F.D. Khan, you beat me to it. And I feel so adamant about it that I must expound: How many times was Hakeem double-teamed before he got the ball? How many times did Hakeem have a defender behind him AND in front of him before he could even touch the ball? How well do you think Yao would perform if we had the illegal-defense rules back? (take a moment to imagine this one. Imagine that Yao could only be single-defened without the ball. And when he got the ball, defenders couldn't lurk in the passing lanes to steal his outbound pass. Imagine how Yao would peform in that scenario). Hell, Kareem played in the days when it was illegal to double-team! You wanna compare Hakeem or Yao to that? You can't. It's a completely different game. Goddamm!t, this stuff makes me mad. I swear, I wish that our curent team could just play ONE GAME with the old rules so people could see what Yao can do. I get really sick of people trying to compare Yao to Hakeem. And in this case, EJ even goes so far as to say that "Yao Ming is regressing". Pure and complete fodder. Anybody who agrees with this has not watched Yao Ming play every year for the past three years. I'm very disappointed with EJ's narrow vision on this. He doesn't know what it's like to play in today's game, so he should just STFU.
That's going a bit far. I think he makes some valid points, but he was a masterful shooter, and this article is far from masterful writing. I like the content, but I'm not particularly impressed by his writing style. That said, it bums me out to see he didn't have fun as a Rocket. I loved him as a Rocket. I'll never forget the chants of "EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!"
I would argue that Van Gundy did a good job in coaching a team that was without one of the top 3 players (which I would call being "burdened with a serious problem") in the game to the point where they had a chance to win nearly every game during the losing streak in the 4th quarter. It's not like we only lost to the Hornets of the NBA. We had what I can only imagine was the toughest five game stretch of the season when we had San Antonio, Detroit, Indiana, Dallas and Phoenix in a row-the last two the first of two back-to-backs in five days. Anyone making negative judgments on this team and how good they will be later in the season based on our current record are setting themselves up to taste some feet later on down the road.
Posting on this board assumes some measure of hyperbole, we are all writing in an atmosphere of exageration, but I did like his writing style. I wouldn't call it "masterful," but the article was well written.
Though you can question EJ's knowledge of the situation based on sample size, but I'd find it hard to argue with his a lot of what he said. I like JVG and think he is a great coach, but it does look like a lot of times like the team is over-thinking and not having any fun trying to 'fit' into the mold he has set. Of course, it looked the same last season and quickly changed to the fun-loving, hand-signalling roster with loads of chemistry by the playoffs. So, it can change once they start playing better and winning a lot of games. I think back though, and remember JVG came here to coach a young, semi-under achieving, undisciplined group of guys. The team NEEDED a guy like him to come in and tighten things up after Rudy, who was the ultimate veteran's/player's coach. He quickly molded this roster into a veteran team who's only goal is to compete for a championship. So, he really has created a team that could very well respond and play better under a guy like Rudy, rather than a disciplinarian. Sure, they all raved about him last year, but I would think (as a veteran) the grumpy, "my way or the highway" routine would get old quick. Again, I'm not bashing JVG. I think he is a championship-calibur coach who very well could bring home one or more banners to town. But, I can easily see what EJ is talking about and see how maybe he has created a team that does not fit him well as a coach.
to sincere doubt whether the rockets will make the playoffs is stupid. and hence eddie johnson is stupid. barring tmac missing half the season...we will make the playoffs.
RUDY T's best play calls: 1. Dream Shake 2. Dream baseline fadeway 3. Pick and Roll with Kenny and Otis Thorpe 4. Maxwell hoisting up 3s 5. Sam Cassell drive to the lane 6. Barkley backing it in 7. Horry 4th quarter plays 8. Otis Thorpe Outlet pass 9. Mario Elie shoots 3s 10. Carl Herrera hook shot RUDY T's worst play calls: 1. ISO Cuttino 2. ISO Steve 3. Any play for Mo Taylor
Probably his final season here (the Pippen/lockout year). I believe he spent most of the (half-)season buried on the injured list.
