Have you been sniffing glue again, edc? If you think Les wanted to let Rudy go(not fire him), you really are more ignorant than you let on. Wow Clutch, I thought even you would give them 2 months to tweak the engine on this team. There are few coaches that could pull of what we've done so far this season. JVG has proven to be one of them. CD deserves a mountain of credit too for the moves he's pulled off.
(1) I have never sniffed glue, but you seem to be familar with hallucinogenic substances. (2) If you honestly believe Le$ didn't fire RT, then you should seek counseling about problems with those substances mentioned in (1). There cannot be any doubt Le$ did the deed, and the final decision was entirely his and his alone. (3) Neither of these points are relevant to JVG and his continued employment (or not) come May/June.
I'm not sure about that. I think defensively you very well could be correct, but under Rudy, the offensive ball rotation was a thing of beauty. I think what made the championship Rockets so good on defense was simply Hakeem. You really didn't have to coach much defense other than "well, try to stop him if you can, if not, just don't foul, let Hakeem get him." And before all the heartbroken Rudy people have a fit, I'm not saying that's the way Rudy coached.
I said it when a lot of people here wanted Rudy's head. Now I want to say it again concerning JVG: It's the players, stupid!
This thread needs a re-grooving. It ain't happenin this year or next, and that has been my position since the get go here. No way Les would let go of JVG now, of course. And to question the sincerity of the statements that have come from T Mac and the others about coach in the last two weeks is just blind prejudice against the guy. The players have CLEARLY lined up behind him, and TOTALLY bought the system. That is, in effect just what TMac said this very weekend. And Mike Jackson said pretty much the same thing today as well. As I saw, and I'm sure most knowledgable hoops watchers knew, MJ would be a "killer" off the bench, instant offense. This is exactly what's happening, GO Rockets ! This team has images of crowds standing outside sports bars trying to get in 2 hours before game time during the playoffs written all over it. Remember those weeks "iback n the day"? Was there ever a better time to be young, alive, living in H town and Rockets crazy ? Here they come again, like a Dragon rising up from the ashes of it's own demise, to blaze across the sky. "Never underestimate the heart of a champion".
Van Gundy is a great coach...look what he did with the knicks without Ewing in the playoffs - how often does an 8th seed make it to the NBA Finals? Fire Van Gundy? You gotta be crazy. This team went from underacheiving to title contender. Retire this thread.
"Underachieving" = 51 or fewer wins, and a loss in the first round or early in the second. We will see in May whether they are "title contenders" or "underachievers."
But not all otherwise they wouldn't have been underachieving last year. The players have quite a bit to do with it.
Underachieving? My how you raise expectations fast. Last year you pretty much guaranteed that they would win fewer than the previous year (43).
and that he would not improve the Rockets. Gotta raise the standards if you don't want to get embarassed twice.
