Ok that means our next move is to get rid of Head, Novak, Vspan and move Hayes. Cause they aren't producing right?
Yes true, but it seems that most of the time the Rockets just let their trade exceptions and contracts expire....especially lately. DD
Well.. I havent witnessed Tyronn Lue enough to have an opinion However his stats per 48mins are better than Alston's across the board , except a 0.1 difference in TOs and a slightly lower 3pt% but he doesnt take as many of them and he has better FG% and FT% so his total shot % is still higher than rafer's
Actually, I messed up...they're not better across the board...it's split about half/half.... But still..they dont seem too bad
I think JVG is a good coach, gets the most out of the players he wants to play. I also think he also does a good job of preparing his team to win regular season games. But I also think JVG is also shortsighted and does not prepare a team to win playoff series.(Different from a playoff game). Point 1.) When JVG took over this team, it was a playoff caliber team that was missing a couple of pieces to be considered a championship caliber team. We knew the Rockets needed to develop or sign a couple of players to get to the next level. Developing players was something JVG never did when he was with the Knicks, yet we still signed him anyway. What JVG has done, was play the team that has the best chance of winning each and every single regular season game. TMac, Yao, and everyone else that played gave it there all, and this was good enough to win 52 regular season games. The problem is that the team JVG played was not going to be able to effectively compete against Dallas, San Antonio, or Phoenix. I know we are all Rockets fans, but let’s be realistic. This team had several weaknesses. They may have not been very visible during a regular season game, but Utah took advantage of them, and these weaknesses were glaringly exposed. 1.) No outside shooting. 2.) No penetration 3.) Lack of athleticism I know it a coach’s job to win games, but it is also there job to develop players and put together a team that can compete in the playoffs. How can you expect your starters to play at the highest possible level for an entire game, much less seven. In game seven of the series, JVG only played two guys off the bench, three if you include Mutumbo’s 3 minutes. You can not expect a team to only play its starters to win a playoff series. The fact that JVG had to rely almost entirely on his starters in the match-up against Utah is a reflection of his shortsightedness and his ability /or lack thereof to develop a complete team. He should have played Bonzi, Novak, Kick, and VSpan from the beginning of the season. It probably would have cost a few games, but we would have been a better team, and better prepared for the playoffs. Bonzi, yes he was out of shape when he showed up for camp, but he would have rounded into shape by the time the playoffs rolled around. Barkley wasn’t exactly in shape when he showed up for training camp. Rudy didn’t tell him to take a hike. What about Shaq? Neither Phil or Pat told him to go home. Novak, yes he is a defensive liability. Remember Mat Bullard and Pete Chilcutt? They were defensive liabilities, but both of them played on our championship teams. We certainly could have used Novak’s shooting. It would have helped to spread the floor out and stretch Utah’s defense. Plus, I am sure JVG would have been able to get Novak to play some defense. Kirk, yes he is not all that bright, and he may be a bonehead, but the team could have used his athleticism. Plus, a guy is only going to learn a system by getting playing time. Remember Maxwell? Yeah, he was definitely the smartest guy on court, and the perfect role model. I wonder why Rudy played him. VSpan, yes he turned the ball over allot, but how many point guards do you know that played like an all star there first year in the league. Nash, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, Chauncey Billups didn’t exactly tear it up in there first year. But they all got playing time. I am sure Vspan’s turnovers will go down with more playing time, and once he learns when and where his teammates want the ball passed. I think 10 minutes a game was certainly doable. Getting to the playoffs is nice, but does you no good if you can’t win once you get there. It is like winning all the battles and losing the war. This organization really needs a coach that can develop players, and win in both the regular and post season. There are coaches out there that do this, so lets not make excuses for why JVG did not play certain players.
http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/2007/05/does_tweak_tweak_make_for_more_1.html Fran B's latest blog sums it up pretty well... seems that as far as Fran knows at least, JVG is the one recognizing there isn't sufficient talent, but Les would disagree.
You're comparing him to the wrong person. Compare him to Jon Barry in 2005. Then tell me that it was a mistake to get rid of him.
Hmm.... Barry had better 3pt% and a couple more rebounds...That's about it.... Lue had a better fg%, better assist/to ratio, more assists and in general a better PER
Btw...I'm really not very familiar with Lue ...as I mentioned im only looking at this through stats and they dont seem that bad considering a lot of people here make him out to be terrible
Barry's net on/off court rating was the very highest on the team - and he was a little more than just "better" at three point shooting - Barry shot a blazing 45% for the rockets that year - which is about as good as it gets. It was pretty obvious to anybody who watched the Rockets that year what he brought to the table and how much better the Rockets were when they got him - and it shows. Lue is not very good, and an average player at best, if you are honestly making the case that the Rockets should not have traded him in 2004 in the course of turning a sh-tty season into a successful one I really am flabbergasted.
No no...I'm not making a case for that....I'm just saying Lue doesnt seem that bad in their indivudal stats to warrant the reaction I saw in this thread... And barry shot 34% 3s in Atlanta that year before he moved to Houston....and similarly, lue shot 45.7 % 3s the year after... Both of them have had varied years in 3s and their career avgs are very similar so it doesnt seem that clear to me... I fully recognise that Barry fit well with the rockets that year and it was a good trade. I'm not suggesting it should have been otherwise.... Just trying to understand the reason why Lue is thought of so low....
I cannot understand why JVG gave JL3 a lot of PT instead of playing Vspan. JL3 is at most a good NBDL player and not more. May be JL3 knows how to kiss JVG's ass.
Great post all together, but you pretty much mitigate what JVG did accomplish, and that's being the 4 seed in the freak'n west. That's no small feat. A lot of things didn't go the way it was planned. Tracy's back... then Yao's leg.... I like to believe JVG put the best players on the floor, given the circumstances. Sure it would be nice to throw away a whole season, to evaluate a European point guard, but I like the idea of playing to win. Now you and I don't get the benefit of seeing these guys in practice on a daily basis... Jeff & his staff does. Maybe that's not enough for you, but that's enough for me. Far as I can tell, the Rockets are right on track.
Throw away? The kid can play, and we'd only need a few games to test this. I never understand coaches and their hatred of rookies. Let the guy get minutes, let him gain experience, otherwise he may not gain enough levels to evolve, and then your stuck with a level 10 Bulbasaur and the rest of your team is at level 50.
Yup and in the same vein, where are most of our starters from that team? Where are they now? Why did they start and why they are scrubs on other teams. Why is our bench from back then getting major minutes on other teams? Hmmm makes ya wonder doesn't it.
Maybe Jeff's seen enough of him in practice to know he isn't the best player at that position. Sure, he's got talents & a mentality that Rafer is lacking, but All-around, he may need a lot of work. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Chucky & Luther got plenty of playing time as rookies.
