Who would you prefer: Jeff Van Gundy or Larry Brown?

Was listening to 740 KTRH yesterday, and a caller called in asking if they thought that Nelson was a "genious." The hosts went on to say he wasn't (no title, etc.) They then said the closest current coach to a genious would be Larry Brown. Pretty interesting. Either way, I think we'd be getting a coach he would preach (successfully) TEAM basketball. I'd be happy with either.

 

I voted for JVG but other good coaches are available:

Mike Fratello
Mike Dunleavy

 

God no, not Mike Fratello! I don't know if I can handle any more 82-78 games...

 

Larry Brown is a great defensive coach. The Sixers are known for their smothering D.

Can you imagine Houston playing the kind of defense Philly does? Their team is terrible (excepting AI, of course), and they are perennial contenders.

Van Gundy would be nice, too, though. He led a pretty average Knicks team to the Finals a couple of times. That says a lot about his ability to get the most out of his players.

Don't rule out Mr. Mean, either...

 

Larry Brown

 

I'll rule out Mr Mean right now thank you very much. I'd prefer Larry Brown hands down.

 

I wouldn't expect a vast improvement in the Rockets defense with a new coach. When Rudy T showed up, he made us into contenders by making us a good defensive team. He knows defense. Another coach also good at D will not do much better with what we've got.

I voted for Van Gundy instead of Other, even though I get the feeling Silas is who I'd want. According to Clutch, the Rockets aren't considering anyone besides Van Gundy or Brown, so I wouldn't want to throw my vote away on Silas. So, I essentially voted against Brown. Brown's a great coach, but I think posters are right that he's a little too unstable: he's close to retiring and he's liable to quit on you any offseason. I want a coach who will stick around long enough to take Steve and Yao into their primes, not a 2-year place-filler. Van Gundy has a couple (though fewer) question marks in this regard as well. He quit on the Knicks in the middle (middle? not even!) of a season; that's not good at all.

That's why I like Silas: he's young and can stick around for awhile and is enthused about coaching and wouldn't consider walking away. Even better would be Rudy T, whose enthusiasm for our Rockets is unparalleled, but I guess that is no longer an option.

 

Jeff Van Gundy by a mile!!!

 

Brown, no question - he's a teacher, which is what this team needs. AND, he'll take no crap.

Fratello - please NO. Didn't you see what he did to the Cavs? They may win, but the Rockets need to become a *watchable* team as they have the opportunity to become the most popular basketball team on earth!

 

Are you trying start a debate by suggesting Mr. Mean should be head coach? By the way how did you come the conclusion by suggesting Mr. Mean should be head coach? In what world does that make sense?

 

I'm inclined to go with Van Gundy because he's young and not as close to reaching senility as Brown. Plus, like Rudy, most of his success has been with smart veteran teams. I'm unsure if he has to patience to deal with rebuilding ANOTHER team. Seems like he'll build a team up to title contention and then get bored and leave soon afterwards.

 

It's either Silas or Van Gundy in Cleveland, and then my guess is either one of those 2 or Brown for us.

The more I think about it, the more Ilike Van Gundy over Brown.

It's very close, but I think there's some comfort in Van Gundy when comparing ages. I just get the feeling Brown is going to go through burnout fairly soon because he's such a high intensity coach, and he's getting up in age.

Van Gundy brings the high intensity, but he also brings youth, and is probably mentally fresher after his break from coaching. he coached in the pressure cooker to end all pressure cookers (New York) and was successful. And again, if things go well, he can be around for awhile.

I just get the sense that Brown may bring a lot of baggage along with him

Silas is a wild card to me- I don't really get a good feel for his coaching ability, so I'll defer to others. Van Gundy has the experience of being in an intense coaching environment, and he took a team on Marcus Camby's frail body to the Finals. Brown is loaded with experience. Silas was with the team in Charlotte, and then New Orleans, and they were competitive, but I'm not sure if that was just the talent (Baron, Mash, etc.). He never really took them deep, even in the weaker Eastern conference.

 

To Silas' credit, he coached for a franchise that was not allowed to spend money on free agents (neither their own nor others) and lost something like 38 straight players to free agency and was still successful. That alone makes me a fan; you have to be good if you can keep winning with bleeding like that. Also, Mashburn and PJ Brown play better for him than they ever did for Pat Riley. They haven't made it deep in the EC playoffs, but they've had injuries and, besides, he has to work with the second-crappiest ownership in the league. With the caliber of ownership and management the Rockets have, I think Silas would do great.

 

how about Paul Westphal? He's a pretty good coach.

I voted for Larry Brown because 1. he gets his team to play D AND 2. he put up w/ Iverson so he can surely make Steve into a top 5 player (hey it's dreaming but it could happen)

 

Didn't Paul Westphal lose respect of his players both in Seattle and Phonex? I'm not sure...but I don't think he would fit in very well with this team

 

I think the perfect coach for the Rockets would be Mike Dunleavy.

 

Didn't the Portland Trailblazer players, not suggesting any of them are model citizens, lose respect for Dunleavy and that was one of the reasons Dunleavy was let go. Talent alone, Portland should not only make the Playoffs but win it.

 

Brown does not always get along with his playas.

JVG is a good choice. He coached a team to the finals, so he does have a trck record for success. I do find him quitting his last coaching job mid-season a bit worrisome.

Silas is my choice. The Hornets in the playoffs??? I mean come on. Give the man some major credit.

 

Silas had one of the biggest front courts in the LEAGUE and the Hornets play in the weak EAST. He also had two legit allstars, of course one of them always seemed to be injured. But besides that point, this team should be playing against the Nets right now, not fishing.

I'm not buying Silas as head coach