ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Bucks 12/28/2004

You know, watch the Rockets is like predicating the bottom for the stock market, impossible.

 

Your posts remind me of somebody asking how in the world the Bulls lost 10 games that year they went 72-10. You cannot compare this Rockets dud to one of those dud games by the Suns or the Bulls because the Rockets have been playing this way all season. It is the rule not the exception man. Look at their record and the teams that they lost to.

 

If you want to call the first 28 games a "temporary disaray". It is almost January not november...i dont think this disaray is temporary.

 

So what's the answer...we get a coach that will coddle him? Was he any tougher when Rudy was here? I don't think so.

 

No dude, we are gonna continue down this road with Van Gundy. Ultimately time will tell whether all the players that he had and all the players he kept trading for were screwballs or whether he was the screwball.

I'll only say this about Van Gundy at present. I think he is very fortunate that Yao and TMac are not more vocal. If they were more vocal, and they really said what was on their mind, he might be out of a job. I think Van Gundy goes before Yao and TMac go.

 

I hope Tmac or Yao have the balls to speak their minds.

Magic ran a coach out of town, so did MJ.

Nothing wrong if you are a superstar player (ehem Tracy) speaking up for change if they feel it is needed.

DD

 

The fact that we are making all these trades shows that Les is willing to give JVG more time.

 

Anybody hear if JJ is going to report? Even if this trade goes through it looks like there is going to be another adjustment period for this team to gel. The team looked terrible on defense and adding another new player and having T-Mac at another position probably means that there will be a letdown in defense. What was this bs about Sura having a bad knee, he was moving around pretty well, seems like Rox propaganda to justify this trade. Don't see the need to make this trade if Sura is not really hurt. agh

 

Would you want to work with a coach who has turned you into a one-dimentional player, who has made you lose all your outside shooting, passing, post moves, who has made you bang in the low post freaking predictablly and got mugged by defenders with no calls from ref and not a single technical for you, who traded all your friends and brought in the rest of NBA's old/slow/poor-shooting garbages only because they were ex-knicks, who made you be afraid of every single freaking little mistake on the court, in the meantime gave you no props after good games?

I didn't think so.

 

Stop making excuses for Yao. None of these changes the fact Yao sucks donkey ball (rhythm with sticks). I am not sarcastic.

 

Then stop making excuses for this coach. Every player he gets looks like ____ after they've been through a practice or two with him.

 

Okay let's get him. . . . .

 

wow...a YOF convert?

 

Another one of those fair-weather bandwagon fans.

 

sigh yes peter we are wreck, trade our whole team, keep mcgrady, the only thing that should be left is tracy, toyota center, and the name houston rockets, thats it besides that everything should be changed, we need a dramatic change man....this is just insane....yao 6 attempts wtf is that? barry 0-8? my god tylue other day 13 pts 4-5 shooting 4 assist all in 19 minutes.....what is it? i can't put my finger on it, so mayn times we have said the season is gnna turn now, but no it still hasnt, i had hope, i really did, but after tonight, if we dont turn it around, then i have lost all hope, im going to give the rockets one more chance, after that, if the rockets cared about their organization they would do everything way above.

 

I have NBA 2K5 and i tried playing it yesterday and i couldn't, not with Boki as the starting SF and JJ as a backup, i will find the strenght to play againg though, i think.

 

Yao should not be coddled but it's Van Gundy's job to develop Yao and I keep getting the feeling that JVG is not serving as a teacher to Yao. I've read where he has said several time that Yao is going to have to figure this mentality thing out on his own.

And I get the sneaking suspicion that people, including the coaching staff, keep telling Yao that he needs to be "more aggressive" without making corrections along the way. Being aggressive doesn't mean you need to run over your opponent, which Yao tries to do when things aren't going well. Instead of taking his game to his opponent, he crashes into him and brings the ball into his defender resulting in turnovers or low percentage shots.

And I concur with DD's longstanding assessment that Yao is playing like he is afraid of making a mistake. That's why he only takes over when he KNOWS he is playing really well.

 

That means the first 4-6 mins of every game might be the most important factor in the Rockets getting a win or a loss. If Yao gets off to a good start then we play well (not always get the W but at least compete). But if Yao gets off to a bad start then we have a very little chance of winning since he will get frustrated and lose his confidence.

 

Who wants to tell me Yao is the Chinese Jesus tonight? I'm so sick of excuses! This guy is never going to be great! We should have gotten great! There are plenty of better players that were safer bets than he was that went lower in the draft.

Caveman, I hate to say it, but we shoulda gotten Ridda Rudy a long time before we did.

 

Well, looked like the players packed it in tonight. Either the shock of the trade yesterday had a hangover effect, a roster full of players are all worried about who is next, or they have decided to quit for the coach. Who knows, but it certainly wasn't pretty.

I wouldn't blame the guys for feeling beaten down and dejected at what has transpired. All we ever hear from the players, in the media, is that they know they have to get better and that they will turn it around soon. Then, here comes MR. Doon 'n' Gloom going right behind them talking about we need better motivated players and that they will shake up the roster.

a) JVG, you need to keep this s**t in the locker room and not chastizing your players in public. I know you like to be as blunt to the media as possible, but I don't think you would appreciate it if a player came out one day in the Chronicle telling everyone the he thinks they need a new coach or that the coaching staff needs to be changed because management will not be patient.

b) Damn dude, break out a smile every once in a while. You make the Rockets seem like a day at a funeral home. It's great you put so much into your job, but how do you expect your team to respond when it seems as if your are s**tting in your pants at everything they do?

c) Remember that basketball is a fan's sport as well. Please, think about this while you're turning the Rockets' offense back to the pre-shot clock era.

d) How 'bout phoning up your brother to find out what he is doing to get the Heat to play so well. Hell, whay don't you copy his some of his methods. You know, like having more than 10 possessions a game, or even let the players get out actually get some easy baskets, especially the star SG. Hell, you make them run sprints all summer, why stop them from running now.

Sorry guys, just had to vent a little. I'm just not digging the whole atmosphere surrounding this team right now. A few years ago, we were losing, but it was still a fun, optimistic feeling all the time. Now, I find myself watching the games with the same despaired look on my face that JVG has made so famous.