Are the Rockets better than they supposed to be? e.g., is JVG making bigger impact?

Of course, it's JVG's fault when SF does bad -- but it's not to his credit when Yao Ming comes in and he brings in vets. JVG knew what this team needed and he did it -- Rudy had the same supporting cast for 5 miserable seasons and never upgraded or went in another direction. JVG comes in, signs 3 valuable vets with playoff experience - MJ, CW, JJ.

I don't agree at all with the weaker conference statement, but that's a whole different argument

 

There's lots of reasons for that.

1) Yao is the focus; he's slowly improving.
2) Yao is in his 2nd year (and we still make the playoffs?)
3) New offense/defensive philosophy
4) Francis still gives us the baggage of the carrying his turnovers
5) We are missing a 2nd scoring option that is efficient. Yao needs help.

In the end, it seems to even out. But look deeper. We are better (especially on defense). But lets get rid of the single player that is holding us back.

The coach can only do so much. The rest is in the players hands.

 

This is so UTTERLY RIDICULOUS AND PATHETIC..how in the HELL is this Jeff Van Gundy at fault for the Rox tanking?? I cannot fathom the stupidity of some fans. Our highest paid, "franchise" player who has RARELY been able to hit the broadside of a barn all year long..and that's IF he don't turn over the ball first and we're putting this on VAN GUNDY???? I do NOT get you people! Are you all watching the same games or what? Do ANY of you remember how often STEVE and Cuttino (Cat has straightened himself out though) would blame all those boneheaded moves back in the day on the team being "YOUNG"???? We have been a HIGH TURNOVER PRONE TEAM FOR YEARS NOW!! JVG did NOT create this team, he did not handpick this team, he is NOT the one who has this team accustomed to losing with excuses ready and waiting!! Just like the national media sez, until we start protecting the ball, we're not going to go anywhere! Last time I checked, its not JVG who can't run a fast break to save his life, or who can't make a fundamental layup!!

STOP BLAMING THE DAYUM COACH AND REALIZE WE'VE BEEN PLAYING THIS WAY FOR FIVE YEARS NOW..ITS NOW TIME TO PLACE THE BLAME ON THE ONES WHO ACTUALLY PLAY ON THE FLOOR!! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

 

rox could be better...period

 

Steve is having a bad year scoring.
That's on Steve period.
He's being asked to execute the offense, he's being asked to make smart decisions, good passes and play inside out, But he isn't being asked to score less, blow layups and pass up open shots.

Jeff calls his number at crunch time and has run as many plays for him as anyone. If Steve wants to get on fire right now and lead
this team to the finals Jeff Van Gundy will get right behind him.

There are no shackles on Steve. New offense, yes. New defense, yes. But there is plenty of room for him to get his fg % of to say 47%, his 3 pt % up to 39% and his assist to TO ratio to about 3.0

Is Steve hurt more by the coaching change. NOPE
Is Steve effected more by it. YES

I can understand the start of the year being total culture shock for Steve. I highly respect the way he has handled it, at least in the media.

But to say he is negatively impacted by Jeff Van Gundy is wrong.

Let me give you 3 very positive impacts Van Gundy has had on Steve the basketball player.

1. He involves his teamates much earlier in the shot clock. Steve runs more of an offense on the court. He is taking fewer bail out shots.
2. He helps more on defense. He gets alot of help on picks, but he has also picked up his own defensive effort this season switching off and actually guarding from the switch.
3. He drives and dishes alot more. He has picked up more assists this year off the drive than I remember.

There are some negatives that will right themselves if Steve imporves his game:

While he dishes more off penatration he is giving up some shots he should be taking himself on drives.
While he is much improved executing on offense his own shooting percentage has suffered partly because I think he has tried to make all these other adjustments.
For whatever reason those bailout shots werre a bigger part of his scoring in the past so he is down a little in avg. due to passing up more of those shots he took as the shot clock ran out.

 

No, it wasn't just "ONE game?" Rudy was being judged from 1997 - 2003. The "ONE game missing the playoffs" was the catalyst that got him fired.

Yes, I felt that JVG would do a little better in his first year. You only give JVG one year (maybe two)? Rudy had more time. But why is the record similar? What's the COMMON FACTOR? Uh, FRANICS. He's a coach killer! When will you realize this?

Wanna see Phil Jackson get fired after two years? Bring him here to coach Francis!

