It IS the coach's responsibility to have gameplan B, or gameplan C, or D. JVG only has gameplan A (maybe B, but that's it), so when the other coach figured him out, JVG is done, out of commission. You can see JVG's problem: He micro manages the team by calling individual plays, but he does not help with the big picture. Basketball slows down when you call individual plays - this is not like football with huddle time. JVG has to manage the big picture, like telling the team to go to strategy D, but let the team improvise to implement strategy D. Basketball is a much more fluid game - it cannot be strictly micromanaged and controlled. In short, JVG just doesn't do his job. He does the job of the point guard (calling individual plays), but does not do the job of a leader, a strategist, a general. That's the problem with a coach who was not an experience player before, and too stubborn to listen to his team.
It not Yao, its the heavy dependance on him at the stretch when the opposing team only wants to guard him...Just think... Would you try to defend anyone outside of Tracy and Yao? Hell no...you would pack it in and make the rest f them prove something....JVG has to make the role players more important and he has failed at this since he's been head coach
Exactly! I can imagine what happens to Rafer and the other players: In one game, when they even try to shoot, they got yelled at. At the next game, he would say: Damn it, if you are open, shoot! The next game, he would say, if you want to shoot, make it, otherwise don't even bother. At the next game, give it to Yao, give it to Yao again, and again, and again. So what happens? The players got scared, they don't know what to do when they have to ball, because they have to guess, which JVG do I have today? Am I open enough to shoot, can I make this one, should I pass it to Yao instead, should I ...? You notice that other than Yao and Tmac, all other players are very UNSURE of themselves, always hesitating on what to do. There are many other problems with JVG: Defense: Everyone says JVG has great defense. Well, he is decent, but not that great. The only reason opponent has low scores is because Rox has low scores, and they almost always play the half-court game, thus using up their half of the 24 sec. Opponents make fewer shooting trips, but so do Rox (JVG's team in general) Offense: Horrible. His pick-n-roll is the simplest of PNR there is. One PNR, and then pass around the perimeter or inside, that's it. Have you seen Dallas with multiple PNR until some defense players really got switched around? Have you seen how Phoenix roll players cross court to create separation and confusion? Now, forget the triangle offense that has so many variations it is very hard to defend - JVG will never figure that out. Another of JVG's offense is simply the touch-n-go. Basically someone cut back from the backboard and Yao passes into it. That's it. The rest of the plays (if you call them that) are: - Pass to ball to Yao for post up - Give the ball in TMac's hand That's why they (e.g., Phil Jackson, Isiah Thomas, Flip Saunders) called JVG's team predictable. You can't win many games if opponents know your every move.
So, you were in the huddle and heard all that? I don't recall a player ever getting pulled for taking a good shot and just misses it.
Of course not, duh! I said i could imagine, didn't I? Anyway, you may have other explanation why players other than Yao and Tmac tend to hesitate shooting when they get the ball (if you replay the games, you'd notice it), often to the point that defenders were able to run close. Any idea why?
We win = Yao wore down his opponents We lose = Yao is worn down. What? Am I the only one here who reads Pizza_Da_Huts posts?
That's very true. We will always have problem against teams who have a lot of quality big men to play tag team against Yao. Both the Spurs and the Pistons have a lot of quality bigs on their roster.
Yao and T-mac's pick and roll is not effective when facing active defensive team. From what I see in the game against Bulls, their players were very fast in defensive rotation, so, Yao and T-mac could not really get off from their defenders.
That's because Yao and Tmac's pick-n-roll is ALWAYS the same - ok, maybe there are two variations, roll left or roll right.
Well, the pick & roll has 2 functions: 1) Either to lose your man, or 2) Create mismatches. T-mac just needs to drive to the hoop and have shooting in the perimeter, if the guys outside can handle the shots, we'll be fine. But unfortunately, except for Novak, and maybe sometimes Battier, we really don't have reliable shooters. Head is very streaky, so I won't count him in, also his decision making abilities are also in question.
