[CHRON / Fox News] Rockets have preliminary talks with Adelman

fair point.

so which are you more excited about?

no van gundy

or rick adelman?

 

the $1M question, to me, remains: who is responsible for the player personnel?

standard knowledge says that the gm is responsible for bringing players in, albeit with a rubber stamp from the head coach. if that's the case, i think it would be prudent, although impossible, to know what players were targeted by CD/Morey but redflagged by JVG.

the rocket's failure in the playoffs, imo, is a direct result of the player personnel - specifically speaking about the offensive side of the court. we had one - ONE - player capable of creating from the perimeter. we had one - ONE - player capable or creating in the paint. every other rotation player was essentially a one-trick pony specialist.

head: spot up shooter
alston: ballhandler
howard: midrange spot up shooter
battier: spot up shooter
hayes: rebounder

our offensive diversity was nonexistant and as such, were forced to rely upon the brilliance of tmac and the dominance of yao. they are (obviously) great enough to win some games but in basketball the best TEAM almost always wins. this of course, flies in the face of those who think the team with the best player almost always wins, but i digress...

our offseason wishlist should NOT start with a new head coach. i am convinced that JVG can teach the team an above average defensive scheme. it's his nature. what i'd like to see is for us to acquire more multi-positioned skilled offensive players. that, of course, would present JVG with his biggest challenge to date: coaching multiple skilled offensive players. until now, he hasn't had that opportunity. whether that is his fault or not, i don't know. then again, if that is all his fault, implying that he is solely responsible for player personnel, then why the hell do we even have a gm?

chances are the gm (CD/Morey) is responsible for gathering players. i'd like to see them go after some "stackhouse" type players. hardnosed, yes. offensively talented, yes. headcases, no.

as for adelman, what's he really going to do? free vspan? free kirk? free luther? c'mon people. reality is that these guys are BACKUPS. head, vspan, kirk, alston, howard, etc. the whole lot of them. we have a talent problem, not a coaching problem.

name the teams left in the playoffs where alston, head, vspan, snyder, howard, hayes, etc. would be regular rotation players. if we get players...true players...and still fail, then go ahead and scalp JVG (ok, poor choice of words). until then, let the bald man gripe...and coach.

 

While I agree with the gist of your post and am firmly placed in the camp that feels Van Gundy is good enough and gosh darnit I like him.

I think that Adelman will position Yao frequently in the high post with multiple cutters. This will take up the clog Yao can create in the post position which makes it tough for McGrady to work. Moreover, it should maximize the offensive capabilities of players who can't create on their own. Instead, cuts and motion will create opportunities close to the goal as opposed to the current situation where opportunities are mainly created at the 3 pt line.

However, with all that said, my concern with Adelman will be that too much attention will be focused on the offensive end and will result in a porous defense that will be our Achilles heel. Additionally, people arguing that we have more talent on our squad than the Kings of old are smoking dope. Vlade was competent plus. Webber was an all-star caliber player. Peja was an All Star caliber player. Bibby was an all star caliber player. Christie was their defensive stopper with a three (ala Battier). Bobby Jackson was Barbosa light. That team was loaded. This team is not.

 

you have to realiaze you cannot buy good players any more. even dallas stop doing that. look at the top teams, and how they developed stars, and how players became better after joined them. snyder/wells/vspan/novak all had potential to be better than they were in the playoff. and we were just 3 points away passing the first round.

 

I am not sure, honestly. It really is not about JVG being a bad coach, IMO.

It is more like I don't think he is the right coach for this team.

If JVG had a different team, and a quicker more dominant post player I think he would be the man, but Yao has limitations and I don't think he makes adjustments for those limitations.

So, I want to see someone new.....I like Adleman, have for a long time, but I think I prefer Del Harris.

DD

 

We'll get 'genuis' posters starting threads like "fire [insert coach]" and "[insert coach] sucks" ad nausem.

Then we'll probably get a new group of them that take up the "coach sucks" crusade and proceed to remind everyone how they feel by repeating the same thing in every single post they log.

 

We all know that JVG is among the hardest working coaches in the league, and that he's legendary for having his teams thoroughly prepared. And the players seem to truly like playing for him, despite what many of us would like to think.

