Van Gundy to use regular rotation, treat Laredo game as if it's real thing By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2868863 The preseason is over. It ended in Orlando. The Rockets' schedule might say otherwise. It might even suggest tonight's game against the San Antonio Spurs in, of all places, Laredo, is far off the familiar regular-season path. But coach Jeff Van Gundy told players the regular season began with Monday's practice. They chose not to argue. "Like Jeff said ... the game in Orlando is our last preseason game," Rockets center Yao Ming said. "The next two for us are just like the regular season. We cannot say today is the preseason and tomorrow is something different. In our minds, we have to put those games to service." With that in mind, Van Gundy said he is through experimenting with his rotation. He will start the players he expects to start Tuesday in the season opener against Detroit at Auburn Hills, Mich. He will go with the rotation he expects to use then. Van Gundy said he is certain of seven players he will play. He would not say who has made it to his magnificent seven. Judging from preseason rotations and Van Gundy's clue that three players from the Orlando deal are in the rotation, a safe bet is that he will start Yao Ming, Jim Jackson, Tracy McGrady and Charlie Ward. Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard would be certain to play with Maurice Taylor likely to be in the mix. "Until there is separation between guys," Van Gundy said, "other than those seven, it will be game to game." Van Gundy increased the sense of urgency on the Toyota Center practice court with the Pistons looming. "We have to be a lot more intense," Van Gundy said. "In the preseason, we've made 36 of 129 jump shots that we've taken. We're trying to overcome a critical (back) injury to Bobby (Sura) and the newness of a lot of players. "So how we're going to win is to play a lot harder than we are, with a lot more togetherness on the defensive end and a lot smarter. And if we don't do those things, we won't be successful. And if we do those three things, we're going to be able to overcome some rough spots offensively until we are more attuned to what we're supposed to be doing. "It's important we play really hard and really smart to overcome some of the bumps in the road." With four new starters and as many as seven new players in the rotation, the Rockets have struggled to look cohesive on both ends of the court. Much of that might have to do with the usual preseason juggling of the lineup. The Rockets did not use the same starting lineup in any of their five games. But even when their presumed starters were together, they clicked only sporadically. "With so many new faces, we're still trying to get used to each other," forward Ryan Bowen said. "It's been documented that the trip to China was great, but not in a basketball sense. We did miss out on some good practice time there. That's why these two games and practices are really important." In their five games, the Rockets have averaged 86.4 points but hit just 41.5 percent of their shots with 17.8 turnovers per game. "Guys are playing inconsistent minutes, and it's hard to get in a groove and kind of gel together as a team," McGrady said. "But these last two preseason games, I think we're going to treat as regular-season games as far as our regular rotation and how many minutes guys are going to play. I might be out there on the court for 45, 48 minutes. Who knows? Yao might be out there for 40 minutes. "We still have a lot of work to do. As the season goes along, we'll get used to each other. Since it's preseason, our minutes are really inconsistent, we don't have that chemistry like we want to have. It will come. We know how to play the game." jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets summary Winning habits As often as he has said that talent in the NBA is a given, and therefore does not determine winners, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy offered a discourse on the subject after Tuesday's practice. "I crack up," Van Gundy said. "(Media) always say it. Players always say it. Players, when they're losing, say, 'I don't understand why we're losing. We got a lot of talent.' Obviously if you're one of the top 400 in your profession in the whole world, you have a lot of talent. Obviously. Unfortunately, so does the competition. "So what separates teams is not talent, it's habits. Whatever habits you have will come out. What you're constantly trying to do as a coach is create habits that are winning habits. What I'm trying to get our team to understand is not to be one of those teams that has to be the famous, 'I don't understand why we're losing, we have a lot of talent.' I'd rather not lose. I'd rather try to explain, you can't win until you understand what loses, in any sport. "What loses are turnovers, bad shots, poor containment of the ball, (not) helping on defense, not rebounding, lack of poise under pressure. There's a lot. Not one of them is decided in this league ... on talent. 'We got out-talented tonight. We don't have enough talent.' What does that mean? We didn't have enough production. This is a production-oriented business, as are most." "I don't understand this obsession with talent."
Well if these games are going to be played like the regular season as far as minutes and rotation lets see how it goes and who comes to play and who leaves their game behind cause it's going ot be a telling story. You will definently see who is going to be bundled in a trade or cut by the end of these two games.
