I did not know Stackhouse counted twice? Last time I checked Bonzi was inactive. Yeah that Avery really made JVG look stupid by waiting till T-Mac droped 30 before he realized with no Bonzi and Yao Mac was the onlt legitimate post up threat. It's JVG's fault that we could not hit open 3's because he would not put in the great Steve Novak and his incredable defensive prowless.
Thanks for the positive thread. I fully agree that Van Gundy has been doing a great job on balance. I was very impressed with the passion that the team exhibited last night against the Suns, despite being completely overmatched. Van Gundy has to get some credit for this.
Coach of the year isn't really that important of an award. Things that a coach can do that matters: - Overall offensive and defensive preparation - Substitution patterns - In-game strategy and responding to other coaches moves - Post timeout/quarter-end play design I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that pop out as key. Yes, those are traits that make one coach stand-out over another, but a LOT of coaching moves, that have a DIRECT impact on W-L, are in-game moves. And seriously, which voters are able to watch all coaches and their in-game coaching? Phil, Avery, Brian Hill, JVG, Jerry Sloan - all current candidates. Why? Because their teams have seriously good winning records and/or they have dealt with some kind of difficulty (injuries) and/or they are overachieving compared to pre-season expectations. What about George Karl...his team isn't as good as expected, but then he is constantly dealing with injuries, suspended players, trades, etc. What about Sam Mitchell? The Raptors are under .500, but imo doing better than expected (heck, they are winning their division, bad as it is), nicely integrating Bargani into the mix, etc. What about Portland...certainly they've overachieved thus far? As crazy as Isiah is, the Knicks are doing a lot better than I expected (they've almost already matched last year's win total). Fact is...Coach of the Year is as much about players on your team as it is about actual coaching.
JVG is not good enough to be even considered a candidate for coach of the year. His rotations with the current Rockets roster is a joke and he doesn't use the garbage minutes for players like Novak and Vspan. And his rotations are part to blame for the injuries to both Yao and Tmac. If he rotated Yao a bit better and didn't make him play long minutes, I don't think he would be injured now because of the way Yao got injured because he had been playing too much, the same can be said about Tmac after the Mavs game. JVG's tactics haven't really given the Rockets there winning record since Yao went down, it's been Tmac upping his game to the all star level he is capable of. On the other hand, Phil Jackson has gotten the Lakers a winning record without Lamar and Kwame, 2 starters for the Lakers. And Kobe isn't the scoring machine for the Lakers like he was last season and the Lakers are still winning, even in San Antonio and stopping the Mavericks winning streak. Phil Jackson deserves coach of the year a mile ahead of JVG, and when you think about it, JVG doesn't deserve to be compared to Phil Jax at all because Phil is on another level compared to JVG, a level JVG will never reach no matter how long he coaches in the NBA.
Your right, four minutes into a game on a fluke collision in which Yao's bone was snaped is most definatly Van Gundy's fault.
Only if he wins the Championship.. Coach of the year is a curse as very few have ever won a championship.
Every star plays a "ton of minutes". Nash is avergaing a career-high in minutes, with a back problem also. Iverson, James, etc all play a high amount of minutes. Its a part of the game. Jordan played 40 minutes a game for his career practically. It seems like you will do anything to put down JVG. He has frustrated me some over the years but he is doing a great job this season. Give him some credit dude
HAHA, this one does it, you are officially a complete joke. How can you sit there and blame injuries on the coach? Alright, let's look at them. - I'm guessing he shouldn't have played Yao those times he broke his leg and then his knee. - T-Mac never had any back problems until he played under JVG. - Bonzi Wells hurt his back because JVG played him too early, even before he could get extremely fatigued and hurt worst. - Kirk Snyder broke his hand because of the extended iron man minutes JVG gave him. - Stro caught pink eye from JVG. - J-Howard's heart problem a couple years ago was due to starter minutes given by JVG. Am I missing any other JVG-caused injuries? Seriously, injuries are apart of the game. Every single team deals with injuries, it's very common. That includes all sports. To say that a coach is to blame for the team's injuries is absurd and comes from pure hate. Whatever basketball knowledge you think you had, were all thrown out once you blamed JVG for the Rockets injuries.
Sometimes it really is about the players. The injuries may have, in the long-run, helped the Lakers, more than hurt them, and forced Phil into making "good" coaching decisions. Why? He's been forced to play Cook, Turiaf and Walton more minutes. And while none of those guys are anywhere near all-star level players, or even Lamar Odom level players, they ARE average to above average NBA role players. JVG, on the other hand, has done as much as he can with his Chuck Hayes' of the world... that's not to say JVG doesn't have faults. My main complaints are, in no particular order: (1) Lack of V-Span. Lack of Novak is understandable. That guy both looks completely lost out there, and has completely lost confidence in his shot. But when V-Span played he brought an offensive energy and a defensive hustle that JL3 didn't and doesn't bring (2) Limited playing time for Bonzi/Snyder when back and healthy. Moreso Snyder than Bonzi. Hasn't Kirk been cleared to play for 4 or 5 games already? Only recently has he really gotten back into the rotation??? I almost side completely with Jeff on the Bonzi thing...bad attitudes never help. But even still he should have played him more. (3) Out of bound plays and out of timeout plays. Sometimes the Rockets like to make it harder on themselves by running stupid out of bound plays, especially when the other team isn't even trying to guard the inbound pass. Plays after timeouts, especially on the offensive end, should be better prepared and/or executed. (4) Attacking the zone: Understanding that you are limited by your players, surely they could have come up with a better zone offense by now??? The above said, there are complaints about every coach. I've watched enough Lakers games to know that Phil Jackson doesn't really seem to do anything during the game. Sometimes it doesn't even seem as if he is paying attention at all.
I have decided you are completely clueless. Should we still have drafted Reddick? Wasn't he the answer to all our out offensive woes...
i really hate the way members of this forum use the phrase "mark it", it's almost like "**** that" or something, i dunno. annoying.
I think with us going 9-4 since losing our best player has JVG rightfully on the "short list" of coach of the year candidates. I think this is reinforced with our performance the last two nights...especially the Phoenix game. "It was a combination of us not being ready and Houston playing very well," Suns guard Raja Bell said. "It was a bad combination for us." "Houston played well and with a lot of energy," Bell said. "They took it right to us, even though they were undermanned. They gave us all we could handle." "They played at a high level and got our attention early," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We just have to be able to concentrate longer, but the level of passion is what kept us in the game," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. Link. We took one of the best two teams in the league (and our toughest matchup) deep into the 4th period without our two best players and barely with our 3rd best player. Our effort and belief in our ability to win even while grossly undermanned speaks volumes about our coach and players.
I was just reading through John Hollinger's chat wrap, and what do you know... http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=14323
How about the Lakers have better quality role players then us? Or is that to logical of an answer for you...
Agree. I believe two things holding the rockets back 1. Injuries 2. JVG He should give young guys more playing time. I just don't see JVG being coach of the year candidate, he gets out coached allot.
Too many voters will be like the Tom Toolberts of the world and penalize JVG for his defensive focus. Being a "boring" team to watch isn't going to bring in a lot of individual awards.