The way I see it, though, is that a head coach's most important task is to get his players to play well during the games. Otherwise, what good is the preparation? JVG seems to be able to do that for the most part. T-Mac, Yao, Deke, and even role players like Howard stepped up their games in crucial times during the regular season. But that's where it stopped, unfortunately.

With the group of players we have, we need a coach who can go beyond that basic requirement of getting players to play well. We need someone who can get players to play BEYOND their abilities, particularly the role players. We need someone who will get these guys to believe in themselves as being unstoppable. They simply don't have enough talent to play at a "good" level and get much farther than they have.

Is Adelman that guy? I sure hope so. Time will tell.

 

thats what all of us against Gundy were saying the past few months, if JVG made adjustments to fit the team and not the team to fit himself, we could have been gone much further than first round exit

 

to add to your post, sactown was loaded with special offensive players. every person you named was a very, very good passer and excellent shooter. our current personnel does not allow for that.


as for positioning yao more in the high post, i acknowledge the benefits of doing so. it would definitely open the low post area more. it would allow for more cutters, as well. that said, i am not entirely comfortable with yao being the point man for that kind of offense. that princeton offense is predicated on the post man being the impetus of the offense. yao is an absolute turnover machine because - at this point in his career - his reactions incredibly slow.

i read someone saying that it was because his back is to the action and that if you face him up, he won't be as prone...bullhockey! i saw plenty of strongside guards drop down on yao. moreover, how hard is it to catch the ball, look over your shoulder (after all...you are 7'6), and assess the defense??? expecting yao to survey the entire court, complete with cutters, and make the accurate decision is a task taller than 7'6" imo. hey, i hope i'm wrong, but yao's decision making has made my concern legitimate.

 

make it harder? they were single teaming yao with okur. Yao was getting the ball on the block. It was yao turning the ball over and playing soft. Yao got his touches, he just didnt make the most of them

utah kills zones. ask GS about that.

 

i haven't really heard Del Harris's name...if you count all the rumors then maybe...but i'v also heard a thousand name, none of which are serious contenders for the rockets job....I Have heard Del Harris but that is people just throwing names out there...the rockets have given no indication of Harris...the only 2 serious names I hav heard is Adelman and Larry Brown (Alexander likes him and has always considered him)...other than, Del has as good chance as Mario Elie, Ivaroni, Silas, etc etc etc....Adam Wexler was joking on 610 yesterdy and said even Robert Horry would be considered as a Player/Coach....wexler is a pretty good source, so should I begin the rumor as Horry as the next Rockets coach?

I know you were just trying to help but it just gets annoying when so many people here say they have sources when they are nothing better than the usher who works rockets games or the guy who sells Papa John's pizza at the toyota center.....I didn't mean to sound like a jerk...its all good..

 

dallas developed dirk and devin harris. they acquired stack & JT through shrewd management.

utah developed deron williams, okur and AK47. they acquired boozer (their superstar) through shrewd management.

golden state developed monta ellis, beidrins and barnes. they acquired baron & harrington through shrewd management.

detroit developed tayshaun prince & chauncey. they acquired rip, sheed, webber, & dice through shrewd management.

cleveland developed sideshow bob & (i guess) lebron. they acquired hughes and snow through shrewd management.

spurs developed parker, ginobili, and duncan. they acquired horry, finley, barry, and elson through shrewd management.

my point is that it is a mix. you develop and you acquire. the rox have developed yao. they have acquired battier and tmac. that's all we have. we need more, and looking at our roster, i don't see anyone that could step in and become a valuable contributing force to our team (esp. not offensively). the closest candidate, imo, is kirk snyder, but even he is a backup at best.

 

That paves the way for JVG. Not surprised at all on this kind of decision.

 

yup. either v-mac has to improve a whole lot, synder leans to do more than dunk and novak becomes bargani... the rockets will need serious retooling

 

Did you bother to watch the series? Because if you did you wouldn't be saying that.

The zone was very effective against Utah.....but GS lost their cool and missed their shots.....FTs & offensive rebounds beat GS.....

