I don't want this to be a bash JVG thread, but I am truly interested in what others think about whether he is a championship caliber coach. Personally, I think he is a good coach, who is very prepared, but is slow to make adjustments and is too controlling, and IMHO, this is his fatal flaw. Less creativity means easier to scheme against......especially over a 7 game series...witness the Dallas meltdown of 2 years ago. I want him to coach the rest of this year, but I would prefer a different coach to take us to the next level. Much like Rudy was the guy to take over for Chaney....someone needs to take over for JVG. IMHO - of course. DD
Disagree about too controlling. My evidence: Tracy McGrady. He proves that when a player is creative enough, successfully enough, Van Gundy suspends his schemes and lets the guy do his thing. For guys who aren't as successful when they try to get creative, Van Gundy's disciplined approach helps. If he has a fatal flaw, it's that he lacks people skills. This is extremely important in a head coach. The best argument against Van Gundy is that he's a great tactician -- i.e., assistant coach -- who's been elevated to a job that requires a temperament he just doesn't have. You can win a championship with a tactician as your head coach, but you need an inspirational star player to do it. We don't have one.
I have to say your arguements are pretty weak against JVG. Look at the coaches in the NBA who have won championships over the last decade. I think you find they are all pretty much from the same school of thinking; defense wins championships, execute solid plays on offense, protect the paint at all costs and keep your turnovers down. As much as I love Rudy he was pretty lucky and happened to be in the right place at the right time. He really didn't do much for the team after the second championship. Yes he did help bring us two rings, and for this he will forever be immortal in Houston sports, but as far as developing the team after that I would have to give him an F. I for one love JVG, I love the way he screws with the media in his interviews, I love the way he makes defense the staple of his team and I totally love what he has done for Yao in his development. This is the first year that he really has had any quality depth to work with and we have still had injuries to key players in our rotation. You guys who like to bash him say he is boring, controlling, to dour, etc. Well I have one thing to say GET OVER IT!!! He teams always have one of the best defense in the league. He likes veteran players because they tend to make less mistakes then rookies and mistakes lose games. He has forgotten more about basketball then most of us can remember and looks at the game in ways most of us would not even think of. IMO we should get rid of the band wagon fans who only like to post threads with negative conotations. How about being a TRUE fan and supporting your team AND coach. Its not like his decisions are costing us games, it always falls down to the players on the floor to make plays.
I think JVG is a good coach, but at times, his decision making is as bad as Rafer. I've watched majority of all our games this year, and there's times I feel like he's late to call a time out or to put in certain players.
If you think his main flaw is he's slow to make in-game adjustments, shouldn't you also take into account that in the playoffs there's much more time to prepare for teams? Particularly in later rounds when there's often a couple days between games? Yes, with a championship-caliber roster, I think JVG is a championship-caliber coach.
A True fan, by whose definition? Personally, I am a fan of the Houston Rockets, and I want what is best for the Rockets. No one is saying to NOT play defense, but I find that JVG's lack of developing players, his lack of offensive creativity, and his controlling nature are flaws in his coaching. Yes, there are coaches that are defense first who win, like Popovich for example, but he also understands that you have to develop talent and is willing to let players learn from their mistakes. JVG is a defense first coach, but he does not develop players at all....and overplays his starters which leaves the Rockets extremely vulnerable to injuries, both in having injuries and in being able to compensate for them with players who are comfortable in their games and roles. I also find it ironic that JVG will yell at anyone....OTHER than Tmac, he will never yell or show disgust with Tmac.....which is unlike Popovich as well, who plays no favorites. Ironically, I do like JVG's sense of humor, but the fact that it has taken him 3 years to even try a zone defense, and he just learned THIS year that the hand check rules favor the drivers......too slow to adapt. DD
Luther Head would disagree with you... how many players has JVG failed to develop? Eddie Griffin? Stromile Swift? If there's a player who failed under JVG, but went on to prosper big-time right after leaving him... he'll be the first. Seriously... he plays his best players because it puts the team in the best position to win. I know you guys all are salivating over V-Span and Novak to get playing time (and thus support this argument), but there's also the convienent ignoring of John Lucas' steady insertion into the rotation, Luther Head's ascedence as a dead-eye marksman, and before he got hurt... the increased role given to Bonzi each and every game. JVG has no problems playing his entire team... provided they're GOOD enough, prepared, and ready to contribute at a high level. Jesus... are you seriously basing your opinion of him by using your own interpretation of who he yells at, and who he doesn't yell at, based on the 2-3 minutes you get a shot of him from the bench each game on TV? What about the 30-60 hours a week that this team spends in practice/watching game film/morning shootarounds that none of us are there? What about his continued commitment to make sure that all players prepare as hard as his stars (hence his hardline stance with Bonzi)? Once again... the first person to bad-mouth JVG as a former player of his will be the first. His players LOVE him... they respect him... and that normally leads to wanting to play hard for him. A lot of you will never like his personality... that's fine... I'll be fine evaluating him based on the results he gets with the team he has. He overacheived 2 years ago, and assembled a 51 win team with the likes of Bob Sura, Clarence Weatherspoon, and Jon Barry playing huge minutes. He's overcome two major injuries to his star players this year, and seemingly avoided the prolong losing slump that plagued this team last year. He'll never silence critics until he delivers a championship (or comes close to it)... and that's also fine. But, there are middle grounds between evaluating coaches, besides the black and white "must win a championship" end-all/be-all.
good post nick. i think the rockets shortcomings have very little to do with JVG. injuries are our bugaboo. healthy rockets=contender.