EJ is wrong about the players being "happy" As I recall, last season's team was very, very happy playing together. Didn't JVG say that he almost felt that the team was TOO happy and friendly with each other? Sounds to me like Eddie is completely wrong about the team being unahppy. Or, gee.. hhmm... lemme think... how many other teams play like they are gleefully happy when they go on a 7-game losing streak? EJ is wrong about Yao Ming "regressing" Well, you could look at his numbers from over the past three years and see that he's improving in every area imagineable. But numbers don't tell everything. Just look at his game today. Ask yourself, "Is he playing better than last year." Then think about last year. ask yourself, "Did he play better than his second year?". Anybody who has watched Yao play over the last few years knows that he is improving every year. EJ is wrong in trying to compare JVG/McGrady to Dungy/Manning WTF?!?!? The reason we have a huge playbook is to (hopefully) be able to adjust our offense as needed to the various types of defenses out there, and vice versa. Again, the old days of "throw the ball into Dream" are over, Eddie. If it was that simple, AI and the Sixers would be king of the hill right now. Where have you been? - Find five or six offensive sets and throw the rest away. ..along with our chances of winning a championship. What happens when other teams dissect and destroy our six offensive sets? - Allow Tracy McGrady to be your coach on the floor since you already want him to take most of the shots. Allowing players to be the coach is a bad, bad idea. Look at Kobe/Lakers. - Find a shooter 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. We've tried to do that with Rafer Alston. Unfortunately, he's injured. Also, it's not as simple as just passing it in to Yao. Our guards haven't been getting their shots to fall, and defenses will shut down Yao and clog the lane as long as our backcourt doesn't make them pay for it. And it's hard to space the floor as much as in the old days. Zone defense is legal now. Players can lurk in the passing lanes. Welcome to the new millenium. - Let Stromile Swift use his athletic ability by giving him some rope for mistakes. I thought that's what you signed him for, right? Swift won't be able to be completely fill in his proper role until McGrady is back, and JVG knows this. In T-Mac's absence JVG has just been trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to find whatever rotation will get a win. - Oh, and yeah, please sit down sometimes. Players feel calm when they know the coach is calm. Does this really make any difference on how our team plays? Sheesh, Eddie sounds clueless.
Excellent points.. The best one is.. - Oh, and yeah, please sit down sometimes. Players feel calm when they know the coach is calm.
i dont usually post, but im inclined to now. im not a basketball expert, but how does eddie johnson know how big a playbook the rockets have or how much of it has been installed? when we were to the wire in so many of those games, were we saying it was the playbook holding them back? who is being held back? wesley? barry? head? howard? yao? swift? anderson? we say it as if we are a balanced team. we arent. we are mcgrady and yao and a bunch of older role players. and then i read that "this is the team van gundy wanted". if memory serves me correctly, when he came aboard our roster was seriously flawed and overpaid. the first summer they lost posey without compensation. then eddie griffin blew up and they lost him for nothing. nachbar was traded with jackson for wesley. mcgrady came with lue gaines and howard for francis, mobley and cato. james came for gaines. barry came for lue. taylor was traded for norris and baker. alston came for james and has been hurt. mutumbo came for piatkowski and wilks. so how is the roster his fault? yeah they signed ward and sura and they both are hurt, but is that completely his fault? im puzzled, we act as if injuries have nothing to do with the game. mcgrady was out, alston was out, sura is out, barry is out now, wesley coming off surgery, anderson coming off not playing very much the last two years. should or could they have won a couple...i dont know. but this idea that our problem is a thick playbook or not enough freedom, or thats the roster that jvg wanted...far too simplistic and overlooks that this is a players league and our perimeter players are hurt.
Yao Ming has learned how to play in the NBA. He has gained experience. In other words, much like his current head coach, he is a servicable if uninspiring NBA Center. When he entered the league, he was creative, occasionally showed stunning footwork, and was fun to watch. That potential has been lost to a guy who can make it work because of his sheer size, but is (to quote EJ) "mechanical and hesitant." Patrick Ewing should probably take more of the blame, but Mr. Van Gundy's offense (the same one Ewing played under) is also responsible.
Mr. Van Gundy has brought in every single player except Yao Ming. To the extent that any coach/GM can hand choose their players he has done so. Mr. Van Gundy always picks "older role players." That is his style.
EJ is out of touch. I know of at least 4 guys (Deke, T-Mac, Sura and Barry) who have gone on record saying that JVG is the best coach they've had. Look at how much fun the team was having last year when we were WINNING. Remember how much fun our bench had during the game? I don't expect them to act the same when we are losing. I suspect EJ won't see all the sour puss faces when we get on a winning streak.
You'all do remember when we weren't running plays right? The Team has made clear improvements over the last seven years. Most of them due to Van Gundy. We had exciting players in the past, and the offense was even worse, even uglier than this.
