CHRON: Bonzi happy to be playing with Rockets, Adelman

I thought about this comparison to Jordan/T-Mac. They are both great players in their own right and both score a lot of points. Both of them are capable of taking over a game at any time.

However, one played in a set passing offense with floor spacing and the other played in the triangle offense which has a lot of motion, screening and overloaded one side of the floor. The triangle is made for scorers like Kobe and Jordan. I think if T-Mac had played in the Bulls or LA type offense he would have scored even more and been impossible to stop.

 

I don't want to go off on a huge tangent, because clearly I'm alone here. I'm not going to change anyone's views, and you clearly aren't going to change mine. It's called latitude of acceptance.

To answer your questions:

We didn't have a backup pg because CD didn't get one, it's as simple as that. He thought JL3's MVP summerleague was backup pg worthy, and JL3 did end up serving as a designated backup pg, but he's more of a 3rd string shooting guard. Look at Morey. The guy knew we needed a backup pg, so not only did he get Mike James, but also Francis. There is a huge difference between James/Francis and JL3/VSpan. I can guarantee you this. Had Morey been GM last year, we would have drafted Daniel Gibson over Steve Novak, since we needed a pg, and he was clearly the best player available at 32 or whatever pick NOvak was.

Why didn't we have a 3rd scorer? Because we didn't have Francis, James, or Scola. And also because Bonzi came in fat. Did I mention I saw him at Wendy's after a game once? That should answer that question.

1) Don't ever bring up VSpan or Bonzi. They both didn't play for valid reasons. 80% of the people on this board were mad at JVG for even playing Wells over Snyder. Once Yao went down, there was no way we could afford to deal with VSpan's growing pains. Yes, the system did not suit his game, but that's too bad. Neither do SA, Cleveland, Miami, or Detroit's, and these teams have made it to the Finals the past couple years.

2) I don't blame JVG's lack of development of the bench in the playoffs. I rather blame the players who did play for not coming through. Face it, Juwan and Luther were our only 2 scorers off the bench, and they thrived during the regular season. However, they just did not come through offensively in many of the playoff games. JVG doesn't have a crystal ball that predicts how well someone will do in tomorrow night's game.

I know I'm on a different page than many here. It's cool. I was on the same page as everyone last year, and it ended up biting me in the ass, because I actually did believe we were going all the way. I should have listened to DaDakota. He'll tell you himself. He's been bashed before. I never agree with him. But I still respect the man. Why? Because he was right. I never ignored him or complained, because he's entertaining and always has good things to say in the hangout and debate. I think he even took a ban.

I've been spoiled by Houston media, I'll admit it. I'll admit JVG has a great rep with the media, and his firing caused a media uproar as a result. And I guess that's why I might share a biased view of things. With the exception of Jerome Solomon (who doesn't know anything about basketball), not one person in the Houston media agreed with JVG's firing. I'll give you the facts if you want. DennisCD probably agrees with the whole JVG thing, but probably disagrees with my TMac assessment. No, I'm not Ric Bucher, but I agree with him when he says a team with TMac will never have postseason success. Consequently, this season will be a lot healthier for me since my expectations aren't as high as last.

 

Okay okay, it's unfair to compare anyone to MJ. But how about TMac to Wade? Or TMac to Lebron? Watch game 5 of the 07 Eastern Conference Finals. Watch the last 4 games of the 06 Finals. Both Wade and Lebron are in similar systems to TMac. That old-school, Pat Riley/Greg Popovich, slow it down, defense, work off your stars system. Lebron doesn't even have a Yao. Wade doesn't have TMac's towering height or wingspan.

I guess I threw out the MJ comparison because against Phoenix in the game we clinched homecourt, he was very MJ-like. But that's not fair to him.

 

Thanks for the kind words, and no one is questioning your fandom. I too respect your views, whether I agree with them or not, and lord knows I ain't right all the time....just look at my Dan Langhi takes......

Sometimes people get bashed, don't let it bother you, just don't go overboard like I did and turn every thread into a V-Span or JVG rant, then you will get a nice well deserved ban like I did....I still owe a lot of the old timers an apology for an entire season of solid brain farting......

I expect more from this team, let's hope for all Rocket fans that those expectations are met.

As for Tmac, I don't find him to be a leader at all, I think he is softer than Jon Koncak's heaving bossoms......

