maybe to win the east, not to win the title. everyone noticed they were scoring more and defending less, but it still made them really good. except it had nothing to do with being soft but discontent within the team (especially wallace and saunders) and a sudden lack of caring. they basically became a different team overnight after game 2 against the cavs. the regular season + 1st round + first 2 games of the 2nd round pistons were the best in the east and maybe the league. the feuding, discontented pistons sucked. it certainly wasn't b/c the cavs were so tough that they almost lost to them. they kind of spontaneously imploded just like the lakers team they beat to win their title. they got to the finals last year basically doing the same thing they are this year, don't seem to have any internal conflicts, and are remarkably consistent. the only thing possibly making them look better than they are is that consistency, because it keeps them from throwing away almost any games and thus has them at only 9 losses, when they're probably closer to a 11 or 12 loss team based on talent, style, and coaching. either way, if they don't start fighting amongst themselves, only phoenix can really keep them from the finals (and they're the only team that can keep phoenix from the finals).
JVG does not deserve COTY until he figures out how to win without T-Mac... We are 2-5 with Yao and no Mac. 17-6 with T-Mac and no Yao. That speaks to the value of McGrady more than to the value of JVG. thats all fine and dandy, but i think that its easier to win in the regular season with a allstar guard than an allstar center...especially when that center doesnt have great perimeter weapons with tmac being out (in fact they are down right mediocrem at best, with out tmac in the mix at the guard position.). but that COTY criteria isnt realistic nor should it be an evaluator of the award. If a team doesnt have significant injuries then what?
Often COY awards go to coahes whose teams did suprising well despite some hardship rather than coaches of the best teams. Media love the "underdog overcoming hardship" angle. Sometimes it means that coaches of talented teams don't get enough credit-- people think he just rolls the ball out and let all his stars do the work.
You can't give JVG all of the credit for winning without Yao, and none of the blame for losing without T-Mac, who statistically was not playing nearly as well to start with anyways. Juwan Howard is hardly a post asset. Probably 80% of his points are spot-up jumpers assisted by McGrady. Just another reason he is so valuable. Juwan is available at PF even when Yao is in and McGrady is out, but he's not going to be as effective. Same thing goes for Battier. He gets maybe one of those little hook-shots per game over someone in the post. The rest is either a drive or a spot-up three. And there should really not be THAT much "building" needed for Yao. When you have the best center in the league (especially coupled with one of the best 3-pt shooting lineups), there is just no excuse for losing to the Blazers, Warriors, and Odomless Lakers (twice, even at home... and blowing a 20-pt lead). Obviously JVG doesn't deserve anywhere near all the blame. A lot of it goes on the players (including Yao), but still. JVG is a very good coach, but he calls some questionable timeouts, can't come out with a good play in the crunch (which is why we rely so heavily on McGrady in close games), and has iffy rotations. He does have incredible defense, and runs an offense that preaches patience and usually manages to come up with a decent shot. He does not deserve coach of the year. (Actually, earlier I said maybe he deserves it if he can win without Yao, but I would also say he deserves it if he devises a way to beat the Suns. )
^^^^ your logic is ridiculous. if we were to judge every coach like that then we wouldn't have an award.
but he calls some questionable timeouts, can't come out with a good play in the crunch (which is why we rely so heavily on McGrady in close games), and has iffy rotations. funny b/c i actually think his timeouts and the plays coming out of them are one of his strongsuits.
Please elaborate. Yes, he runs good plays out of timeouts, but my point was he doesn't have a go-to play (or any play) that works in the crunch against a solid team. It ends up being either a McGrady bail-out, or (*shudder*) an Alston chuck-up, assuming we can ever even get him the ball. Defenses change drastically in the last 60 seconds of a close game.
My other point about the timeouts was that he calls them too recklessly. You don't need a timeout after every 5-0 run your opponent has. Sorry for the double post.
These guys are actually a competent, average duo at center for the time they play and the role they play. No, neither one is great. Yes, Yao could abuse them both. Yes, Dampier is overpaid and used to have some ego issues. But now, and I will give Avery some credit for this, he seems to play hard and to his average abilities. He gets 25 minutes per night, makes 65% of the shots he throws up, grabs nearly 8 boards (could be a little better, maybe, but nearly half of those are offensive, which is great), blocks some shots, and keep TO's and PF's down. Diop comes off the bench as a bench player. Doesn't get a lot of minutes, but provides a lot more speed then Dampier and is a better rebounder and shot blocker in his limited minutes. Every team can get better at a bunch of positions. But Dallas has one great player, a few really good players and some average players who understand and play their roles well. Avery does a great job at the helm, no doubt, but they are stacked with a talented, well balanced, good sized, athletic roster. Few teams in the league can say that.
i already did in this thread. your main point seems to be he doesn't win as much without mcgrady so he can't get coach of the year? is that right? so basically the only candidate for coach of the year would be a team with a great record who has been without their best player for most of the season, because they've proven they can coach games and win without them. that's gonna be slim-pickings buddy. how about a coach who has gone without one of the leading early season mvp candidates and the best low presence in the game and still maintained a winning record?
You're misunderstanding me. At least partly. The fact that we CAN with with McGrady and no Yao, and we CAN'T win with Yao and no McGrady means that JVG is not the main factor here. Tracy McGrady is. That is why I was saying even though JVG is a good coach, Mac deserves MVP praise before Van Gundy gets COTY praise. But in addition to that, I DO fault JVG at least partly for our Macless struggles. I'm not pointing the finger straight at him, but he is certainly not free from blame. McGrady is a decision-maker who takes a lot of pressure off of JVG in that regard to come up with set plays and offensive schemes. Yao is not. And that is a void that your coach should be able to help you fill with McGrady out. I know he can't make up for the role of a top two swingman in the game, but seriously, like I said before, there is NO EXCUSE for losing to the Warriors, Blazers, and Lakers (twice), especially in such close games. Like I brought up in my last post, the plays that we had at the end of those posessions have made some of the worst defensive teams in the league (Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets...) look like the Spurs at the end of the game. And I put some of the blame for that on JVG. I'm just saying he has shown enough weaknesses for him not to be COTY. You have to give it to the guy who has done the absolute best job coaching that season. And IMO, it's not JVG. I'd probably have to say Avery, too, as much as I hate the Mavepricks.
Have to go with Sloan. Last night in Portland, even without Williams and Boozer, Jazz ran his system. Stupid turnovers, forced shots by "veterans" Harpring and Fisher lost the game. To JVG's credit, he has given TMac enough room to get his groove back, yet still maintained order.
Hard to tell if it should go to Avery, Sloan, or JVG. Avery for the Mavericks amazing record and being even better. Sloan for surprising us all with Utah as the 4th Seed and winning through some injuries. JVG for winning without Yao I think it's to close/early to call.
Avery is doing well, but as already mentioned, hasn't had any significant injuries. He also has a team loaded with talent. Sloan has done a good job and I agree with an earlier post that if the jazz finish with a better record he should get it. JVG has done an outstanding job. The moment that sticks out for me is right after Yao went down and Van Gundy said the team isn't going to feel sorry for themselves and should not expect to lose. I think at that moment he sealed what we have done. I know Mac has been instrumental in our success and Shane's impact can't be measured, but that press conference sticks out to me for this season. I feel like if Mac doesn't ghet MVP then JVG should at least get COY. I don't see it happening though as we get no recognition from the media.