I'd like to know what shortcomings other fans are really upset with? Taking a pretty damn good Dallas Mavs team to the brink of elimination? (with the affore-mentioned gimps playing huge minutes). Losing a lot of games without our two best players missing big chunks of the season last year? Failing to beat a Shaq-Kobe-Malone Lakers team with Steve Francis at the helm? There are expectations, and then there are surreal departures from reality. Sure, if Yao is healthy right now, and T-mac is playing like his back was never hurt... this team would be expected to win nearly every game they play. But, that's not the case... expectations are high right now, but there are several reasons why this team might not win a championship, and it isn't limited to who their head coach is.
luther head? are you serious? he only got to play and develop because of yao and tmac's injuries last season. it's not jvg who loved to develop new players. it's the injuries left him with no choices but to dig deep into his bench. and how can any one be good without significant playing time, or making mistakes on the court. jvg only plays players he thinks good enough and that's definitely not the entire team. i don't think he can ever assemble a full squard with his standard.
As much as you'd like to believe it, that's very untrue. If players aren't given any play time, how can they learn to contribute? And if bench players received very little play time, how can you all of a sudden start one of them and expect outstanding results? JVG didn't sit Bonzi because he wasn't "ready to play." JVG sat Bonzi b/c he didn't like Bonzi's attitude. Bonzi was in the doghouse, plain and simple. You've gotta be a fool to think he was sitting simply because he's outta shape. He'll start silencing critics once he comes up with better player rotations and offensive execution. It may be a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow, but... 1) Is JVG a good coach? Absolutely--esp. for the salary he's getting. 2) Is JVG the right coach for the Rockets? It's highly dubious. 3) Is JVG a championship caliber coach? He might be someday, but as of now... absolutely not.
For those who don't think JVG is a championship-caliber coach -- does that mean you don't think the Rockets are capable of winning a championship with him as head coach?
How did Luther Head improve? How is John Lucas playing well right now? Why was Chuck Hayes given a starting job? C'mon... these are perfect examples of guys who prepare, play hard in practice, and it shows up on the court. And, they're rewarded with more playing time when they improve. Exactly... he didn't like Bonzi having an attitude of a prima-donna, when his best two stars bring the intensity, and prepare for games, just like the rest of the team. JVG wanted Bonzi to follow suit. What's wrong with that? And, as soon as he did, he got more playing time. Could you please name for me a championship caliber coach that hasn't won a championship yet? Is Nate McMillan a championship caliber coach? Is Maurice Cheeks a championship caliber coach? Is Rick Adleman a championship caliber coach? The funny thing is... no coach is "championship" caliber until they actually win something. Using that argument as the end-all/be-all of evaluating coach success is simply a cop-out.
What about Luther Head and Chuck Hayes? Did he not help develop them? I mean, he is their head coach. Heck, you can even say JVG played a big part is Yao's development also. Same with T-Mac, he made him a better defender. You keep saying he doesn't develop players but let's actually look at the players he had a chance to develop. Let's look at the players JVG coached in Houston: I left out this year's new players because it's not fair to judge him on one unfinished season. Anyways, out of all those players, who did you expect to see JVG develop? I'm guessing you were talking about rookies and young/first year players when you say he doesn't develop players. If that's the case, those guys would be John Lucas, Stephen Graham, Luther Head, Lonny Baxter Josh Davis, Brandin Knight, Torraye Braggs, Kelvin Cato, Ben Davis and Alton Ford. Out of all those players, only Luther Head was drafted with JVG as head coach. It's the same case with the Knicks rosters. Go back and check his teams, his squads had mainly veterans and journeymen with a few young guys. Sorry to say it, but your argument about him not being able to develop players is not valid. You can't accuse him of that when he hasn't had the significant players to develop. But he sure has done a damn good job with Luther Head and Chuck Hayes. I think it's safe to say that both exceeded our expectations. I do believe JVG is the coach that can help us win a championship. Why? Because defense is our key to winning, the bread and butter. Our roster is not exactly the most offensively talented team even with Yao and T-Mac, but if we got the defense going, we can beat anybody. Because our Defense is so good, we can get away without having offensive power like the Suns or Mavs. I don't get why people keep saying we need to play "creative" like the Suns or Mavs? Sure they win lots of games but as of now, up-tempo teams don't win championships. The Heat won last year because they had the better defense and half-court offense than the Mavs. We don't need to play like the Mavs/Suns because we have a guys like T-Mac and Yao Ming where we can pound the ball inside and work from there.
