For what it's worth: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5175108 Q: Your prediction that the new Rockets would be nothing but a bag of fool's gold has proven 100 percent correct. Though I cursed your name, I remember having suffered that "dammit, he's right" cringe when McGrady went down; so now you can guffaw in triumph. Anyway, how can the Rockets be fixed and get into the playoffs? — Rick A: Rather than either celebrate my accurate predictions or bemoan my false ones, my attitude is this: Throw enough educated guesses against the wall and some of them are bound to stick. What do the Rockets need to do? Avoid another serious injury to T-Mac. Light a fire under Yao. Hope that Bob Sura can heal quickly and return with his feisty game intact. Lose both Juwan Howard and Stromile Swift and bring in a banger. Get a quicker, bigger two-guard to replace David Wesley. Hope that Luther Head matures quickly enough (especially on defense) to put Wesley on the bench. Since Derek Anderson has recently been injured (what else is new?), another bench scorer must be found, one that can (unlike Jon Barry) create shots off his dribble. These changes involve more than cosmetic surgery and most likely can't be addressed until the off-season (when a replacement for Dikembe Mutombo must likewise be located). An immediate spark can be generated by replacing Jeff Van Gundy's petulant nonsense with a grown-up coach whom the players have to respect — like Paul Silas.
Speaking of petulant, why does Rosen sound like a petulant pr*ck everytime he writes? Is it because his mom didn't hug him enough or is it because he has a stick up his butt?
Pft. Figures. He was smart enough to put that comment at the end of his answer. If it was in the begining, I for one wouldn't have read the whole thing.
Paul Silas?!?!?! I mean, he's a respectable enough coach, but he never sticks anywhere. Didn't he get run out of Cleveland because he didn't have his players respect? To suggest that Paul Silas commands more respect than JVG, who even had players like Latrell Sprewell behaving and performing to the best of their abilities, seems a bit ridiculous to me.
You don't have to have that much godamn sense to see that this beard'd pipe smoker from nantucket holds bitternes towards JVG for something. Maybe he didn't agree with jvg about the ending of the book dr zhivago or maybe jvg doesn't like grey beards who are more concerned about what kind of tobacco they have in their pipe than what it takes to win basketball games in the nba these days. but there is a rift.
Well it's good to know that in Charley Rosen's mind EVERYTHING about this current Rockets team is garbage. As most people tend to be, he's too harsh on Wesley. He makes it sound as if he doesn't belong on the floor at any point (kind of like my feelings regarding Ryan Bowen). Wesley is a tough player that does what he's asked to do. Sure, he's slowed down a bit and can't guard quicker players but he's doing what's asked of him---holding down the fort until the SHOULD-BE backcourt rotation (Sura, Anderson, Head, Alston, Barry) are healthy, comfortable and effective. At this point even he probably knows he's a servicable utility player that's certain trade bait due to his contract. He's still a decent player that can be effective in spurts though---enough with the hating. No, we don't need to trade Howard and Swift for this mysterious, imaginary & elusive "banger" everybody always speaks of that seems to have no name or conceivable means of becomming a Houston Rocket. We made the investment at Swift, you don't give up on him after 22 games especially when even despite his mediocre play, he's still a cost effecient investment. The guy clearly hasn't reached his ceiling yet and despite being in the league for this long, still appears to be learning the game. Eventually he will become confident and disciplined, his youth and athleticism alone are enough reason to hold on to the guy. By trading him what kind of message would we be sending to other potential FA's in the future? "Hey, yeah, you can become a Houston Rocket...... but unless you develop into an All-Star calibur player before the trading deadline of your 1st season YOUR ASS IS GRASS. See ya!" And last but not least, what the hell is up with this unwarranted assault on JVG's credibility and coaching philisophy? No seriously, I would love to hear Rosen explain this in greater detail because what he is implying is ridiculous.
Wow, I'm guessing you're not seeing Brokeback Mountain this weekend. Please keep the homophobia to yourself.
Detroit's center is too short, their power forward is a volatile mess waiting to explode on a playoff stage, their small forward and shooting guards are too thin and fragile to last the long haul and play physical defense in the NBA, and the point guard just doesn't have enough skills. Start over.
I agree completely with Rosen's team assessment. His coach pick isn't so bad, either. Silas is a good coach who would be able to work with our finesse stars. He can coach both offense and defense. His work with the Hornets was pretty amazing, really. Yao and Tmac have personalities that would respond well to his experience and authority. They don't need to be beaten and whipped to slot into a preconcieved "system" or "role". They need to be allowed to play their games. The role players need direction, but it would be even better if we got new role players who had the nature that serves our big guns naturally.
Silas is a very good coach. He took a Hornets team that had Baron, Jamal, and Wesley miss significant time and still won in the playoffs. His last yr they made the playoffs and still got let go. In Cleveland, they hit a rough spot for a young team and he probably would have worked through and made the playoffs, but Paxson, the same guy who drafted the bad shooting tweener and traded the league leading asst man fired him. I wanted silas at first, but thats just me.
obviously. like fortson or evans? no thanks. bangers aren't mid range shooters which we need. nor can they guard small fowards playing the 4 when most teams in the nba decide to go small. if swift can learn the defense and improve just a little on the jumper he is exactly what we need. the quicker bigger two-guard is luther head. putting wesley on the bench will take a PG since thats what he is playing right now. since the start of our winning steak bowen was the starter. i think JVG will keep him there for a while. true. WOW. changes? like hopeing tmac stays healthy, and developing swift & head? yes we will need a spark off the bench. one who can score and create his own shot. yes we will need a replacment for deke. nothing here is really a big deal. there isn't a coach out there who is better than JVG. silas, porter, collins, whoever... is not worth dumping JVG. i was all for signing phil, but lets not get carried away.
