Houston Goes with Plan B By Chris Palmer ESPN The Magazine (Insider) Don't you just hate it when reality gets in the way of a good plan? After Houston gutted its starting backcourt for Tracy McGrady, Jeff Van Gundy's plan was to pound the ball into Yao and let T-Mac knock down open jumpers en route to a championship. So far, no good. Despite the presence of the two-time scoring champ and the West's best center, the Rockets rank 25th in the league in offense, approaching the season's midpoint. They've also turned the ball over more than their opponents while collecting fewer assists, rebounds and steals. But get this: things are looking up. The team's disappointing start prompted multiple starting lineups and whispers that Jeff Van Gundy might not be the right coach for the job. The jury's out on whether he's the right coach, but it's clear he had the wrong plan. In their first 18 games, the Rockets went 7-11 and averaged an anemic 87.3 ppg. McGrady's scoring was down to 21.8, his lowest average since Toronto, and Yao was at 17.7. By then, JVG had seen enough. He dumped his ultraconservative, Yao-first offense for a run-first one. And it worked. In the 18 games after the flip-flop, the team went 12-6, averaging 97.9 per outing. McGrady poured in 27.3 ppg in that span, and Yao's scoring was up as well (19.2). The improvement coincides with a new starting lineup that features three guards: McGrady, Bob Sura and David Wesley, who was acquired for Jim Jackson and Bostjan Nachbar in a December trade. In many ways the coach's change of heart validates Steve Francis' complaints. Franchise, you'll recall, was shipped out in the McGrady trade because he wanted to run while Van Gundy wanted Yao to be the go-to guy. But Yao still doesn't establish himself quickly enough in the paint, and waiting for him to do so eats up the shot clock. The big guy's also more likely to commit a turnover (3.0 per game) than to dish (0.8). Changing horses has eased pressure on Yao and gotten more people involved quicker. It's a sign of things to come. "We're still getting to know each other," McGrady says. "And Yao is still learning things like the pick-and-roll. When those things come, that'll help our chemistry and our overall flow on the court." "Running is who we are," Van Gundy now jokes. "That's my system." This article appears in the Jan. 31 issue of ESPN The Magazine. ___________________________________________________ EDIT: Nothing really new here. Insider is such a sham.
I got my mag the other day and was reading that. Guess it takes some people a bit longer to see that they were wrong... I wonder what Steve thinks about that.
The thing with SF3 is that he was terrible running the fast break with us last year. Even in a 3 on 1 fast break, he could easily screw it up and turn the ball over.
Not trying to start an argument, but how does that explain Orlando's #1 ranking in fast break points?
Stevie couldnt run the break. He says he likes to run, what he meant actually is put the ball in his hands let him run all over the court. Sura has this tendcy too. Both of them are two guards.
Grant Hill & Jameer Nelson bringing the ball up and throwing to Steve slashing to the basket, instead of the other way around.
Lots of factors, off the top of my head They don't play defense They often cherrypick They have Grant Hill
Plan B can get you to playoff. What about go with Plan C which will get Rox even deeper into the post season.
This article makes no sense because: 1. The schedule in the first month was much harder than the second. 2. the chemistry was much better later than early in the season, and the players know each other much better. 3. In the first a few games, we have more injured players including TMac, Yao, Sura. Overall, I don't think it is a fair comparison between these two plans, while the truth is this team gets better and better.
It doesn't really validate it. McGrady's offensive talent is on another level. In terms of pure scoring, he is fully capable of being a 28-30 ppg scorer or more, as he was in Orlando, and as he has been since December here. Francis at his best is a 19-22 ppg scorer. He's good. But in terms of pure scoring between Francis and McGrady is about the same as the difference in scoring of Jamaal Tinsley or Mike Bibby and Francis. All are good offensive players, but each one is on a different notch. If anything, all it says is McGrady is talented enough to justify not focusing on Yao.
man... i can't read all of this so I'm sorry if someone already said this... but all I remember is JVG on the sideline swinging his arms wildly yelling "run! Bring it up!" and watching Stevie slowly bring the ball up. And sometimes dribble it off of his foot. Watching Sura and Andre bring it up is refreshing... (I mean, when Barrett isn't having trouble handling the pressure... he's still a kid playing a man's game right now)
I think part of the change is personnel and part of the change is the league. Let's face it, this league has decided to be more athletic and run up and down the floor to negate the lack of overall size on most teams. The Rockets can either adapt or fall behind.
We've been over this a hundred times. Van Gundy didn't want them running the break. He wanted them racing up the floor and setting up the half court play, with 20 passes and 40 picks. He just wanted them to hustle the ball over half court so he could get in more picks and passes. Van Gundy has made a noticeable change this year when he turned TMac loose to jack up shots. He would have yanked Francis for those exact same shots last year. This is not to start an argument about who is better, Francis or TMac. It is obvious that TMac is the better player. But this team would have been better than they were last year if he had turned Steve loose to do his thing. Since Van Gundy has changed in this fashion, the team has played distinctively better.
I disagree with turning steve loose. He dribbles way too much before he takes a shot or goes to the basket. T-mac usually makes a decisive choice. Either drive to the basket or shoot it. Though he takes more outside shots than I'd like he still doesn't play with the ball as much as stevie did. Plus stevie had a hard time catching and shooting which Mcgrady seems to excel at.
Exactly. Francis has to dribble between his legs before he shoots to be the Franchise.T-mac doesn't dribble that much, unless its for a last second shot or is going to drive. I never seen t-mac dribble dribble dribble dribble to get trapped on the sideline having to call a time out or dribble off his foot or throw a wild pass out of a double team. T-mac said scrw all of that mess i'll just jack up a shot, and it has a 40% chance of going in without sacrificing a TO or seconds on the clock of leather assault on the hardwood.