The zone forced them to shoot outside a lot.....

DD

 

during the telecast yesterday they said Barnes will be an unrestricted free agent...you guys think the rockets could use him? they were saying that he should go to a team where his skills fit the team instead of go for the money because he needs a SYSTEM that fits for him to flourish..and they were thinking he could be signed for MLE money.....what do you all think...

 

Depends on how Gundy prepares his players. If his preparation is nothing more than 1) give the ball to McGrady and let him do whatever he wants, or 2) pass the ball to Yao in low block and watch him back down his defender and then shoot fadeaway, then it's not really much of a coaching or preparation.

Gundy sucks. That sums it all.

 

Bingo. Sacramento was blessed with 2 big men who were among the best post passers of their generation in CWebb and Divac. We, on the other hand, have who Van Gundy calls the best decision maker in the league on the wing.

Agreed. The one exception may be the limited talents, like Bonzi. Van Gundy has alienated guys who think they're better than they are -- Derek Anderson, Jim Jackson, Bonzi Wells, (V-Mac), et. al.

To me, this is a double edged sword -- I used to be of the opinion we don't need guys like that: Screw Derek Anderson if he's going to act like he's bigger than the team. Unfortunately, I think the sad reality is we need talent. Desperately. JVG instituted his "no knuckleheads" policy, and it left us with a team of good guys. I love Battier, Deke, Hayes, and even Howard has grown on me. They're great to cheer for. But a team with those 4 guys in your top 8 isn't going anywhere, and I don't care who the coach is.

If Adelman can get a guy like Bonzi to play ball, bring him on.

 

seriously, lets take a look at our non-superstar roster:

RAFER:

great ballhandler. streaky shooter when asked to be the last option. horrible shooter when asked to be the anything better than the 4th option. horrible defensively as he is constantly outsized and - oddly enough - outquicked. possibly the worst finishing guard in the nba in the painted area. best case scenario is to be a breather for a star point guard. 10mpg max.

BATTIER:

great team defender. consistent 3pt shooter, but has ALWAYS worn down in the latter half of seasons and playoffs. probably because he has always been asked to do so much defensively for 40mpg that his legs wear down. smart decision maker. great hustle. best case scenario is to be the glue guy on a talented team. poor man's pippen (pre-rox).

HAYES:

great hustle player. above average rebounder for his size. easy target to shoot over. jumper is...well...you know. foul prone due to always being outsized. best case scenario is a backup to a talented front court. see: malik rose

LUTHER:

great 3 point shooter. great confidence (reg season). undersized. average ballhandler means he cannot be a starting 1, but due to size, cannot be a starting 2. offensively creative when asked to be. probably underused offensively. best case scenario is a 6th man, ala barbosa. that, however, is contingent on his ballhandling increasing exponentially. realistically, he can be a poor man's bobby jackson from latter sactown days.

JUWAN:

streaky mid range shooter. streaky rebounder. streaky defender. bad passer. great locker room presence and work ethic, though, which is invaluable on teams with young players. best case scenario is 10th man off bench and a future as an assistant coach.

JLIII:

defense is on the back of a milk carton. good shooter. gets out of control. doesn't know the speed of the nba game, yet. best case scenario is an earl boykins type, but will need a LOT of seasoning to get to that point. for a team looking to win NOW, JLIII will not get those opportunities, imo.

NOVAK:

blessed shooter, when asked to do nothing else. unfortunately, this is the nba. running off of screens, can be an effective weapon offensively. would like to see him sub in for tmac occasionally and given that opportunity. the problem? we don't have a point guard capable of running the offense efficiently and effectively while tmac is out, so novak won't get those opportunities.

VSPAN:

aggressive. strong penetrator. rugged defender. could become a very nice backup 1. could become a starting one if he could (1) hit the broad side of a barn with his jumper; (2) learn the speed of the nba; (3) stop b****ing and work on #1 & 2.

 

Agreed, the zone yesterday was devastating the Jazzholes. They could get <b>nothing </b> inside and kept turning it over repeatedly. Its just puzzling to me how we could not try <b>anything </b> different to stop Boozer and their inside cutting game.....