragtag roster of senior citizems, then criticizing him for everything from relying too much on Yao and McGrady to keepint too many old players to not playing Swift enough just shows how pathetically overcritical some fans are. As some poster said earlier, anyone can find some way to criticize a coach--heck, the media did that to Riley after the first two games of the finals.
Are you in some way blaming JVG for Yao not being as good as Shaq or Dream? If not, then how is that comment relevant? And do you think a rookie coach Elie could raise Yao to their level?
(1) The only thing I am "blaming" Mr. Van Gundy for (Re: Yao Ming) is that I do not believe him (and Patrick Ewing) to be as good a big-man coach as certain other people. Assuming Yao is reaching his potential, I believe he might've gotten there a bit sooner under another regime. (2) Yao Ming may not be capable of being on the level of Shaq or Olajuwon. I do think his playing career gave Mario Elie a better grasp of using big men not named Patrick Ewing.
Rudy was a pushover and couldn't control his players. Here is his winning game plan. Dream what do you wanna do? Steve/Cat what do you wanna do? What was it 8 seasons of crap after the championship? Here's Elies. I wasn't good at offense, you guys do what you can, but....play defense!I could do it so should you!Break! Besides an unrealistic outdated coach who gives bad contracts and an unproven coach Elie (your argument against JVG) who is the realistic coach for the rockets? AS for Yao, what center would you rather have besides Duncan, who also needs some beef beside him, and Shaq, who is playing on his last legs? GUYS I THINK I KNOW WHERE ALL THOSE ROCKET BRICKS ENDED UP!
I think Adelman would be a nice fit because his system would make use of two gifted offensive players such as T-mac and a good passing big man in Yao. I don't know if the timing is going to work out as far as Adelman being available to coach the Rockets. There are some young guys out there that might be a good fit like Mario Elie. Who knows he could be the next Avery Johnson of the league. Maybe we could steal Phil Jackson from L.A. He's made it known how he would love to work with Ming.
If it was "eight seasons of crap," then the last three seasons have been a complete failure, and the current coaching staff must be shown the door now. 0.125 Conference Finals 0.125 Conference Semis 0.25 First Round Exits 0.25 mid-40's victories 0.25 sub-.500 teams compared to. 0 Conference Finals 0 Conference Semis 0.66 First Round Exits 0.33 mid-40's victories 0.33 sub-.500 teams Unproven? Nope. One of my arguments against Mr. Van Gundy is that he has proven exactly who and what he is, and he has turned the Rockets into a bad xerox of his New York Knicks. I have said repeatedly that I consider championship success as a player almost equivalent to coaching championship success. Mario Elie unproven? Yep. But one only need look at Avery Johnson to see an "unproven" coach with championship history as a player that managed to embarass your guy with the worst game seven loss in NBA history.
