That would mean a legend was fired to get a coach who needs the type of players that every coach wants before he can be successful.
You got me! I do not have time to read all the threads on this board. Far as those numbers, they surely don't describe the team I watched last year. How did we end up #6 in points allowed when we were torched many times last year (especially Dallas).
JVG has done a good job this year. I only blame him for his lack of dicipline toward steve. He should have choked his dumb ass by now. Steve has great physical skills. On the court he looks like he has the instincts of a Forest Gump type.
You point on the desecent of some lower echelon western teams is largely irrelevant in the growth of the West for the much improved upper echelon teams of the Western conference will lower the wins total of the lower echelon teams. The Western teams that didn't improve from last year or can't keep up with the pace of improvement in the West will have a lesser record, but that doesn't mean they've gotten worse from last year. The only two Western teams that lost significant talent is the Suns and the Jazz, while the Nuggets added significant talent and Memphis improved their coaching greatly, the same as the Rockets did. The Nuggets and the Memphis combined improved more than the Suns and the Jazz lost. Factoring in the upgrade in the Lakers, Kings, Timberwolves and Spurs the West has gotten significantly stronger. Still, the true gauge of the growth of the West is its record vs. the East.
maybe because your perspective of our defense is out of whack? obviously your perception that we were torched many times isn't true otherwise we wouldn't be 6th (or 8th) in points and 5th in fg%. can't argue against the stats, unless you're going to discount this year's rankings as well.
JVG is different with Ruddy in discipline. As for current roster,JVG has done al he can.The problem is he has no rights to make key changes as his plan b/c his 1st yr in Houston. I don't think the players know exactly where they before 5 streak loss that's why Clutch bear stay in the TC.
You put JVG on the Jazz . . u think they making a playoff run? I do not Everyone wants to say .HUBIE AND SLOAN HAS GREAT PLAYERs How about this. . . maybe. . . listen here. . MAYBE . .they bring out the greatness????? becuase they are good coaches. What was JWill before Hubie? We harp how horrible Posey was here. . . but look what hubie has him doing? What about that ever so Cancerous Bonzi Wells. .. . not a peep. Swift . . A BUST . . .Outlaw? Sloan has a system and he sold it to his players. JVG perhaps needs to be a better salesman. Perhaps? You think that MIGHT be possible? JVG says was everyone says I mean he has a philosophy of how the game is played he can articulate it well . . but he is not getting it out of the players as I said it is a poor artist that blames his tools it is a poor coach that blames his players If he is not reaching his players. . . .and I doubt anyone can say the players have not at least TRIED to adjust . . .. perhaps. . . just perhaps. . . He should adjust too . . some. . a little. . .maybe. . . . Coaching is about TEACHING and MANAGING IMO I think JVG has taught the rockets some great things one of the reason I'm against trading SF is because of what he has learned under Rudy and JVG - I don't want to see it actually applied elsewhere with great results BUT I don't think JVG is much of a Manager/motivator of players I hate Phil Jackson . . but he is a GREAT manager/motivator of players Everyone says he not and X-O guy so what does Phil do? He straps Tex Winter to him and never lets go . .. JVG needs his Tex Winter [except a motivator/manager guy] A JVG/RUDY combo . . . Rockets over the Pistons in 6 . . rings for everyone Rocket River contrary to popular beleive i don't hate JVG . . I do dislike is always sour never saying anything positive demeanor
I couldn't disagree with you more. Last year there were 9 or 10 solid teams in the western conference. This year there are only 5. The conference is weaker as a whole than it was last year and I really don't think anyone other than Rockets fans trying to make excuses for their team's collapse are going to agree with you.
Perhaps your perception is out of whack! No disrespect, but we were torched several time last year. I am not sure if you can judge are numbers last year on defensive skills, or if our dribbling & ISOs just slowed the game down so much, it brought our opposing teams play down to our level. We are clearly a better defensive team this year!!!!! Nov 21 @DAL Lost 90-103 6-4 Dec 1 @SAC Lost 84-103 9-7 Dec 14 LAC Lost 83-94 12-10 Dec 21 @MIN Lost 86-98 15-11 Dec 27 NY Lost 83-99 15-13 Jan 10 @ATL Lost 75-84 19-15 Jan 21 @DAL Lost 86-107 23-17 Jan 24 DET Lost 74-98 23-18 Jan 29 DAL Lost 81-104 24-20 Feb 4 @MIN Lost 89-103 26-21 Feb 14 MIA Lost 82-94 27-24 Feb 21 DAL Lost 85-100 28-26 Mar 4 @DET Lost 83-96 30-30 Mar 19 @POR Lost 83-94 35-32 Mar 27 @SA Lost 85-98 37-35 Mar 31 @NJ Lost 86-110 38-36 Apr 8 POR Lost 66-81 40-38 Apr 9 @UTA Lost 73-94 40-39
Yeah, maybe you should read the other posts I've written in this thread. To me it is pretty clear that the bottom half of the west is far weaker than it was last year..................I mean do Dallas, Houston, Utah, Denver, and Portland really seem like intimidating first round match ups to you because they don't to me. And last year the 8th seed was a very strong Phoenix squad. Do you need more than that? I don't.
