I think one of the issues was JVG would slow the offense down and have fewer possessions to help the defense. So the way the offense was handled affected the defense.
Absolutely incorrect. JVG had a healthy Tmac & Yao and couldn't get the job done. Adelman utilized his 2nd round picks and made them believe in themselves. Adelman wins, no comparison
Be fair, JVG had Spanoulis, Rick had Brooks. Rick's teams were far deeper. Anyways, neither got any jewelry.
The princeton offense was mostly during the Kings years. It wasn't employed much at the Traiblazers and Rockets.
I would argue that JVG was part of the reason the Rockets teams were not as talented. He wanted his system guys here (Marc Jackson and CHarles Oakley even made cameos if you remember). JVG did not want to deal with guys who had questionable character or young players. That was one of his flaws.
I agree with one exception. Do you remember the team during that year? They were no good outside of Yao/T-Mac. If Rick had the same team that year I doubt he would have done better. Rick had Brooks, Landry, Scola, Martin for half a year, Bud, Lowry, etc. JVG had Juwan Howard, Lonny Baxter, Keith Bogans, Rafer Alston, David Wesley, Ryan Bowen, etc, all logging heavy minutes. Now, you can knock JVG on his horrible offensive scheme and his lack of rookie development but I would say given what he had to work with that year he didn't do too bad. (except he reeeeeeeeeally should have tanked that last game, we could have gotten Brandon Roy out of it. Still upset about that and I'm opposed to teams tanking in general. If ever there was a time to tank that was it)
I'd go with Rick probably myself, but Rick has way more talent to work with than jvg had as a bench goes.
So I says to myself, "Self, if this is poll is not overwhelming in favor of Rick, you should stop coming here."
Aaron Brooks was late rounder, Laundry & Budinger were late rounders as well. NOBODY expected them to be this good. If JVG was still here none of those players would exist here. Adelman did something JVG NEVER did, he trusted his young players. JVG trusted old veterans. Adelmans a better all around better coach. Not even close
Don't remember. Besides the point though, because Luther is still horrible. So is Spanoulis. And Boki. How many players that JVG did not play turn out to be good for other teams? I remember that people were mad at him for not playing Bouncy Whales, but Bouncy has not done a darn thing in the league since then. Bottom line, they are both great coaches. I give the edge to Adelman, the way he led that 22-win streak team was incredible. But I don't bash JVG for the dumb reasons commonly stated.
Come on... you should know better. Martin only played 24 games for the Rockets and Coach Adelman. http://www.clutchfans.net/players/kevin_martin/
I found the log. Yao was injured between December 17th and January 30th. Chuck didn't get to play until a month later. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mingya01/gamelog/2006/ http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hayesch01/gamelog/2006/ McGrady and Barry were both injured, so JVG had a starting line up of Alston, Head, and Wesley.
I do believe JVG's system work better when you have absolute elite players. The system keep possessions down, and prioritize transition/interior defense over everything else. So the ability to "create offense" becomes much harder, as there are lower opportunistic baskets for both sides. In such a system, players who can create opportunities on their own become incredibly important. This is where guys like Lebron, Duncan, Wade shine. When you can score 30 points efficiently in a game where the entire team only scores 80-90 points, that is literally game-breaking imbalance. And why you can see superstars "carry" their teams. The entire concept is basically to squeeze the most out of your elite offensive players. Adelman's system is based on a "team" concept. This means it's a give-and-take. And allows limited players, ones that aren't all-around elite, to perform at their max ability. In his entire tenure, Adelman had only two star/superstar level players: Clyde and Webber. But he has long fostered an environment where lesser players shined, and allowing the entire team to play at a championship level despite lacking the "2 superstar" rosters that people associate with winning. You can see this clearly even through watching just Rockets games. JVG worked T-Mac and Yao to death, with insane usage rates on both players, and succeeded when both players are at the pinnacle of their careers. His style rides his best players all the time. Adelman, on the other hand, did not have the luxury of T-Mac/Yao in their primes. So he had to adjust to a more balanced attack where everyone's involved, and based on taking the best shot rather than who takes the shot.
Didn't JVG have brooks and Landry for a year? Part of the reason we let him go cus he didn't play our bench. Nobody thought brooks could be a starter and one of the up and coming players in the league, Adelman did. JVG wasn't a bad coach, but not anywhere close to Adelman IMO.
Defense. It's generally the first thing that will be brought up when talking about championship material. JVG was always a defensive guy, half court ball with low scoring both ways. Very simple, start here and work your way out. It was ugly and slow....but that's just the game he wanted. To be honest, IMHO, I always thought he made us a respectable defensive team. But it was always very specific. Take Francis, very iso...worked off the dribble....a real I'll give you the ball and do your thing type of player. We all know JVG and Francis didn't have a good relationship. I'm sure both frustrated the hell out of the other. Look at Steve's numbers in 03-04, his ppg dropped 5 points. And on a side note...those first Yao-Francis days where a blast to watch. Anyway, you can make the argument that JVG was never as good with the potential of players, really played to the stars. You can also argue that while with Houston he didn't have a lot going on besides Tracy and Yao. With Rick the offense is very involved, there doesn't seem to be a demand to get one player the ball. The players kind of help highlight and disguise each others strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the pace is quicker-more running, and some may say more fun to watch. Of course most will agree that Rick is amazing at getting the most from what many perceive to be so little. Potential into results. On the negative, I've always thought Rick was questionable on who he played at critical times of the game. Also, we all know how ugly our defense was last season. Though to be fair, Yao was out...and KMart and Brooks are......yeah. In the end both are good coaches and both have taken teams to the finals. They have cool, but different styles and personalities. JVG is witty and funny, and hanging on to ZO's leg at the bottom of a pile. Rick always seems pissed off even after something good happens. And Rick has that classic stare of death. :grin: I liked them both quite equally. So......I said it once, and I'll say it again........draw.
Luther Head was the lone exception. Chuck Hayes a young talent? He's young for sure What young guys did JVG seek thru draft? How many young athletic guys did he bring in from the NBDL and give a chance?
