None of that happened. None of that matters. They lost both of those games, and went on to lose the series 4-1. An above-average coach would've found a way to win one or both of those games. "Clutch City" and all that.
Good post, IMO the definition of a good coach is someone that will beat you with his team one day and turn around and beat you with your team the next day. JVG obviously can't do this - in fact he's shipped out all but Yao and Taylor in the 1.5 years hes been here. He's trying to build the team around his coaching strengths not adapt his coaching strengths to the team. Phil Jackson, Larry Brown and Pat Riley are excellent examples of adapting their style of coaching around what they've been dealt - as all three drastically changed their strategy based around the players they had with Riley moving from Showtime to the rough NYK, PJ from no center to all-world center, and Brown to winning a Championship with a team that shouldn't have even been in the finals (not that a team shouldn't try to improve through trades, but the mass exodus that has occured here over the last two years is a bit extreme).
That is probably the big reason I was happy to see Jackson gone. In my opinion either he was given too much offensive freedom by JVG or he was taking it upon himself to shoot (What I think) was too many shots in a game. Too often it appeared that JJ had more attempts than Yao. And no offense to JJ, but there needed to be more of a precedence to give the ball to yao to shoot the high percentage shot.
So if Rudy was coaching, JJ would have made that three? And you never answered my question about Pop.. he only managed two wins. Is he not an above-average coach, since he couldn't beat a team that was "sleep walking" ? Has it ever occured to you that the roster last year was no where near being a title contender? Of course he shipped them out -- we could easilly have made the playoffs again with that roster, but we wouldn't ever be contenders. I'm not content having a first round exit every year, are you?
Yes he would have, the Coaches countenance and emotion is as important as a players ability. With Van Grumpy coaching, I almost turned off the rockets game when TMac scored that amazing 13 in a min. I think if some rockets players were at home watching, they probably would have done the same...
Couldn't motivate in 2 rounds? The Lakes blew us out 4-1, came back to steal the series from the Spurs, and well eventually lost it. But why would someone want Phil Jackson? He only won 6 championships with the Bulls, took the Lakers to the finals 3 out of 4 years, while winning 3 of them. Why would someone want a 9-time champion coach?
A championship-caliber head coach finds a way to win. Trying to dissect it to a single possession is futile. Popovich took has already proven he is a championship-caliber head coach. The same cannot be said of Van Gundy. Not having earned the benefit of the doubt, he performs like an average head coach, he IS an average head coach. Incidentally, I miswrote when I said the Lakers "sleepwalked through the first two rounds." It would be more accurate to say the Lakers "sleepwalked through the first seven games of the 2003-04 playoffs." They stopped coasting when they returned home down 0-2 in that Spurs series.
Actually, I was saying that based on edc saying the Lakers sleepwalked through the first two rounds, but thanks for reading. I simply disagree, but I don't think anything we'll say to each other is going to change one another's minds, so we'll leave it at that. So Rudy gets the credit for his team's miraculous shots and comebacks, but JVG doesn't get credit for Tmac's miracle. Sweet logic.
Who cares? I just care about Championships. If all I cared about was avoiding the lottery...I'd watch the Jazz.
On that note, here's a question for edc: Is Jerry Sloan a championship-caliber coach? Or just another above-average coach, as you have said JVG is?
He hasn't won a championship. If I had to compare, I'd say above average, better than Gundy (more 50-win seasons, better overall winning percentage). I don't want him coaching the Rockets.
He's a hall of fame lock, calling him just an above-average coach is an insult. As much as I hated the Jazz and the floppers, there's no denying how great of a coach he is.
edc has officially lost his mind. Calling Sloan an above average coach? His credibility is shot. Take some prozac edc.....or something.
Man screw Jerry Sloan and his flopping biatches. He has never won a championship and never will. Couldn't do it with two of the all time greats.
Him personally, no. But that doesn't have anything to do with his coaching abilities. He's in the top tier of coaches, championship or not. Your "not a championship caliber coach if he doesn't win a championship" is pretty silly. Sloan has done wonders with 0 talent after Malone bolted, not to mention after the passing of his wife. I may not like him because of his Jazz ties, but damned if I don't respect the guy.
