ClutchFans Game Thread: Nuggets @ Rockets 1/20/2007

Because he is freaking rigid and can not tolerate a single player that plays out of his plan.

 

Yes, I think he is a better shooter.

 

V-Span is shooting a higher percentage from 2 point range.....I would like to see V-Span in there when Rafer struggles.


I don't know where to put this so I am going to put it here.

It seems that every time another team goes Small, the Rockets crumble....JVG does NOTHING to counter going small, he doesn't go uber big to crush them, he doesn't run a zone to protect his slow footed players, and he doesn't COUNTER by going deeper into his bench to go small himself.

If the other team is going small and out hustling the Rockets....then do something about it other than watching the team crumble....COACH !!

DD

 

If JVG is not giving VSpan and oppurtunity in the game, what makes you think he is evaluating him appropriately in practice? DONT take it for granted that Jeff Van Ego is actually using practice to evaluate, rather than drawing up schemes. We all have eyes we can all see. PPL talk about VSpan's turnovers, but everytime Rafer shoots those "booty" shots its the same as a T.O. V-Span always effects a game positively. He believes in getting the ball up the court with the pass not by the "skip".

 

Point well taken. JLIII may not be a true point, but he IS better than Alston. He does practically the same thing except he makes HIS shots. Rafer is just NOT an NBA-calber player. HE should be in the D-League.

 

I think the press conference comments by JVG tell all. 7 guys from Nov thru April, no changes, no chances for anyone else. But even he seems to now question whether his top 7 can last the season, all 4Q's every single game. No adjustments, no Vspan to slow down a hot Arenas, Iverson, Ben Gordon, (name any other hot 1 or 2 guard). No Bonzi (who seemed to play with confidence last night), at the end for inside rebounding or scoring. Just keep in the guys who are playing tired and hangdog. I've watched Luther closely at the games and on TV all season and he seems to LOOK LIKE HE lacks confidence in all aspects of his game except for 3's.

Every other coach in this league seems to play 5 + 3-5 bench depending on the matchups and those 3-5 can be different guys from the bench 7 from game to game.

I look forward to Morey relieving my frustrations this summer. I hope we win the big one even with JVG but it is hard to get enthused thinking that he will find a way to disappoint anyway, and then Morey can relieve my pain.

Similar to you - I think JVG is good, not proved great yet; his D is VG, his offenses mediocre, his substitutions and relationships with players are not exactly mainstream. The comments and opposing coaching we witness from other teams shows that those coaches think JVG has some chinks in his armor and they are quite willing to exploit them. There is a "type" of JVG player that seems to be a small class of NBA players and if you are not one then you do not have snowballs chance in h3ll of ever being in his rotation. You adapt to his system, he does not adapt to the strengths of the players he has until he can develop other strengths in them gradually - which he does not seem to do well or quickly.

He does not seem to take a longterm view. He believes in mind over matter.

Maybe Vspan should walk around singing the old little train song: I think I can, I think I can! whoo-whoo!

 

What happened to Chucky? He seems to have lost it after his collision with Shaq....

 

Rafer is an idiot. He makes bone-head decisions at the end of critical games and takes way too many shots (esp. bad ones at the end of the game). He also showed that he can't catch last night -- he let a few balls go right through his hand. Trade him!!

 

DD,

You are wasting your breath telling the truth about VG. The only thing they everyone on this board wants to do is blame the players.

I agree that Rafer was off at the end, but it's the COACH's job to make the correct adjustment.

 

everyone knows Suns plays run and gun, but for a team like Rox, do you play their strength and run with them? or you keep playing your style and slow things down and use your big guys punish them on the boards and inside?
that's the question you have to ask yourself.

actually, without Yao, we are already pretty small on most nights.

you only go deeper into your bench when you are desperate, that's shouldn't be your standard solution. remember, when you go deep into your bench, you are playing end of bench players against other team's starters, what's your chance?

 

The problem I have with him is . . HE DOESN'T THINK HE SHOULD HAVE TOO.
He basically Said.. . .If I have to Motivate them . . they already lost
EVERY COACH SHOULD BE A MOTIVATOR
JVG makes it seem like he doesn't even try. . .because he does not beleive
he should have too.

when was JVG ever held accountable?
He will use that reverse psychology crap he pulls
and people suck up
"Woe is me. . I need to be a better coach because my players
are not hustling. . they makeing dumb plays. . that is my fault
because I need to coach better"
and people buy it that he is taking responsibility
when all he doing is roasting his players
in a slick way

So Far I think he doing well
but
again . . I think this is a Championship Team
and I am ok until the Playoffs
When
I see what will be what
anything less that Western Conference Championship
will be a disappointment

Rocket River

 

I get what everyone is saying about VSpan not being a great 3 pt. shot, but at least he won't make himself the self appointed 2nd offensive option.

Rafer's turnovers may be low on a nightly basis, but they come at crucial times and his decision making is poor. An example is the absolute cold shooting spell he was in last night and bricked a 3 late and got it back with a fresh 24 and IMMEDIATELY bricked another. That is just ridiculous when considering he went 4 of his first 6 then 1 of his next 12! Those were late shots after bricking the whole 2nd half.

