http://www.hoopshype.com/columns/rockets_johnson.htm Blame Van Gundy by Eddie Johnson / December 1, 2005 Tracy McGrady was back in the Houston Rockets lineup Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks. He scored 25 points and helped stop a seven-game losing streak. McGrady has missed eight games this season and all of them were losses. I agree that without their leader and top scorer, the Rockets should struggle... But not collapse every time he cannot put a uniform on. Houston has too much experience and size to not be able to compete and win a few games without its star. I picked this team to finish among the elite this year. Yes, it's early and they still have a chance. But after watching them lose to the Suns last week, I sincerely doubt they will make the playoffs. And if they do, they will not be the factor I thought they would be. Who's to blame for this slow start? I know the easy answer is McGrady's bad back. I would go much further than that. I say the finger should be pointed at head coach Jeff Van Gundy. When I played, the one thing NBAers longed for was to play for a coach that made the game fun. I believe that same thought still exists today. There are feelings that I have taken from this game that will forever be a part of me and one of those feelings is knowing when a teammate or opponent is playing the game happy or sad. That is the worst feeling to have. Who wants to get up and go to a job situation, regardless of the benefits, knowing that they will not be happy until it's time to go home? I have been there and incidentally it was in a Rocket uniform at the end of my career, but that's another article. When I saw the Rockets last week, I saw a team that was going through the motions and played like it was burdened with serious problems. That's alarming considering the season has just begun. When I heard Jeff Van Gundy has a playbook the size of a phone book and observed the Suns put small forward Boris Diaw on the tallest player in the NBA – Yao Ming – and yet he got only two touches and one field goal attempt in the first seven minutes of the first quarter, that made me realize the playbook might be too complicated for Van Gundy. I will take a line from Hakeem Olajuwon, one of the best teammates I've had: “Keep it simple, and throw it to me and I will make life easy for you.” He was right! The first sign I always look for in young players is improvement from year to year. And Yao Ming is regressing – which is a scary thought, especially for an organization that has invested a lot of money in him. He is not the loose daring rookie that played under Rudy Tomjanovich. He has become very mechanical and hesitant. Van Gundy needs to chuck his playbook and just keep it simple. First of all, McGrady and Yao are taking the majority of the shots already... So why do you need that big of a playbook? And why do you need to stand up and call every play, especially when you have arguably the best scorer in the league – when healthy – in McGrady? Van Gundy needs to take a page from head coach Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts, who runs only a few plays and allows his star player Peyton Manning to change. The great thing about only having a few plays is that the Colts have perfected them and no matter what defense is thrown at them, they are successful. Why? Because players practice and perfect it instead of going from one play to the next with half the players still not knowing how to run the last play. I have seen players in my career forget their own play to get a shot. So how are they going to remember a phone book's worth? Phil Jackson won nine titles because he had great players, but he also made it simple with one play – triangle offense – and allowed the role players to play off of his stars. So here's my message to Van Gundy: - Find five or six offensive sets and throw the rest away. - Allow Tracy McGrady to be your coach on the floor since you already want him to take most of the shots. - Find a shooter – whether it's Jon Barry, David Wesley, Derek Anderson or Luther Head – that can pass the ball into the post, which would allow Yao to operate with a spaced-out floor instead of having players cutting and moving around him. Yao is so tall it takes 10 seconds for the ball to come up to his hands again, so it's difficult for him to dribble in traffic. Plus it will allow these shooters to get better looks from the perimeter and improve their shooting percentages. - Let Stromile Swift use his athletic ability by giving him some rope for mistakes. I thought that's what you signed him for, right? - Oh, and yeah, please sit down sometimes. Players feel calm when they know the coach is calm. Will these suggestions turn your team around? I can't answer that, but maybe some of these things will start to happen: - Your offense will reach the fifth option because everyone on the floor will know his responsibilities and not be watered down trying to remember 100 plays. - Tracy McGrady will become a leader able to conduct your offense like Peyton Manning. - Yao will become a more dominant scorer instead of becoming more mechanical every game. - Your jump shooters will start shooting above 40 percent, taking the pressure off your two stars. - And finally, you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor like Phil Jackson did for nine championships while running one offensive set.
Excellent points....Ironically...this might be a team perfectly suited for a coach like Rudy T as opposed to Van Gundy.
Nice to hear from a former player's perspective. That's why Stromile looks lost and our other shooters sometimes hesitate to shoot.
