Rudy T. went into both of those championship series with the underdog team and won both. That has to count for a lot in my book. Quinn Buckner and Tim Floyed had some of the least talented teams in history but we don't downgrade (nor should we) Phil Jackson or Pat Riley by claiming they had more success only because they had better talent. Of course they had better talent but they new what to do with it. And Rudy T new what to do with his talent.
I completely agree. Rudy knew how to use Hakeem with the roster he had, and he got two championships out of it. But that was a different roster than what he had post-Hakeem, and he didn't do much with the new roster but overpay role players. I'm willing to give JVG more than 1 year, especially considering he took us to the playoffs last year for the first time in a while. The Rockets started off slowly and have struggled with this roster, but if you remember the 94-95 championship were a fourth seed, with 47 wins. I'll let JVG take this team to the playoffs, and the next -- as long as we improve from year to year, that's all that matters. You don't just jump into an NBA championship.
Your off your rocker if you think the magic are in better shape than the Rockets, especially considering the recent success or lack of, of both teams. Your Francis-lover glasses must be a little foggy. The magic are 2-8 in their last 10 games The Rockets are 7-3 in their last 10. Of course the Magic are going to improve their record. You don't get much worst than last year. And they added Grant Hill, Hedo, and Dwight Howard to the mix, along with 3 starters from Houston. Using that logic to say the Magic are better off than the Rockets, because of JVG (don't know WHERE that came from) is simply idiotic.
Magic last 10 opponents: 177 combined victories to date. Rockets last 10 opponents: 102 combined victories to date.
Are you Francis? That's the same mentality he takes for games like that, maybe that's why they're 2-8.
Do you have a problem in pointing out that in the last ten games, the Rockets have beaten (for the most part) bad teams, and the Magic have lost to (again, for the most part) good teams.
A win is a win, period. It doesn't matter who you play in a 10 game stretch. Whether you beat the Timberwolves or the Bobcats, it's a win. 2-8? This board would be 20x calling for JVG's head. The Magic were supposed to be the favorite of the east in the beginning of the season, remember? The bottom line is the Magic are fading and the Rockets are rising.
Nonsense. True, every team is in the NBA, and every win or loss counts the same in the standings, but 5-0 against the Spurs is much more of an accomplishment than 5-0 against the Bobcats.
the magics slide only started this past week, after they had upset San Antonio on Dec 22... Subsequent to which, they promptly loss their next 4 games, AT HOME to New York and Milwaukee and then on the road to the BULLS and RAPTORS. Needless to say, the Knicks, Bucks, Bulls and Raptors are closer to the Raptors than the Spurs.
No one is saying the Magic are better read my post again. The Rockets are definitely better the Magic, talent wise. They should have a better record. But they don't and that is the fault of none other than our egocentric leader, Jeff Van Hitler.
And you can read mine. Of course the Magic are better, you can't get any worst than the start they had last year. You say they do this all without their best player -- and yet you give no credit to the addition of 5 new starters. Basing teams record this year versus last, before it's said and done, is silly. Teams change from year to year, conferences get harder and easier - it all just depends. The Magic are not in better shape than the Rockets -- McGrady will win a championship before Francis does. To blame this start on JVG is also pretty dumb -- this year has proved all the myths wrong (He's never had a 20 pt avg scorer, he will ruin Tmac's offense, etc) All of it, proven wrong. PS: the truth will set you free
This is clutchfans.net. You're un-clutch. You are choking in the clutch. You're Nick Anderson at the freethrow line. You are the anti- Elie.
I'm hard pressed to look at the two lineups on paper and say that I'd take the Rockets current roster over the Magic's current roster if i'm just analyzing talent on paper.
Who's polls where you reading. The Magic where consensus lottery picks by most magazines. The fact that they are anywhere close to .500 is a tribute to Francis and company. On the other end the Rockets where predicted to be contenders for a championship the fact that they are struggling around .500 is a major negative to Jeffie Van EGO's coaching.
Van Gundy fans are not allowed to mention Mario. JVG spit in Mario's face when the issue of hiring him for an assistant's gig came up.
a lot of longhorn "fans" hated Mack Brown, even though he improved the talent on the team and they won more games. They, like the JVG haters, simply hated the coach and artifically raised the standards for the team to support their hate. They even started a website called "firemackbrown.com" (very funny one too) and it ran for several years. but... Mack got into the top 5, got the BCS win and the "fans" took down the website, saying that while he still hadn't beaten OK, they felt he had earned the right not to have the site up anymore. now, I am not a JVGOF - but I think he gets a lot of bad rap just because of his style and personnality (of course I have been told that I have an East Coast manner myself - even though I am a native Texan - so maybe understand it better). I mean the guy is funny if you listen to him instead of reading the quotes and blindly hating ("we have the only European player that can't shoot" - classic!!) anwyay, back to Mack - I wonder if all you JVG-haters (and we know that more than half of you fall into this category) will post retractions and admit you misjudged him - IF, in 2-3 years, we are in the conference or NBA Finals (like the FMB site) ... or will you just pretend that you never said anything about him and wait to hate some more. PS - calling someone Hitler is over the line even for an Internet board. Some of us pay money to this site, and we don't want to read that garbage. GO to the ESPN free boards if you want to slander someone like that