I agree with others that Billy should get some minutes if for no other reason than to keep Rafer's shot totals down. Billy will pass.

But hey, JL3 shoots a bunch too and gets minutes, clearly that must be what JVG likes in a point guard. He certainly could reign in O-fer if he wanted to.

 

I think, considering the heartbreaking way the Rocks tend to lose ballgames, we should perhaps call this thread the "post-mortem" thread.

every other game-day is a sad one in Rocket country.

 

okay... lets all cool off a bit...

im sure 90% of you guys would agree... we are outside contenders at best... with even Yao and Tmac 100%

sure Rafer sucked... but then he has been sucking all year...

sure Jvg blew it on some questionable coaching... but he has been doing that for quite some time...

maybe if Tmac shot 50% or demanded the ball more... we coud have one the game... but do we expect him to do that night in night out...

that takes its toll...

as far as im concerned we lost 2 hard fought games to two top tier teams... and one to a Denver team which isnt to bad itself...

lets worry about getting to the playoffs... because like it or not... Rafer is going to be our PG until JVG.. gets fired or quits...

 

which looks more and more likely to occur the longer he goes without an extension. I am starting to think that JVG is a goner. I don't think alot of people in the organization like him. No insider status, just reading between the lines.

 

I don't even care about Rafer Alston's 5-18 shooting night, because he made a much more egregious mistake. It was his mind numbingly stupid foul on AI shooting a 3(a shot i'd rather him take) with an 8 point lead and about two minutes remaining that kick started that run that got denver to OT.

I also don't understand why Bonzi didn't play more, as he was very effective. I also think you have to at least try lucas or spanoulis when rafer plays like he did last night and they need to find a pg to trade for that can handle those minutes if van gundy thinks the backups can't.

And didn't snyder come back a week ago? Why can't he get off the bench against an athletic team like Denver.

Yes t-mac struggled. Yes he missed a point blank layup that might have sealed the deal, but after a slow start he found his shot in the 2nd half.

 

I made a tabulation on the combined minutes for top 4 most-played players on each team in the NBA, the Rockets are ranked 2nd behind the Wizards. The way Rockets are playing right now, JVG are grinding his starters to early retirement to save his own ass in the contract year.

Code:

Rk      Team    P1      P2      P3      P4      Combined
1  	WAS  	40.2  	40.4  	38.9  	28.5  	148.0
2 	HOU 	35.8 	35.9 	37.0 	38.0 	146.7
3 	DET 	37.6 	37.5 	37.4 	33.9 	146.4
4 	NJN 	38.7 	37.5 	36.6 	32.7 	145.5
5 	PHO 	38.5 	37.7 	35.9 	32.3 	144.4
6 	SEA 	40.7 	38.4 	32.8 	31.9 	143.8
7 	NYK 	36.8 	36.3 	34.1 	34.0 	141.2
8 	MIL 	39.5 	35.5 	33.5 	32.6 	141.1
9 	CHA 	38.3 	35.7 	34.0 	33.0 	141.0
10 	LAL 	38.8 	37.9 	33.6 	30.1 	140.4
11 	PHI 	39.6 	39.1 	31.2 	30.2 	140.1
12 	UTH 	37.2 	37.1 	33.1 	32.2 	139.6
13 	ATL 	40.7 	36.7 	29.8 	31.9 	139.1
14 	MIN 	39.3 	37.2 	31.5 	31.1 	139.1
15 	SAC 	36.9 	36.5 	36.3 	28.5 	138.2
16 	NOR 	37.4 	36.5 	32.7 	30.3 	136.9
17 	CHI 	36.1 	34.7 	34.2 	30.7 	135.7
18 	DEN 	37.5 	35.7 	32.7 	29.0 	134.9
19 	DAL 	36.3 	35.0 	35.0 	27.3 	133.6
20 	GSW 	37.6 	34.5 	31.1 	29.9 	133.1
21 	CLE 	40.7 	36.1 	27.9 	27.7 	132.4
22 	IND 	35.8 	33.6 	32.0 	30.9 	132.3
23 	LAC 	38.1 	34.1 	30.7 	29.3 	132.2
24 	TOR 	37.0 	31.8 	31.7 	29.1 	129.6
25 	POR 	34.8 	34.5 	31.1 	28.6 	129.0
26 	BOS 	38.4 	30.9 	30.3 	29.2 	128.8
27 	SAS 	34.3 	33.1 	32.3 	27.8 	127.5
28 	ORL 	36.1 	30.8 	30.1 	29.2 	126.2
29 	MIA 	38.5 	32.7 	28.1 	24.8 	124.1
30 	MEM 	39.1 	24.8 	27.4 	26.0 	117.3

Durvasa, you probably don't want to bother to do run any correlation test between combined MPGs and win%, just by looking at the teams in the rank.

 

A great stat, you can see what everyone has been talking about. The best teams use their bench.

Well, most of em....ouside of Phoenix that is...

DD