...been listening a lot to The Messiah- perhaps it's the season, in any case, anyone looking for a recording need look no further than Richard Westenburg's wonderful recording w/ Music Sacra on RCA. I know most of the soloists, and it's wonderful to hear the woefully under recorded Judith Blegen, and a real "basso" on "The Trumpet Shall Sound!" Even more impressive is the breath control on "Behold, Darkness Shall Cover the Earth". Stunning. this recording lacks "names" like Battle, or Ramey, and a name conductor like Gardiner, but anyone looking for a desert island choice, Handle's Messiah, need not hesitate. Beautifully recorded too...but I digress... I almost titled this thread, "A (Rocket's) Christmas Carol". I didn't see the game, but how ironic to go up against a Clipper's team featuring the Ghost of Rockets Past (Cassell), with the Ghost of Rockets Present (McGrady), and the Ghost of Rockets Future (Head) on the floor. How hard would it have been to have picked up Cassell and Mobley this off season? Imagine a team featuring Yao, Swift, McGrady, Mobley, and Cassell? Imagine the impact Cassell's passion would have had on Yao's game. Yes, he's a little slow, but slower than, say, Billups? I get giddy/frustrated, just thinking about the possibilities. Of course, this assumes, the rockets had a coach who could maximize such a lineup, which brings me to the "mystery"... Jeff Van Gundy is a great coach. He's detailed, passionate, prepared, great at in-game adjustments. Yet, rarely have I seen a more obvious mismatch between coach and talent than that between Van Gundy and Yao/McGrady. Van Gundy is a non-parallel defensive coach. McGrady is a rare offensive talent, and Yao may be the best passing big man since 1977. The disconnect is obvious. Think what this team could look like w/ a coach like Rick Adelman, or Don Nelson, or Jack Ramsey in his prime, passing, cutting, scoring. It's a disgrace this team should struggle to score 80 points. Remember, JVG didn't reach the finals until Ewing (a great offensive center) was injured, and Camby (who was much quicker and defensive minded) replaced him. The mystery? this team will always play hard, compete, and will rarely lose, or win, for that matter, a game by more than 10 points. I'm happy to be proven wrong, and as we shuffle supporting pieces in and out, they will certainly tantalize us from time-to-time, but the reality will remain: This team as its core is presently constituted, with JVG, Yao, and TMac, will never win a championship. Saith the Lord of Hosts.
Put that coffee DOWN! Interesting post, basso. It'd be great to have Sam and Cat on the team, but I'm not sure how we would have pulled that off. I don't know how Van Gundy will be, long term, with our offense. We have been shorthanded so far, with the worst of it being Tracy out for that stretch of games, obviously, but you have to wonder if Jeff can give us an offense that uses the strengths of our best players. We're gonna find out.
Best passing big man since 1977? Who are you referring to? As great a passer as Yao is, I don't think it's very realistic to say he's a better passing big man than guys like Arvydas Sabonis and Vlade Divac. At best he's their equal, but I don't really think he's there YET. On the issue of having a defensive coach with extraordinary offensive talent, in my mind that makes perfect sense. Clearly those guys don't need to be coached much on offense. It's defense that they need to have beat into their skulls on a daily basis.
Anyone who thinks yao is a better passing big man then sabonis, has no clue about basketball whatsoever. sabomnis is the greatest passing big man ever. period!
Walton. and i think we've only scratched the surface of how great a passer Yao can be, although i momentarily forgot about sabonis. still, sabonis never played in the NBA during his prime. Divac was better than average, but not as good as yao could be, imo.
TMac will thrive under any coach or system, he transends them. Ming, however, is another story. The Ewing clone approach is not the best arrangement for Ming, but hot shooting guards or forwards would open up things for him regardless of the system. Swift was supposed to be this, but, so far, it hasn't happened. As long as the perimeter players consistently miss wide open shots, he will be wearing defenders like sweaters.
Thrive, yes, excel and suceed? not even MJ could do that. he needed a system that not only exploited his many talents to the fullest, but also those of his team mates. JVG's system can get maximum defensive effort out of a player, but at what cost? basketball is about more than just lock down defense.
