A Sober Look at Skip

I agree. We ran with Phoenix and put up a ton of points. We ground it to a near-halt against the Spurs. Last year's team could run but they couldn't do it game after game simply because we had some old legs and then injuries. This year's team is freakish in the potential to run - at least the starters are, anyway. All that remains to be seen is if the defense will hold up. I also wonder if there will be a period of 1-3 months where we may be out of synch like last season before it comes together.

 

People say we have 4 runners in our roster, I actually see 5. Yao is a pretty good breaker if chance presents. He can out run a lot of C's. Now it might be too much to ask him to run whole game. But if we can mix up running and hal-court, we will be BAD!

 

I'm not worried about Alston's defense. It's about team defense, meaning you don't need a lockdown defenders at every position. Look at Tony Parker, he gets destroyed by lots of PG's in the league. But does his team succeed with him starting? You betcha.

I'm not too keen on more running game. Yes, the Showtime lakers ran it, but we are not that team. Part of taking control of a game is forcing the other team to play your style of basketball. We're good at half-court basketball. Teams should be worried about how they'll deal with our gameplan, not the other way around. I don't want Yao running around; he has enough stamina trouble as it is.

I'd like to see a controlled half-court game. Post up Yao and he either scores or dishes it out to open shooters. Alston feeding Tmac coming off a screen for a shot. Yao getting doubled in the post and making a sweet pass to a cutting Swift for a monster jam. And most importantly: the pick and roll over and over again.

 

It's definitely a fair knock against Alston. Hell, that's probably one of the 2 biggest reasons Toronto was happy to get rid of him!

BUT ... winning has a way of giving guys a better attitude on the court and in the locker room. I have a feeling Alston's just a hella competitive guy and on that team last year - who traded away any hopes they had of making the postseason early on - he was frustrated and it spilled out.

Fire in the belly can motivate you to succeed. But it can also spill out in a negative way like get you dumping on teammates and coaches. I kinda think that's what was going on with Alston. And I HOPE being on a competitive team like the Rockets solves his attitude problems.

 

I don't understand why you feel this will be such a big adjustment for somebody who is just one season removed from playing under the other Van Gundy. They both were mentored by Pat Riley and have a very similiar approach to coaching. If Skip thrived under Stan, why wouldn't he do the same under Jeff?

Further, he's coming into a situation where the team has incredible chemistry and gets along perfectly. The players, coaching staff and organization on a whole are dedicated to winning and the team is successful. PLUS, he got out of Toronto. Why in the world would he be anything other than the happiest man alive?

 

Apparently. With all due respect, JVG's own brother coached Skip in Miami. If there were questions about his head I am sure JVG would have discussed them with SVG (one of the perks of having your brother also coach in the NBA). Personally, I can't wait to watch Rafe skip down the court just prior to the Rox going into their Globetrotters routine against the Washingtom Generals. I think Yao would make a fine Meadowlark Lemon, but I don't think he can make a hook shot from half-court like Meadowlark could. Maybe TMac could impersonate 'Sweet Lou' Dunbar (A former Coog).

 

my sober look at skip is the same as it has always been. he brings a solid STARTING PG to the team. a guy who is a natural PG and distributes and handles well. he has a good 3pt shot and tremendous quickness. his defense is a little bit worrisome but other than that he is an upgrade over games and gives us the starting PG we sorely need.

overall, a very good move even though i will miss james.

 

Well, what if Skip cant play team D, not rotating enough? He also needs to cut down his 3 pointer attempts. I have seen him taking ridiculous treys instead of feeding the post. As matter of fact, he shouldnt even be allowed to take treys if it's not kicking out from inside. Only Tmac can pull up shot on this team.
Remember the beginning of last year. We almost walked the ball up and offense was very predictble. Then we had roster change, Tmac took over, started to run a bit, good time began. With Stro, Skip and DA, it's a waste if we reduce them to half court players only. A mixture of running and slowing down is good for us, especially we play teams like heat or Spurs when points are hard to get. Yao is a very good outlet passer, Yao boards and he can start it right away, we need to take advantage of it.

