And the Rockets are currently the proud owners of being the last team ever to carry a losing regular season record (40-42) into the NBA Finals in 1981. Playoff success is what most any head coach is judged upon. For RA and the Rockets, the most important thing about the playoffs is not just getting there, but playing with confidence when the playoffs arrive and making some noise.
There are at least three reasons why winning more regular season games than under JVG last season is not necessarily a fair benchmark. 1. You have to consider other teams and the changes they made over the off-season (or lack of changes when there wasn't the need), too, as well as the injuries or changes they went through last season. Golden State faced a lot of injuries last season and the team was revamped halfway through the season when they moved Dunleavy/Murphy to get Harrington/Jackson. We saw what they did during the 2nd half of the season and in the playoffs. New Orleans was also depleted with injuries (Stojakovic, Paul, West, B. Jackson). The Lakers didn't have Odom for several months. He may, or may not, have not impact this year. They also brought Fisher back. Sacramento lost Bibby, Miller and Artest for signficiant portions of the season. Denver traded for Iverson during last season. Nene was injured early and came on strong at the end of the season. They also got Martin back this season. They will be a stronger team this year. Memphis didn't have Gasol for most of the year and while they are a young team, adding Milicic and other pieces have made them a stronger team. Rudy Gay could have a breakout season. Meanwhile, the powerhouses of the West remained intact. The Spurs, Mavs and Suns all kept their core in tact and got stronger if anything by making minor tweaks to their rosters. The Spurs, who were best-suited to make few changes, added Udoka. The Mavericks added Hassell and Eddie Jones. The Suns added Grant Hill. The Jazz will build on the chemistry of last season. Only the T-Wolves, Clippers and Sonics look to be taking steps backwards. Portland lost Oden, but they didn't have him last year, either. And, Portland, Seattle and Minnesota are all talented young teams that could give certain teams problems like Portland did to us last season. 2. We went through so many changes during the offseason that the Rockets will likely go through a considerable adjustment period. Too much change is not necessarily a good thing for a team that won 52 games and finished with the 5th best record in the league. 3. As several others have suggested, the true benchmark for this season, if there is one, will be how we perform in the playoffs. I would take 47 wins and getting past the 1st round over winning 72 games and losing in the 1st round.
edit: nevermind... I read his posts in other threads. But yeah, I am with those preaching patience. Different league, different characters, with big chemistry questions.
Although the apologist (sorry had to get in a jab) tried to tell me this was an unfair benchmark, I think it was very fair. Some injuries happened but overall we had more talent than last year and we have now matched and will probably surpass 52 wins. I was right in my initial post that once the season started I would be unable to really judge so I am really glad I thought about it before the first game. I also do not think the postseason is a fair benchmark because of matchups and how tight the west is. I think this year it is luck of the draw.
A fair benchmark includes consideration on how long the coach has coached. It should also includes how opponents have improved. We are better in terms of talent compared to last year but our opponents have also improved. Lakers was crappy last year for the whole season but they beefed up immensely after the all stars event. So does others. We improved but our talents improved also and some like Lakers improved a lot. It would reasonable to compare JVG first year with Adelman first year though there is a so claimed improvement on our roster. However, any improvement is based on paper only and may not be the same in reality.
i think it's important to take into consideration that adelman took some time to get used to. the players had an adjustment to make and thus the team played weaker for the first half of the season. remember the battier quote that it will take until all star break to get comfortable in the new offense? the team was around 500 until january. under JVG (with this roster) the team would've had n adjustment period and would've probably faired better early on. next season when the team gets to play a full season of adelman's offense (he was, and still is, easing them into it) we will see the true difference between the coaches.
JVG had good teams but his ego caused him to narrow down his backups to the untalented players. Remember Vspan and Bonzi. Yao missed as many games this year. J. Howard played well when Yao was out last year similar to what scola is doing now. Youth my friend is something that JVG never appreciated. No one can take the 22 game streak from RA now his name will be in the histort.
anyway, whatever the result would be for this season. RA will be our coach for his reminder of the contract. However, if we lost the first round again, I am seeing how major changes coming this off-season. it would start with tmac, follow by Rafer.
T-MAC is ok, just not rafer, he can play good in games but lets face it, who sees us winning a championship with him?
People talk about how JVG always prepares the team well and take care of business (meaning, beating the teams we should beat). I generally agree. But this year, we are even more impressive in terms of "taking care of business." We are 32-4 against losing teams, 17-0 at home, 15-4 on the road.
Exactly, the 15-17 start is a direct result of Adelman learning his players and they learning him. In addition it took that long just to deprogram the JVG "Don't Think Just DO What I tell You" mentality. If anyone thinks Adelman isn't a better choice for this team then they are blind Van Gundy lovers. 22 Game win streak, 16-5 since Yao went down. Hell we were in first place for a while in the toughest conference ever. Adelman is on everyone's list for coach of the year. SO getting rid of Van Gundy has to be last year's smartest off-season move.
I can't imagine the team making major changes considering how incredibly tight the West is this year, not to mention Yao's season-ending injury. Most likely Morey will act conservatively, looking to use his expiring contracts and cap space to make a deal by the next trade deadline for a player who can give Yao and T-Mac some serious help (and provide insurance for when one or the other inevitably gets hurt). The Rockets would no doubt prefer this player to be a PG who's good enough to shift Rafer to a back-up role. But I don't see them blowing up the team regardless of what happens in the playoffs.
I'm sorry but JVG gave both those guys a shot and they sucked. Bonzi was 45 pounds overweight and VSpan was mad he was not starting. Scola didn;t start this year and his attitude was 100% ("no one told me I would start, I never expected to start") JVG had no youth except Luther head and he played almost every game. As I said in my Original post to this thread, injuries are not an excuse for this year because of the depth.
That's because JVG played starters 40 minutes per game every game as if the game was the 7th game of the NBA finals. JVG is very poor at developing talent, which is something that Ricky is very good at and will help us in the playoffs. JVG never drafted or found someone to replace an ill shooting Rafer. Also, JVG didn't lose Yao for 30 games
