The real, and the only, question is can Jeff van Gundy build a championship team around Yao Ming. IMO, apparently not. He is no closer than three years ago, and for that reason alone he deserves to go. If anything we are further behind at this time than when he started 3 years ago. That's it, that's all of it.
So if a a team gets blown out on the opposing teams home floor...its ALWAYS the coach's fault???? The head coach shouldn't have to say a word in a game 7. The players already know what's at stake. They just didn't execute. Blowouts happen in elimination games in every sport. Also since you're using that kind of logic...Phil Jackson and the Lakers were swept by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals...now..in all intents and purposes....that's an even BIGGER blowout than what you're talking about. I'd rather lose a hard fought series in 7 than get swept. By your logic...Phil Jackson, the head coach, FAILED to do his job and should have been sent packing, never to be seen again. I watched ESPN quite a bit before the season started and a number of the pundits and analysts predicted the Lakers would indeed make the playoffs.
Lol! Since when did ESPN become the benchmark of sports analysis!?! They have trash for analysts working there.
Sorry, no. "Blowouts" may periodically happen in elimination games, but there is only one BIGGEST POINT DIFFERENTIAL IN A GAME SEVEN. That badge of honour is firmly pinned on Mr. Van Gundy's forehead. Additionally, NBA teams don't generally lose a series they led 2-0 with three home games remaining.
Ummm Yao Ming is just now starting to realize that he can dominate this game if he wants to. Yao was still learning how to play basketball on this side of the ocean. Jeff Van Gundy inherited this team from Rudy T. Wasting the Eddie Griffin pick the way we did probably set this franchise back at least 2 years. You just don't build championship teams overnight. You simply have to throw this season out and disregard it with all the injuries, as the record is not really a true barometer of where this team is talentwise with T-Mac and Yao both healthy at the same time. That being said...we should be able to get a difference maker with this pick coming up....let's all hope we draft the right guy, whoever it is.
The world doesn't operate in polar opposites. Give you level of expertise, I'm sure it's obvious last year's loss wasn't a chemistry issue. Nor was it players inability to perform. It should be blatant that JVG was simply out-coached. In response to the Seven-game blow between the Lakers and Pistons, the Lakers had a slew of baggage throughout the playoffs. And PJackson getting out-coached by Larry Brown every step of the way didn't help either.
Its 1 freaking game!!!! Forget the damn point differential...the 4th qtr was garbage time anyway. Geez...so Phil Jackson gets absolutely no accountability when the Lakers (w/Shaq, Kobe, Malone, Payton) get swept in the Finals in 4 games, but Van Gundy gets ALL the blame and then some when his team loses in 7 games.
Getting blown out in game 7 has nothing to do with the players performance??? That's a new one. Phil Jackson getting out-coached????? NEVER!!! I thought he could do no wrong....By the way...that series didn't go 7 games. It ended in 4.
Not to digress too much, but the Lakers got blown out in all 5 contests. It's just that Kobe took over the game in the 4th quarter of Game 2 and stole a win in the Staples Center with an impressively clutch shot.
I appreciate the slack you are cutting JVG, but the fact remains that the support cast that JVG has put around Yao is not up to championship ball, or even playoff ball. I have to think that the Sun franchise lost more overall than the Rox did and were still able to put a better than representative product before the fans. Van Gundy and company have 'produced' nothing in 3 years and the pro-JVG faction on this forum just continues to ignore that fact. If TMac can't carry the weight of his salary, which prevents the Rox from getting the good players they need, then some other arrangement needs to be made, period. That's the other excuse that the Apologists on this forum makes, 'cap issues'. That is mangement's problem to solve, not just wring their hands and tell they can't do anything to help.
Great post, krocket! The Rockets had a chance to become a premier contender when they got T-Mac if they were patient to accumulate the right pieces. But the "win now" philosophy has put the Rockets into the corner with Yao + T-Mac + 13 bench players and with little room to maneuver. These problems all go back to the management - LE$$, CD & JVG. God bless Yao & T-Mac for their championship dream!
This thread is like a bad case of herpes.....just when you think its all gone it comes back again... All the talk about cast of characters needing to improve is true.....but I have yet to read a post in this thread that offers any ideas as to who they could have gone after. Who could they have realistically signed in free agency? Who could we realistically traded for? Shoot we were lucky to be able to dump all the albatrose contracts left over from the Rudy T era ove the past year or two. What you are seeing today is the legacy that Rudy left behind due to knee jerk contracts and bad draft picks year after year. And as painful as it is to take, it won't get fixed overnight. Last offseason was good intentions with getting Stro and DA but DA can't play anymore and Stro needs to get some heart. This offseason I suspect will be just as active in trying to find those right pieces of the puzzle. Its clearly not as easy as some of you would like to believe. Phoenix is great because of one thing "Steve Nash -MVP". Put those guys on any other team with out him and they don't do as well. He sets them up perfectly on most nights. I think the biggest problem right now is missing T-Mac to remove the pressure in crunch time. What I see happening is when we get behind as in the Lakers game the guys don't go into Yao if he is not immediately open andthen panic sinks in and we jack up ill advised shots and often miss.
Let's see what this T-Mac quote stands for: 1. T-Mac played in high school, so it's some high school coaches. 2. T-Mac played in Toronto. His coach was a brother that got fired and I forgot his name. 3. T-Mac played in Orlando. His coach was a brother named Doc River who won COY. So, T-Mac was saying JVG is better than Doc River. BIG DEAL!!!
