Well, I am not going to call you a liar like some people do around here, so I will just take your word for it. Players have to be on the court to prove their value, Rudy found massive value in Sam Cassell but he had to play him to find out. JVG chose to go with Rafer and pretty much only Rafer. I am not wavering, I am just admitting that I could be wrong, what is wrong with that? I am just pointing out it is my opinion. Actually I am very aware that there are some similarities, but I also know that when you have a weakness, you need to find others to compliment and fill up that weakness. I believe JVG just fills his with "Yes" men, and it weakens him and the team overall. DD
I was kidding dude. As far as my opinion, here it is. I think JVG needs to go. I've been defending him for 4 years, but I just don't think he's the right guy for the job anymore given the changing landscape of the NBA, especially the Western Conference. I stopped defending him after I saw the way he handled the Bonzi situation this year. I think he should have let him play his way back into shape, instead of benching him until he got back into shape. I think, had JVG handled it this way, Bonzi would have eventually played his fat ass back into shape (how could he not have?) and been that 3rd scoring option off the bench this team so desperately needed during the playoffs and the Rockets would now be getting ready to play in the Western Conference Finals. I don't think a new coach instantly makes us into the next NBA champs because we are too soft. But I think an offense that relies less on 3 point shooting would do wonders for this team. And thanks for the good luck wishes.
DD, you say the team would have been better had JVG played Bonzi and Snyder. I would argue that Snyder would have had a far better chance of being a solid rotation guy had he not had that damn injury early. I'd also argue that picking up Bonzi, who I was thrilled to get at the time, was the worst thing to happen to Snyder. The minutes Bonzi did get after Snyder came back should have gone to Snyder. If they do, then he would have been in the rotation, IMO, and been a big help against Utah. Should he have played far more in that series anyway? Sure, he should have, but the disruption Bonzi caused can't be underestimated, especially regarding Kirk. Hindsight is always 20-20, but I wish we'd never signed Bonzi, and when he came in like a tub of lard expecting minutes because he was Bonzi Wells, we should have let him go. Snyder was just the kind of player who could have helped us with Utah, had he been a solid rotation guy by the end of the season. Injury and Bonzi screwed that up more than JVG. Billy never produced when he was in. And people tend to forget that he was in his first year, and that the NBA is NOT the Euro-League. The guy has a lot of skills, but he has a lot of flaws, on this level, as well. Turnovers and shooting. I think he can improve on both, and expect him to next year. For most of the season, it was obvious that Head improved over the year before. He cratered late, at the worst possible time. We'll have to see if he continues to improve, or if this is what we've got. Remember how thrilled those of us that expected him to be dealt over the summer were when he was starting raining threes from everywhere? You can't blame everything on the coach. You can blame a hell of a lot, and I've said before that if we couldn't get out of the second round, JVG should go. But did he make Luther turn into a block of ice? Did he make Billy a turnover machine and 32% from the field, and 17% from downtown? Did he make Bonzi a bust? I don't think so. I still think Van Gundy should go because of how we did in the post-season, and for some other reasons, but we may end up with regret for losing him if he's replaced. Especially, from my perspective, if he's replaced with someone I don't like. We didn't have any depth. Yao wasn't in pre-injury shape. Mac imploded from trying to do too much, although both busted their butts. Battier should have had a better series. There just wasn't much support for them. That's Van Gundy's fault?
I disagree that we had no depth. JVG is a great defensive coach and is great at engineering loyalty. However, he has real weaknesses on offense and at developing younger players. I hate to say this but imagine Yao's game if he played for Utah: baseline screens to free up Yao to catch in the paint and shoot. Or, stick Yao 10-15 feet away from the basket and open up the lane for penetration. Yao could shot the J or be utlized as a passer. Instead, we dump it in the post as if he were Olajuwon. Yao tires more easily and is not as good at sealing his man. We lost because we play 2 on 5 while the Jazz play 5-man offense replete with picks, cuts, and pinpoint passing. Regarding developing younger players ie. a bench, think of Greg Popovich or Phil Jackson, both are willing to sacrifice regular season wins in order to a. give their suporting cast crunch time experience and b. to engder trust from their superstars. Furthermore, Popovich lets Ginobili and Parker play through their mistakes. We may forget now but in their first couple of seasons, Popovich verbally berated them on national TV like they were wicked stepchildren. The key: he still let them play. You cannot tell me that VSPAN's tough D and penetration could not have been a useful asset, particularly on nights when Head and Alston were stinking it up and threes are not falling.
You can't play Bonzi when he really didn't want to play for your team. You can't play a guy who simply can't understand what's going on out there and what's expected of him (Snyder). And you can't play a guy who wasn't simply ready for the NBA (Spanoulis) at the expense of winning especially when you lose one or both of your two star players for portions of the season. The problem is that he was brought over too soon and for the wrong reason by your ex-GM. OK, I really try to keep up with you but sometimes you venture so high into thin air that I can't stay with you because thin air causes me to black out. You keep harping about this so-called "wasted" chance to "find out" about the bench. What wasted chance? Your continued assertion that JVG, Thibodeau, Clifford and Greer were that clueless about these players especially after having observed these guys in training camp, numerous practices and in game situations is simply unrealistic not to mention highly simplistic. Were that to be true, then by definition, the coaching staff was incompetent and deserves to be dismissed because it is their job to know about their players. The truth is that this bench simply wasn't good enough to compete with the teams still in playoffs and anyone who is still watching how Utah has dismantled Golden State should be able to see that unless they, like Les Alexander & CD et. al, are watching the playoffs while blindfolded.
It seems to me that Les is not completely satisfied with JVG but also isn't sure if he should fire him. He might be thinking of an alternative but if he can't find one he likes,than the Organization will probably wait till June 30th for JVG to make a final decision IMO.
Agreed Deckard. THe Rockets were 3 deep at the SG/SF position in McGrady, Battier, and Head. It was realistically impossible Bonzi and Snyder to carve up the remaining 15 20 minute pie that thinly - JVG should have settled on one but htey both kept getting hurt (or fat, etc on Bonzi's part).
Funny how on one hand you say that V-Span playing at the 2 spot is the same as him playing the 1 spot, yet when talking about the roster, they are all 2s or 3s....... Even though you could have played them all with Yao at the same time.....other team's do it. DD
It is virtually the same. The difference of course is defense insofar as Wells and Battier can't guard PG's, nor really do you want Tracy to do so. But of course that aspect doesn't matter w/respect to your hero because his man defense is mediocre no matter wh he's guarding, despite the fact that you used to pretend otherwise (up until the time it was proven he couldn't even guard Kyle Korver off the dribble - ha ha ha.) thanks for bringing him up, it's been what, 5 minutes? At least you didn't make another misplaced Nash comparison.
It's hard to give up such a good defense, but I expect Les wants some O. Maybe that is one of the 'scenarios' under which JVG would stay... and li'l help for the offense but I doubt JVG would accept that.
You could play a lineup of all smalls with Yao......JVG chose to stick to the tried and true... Play a little zone to cover up for a size disadvantage. DD
