Rhester, I did not like JVG's management style. I did like his candor. I am glad he is gone. Les did not like him, and unless that is your friend ..... I know you like him, I respect that and I respect you as a fellow passionate Rockets fan. The Rockets also beat Phoenix in Arizona this year. But, I do agree, if JVG had players he likes he would live with their mistakes..... I do not think these are tough times, I think the team is learning how to play together, and expect great things. Re: Luther Head playing for JVG in his rookie year. Blake, That is the best post on the subject matter to date, I concede that Luther played minutes regardless of injuries. DD
I actually liked JVG intense passion to win. But then he has a big doghouse and he likes to put players in it. I don't think Adelman has a doghouse but he uses different approach.
I wonder what JVG could do with Landry's defense? He doesn't have the athletic limitations of scola. That being said I still rather have adelman.
If you didn't think we had an elite team how could you think the coach is under performing? Either we are an elite team and not winning as much as we should, or we are not an elite team and not getting further than we have shouldn't be that big a surprise. Besides we had home court advantage by ONE game. That was the only reason we were favored in the first place vs Utah, and that took a monumental collapse by Utah at the end of the regular season. Some how I doubt if JVG played a bunch of young guys and we lost more games and still went out in the first round you or management would be saying we should have kept him as coach... As for Bonzi, people forget that he got 21 minutes a game over 28 games and didn't produce anything significant during those minutes. Bonzi was the one who quit on the team, the team didn't kick him off. Sure he could have gotten more minutes, but he got more opportunities than Francis is likely to get this year. In the games he did play last year, he only played 2 minutes less than what Adelman is playing him now that he is shape.
Morph, I didn't think the Rockets had much of a chance last year with the lineup JVG was playing and I wanted him to think bigger picture and find out if some of the younger players might be part of the team's future. Ultimatly it was right, the team was not good enough and we didn't find out if any of the young guys could play, and we forced a very good young aggressive PG to be so disenchated that he left the NBA completely. DD
Too bad you didn't concede this ten months ago when I made the exact same post in direct response to you:
I guess we will have to agree to disagree on the assessment that VSpan was a very good young aggressive PG. I mean it isn't like he had Steve Nash or Jason Kidd playing in front of him. If you can't beat out the supposedly worthless Rafer, or John Luca III or Luther "turn over waiting to happen" Head at PG for ANY regular playing time, then how good could he be? Some how I doubt a rookie Tony Parker or Chris Paul would have been sitting on the bench behind those guys getting next to zero play time. Luther got minutes as a rookie. Hayes got minutes as an undrafted rookie. Novak earned a start the first game. The idea that JVG never plays rookies has been disproven. He just doesn't play rookies who have not earned play time for the sake of playing them. So either he had some personal vendetta against VSpan (which seems unlikely considering he had alot bigger confrontation with Bonzi and gave Bonzi 28 games with 20+ minutes and wanted him to play more when he quit on the team), or VSpan just didn't show enough to warrant playing. VSpan could have come back for either Adelman or Popovich and prove JVG wrong and choose not to. That is ultimately on him. Anyway when a coach is fired for not winning now it is hard to fault him for trying to win now.
Morph, The difference is that V-Span was turnover prone, and highly creative, you have to live with the inevitable turnovers in order to get the finished product at the end. I think JVG believed the team did not have that margin of error, and therefore chose to not play Billy at the PG spot to minimize his mistakes. I think ultimately that was short sighted, as the NBA has changed, and players that can attack the basket and create for others are in high demand..... Either way, it is over....Billy whined his way out even after the coach he despised was fired, and that says a lot about his character as well. DD
I might have had you on ignore then.....you go on the list off and on.....depends on how cranky you have been.
really?...management, or an owner? I thought its been well known that management, and morey, wanted JVG to stay but Les thought otherwise.
so you agree it was les and not the actual people who know and understand basketball that wanted jvg gone. goody
Nah, I think what was said in the media is not necessarily what they were thinking. As I said last year, it was clear from the roster moves that management was pushing for a more up tempo attack the basket style.....and I believe that conflicted directly with JVG and his methodology. DD
how convenient for you to ignore the rumblings that it was a personal issue with les and jvg and morey wanted jvg to stay, not to mention an obvious PR move...for your argument clear? they drafted a young pg, which they needed. And an athletic pf, which they needed...regardless of what "style" they wanted. MJ was an obvious choice being discussed heavily while jvg was here. bonzi just got off his fat butt. trading an "uptempo" player in v-span for another PF seemed obvious regardless of "style". And you made the fallacy that jvg didnt want to run and get easy baskets in transition (a fallacy and myth that many still hold true for whatever reason)
Would Rick the Ruler have been able to get last year's team into the playoffs? Nope. Would JVG have been able to get this year's team into the playoffs? Yes. Can Rick the Ruler be able to get this year's team into the playoffs? Maybe maybe no. Right now, not looking too good.
I think all good PGs have quite high TOs. For eg. Nash TO career = 2.61 Tony Parker TO career = 2.53 Surprisingly Rafer TO career is only 1.74. Hence it is not surprising to see Vspan TO much higher than Rafer and he is just in his rookie year. IN JVG system and in JVG year contract,of course JVG would choose a PG that has lower TO. I was personally impressed with VSpan defense, passing, driving and intensity of play. In fact his TO probably linger around 2.5-3 as all good PGs do but I do have doubt about VSpan shooting. He is not a good shooter but then some of the clutch shots especially the 3s are just unbelievable when he is with the Greece club.