IMHO, this team will start to win in the playoffs when Yao assumes more of a leadership role, or is inspired by tough minded role players ala Mario Elie.....circa '94 & '95.

DD

 

Wait you have Dan Langhi takes? I wasn't on the board back in 2000-2001, but Langhi is one of my all-time favorite Rockets. The guy had lots of defensive potential. He had a very nice jump shot. He was extremely athletic and could throw it down. And he went to Vanderbilt . I was very upset for Rudy not playing him, especially in that crappy 27 win season. He could have been a pretty good player under JVG. Had the Rockets only won 27 games last year and JVG still didn't play VSpan, then yeah I would have been pissed at him too. I wonder where Langhi is now. He's probably tearing up whatever league he's in.

 

hope bonzi has a good season

 

Yes he demanded way too much from Bonzi, such as for him to actually show up for training camp ready to play and to not "just wing it" through the season.

Since Bonzi was only making a million dollars, these demands were obviously not warranted.

 

JVG didn't agree to make the Howard for James trade at the deadline because he thought chemistry was more important. Don't blame every roster deficiency on CD. JVG has a LOT to do with the futile roster shuffling in the past few years.

 

I have a question.....just wanna see what someone else might think. I know there's been posts about this already in the past.....but now that we have a new coach....and new players....Rudy Gay? or Battier? Which one do you think would fit better in this offense?

 

That was a Scylla & Charybdis trade. Either alleviate the PG problems and leave PF gutted in midstream and in the hands of Hayes & Novak or leave PG a glaring hole. I'm going to give htem a free pass on that one because the rockets were at least wining games w/o James.

 

Rudy Gay hands down. Rudy's athleticism and scoring ability unbelievable. He's only going to get better. Battier better in JVG's system.

 

Battier, I like and this is the truth.
We have two new/old players, SF3 and James. The coming season, guard is not our weak position any more.

 

I wanted Bonzi to succeed badly and I don't mind him dissing his former coach if he hated him (I really don't expect much better from Bonzi), but to show up weighing 800 lbs and then spend half the season slimming down to 400 and then blame the coach? Shut up Bonzi.

 

Bonzi better play his best basketball if he's going to talk so much.......

 

Bonzi has come into training camp in great shape. That's the first change I see in the guy right off the bat from last season. Another great sign, is he's in high spirits and ready to contribute game in and game out

 

JVG has no excuse. he had 2 of the most gifted offensive players in the league, although Yao was injured for a large part of the season. he got nothing out of Battier besides spot up 3s. i won't even get into the Bonzi (or even the VSpan) fiasco. it didn't look like anyone except T-Mac knew how to pass well or was even given the opportunity to pass/create. Yao for all his versatility became so predictable. i think if Adelman had the exact same team for last season, including the playoffs, lack of offense (offensive players) would not have been an issue, even during the time Yao was injured. as for defense, we'll have to see what Adelman does this season to see what he can get out of Houston's defensive players. as i've mentioned in another thread, Yao (Deke, when Yao was injured), T-Mac, Battier, and Hayes
are all good to excellent defensive players. that group (4 starters) was probably better defensively than any group Adelman had in Sacramento. even Alston wasn't too bad, performing admirably against the likes of Jason Terry, Iverson and Parker.

 

Bonzi,

Playing your game meant dribbling the ball off your leg, dribbling the ball off your foot, rarely passing, passing the ball to opponents when you tried, blowing layups, and playing all the defense of fence post. Don't pretend that you didn't get a shot, because we all saw you get it and fail worse than any player I have seen in the past decade. I wouldn't have given you another chance, but apparently some idiot in the Rockets' front office wants to. When the same thing happens this year, please don't whine like this. It's unbecoming for a man of your size.

 

Agree wholeheartedly. Although I am not necessarily questioning the accuracy of some of Bonzi's views about jvg and actually personally agree with of the criticism given the fact that bonzi was probably the most pathetic excuse for a professional athlete I have ever seen last year I just don't feel like perhaps he should be the one voicing said criticisms.

 

Whever you have a disagreement or divorce and you hear one side b****ing about it, you can be sure there is another side who will also have a story to tell. It's never as simple as one side being right and the other side being wrong. There is plenty of blame to go around here.

 

Gay is not a guard. Rockets guard position is still weak until we can somehow merge SF, MJ, Alston into one super PG.

Battier is a JVG player. A JVG player = medicore player = bench warmer.