I hope nobody bashes this guy or this article, he's on our side. I agree with what he's saying but IIRC Gundy seemed to loosen the reins last year as time went on, OR the players finally naturalized all the plays to where it was a habit and didnt have to think about it.
With all due respect, it sounds like he's describing more than just one game, but the eight games Tracy missed.
He basically answered the question why the Rockets games have become so unwatchable (at least this season) without TMac. The players are running these stupid sets mechanically and these sets don't work any way.
Exactly what I was thinking....another reason most of the non-local "coverage" of the team sucks. They see a whooping 1 game or so and that's where they make their judgement. he saw the suns game, and knew we were in a world of hurt with out tmac.
This was one of the better commentaries I've read, since EJ tries to address the Rockets' problems seriousy, rather than just saying something stupid like "Yao needs to get tough!" or "Van Gundy should stop playing grind it out ball!" I do think he's right that our team needs to relax and have a bit more fun, but I doubt that is going to improve our team. It only makes sense to relax when you have a team that already knows what it's doing (e.g. the Pistons). If you don't know what you're doing (the Rockets) you need to tighten up and learn the system. - Find five or six offensive sets and throw the rest away. This might be true. But do the Rockets really run that many plays? The vast majority of the time I see them try to feed Yao or run the pick and roll with T-Mac/Yao. I think the problem with our offense is that we don't get ENOUGH diversity. e.g. we almost never get slashing layups from our guards. - Allow Tracy McGrady to be your coach on the floor since you already want him to take most of the shots. This makes sense. - Find a shooter – whether it's Jon Barry, David Wesley, Derek Anderson or Luther Head – that can pass the ball into the post, which would allow Yao to operate with a spaced-out floor instead of having players cutting and moving around him. Yao is so tall it takes 10 seconds for the ball to come up to his hands again, so it's difficult for him to dribble in traffic. Plus it will allow these shooters to get better looks from the perimeter and improve their shooting percentages. This is exactly the strategy they have been trying the entire season. It's failed largely b/c no one has hit their shots, and we have had a ton of bad passes into the post. - Let Stromile Swift use his athletic ability by giving him some rope for mistakes. I thought that's what you signed him for, right? This is probably a good idea. I think we all want to see just how far Stro can go. Of course, we'll probably lose even more games along the way. - Your offense will reach the fifth option because everyone on the floor will know his responsibilities and not be watered down trying to remember 100 plays. Again, not sure I'm convinced we have that many plays. But with our current crappy play, I'll try anything. - Tracy McGrady will become a leader able to conduct your offense like Peyton Manning. We already do that, but he's been injured. - Yao will become a more dominant scorer instead of becoming more mechanical every game. Agreed. Yao's passing talents have become invisible the last couple of seasons. - Your jump shooters will start shooting above 40 percent, taking the pressure off your two stars. HOPEFULLY.
Was this because of the Clyde / Barkley feud? I wonder what was so sucky for Eddie. Was he benched? I have no recollection of him hating life as a Rocket at the end...
Eddie Johnson does commentary on the Suns' broadcasts. He's worse than Clyde. That's all I needed to know before I read the article.
I agree with EJ. Look at the overwhelming evidence offered by Van Gundy's former players: they all hate him! Oh wait ... Well, that point about everyone smiling and being happy, he was right on the money there. Look at the Bulls with MJ -- one big love fest. MJ was a delight to play with and put a smile on everyone's face with his glowing personality. Same thing goes for the Shaq+Kobe Lakers squad. I hear that Kobe loved the 'one play' Triangle offense too.
Nice article! Is he right? Well, I don't know. JVG's style seemed to work pretty well last year. Larry Brown and Rick Carlisle seem to have the same kind of style too, with success.
EJ makes great sense to me. He isn't saying JVG is a bad strategist or doesn't befriend players, but he has not managed the current situation well. It isn't hard to see. Guy needs to step back, get some perspective, and try something different with the team. Maybe he should read or re-read Phil J's books (I know some of you will love this suggestion).
Eddie Johnson writes as well as he used to shoot. I liked the article, and think it is a fair assessment of the Rocket's situation. TMac doesn't seem hesitant or confused, but other players do. Especially Ming, who so often seems mechanical. And Swift looks like he is always trying to solve a quadratic equation. I don't like the dour, sour, despondant demeanor. I wish JVG could lighten up. Rudy probably fits this team better personality-wise than the Francis team. Ironic.
JVG was the guy to reel in Francis and Mobley. Now that they are gone he's a hindrance on the present team because he's a control freak. Let these guys play their game and quit being a dictator.
