Haven't heard a lot of appreciation for coach A. He has Bonzi motivated to play. Yao doing more things in the offense. Mcgrady scoring more in the past few years. Had to make a difficult decision not to just put Francis in the roatation for the sake of putting him in the rotation. Smart enough to still keep Van Gundys defensive philosophy, and add his motion, cutting offense.
Appreciation my a*s, he is still playing RAFER for long minutes. If we appreciate him after 5-1, we might as well appreciate JVG too
r u kidding, had Van Gundy returned Bonzi wouldn't and I would give considering the tough schedule Van Gundy 3-2 and that is being nice. Bonzi has been invaluable and screw that stagnant offense.
I'm not sure if it's fair to give Coach A too much credit on Bonzi's play. With the same token, it's unfair to blame JVG for last year either. The only one who should be blamed for us losing an effective sixth man was Bonzi himself. He was not happy when he lost a "big" contract from Kings and was stolen by Rockets. Comparing his condition at the beginning of two seasons, you could tell he was not interested or motivated to earn his minutes then as he got his guaranteed money anyway. With that body fat, I doubt that Coach A would have played Bonzi last year. This year is different as it's his contract year... To be honest, Coach A has not effectively installed his Princeton scheme. Though Yao stay more in high post, we still relied on our star powers more than the opportunityies created by cuts. Just look at how many people standing still when Yao gets ball in high post.... One thing I would thank Coach A for was that the extra energy Yao have at the late stage of a game due to the freedom he gives Yao instead of letting him banging on low post in each position.
A lot of what RA has done is sutble, allowing Yao to have more energy and play longer minutes. I expect the team will continue to get better and better as the season goes on. Rick Adelman is doing an OUTSTANDING job....5-1 to start the season and playing 4 playoff teams, including the world champions? That is some good coaching........ DD
