LOL, someone needs to bookmark all these threads and repost them in Jan/Feb...I can see it now "I'll never doubt JVG again!", " Our team rocks!", "I'm back on the bandwagon!"....same ol', same ol'.
To win championships in the NBA, you need a strong coach who implements a system the players buy in to. The past 15 championships have been won by Pop (3), LB (1), PJ (9) & Rudy (2). We all know about Pop & LB, but PJ shoved the weird triangle down the Lakers & Bulls throats until they mastered it and Rudy was a hard-nosed system guy (on offense and defense) when we won our championships. [Granted, there was a LOT of improvising in 1995 after trading for Clyde]. I'm not defending JVG. That isn't possible with our team so messed up. But if he's gone, we need a strong coach to come in here, bond with Tracy and Yao, solidify the lockerroom and implement a system that maximizes the ability of the players we have.
i think is what we need to do... please tell me if you like the idea 1) sometime during the game, let yao play center, dikeme play pf, swift play sf, tmac sg, head pg... this way our defensive pressure inside the paint is almost unstoppable, tmac at sg will put a stop on defense, swift is gonna be blockin on the outside so the only way the other teams sf can score is if he fakes swift and comes in which then yao or mutumbo will be therefore, and head just has to control the pg... not only do we have great defense for about 7-8 minutes to put a stop, but we can make a run with a great offensive lineup, mcgrady, head, and yao can score, dikemebe will rebound, and swift with rebound too and every now and then dunk i am frustrated with the rockets too... but hopefully we will go 4-1 the next five
The Triangle isn't weird. It's perfectly sensible. How frickin' hard is it to understand 3 guys form a triangle? PJ and Rudy weren't particularly hard-nosed with their stars - the role players had to learn and understand their roles. They were smart enough to play to their stars' strengths. TMac and Yao don't need a hard ass coach. Steve Francis might. AI might, but even he is playing well, now, a little older and wiser, without LB barking at him. Tmac and Yao need a coach to go with what they do well. They're not grinders. They have fluid, beautiful finesse talents. Give them a guy that can teach the role players to feed their strengths. They don't need a guy to change them.
T-mac loves JVG... and why shouldn't he. Before he played for him, he was labeled as no-defense, all flash, no substance, shoots all the time, doesn't play smart, doesn't trust his teammates, not a complete player. T-Mac has already said that he credits EVERYTHING to him, and he's never played for a better coach, nor does he want to play for another coach. The only way JVG gets fired is if T-mac demands it... and I don't want to fathom what this team would be like if T-mac was unahppy or we got a coach that he didn't trust.
IMHO this is the greatest thread ever posted!! VG is a joke. This is suppose to be professional sports, which are suppose to be entertainment. Scoring 75 points in a PRO ball game is not entertaining. Watching us burn a shot clock is not entertaining. Watching VG pace the sidelines and pull out his hair is not entertaining. This is an honest joke. I dont care if we suck, bc we already do, but score some freaking points and atleast make it interesting. Start Stro, take some chances, let the players play!! how much longer do we have to watch this garbage??? If you want to be entertained, if you want to be competitive get rid of VG. IM SICK OF THIS GARBAGE!! BORING!
Say what you want about Memphis having a great night from behind the arc, but Stoudemire hitting from long-range has very little to do with putting up 50 points in three quarters. I believed from day one that JVG has all the plays and defensive schemes to take our team far, but he lacks the personality it's going to take to fire up our players and get them to play with heart. Some say it's not the coaches job to motivate players since they should be self-motivated, but I'd have to disagree. If you've ever played a sport and had a coach, you'd know that sometimes the coach that can get you to play with all your heart and energy is much more valuable than the coach who "knows the game in an out" and makes all the correct calls, yet lacks the charisma and drive to motivate you. Many times it's the heart and effort that takes you all the way and makes up for a lack of knowledge and technicality. I believe we have the players to win a championship (and so did a lot of analysts and former players). I also believe JVG doesn't have what it's going to take to get us there. I hope I'm wrong, and will be the first one in line for a crow-sandwich if JVG takes us there, but it's looking like the odds are in my favor.