 

Thoughts:

Rafer played with Vince Carter - TMac's cousin.....

I think TMac knows who Rafer is and what he can do. TMac also knows the Toronto organization and chose not to stay. VC also chose to leave.

Cell phones work between Toronto and Houston.

I also think based on the last season's play of Mike James, especially the playoff wave-off, that MJ was sent packing by TMac.


Attitudes: Michael Jordan had one. Bird did. The old Pistons certainly had one. Rodman had a big one - I mean an attitude. Somehow Kobe and Shaq managed to win a few titles.

Sura has one when he isn't fainting.

I've been in great work situations where I produced and everyone worked well together. Then you change a boss, a co-worker and everything goes to hell and next thing you know some higher up management clown is trying to put dunce caps on us. Did I change? No.

The system did.

Van Gundy holds the key. If he can convince Rafer that the system works, much as it probably did under Stan his brother, then everything is good. And Rafer becomes a contributing member of our society.

Personally I think the cell phone calls were already made weeks ago. Just can't talk about it in public.

"Hey Rafer, this is TMac"

 

plus, rafer was coached by jeff vangundy's brother stan in miami...trust me, the rockets did their homework on skip.

 

This is a legitimate concern. I too have my doubts about Alston. I won't be an apologist and say that last year was an isolated incident. According to Charlie Palilo, Alston is a former convicted felon. This is a huge risk and the guy comes with baggage.

My answer to you would simply be that I know this is a huge risk but that's the only way to go about building a great team. Taking risks. Not everyone is the San Antonio Spurs - having consensus #1 picks David Robinson and Tim Duncan delivered to their doorstep. Having a great scouting department to find gems like Avery Johnson, Ginobili, and Parker. Not everyone has such great fortune.

Yao was a huge risk. McGrady was a selfish loser. Swift's an underacheiver. Anderson is made of glass. Alston has the most baggage of them all but he brings the skills to the table that we sorely need. That's why I take this risk.

 

just to let you know.....Rafer hates Vince....and Vince hates Rafer....so i don't think Vince gave any advice to McGrady about Rafer.....


trust me there was a lot of bad blood between those two.

 

Not to mention that while McGrady and Carter are technically cousins, they didn't grow up together and aren't particularly close as far as I know. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they even met each other before McGrady landed in the NBA.

I think the family connection that is more important here is Jeff and Stan Van Gundy.

 

Speaking of which, they later found out that they are only cousins by marriage. They are not actually blood relatives.

 

Hey, FYI, Rafer used to play for JVG's brother Stan in Miami. Did anyone mention that? Possibly an important bit of insider info for y'all to ponder...

 

The Rox alsi signed Chuck Hayes so they obviously don't have a problem with guys with issues.

It doesn't stop T-Mac from referring to Vince as his cousin in interviews.

 

These athletic guys are only going to help us get easy baskets. When Yao blocks a shot, it's off to the races. Last year we had to earn almost every point we got. This year it will be so much easier. The half-court offense will obviously still be there, and I doubt we become a completely uptempo team like the Suns. One poster said it very well: the fast guys can always slow down, but the slow guys will never be fast.

 

I am reminded about last offseason when half the world was kicking McGrady for his poor attitude. That didn't work out too bad.

 

A lot of people seem to question Skip's attitude but most have only heard about him since Toronto. The guy is VERY passionate about the game and can sometimes act without thinking, ex. talking about quitting the league. If you watched the And1 Streetball series too, he got in an altercation with Hot Sauce (I think) too. If he can control his passion / fire, then it will be for the best. How many times did the Rockets come out flat-footed and moping last season. My hope is that Skip can be that energy to get the guys going. Plus, if you have anymore doubts, just wait till you see a behind the back alley-oop pass to Swift