Woah, that's a real curve ball there. Seven? If it was eight it would make perfect sense, but seven? Yao/Deke Howard/Mo JJ Tmac Ward/Lue One...two...thre.........eight! Who's the one without the secure spot? Yao can't play 48 minutes, so Deke is safe. Ward can't play 30 minutes so Lue is safe. Ah... now its all becoming clear. Jeff's offhanded blurp may be more telling than it seems. The green light for Mo to shoot 3s. The 0 minutes he played against the Heat. Scott Padgett starting in the second China game. They all seemed so meaningless at the time.....but connect the dots. Its clear that JVG wants a 3point shooter at PF, or atleast backup PF. The player with the insecure spot is none other than our own.....Maurice Taylor! Fine deduction Dr. Watson! Now to further our investigation. Do you honestly think that JVG will be satisfied paying 9 mil/year for a guy who doesn't even have a secure rotation spot? The rumors are true. Somebody is on the Block. And it 'aint Jenny. Radman? Croshere? One things for sure, contray to the BBS consensus, we are NOT looking for a banging rebounding PF, but rather a silky smooth 3pt bomber to open up the floor. And contrary to those who think JVG only knows defense and sucks at offense, these moves have all been offensentrically motivated, rather than defense. He is thinking of offense first, defense second. Surprise surprise. Or maybe he is just confident that he can make any grouping play solid D, be it Ben Wallace or "Marsh" Melo Anthony. (sorry i had to get that in there)
Definately looks like Mo is the one not in the Lucky 7... or maybe we are just looking too hard into it
I don't think Van Gundy was stating who had a secure roster spot, but more who he was planning on giving significant minutes. Since I could see JVG wanting Yao to play close to 40 minutes in these upcoming games just to evaluate him, I would say that eliminates Mutombo from the significant minute realm.
Another thing that could eliminate Mutombo from the "7" is that Howard and Taylor could play minutes together at the 4/5. I would say Taylor and Lue are the 6th and 7th men on the team. Clearly Sura would be in that group if he was healthy. I think Mutombo, Bowen, Padgett and Nachbar are guys that will get spot duty depending on the game.
From that quote and what JVG has said, it only seems he has decided on the first 7. Not that only 7 will be used. I read it as he has decided on who will be the first seven and then after that ??? Having said that: C Yao/Deke PF Howard SF JJ SG McGrady PG Ward/Lue After that there is Mo, Boki, Gaines (and Sura when he returns). Although I can't see why he has decided on 7 when it would appear that the first 8 seems obvious, with Mo being the 8th?
No, he said 7 are going to play and they will be the ones to play on Nov. 2 as well. Yao NEEDS a backup. And we didn't og out and acquire a very capable backup center just to sit him. We do however, have some sort of logjam at PF. Based on the events of the previous weeks, i am confident #8 is Mo.
All JVG is saying is that a certain 7 players are basically guaranteed x number of minutes a night. The rest will depend on matchups and performance. Based on matchups, if a team goes small against us, Mutumbo may be ineffective. He'll get into pretty much every game he's healthy for, but he won't have a regular amount of rotation minutes. Yao will play 35+ a night unless there's foul trouble. TMac will play 40 a night JJ will play ~35+ a night Ward/Lue will play 48 minutes a night MoT will get 25-35 a night Howard will get 25-35 a night Mutumbo's minutes will be a function of Yao's stamina/foul trouble, Juwan/MoT's effectiveness, and the opposing matchup. It's not that big a deal. Tyler Durden- Uh, no he didn't. He said he's certain of 7 of the guys who will play, not that only 7 are going to play.
I took his remark as saying that he has a DEFINITE 7 guys who will be in a rotation with other guys coming in based on matchups, how well they are playing or need (ie: injury). But, if how I understand it is somehow true, that still leaves MoT the odd man out. He seems to be playing a little too well this preseason and was too much of a factor off the bench last year to be relegated to "based on matchup status". Just a strange remark all the way around.
Ok let me rephrase. 7 will Definitely play. 7 being the regular rotation, with others coming in. If you're expecting Juwan to play backup center for us, then i would have to kindly bash your head in, because we have a real backup C in Deke, unlike Orlando last year. If you think Deke will play everygame, but not significant minutes, then i agree with you. However, playing everygame IMPLIES he is part of the regular rotation, HENCE "regular". Being part of the regular rotation doesn't mean you have to play >X amount of minutes, just that you play....regularly. I've already put up all the dots, all you have to do is connect them. Oh wait, i did that too. You think its coincidence with this whole Mo shooting 3s thing? Don't be surprised if the first guy coming off the bench is Padgett, if Mo's been missing his 3s in practice.
You know, Mo has dropped some serious weight this off-season. I wonder if JVG is thinking about playing him at SF a few minutes a game? Could he be fast enough to guard opposing SFs at all? Or would this be better left to Padgett.
Ward Tmac Mo Howard Yao That would be an interesting lineup.... Mo could actually pass of as a decent rebounding 3. Then again, he would probably just get burned by Marion, Peja, Rashard, Jefferson et all.
This is why I like JVG. Your typical NBA coach would let a team drift through pre-season, and when the team loses on opening night, he'll offer excuses like "it's early" or "we're still getting used to each other". But JVG wants the team in top shape when the bell sounds - no excuses. I think he realizes that, even with what he's got, winning every game is important in the West.
I also like how fans from other sites are like, "Hey look! Even the Rocket's coach i saying he doesn't like the discipline of our group, they suck!" Somebody doesn't know JVG's standards....
