As I said before, If you really knew basketball there is no comparison. Go ask somebody who knows basketball and compare these two coaches. BTW, JVG took a team to the finals in a strike shortened season-his only time. Hes a good coach but hes not up there with RA. RA will probably make the HOF.
RA beats JVG because he has much more years under his belt, longevity is crucial to HOFers. If watched every game Portland got beat by the Bulls. I was a Jordan and Bulls fan back then. And I've watched all those series NY vs. Chicago. NY under JVG was much more dangerous than Portland under RA. JVG reached final in the shortened season, but not shortened playoffs. BTW, RA always had better talent than JVG, his Webber/Peja/Bibby/Divac team had more talent than any of JVG's team. So don't use that "if you knew basket" stuff, because I've watched them from long time ago. They are pretty much even come to coaching, and I'd prefer JVG given the same amount of talent.
JVG took a Knicks team that was not really very talented to NBA Final. He made them play hard and overchieve. OTOH, when RA was successful, he had great players. I don't really have any preference for either coach but IMHO, JVG is a better mentor. I doubt even Phil with his Zen power would be able to take that New York Knicks team to the NBA Final. Let me put it this way. If RA takes this year's Houston team to NBA Final, let's talk.
JVG's team was very talented. JVG had one of the NBA's 50 greatest players of All-Time, Ewing, surrounded by 2 All-stars and Camby, one of the best defensive PF/C in the league. Patrick Ewing-Hall of Famer, 11x All-Star, NBA's 50 All time greatest players Marcus Camby-One of the best defensive big men in the league, but was overshadowed by Ewing at the time. Allen Houston-2000 All-Star, 2001 All-Star Sprewell-1994 All-star, 1995-All-star, 1997-All-star, 2001 All-Star If the Rockets had Patrick Ewing, Camby, Houston and Sprewell in their primes, the Rockets would not be in the lottery this year. Their frontcourt would destroy our frontcourt. Allen Houston and Sprewell>>>>>>Battriza Brooks is better than Charlie Ward, though.
You can't say someone is rolling over in their grave If they ARE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeez Carl... You and Charles man JEEZ
Could you imagine RudyT and Hakeem had Camby, Sprewell, and Allan Houston? Rockets would be 3xNBA Champs.-
If Knicks had Camby, Houston and Sprewell in their 94 Final against the Rockets, they might have won. In 94 Final , New York Knicks had Ewing at center, Charles Smith and Oakman at forward, Starks and Harper at the backcourt. Allan Houston and Camby were not on the team and Sprewell was still with the GS Warriors that year.
LOLLL Jeff Van Gundy just said on TV, "I don't get why people don't wait till your dead to say you'd be rolling over your grave??" hahhahahahahhah
He did have good reason to. It was after 9/11 and he was losing focus and felt unable to coach in NY. U can't really blame him for that. Still, I think RA is a better coach.
Whenever Van Gundy feels like rolling over in his grave, I think he calms himself down by turning on a Celtics game. These guys play seriously good D. Too bad the Rockets lost (and they had their chances), but that's what nice defense looks like. I miss those days when it was the Rockets doing that to the opposing team.
It is no coincidence that Aaron Brooks three point streak ended against the thibedeau coached Celtics team. But, coincidentally, the Celtics were also the team that ended our 22 game streak two years ago. Their defense is pretty good at stopping positive streaks.
The Rockets D are not bad-- statistically, they are middle of the road (14th out of 30 teams), quite an accomplishment playing the season with an undersized frontline. But those Celtics are just at an elite level (like the Rockets were in years past). Besides Rondo, none of these guys are even that fast any more. They are just skilled on that end. Those openings that Brooks and Scola were seeing in all of the prior games are just gone. The Celtics really make you earn everything. Man, I bet Van Gundy puts the DVD of Celtic games on the bedroom TV if he wants to get in the mood with Mrs. Van Gundy.