Just off the top of my head, in addition to Sabonis I think Alvan Adams and Brad Daugherty were on another level than Yao and there were lots of bigmen who couldn't do much more than pass but were Yao's equal in that respect, like Jeff Ruland and Steve Stiponovitch(sp?). Yao's a better passer than Hakeem was, but that's not saying much as it took him 10 years to learn not to pass to the other team when double-teamed.
You still need lock down defense, however, to win a championship... frankly, given the # of teams in today's NBA that can put up points in bunches (Suns, Kings, Warriors, Nuggets, Mavs, Clippers, etc.), vs. the number of teams that really play good defense (Spurs, Pistons, Grizzlies, Heat)... I can see that its probably easier to obtain the former, but its more imperative (in the big picture) to succeed in the latter. I have no problem with JVG's demanding full effort from these guys... frankly, we would be much worse off if he didn't get that, since there is a clear dearth of talent on this team minus T-mac and Yao. Additionally, as long as the Spurs and the Pistons are winning championships... nobody can say that JVG's style/system isn't condusive to winning. Those two teams run some of the most predictable offenses, based solely on half-court execution.... but its their defense that wins them games in the end.
i'd like to see a system that was tailor made to fit Yao's passing. Its hard to see how good his passing is because our offensive playbook is basically 3 deep. 1. PNR with tmac and Yao. 2. Let Mcgrady run wild 3. Pass into Yao and kick out. Now number three is a trash play since we have absolutely no spot up shooters. I mean none! That's okay, because we have better athletes, but they aren't being utilized when he's doubled. All we keep doing is passing out to people who brick shots. What we need to do is have more motion and cutting to the basket the moment we drop it down to yao and he gets doubled. Thats what we need. Imagine Yao getting doubled 15 feet away form the basket and someone cuts to the basket.
Agree 1000% My hate for Van Gundy is not because I think he is stupid. It is because he is arrogant, and stubborn. He is a bad fit for our brilliant, amazing stars. It is heartbreaking to see him deny the obvious and force them to lose, ultimately, at the highest level, because he must have it his way.
If you can't apperciate what JVG's doing with all the injuries and misfortune that has befallen our team then balldancers don't have a heart. Your hate for Van Gundy is similiar to the hate edc with a beard has - charly rosen. It stems from something other than basketball. You're just mad that JVG doesn't like balldancing.
Yes, that's it exactly. It's like if JVG was the Oiler's coach with Earl Cambell, and he kept barking at them to play the short pass. "Block Earl! Damn it! Who's the coach here? You need to block, so we can throw the slant. No long pass, no running game. I'm the coach. Unless my jobs on the line. Then run, damn it." My hate grows stronger every day, in the crucible of a 1000 wrongs - but now I let it go. You have healed me Texas Stoke. Thank you.... Thank you.
I shouldnt' have to tell you this but Earl Cambell has been out for more than half the season so far and when he's been here this year, except for todays game which he admitted he was tired and worn out, he's been rushing for over a 100 yrds and the teams been scoring 4 touchdowns a game. Luv ya blue blue blue babe. sounds like a nice ballroomdancing tune eh? chill and dance to the music. we're just getting started with our star running back and whiskey bent and hellbound coach here. they're about to go on a tear and raise hell again. tighten up them flip flops and swivel them hips, cause the rockets are back and you know that.
That's just the thing people will point to the injuries or all the new players we have. As long as we keep trading players it will never be JVG's fault. On the other hand, it seems JVG is willing to change his game up more than he gets credit for. He's not running Yao into the ground as much as before on defense. JVG is capable of letting great players play their game. We see that with how he handles T-Mac. With Yao he insists on him being an old school low block center and that's just not giving Yao enough freedom to operate. Will he ever lead the Rockets to a title? The truth is the answer is probably not, but how many active coaches in the league have won it all? Popavich, Brown, and PJ.
(1) What has Mr. Van Gundy done through "injuries and misfortune?" Lose, lose, and lose again. (2) Offense is half of the game of basketball. Playing to the strengths of your players, and failing to adjust based upon the opponents weaknesses is hardly "balldancing." (3) Maybe I have a beard, maybe I do not. I am not charley rosen though.
Too bad no one mentioned this little fact to Le$. Incidentally, I think a fella named Riley has a couple of rings.