 

No, it's not the end of the story, because Francis is holding this team back. What? Do expect JVG to just trade Francis before he even coaches his first game? Francis failed to deliver. Not JVG.

There are a lot of people that were willing to give Francis a chance under a new coach. And the results with his game are similar (worse). We didn't know that before. We do now.

Rudy couldn't dribble the ball for Francis. He couldn't pass for Francis. He couldn't shoot for Francis.
JVG can't dribble the ball for Francis. He can't pass for Francis. He can't shoot for Francis.

You wont understand this until Francis is gone and we have another star leading this team. Whether or not Yao becomes that leader is another story.

I wanted to "dump" Francis before we got Yao.

 

For the record, I am not a JVG hater. I've always believed that coaches in pro basketball have very limited control over their teams results. When the team is not playing well, 90% is the players' fault. When the team is playing well, 90% is the players' credit.

That is why last year when people were calling for Rudy's head, I defended him. I didn't think changing the coach would make this bunch of players become winners. It's the players, not the coach! This season basically confirms my view.

When JVG came, many people treated him like he'd be the savior of the team. I think this thread's intention is to point out that he isn't. And I totally agree. Is JVG a good coach? I think yes. Does he do better coaching this team than Rudy? No. The whole point of my earlier argument against LTF is that he has better players to work with and gets the same result. Judging from that, he's not a better coach than Rudy.

One important contribution that JVG brought, mentioned by DoD, and maybe DavidS, is that he brought changes of personnel. We are not really sure. But at least the chance of getting rid of some core players under JVG is much better than under Rudy. Rudy was too loyal (or stubborn) with his players to kick them out. JVG doesn't have this problem.

In another thread, I jokingly said that JVG's biggest contribution is exposing Francis' weaknesses. Now when Francis is traded in the offseason, JVG's job is done. We can bring back Rudy to lead the new team to the title. We don't know if keeping the players was mostly Rudy's decision. I think firing Rudy was hypocritical if the owner/management supported Rudy's personnel decision. To me, the only valid reason for firing Rudy would be if he refused to let go of players against the owner's will.

 

i believe "coaching" does influence a players performance...despite all his bravado..i contend stevie needs his ego stroked .. his confidence has been shakened this year, which has led to his decline this year...IMO

rudy was about building up his players, maximizing their talents by playing to their strengths, and getting his players to believe they can win...his players would run through a wall for him...because they knew he believed and trusted them...this attitude positively impacted their games and the team..

rudy coached on gut feel and with his heart....sometimes its not about Xs and Os, its about will to win and heart.. you knew rudy brought that to the table, and that is the reason why i always felt once in the playoffs anything was possible with rudy's rockets...if not for cancer..we would have seen this last year...

i reserve judgement on jvg doing the same...but im not getting the same feeling..at the moment

 

And my whole argument was that the reason we have the better roster is BECAUSE OF HIM. HE brought in JJ. HE brought in Spoon. HE brought in MJ. Rudy failed to upgrade his team to playoff level in five years. JVG is the better coach FOR THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW., because he is able to see the weaknesses in the team and so far has brought the right players in to compliment the system. I think all judgement should be reserved for a few years - JVG comes in -- his first year --, takes us to the playoffs and people call for his head. I don't get it.

 

Rudy's lax style caused the players to walk all over him. JVG's strictness and attempts to make Steve into something he is not---a good PG, a tough leader---have mentally worn down this team.

And if I were Steve, I'd have to find that next wind, that extra gear, knowing this will be the end of his tenure in a Rockets uniform.

And that's fine. Because they will explore how to improve this team in the summer. Decent point guards and better forwards, that's the ticket. A more physical power forward who can keep the triple-team nut-kicking defense off Yao.

 

Over all, I don't see any major improvement in the team under Van Gundy either. Defense is definitely better. But the offense is definitely worse .... and Steve Francis is definitely worse. I'd give VG an "A" for Defense and an "F" for offense (it's really really bad - his knick teams were unwatchable at times and I guess it's the same crap here too, since the Rockets were at times unwatchable this season (see that horrible 1st(?) game against San Antonio). So his overall grade (from me) would be a
"C" since he really didn't make the team much better and he didn't make it much worse. I'm pleased they will make the play-offs but disappointed that they haven't (for the most part) been more competitive against the elite western conference teams. The Rockets are still very much an average western conference team. I expected more than that for this season.