I'm just going to be laughing when all of you love JVG in a year just like every Knicks fan did/does. All of the stereotypes and misconceptions are just laughable.
Isn't this great all this arguing with sleepy and watching his credibility fade with every post of false statistics and BS.... Then along comes slothy, maybe you guys can find bashfull, grumpy, doc and snow white I'm sure they can help you get your facts straight.
Though I agree with many posters about being worried about the offensive scheme that is put in place, Van Gundy is a proven coach in this league, hes very highly respected and regarded for his ability to get the most out of his teams. If you watched the Knicks play under Van Gundy his teams were always very competitve, defended well, and shared the ball on offense. All coaches in the league have to adjust to their roster, and help mold their teams individual talents into systems that give their team the best chance to win. That is what he did with NY. He had two good offensive weapons with Allan Houston and Spree and they worked around picks and also played inside out with Patrick in years before. He knew how to win with his roster. Obviously the 2003-2004 Rockets team is different than the NY team he had back in 1998, but Jeff would not be a very highly respected coach and such a hot commodity with the openings in the league if his ability to adjust to his personnel was questioned. Please keep in mind folks that Jeff never had an explosive or quick Point Guard to get his teams into uptempo style's of play. Ward, Harper, and playing Houston/Spreewell in the same backcourt doesnt make you a quick team in the open court. The fact Steve is in place will certainly give a coach so highly regarded the luxury of having more open court opportunities. Bottom line is that our offense will certainly improve this year. All we did was go one on one and constantly over-looked Yao in the offense. Many times when Yao touched the ball it was late in the shot clock where he didnt have to operate. Also, if he was fortunate enough to get the ball earlier in possesions there was no movement around him and basically left him on island by himself. Van Gundy when hearing him do games and talk about the Rockets, was emphatic that the Rockets had to utilize Yao's talents better and run a different style of offense. Also, Jeff on TV always stressed player movement and ball movement and gettin everyone involved and putting the ball in his best players hands on spots on the court where they can excel. Thats great for Yao but I still do believe he will give opportunites to Steve and Cuttino to get shots, but in a much more structured offense that will help their FG%'s and the team's overall efficiency. We have a team in place that could be a top 4-6 seed in the West if it plays to its potential next season. Rocket fans its time to rejoice. We have the best young coach in the NBA. When was the last time a 41 year old coach been so highly respected? Larry Brown would of been great but he is 62, 21 years older than Van Gundy, and Van Gundy will give everything all of fans wanted to see. A more inside out offense where everyone shares the ball, a much more aggresive defense that will shut down teams and overtime become great, and in addition a coach that will instill discipline into a young team who at times last year took the game lightly and were not very professional on the court and made very silly decisions and took awful shots. Short term Brown may have been 'slightly' better, but given Van Gundy's youth I think he has the potential to be a long term solution for the Rockets and one thing that will never be questioned is his dedication to making our team succeed. Put me down right now as saying, with a few moves, Van Gundy will lead us to championships down the road. Its a great time to be a Rockets fan. I have always thought the Rockets had the talent to win and make the playoffs, but with Van Gundy in place I am confident that it will finally happen. Go Rockets!
Hi, long time lurker, first time poster. Just wanted to chip in my two cents about this.. Sorry, this might be a little long. First, CD has been screwing up your beloved Rockets for a long time. Signing players showing the slightest hint of promise to big contracts that simply don't play at the value of their contracts. Cato, Taylor (injuries are unpredictable, but he didn't have to come back weighing 300lbs!), Shandon Anderson, and to a lesser extent Mooch. Second, I have to agree about the coaching situation. Everybody can hate me for this, but I'm not as sad that Rudy stepped down/was fired. He won rings riding Olajuwon's back (everybody in the organization did), but he had little/no part in putting the team together for the first title run. Rudy can thank Charlie Thomas for selling the team after putting it together and personnel such as Bob Weinhauer and others... I know people will rip on my Rudy comment, but come on... he'd call a timeout when the Rocks were really losing their composure and nothing would change to adjust to what their opponents were doing. Same goes for the end of quarters and halftime; nothing ever changed. The team would just keep falling right where they left off. Maybe he was just a team guy, and maybe it was his players' fault for not listening, but he was terrible at adapting to the situations at hand. in regard to LBrown, this is just my opinion, but I can't help but think that if CD didn't have his laid back, take-it-slowly attitude that we wouldn't be questioning how much we gained through the JVG hire. We'd be blabbering on in a more positive light looking at next season with Larry Brown. Third, I humbly post my comment on the subject "Did the Rockets Gain Anything?" The times that I saw a JVG coached Knicks, he'd usually iso Spree/Houston and occasionally dump the ball in to Thomas/Harrington/Camby/etc... Sounds enought like what the Rockets have been doing ever since Olajuwon started showing his age - a Francis or Mobley iso and occasionally giving Taylor, Griffin, Yao touches. I hope that he has a better offensive scheme in mind because scoring in the low 90s or high 80s isn't going to make the team better. It'll make them the Nuggets. The Rockets were averaging around 92points/game (correct me if i'm wrong) and still missed out. You have to score more than that to make the playoffs. This isn't the East (see Detroit). Hopefully, he'll see more talent in Yao's low/high post game than Francis and Mobley seem to do. I think he will improve the current players somewhat. Mobley will stop playing his patented yell-at-your-opponents defense or end up on the bench. Yes, team defense will improve, but that alone is not enough. IMO, the team will be successful if Van Gundy can develop the raw talent that the Rockets have (make a f*&^in' LAYUP, Eddie!) or if he can help bring in developed talent that the Rockets have been lacking. This brings me to a question of my own. ESPN Insider (not sure how credible a source this really is) is saying that a Harrington and Spree for Mobley, Rice, and Boki is workable under the cap. Mere speculation apparently, but it also says the following: "There's also talk of the Rockets looking at a Rice-for-Glenn Robinson swap. The Hawks are looking to cut salary (Rice is in the last year of his deal) and Robinson would give the Rockets another solid scorer alongside Steve Francis. The Knicks made several attempts to lure away Robinson while Van Gundy was coach." the latter seems more like a rumor than anything else, but with draft day approaching... who knows? I mean, new head coaches do more than just bring in new assistants. they shake down the roster too! Again, sorry for making this one so long. But I wanted to get those things off my chest. Now, since these are just my opinions, I'm sure you'll all want to rip them apart. Fire away.
