Chicago Tribune: Best cure for Rockets: Launch Van Gundy

umm. i dont know if im the only one who completely disagrees with this statement. yao is slow to move and cant run up and down the court with the rest of the team. hes very slow at moving his feet and his stamina is terrible. i do like most of the other points he makes though

 

Very good article.....

Seems as if i have heard this quote before...

T_Man

 

He can run probably 40% of times. He don't need to run all the
times. Shaq used to take a breath and let others finish the break.

Right now we have 80~85 possessions. Suppose we increase
it to 100 (the Spurs # of possessions). Yao can play 35 minutes,
or 73 possessions. We can run in 27+23 possessions and slow
down in 50 possions to get Yao involved.

 

Sam, you been reading my posts, man?

 

Yao lacks quickness but his speed isn't too bad for his size.

I agree with this article completely.

 

I think the style is fine. Guys just need to figure out how to play like a half court team. I think we are going through the learning curve right now.
People say we need to run. Ok tell me how? Run like Dallas and take quick Js before the defense set. Yao is not going to last. We are running when the situation presents, but we are not going to run like Dallas, Memphis, Seattle. Down the road, we are going to play like old Lakers, Spurs. I think that is the right direction.

 

The old Lakers and Spurs have 100 possessions, and We only
have <85. Why should we use all the clock to watch Yao fight
for the position again and again? JVG's style is grinding-it-out,
an extreme half-court style.

 

Are you sure they have more than 100 poessions? And we have less than 85? Dont take Kenny Smith's words too seriously. They do run sometimes( so are we), but not like Dallas or Memphis.
Among our guards, Sura, Lue, or Barrat can run, but I only see Sura as a reliable runner to finish off and he isnt exactly a PG. Besides sura, probably Tmac and JJ can run, but Tmac and JJ plays almost 40+ minutes every game, so how much will they be able to run. Was anybody running along with Barret?

 

Perfect article. That is all I have to say.

 

Good find!! Finally

JVG better start adjusting to his players...or else

 

On that note, I don't think JVG would let them fire him... I think he would quit first. That is just my opinion.

 

Rubbish and naive journalism work like this just make me sick.

I hate when idiotic journalist like this folk run around and parade themselves as educated folk while talking next to nothing.

Did it cross this Sam Smith's mind that JVG is adjusting to this team? That his play calling is more because of Yao? Yao is about the sole reason why we wait for him to dump it down low. The fickleness and the zombiness in some of us will make us buy this rubbish Sam Smith calls an article.

Which coach can really do any better with Yao if his stamina does not improve? NONE! So you guys think if we run more fast breaks we will be better? Why don't we trade Yao now while we are at it. Are we that naive that Yao can sustain more than 2 sprints up and down the court in a 5 minute stretch?

Maybe we should stop mincing words and categorically state that Yao is our biggest problem not JVG. Any sane and rational basketball mind will see this - every coach is ultimately as good as the product he has to work with.

Heaven's knows I will not be apologetic for JVG he does not warrant it but in this case he does. RudyT, Phillip or John Wooden will not be able to do much better if any with Yao and this current team. Lets flame JVG for the collection of players on this team not his coaching.

We must stop being so gullible on this forum and not be so easily psychologically pushed around by basely pieces like this one. The foundation and rational of Sam's point is faulty, puerile and amateurish. I foresee us turning things around optimistically speaking and sadly this same fickle reactions will as usually take a 180 degrees turn.

If you doubt it, lets just go ahead and trade Yao now that his stock is high and get a few descent players in return and you will see how well we will do. Yao and Tmac ultimately have to pick it up (especially ming yao). Whining, softness and frequent bouts of running-out-of-gas will not cut. Maybe it is time JVG should stop adjusting to Yao and the soundness of the fundamental inside out game so that we can all breath better. Ridiculous junk!

 

Am I the only one that remembers before Les hired Van Grumpy he asked him what style of ball he would play here and Van Grumpy's answer supposedly was "a more uptempo style"?

 

This guy would fit in with a lot of us nicely! Most of what we have been saying is in the article. Disregard it if you want but at least it is being said out in the open now.

 

I would be really surprised if he said that.

 

There are plenty of half-court offenses that does not have the predictability of JVG's offense. It's not like half-court offenses have to be boring and ultra-predictable. Every team that plays the Rockets has to play on offense with a half-court offense too. Take a look at the Kings. They aren't running and gunning all the time. They have a great half-court offense with cutters going everywhere off screens.

 

The Kings started installing that offense in 1996 when they lured Pete Carill away from Princeton and than took a risk drafting Peja. It takes rare players with great passing skills to run the Kings' offense. If we can't make decent low post entry passes, I'm not sure how well we'd run their offense even if we stole Carill from the Kings.

Regarding the Sam Smith article....

A decent article with a valid point. The point however would be moot if the Rockets would just hit the wide open shots they are already getting.

 

This from the guy who called Rudy a traitor. Nice.

 

this may come as a shock but i can't say i disagree with the article.