Nobody denies that we are a better defensive team this year. What we are saying is that we weren't a bad defensive team under Rudy either, not as bad as you think. The numbers show that we were better than 80% of the league. It's not just points allowed, which you may say is because of a slow down game (btw, the same argument can be use against JVG's team), it's also the fg% allowed. Of the 18 games you cited as us being "torched" only 7 were scored more than 100 pts. Those are hardly good examples of being "torched." Every team gets torched in some games. sometimes your opponent is just hot and hit everything no matter how hard you defend. Those games happen. But over a course of 82 games, if your defensive average is better than 80% of the teams, you should be considered a pretty good defensive team. JVG's team is clearly great at defense. Rudy's was pretty good too. Defense was never our problem last year. Offense was.
I need more than that. Fact 1: Last year West vs.East: 250-170 , winning percentage 59.5% This year West vs East: 266-154, winning percentage 63.3% I can't see why West is weaker this year. Fact 2: Last year, Bottom 8 teams in West: 284-372, winning 43.3% This year, bottom 8 teams in West: 289-337 winning 46.1%, better than last year even if they lose all remaining games(won't happen since they'll play against each other) I can't see why bottom half of west is weaker this year.
Easy, I guess my thought of being torched, is a team up 15+ points with a few minutes to go on us. Some of those examples the opposing team beat us by 20+ points. Many of those 11-14 point games, were actually closer to 20, until the scrubbs played and sometimes brought the gap down (which happened several times last year). I really dont have an opinion if Rudy was any good at defense. I sure don't remember the defensive intensity compared to the team this year. I think the CATO/YAO COMBINATION IS A BIG FACTOR. Anybody know our fast break points allowed this year, compared to last year?
Fact 3: Bottom 4 teams in playoff last year:191-137, 58.2% 5-8 teams in west this year: 183-128,58.8% again I can't see bottom half playoff teams are weaker this year.
That's because you rely to heavily on stats and not very telling ones at that I might add. The east is significantly worse this year than last year also and the whole basis of your statistical analysis is based on the west teams this year vs the east teams this year. Since you failed to answer it the first time, I'll ask you again, which possible first round foes scare you more? Last years 6th seed: Portland, 7th seed: Utah, 8th seed: Phoenix or the five teams battling it out for 6 thru 8 this season (that would be the sorry bunch that includes Dallas, Houston, Denver, Utah, and Portland). That's not even mentioning how good some of the teams were playing last year that missed the playoffs (not including our Rockets of course who were tanking at the end of that season too post Rudy T).
Right on. This is exactly what I felt when watching the Rockets playing. It's just so hard to score every freaking point for this team. Some here say JVG needs better players to fit his system, others think JVG should design a system to fit the current roster, not the other way around. The true test of a coaches' greatness is the ability to coach to the strength of a team. Even I can be a successful NBA coach if I can have players I want.
I didn't answer you question because that was my first post in this thread. You asked somebody else, not me. I just didn't get why you feel so bad about West this year. Now let me answer your question: Fact 4: Top4 teams in West last year: 230-98, 70.1% Top4 teams in West this year: 214-97, 68.8% You said East are much weaker, bottom playoff teams and bottom teams in West are much weaker, then how come top teams who play against weaker teams are winning less? We know that NBA is stronger after a very good draft clasee. Don't you feel something worng here? You feel last year's 5-8 is more scary doesn't really mean it's the truth. I believe in stats and facts more than what people think it should be.
It could also mean a legend was fired for not wanting to change the players he has to the type of players that every coach wants before he can be successful. The fact of the matter is no one knows why the players we have are still our players. By this I mean, did Rudy want to get rid of any of these guys we have? Or did he say "No, I want these guys". Is JVG, behind closed doors saying "Let me have another year with these guys to teach them discipline" or is he saying "I swear if they don't let me get rid of some of these clowns, there's no way we're going to win". The players have remained the same. Rudy & the Rockets front office seemed content to keep it that way. It remains to be seen if JVG & the Rockets front office are content. Rudy was often quoted as saying something along the lines of the players one day just get it (how to play and how to win) and that hasn't happened yet. He seemed to be waiting for people such as Francis and Mobley to hit that epiphany. JVG doesn't seem so patient. This is one reason why I want to see what happens this off-season. Will we continue with essentially the same group that has failed in the past or do we attempt to move some of the pieces that obviously no longer fit? Regarding JVG vs. Rudy, I don't know - it was the status quo that bugged me the most. The jury is still out on JVG after 1 season.