On the triangle: Obviously it's more than just 3 guys forming a triangle. You have to run an offense from it. Just ask Laker fans why nobody but Kobe seems to understand it. I would also ask why no other team in the NBA runs it. You misunderstood my comments. When PJ came to the Lakers, both Shaq and Kobe were wide open to doing anything he said. That's why they turned it around and won championships. I also said our (potential) new coach needed to bond with our stars not ride them harder. My primary point was a system was in place with Rudy and PJ and the players followed it to a "T" (though Kobe was known to free lance too much sometimes). Again, we need a system that plays to the strengths of Tracy and Yao. JVG's doesn't do that. It's gotta be more than 1. Tracy can shoot anytime he wants & 2. Yao, set the high pick 30 ft from the rim, roll to the basket and don't even look for the ball. I listed my offensive "theory" for this team in another thread. I'll keep it short here On the defensive side, we have problems too.
Anyone who says it's not the job of the coach to motivate players doesn't know what they are talking about.
I don't see enough talent to make the playoffs. I see old, slow, and dim-witted. Besides TMac, Ming, and, maybe, Head, the talent level falls off markedly. This team is worse off talent-wise than they were last year, and that was the main problem. Now less talent and less chemistry.
Yes, and Yao Ming and Steve Francis said the Rockets needed Rudy Tomjanovich, and that they didn't want another coach. Winning is what drives Tracy McGrady. If the Rockets fail to make the playoffs, or go out in the first round, housecleaning will begin with Mr. Van Gundy.
After 2 years of taking this team to the playoffs and in a 3 year stint.....right. It would be a major dissapointment if this team didn't make it to the playoffs but I think they will make it. How could you fire a coach that took the team to the playoffs after a long absence after one bad year (that is if this year continues to way it has). I'm sorry but I just don't see the logic
(1) This is the NBA, not MLB. "Getting to the playoffs" with a team capable of 45-regular season wins (which Mr. Van Gundy was given) is barely an accomplishment. More than half the league gets there every single season. (2) Even in MLB, the Astros fired a manager that repeatedly could not get them past the first round. (3) Mr. Van Gundy's contract runs two years beyond this one (should've been one). You don't take a head coach into a "lame duck" season. If the Rockets fail to make the playoffs, or lose in the first round, do you really think they will make the WCF next season? If not, you bite the bullet, and move on.
You know, a couple weeks ago, when I saw "fire gundy" and "trade yao" threads, I thought it was pretty hilarious. Now I am half way to the "Fire Gundy" bandwagon. I didn't like JVG when he first came. I thought he made Francis worse, not better. But I blamed most of it on Francis and wanted to give JVG a chance. Then we got Tmac. And after a bad start, we took off. He got my respect then until the playoffs. This offseason got me so excited as many other people. Then came the bad start and all the injuries. I was patient with JVG because of Tmac's absense. But after yesterday's game and after Doc Rocket's "disclosure" about JVG's trading intension, I started to lose faith. People used to blame Rudy for his personnel decisions. They said, "Rudy is a good coach. But he doesn't know what players fit together." Now after 2 years, after having Tmac falling on his lap, after pretty much picking every player he wants on the team, JVG has no more excuse for not having "his type" of players. This team is HIS team, and he is blaming them for losing? I can take that Tmac's absense affected a great deal of our offense. But the defense sucks too. JVG's teams are supposed to be great defensive teams. But we lost a few games simply because we couldn't close out defensively at the end. We should be playing good defense even without Tmac.And now Tmac is back. And how can you just score 26 points in a half when you have Tmac and Yao on your team? I am not saying "fire gundy" yet. But I am beginning to lose faith.
Woah Woah Woah.... Since when was Van Gundy blaming them for losing? If anything, Van Gundy has always included himself in the faults of the team
