Why was TMAC not be able to achieve this when he was in Orlando? He led the whole league in scoring in 2 consecutive seasons and Juwan was much younger. Let alone that the Magic played in the stinky eastern conference. What you said is just not fair to the whole Rockets coaching stuff, not only Jeff. I will even say the Rockets actually have already over-achieve this season, by efforts not only from the players but also the coaching stuff. Now let me give you an example of a bad coach and an under-achieve team: Geoge Carl and the Nuggets. Just imagine if the Rockets could have their bench.
I'd much rather have Adelman if he's available. The Princeton offense would cover up so much of Yao's weaknesses and this team's overall lack of talent. It will also take a lot of pressure off T-Mac. It would probably take a season to implement.
Yeah, Jeff I want you to stay as well. You're a Top 10 NBA coach, and I don't think you get rid of Top 10 NBA coaches unless a Top 5 NBA coach is available. And none are. So, don't leave.
People should stop drinking JVG spirits. It hurts as much as to say this, not so much because of JVG himself, but the fact that Rockets went out of the competiton, but Van Gundy has proved nothing in his long coaching career that he is capable leading team to Championship. Not enought supporting cast? Please give me a break. Most NBA team operate on a cap basis, so teams are bound to be tied to financial constraints, and hence they have to be somewhat innovative in acquiring rotational players. In an era of salary cap, rotational space is a valuable resource for any team in the game. And yet Van Gundy wastes those on no good ****s like freaking Ryan Bowen. I too admire work ethic and personal character, but come on, when it all comes down the last bone, the game is putting more balls into the bucket than the opposition. This means that the coach must recognise individual talent as much as merits. If Van Gundy could find ways to deploy Bowen in the lineup, I am sure he could find a few extra minutes for Bonzi. Well, I don't like Bonzi, and I sure hope he doesnt comeback next season, but I am sure we could have done with the option of having his skill set against the Jazz. IMO, the biggest drawback in Van Gundy is that he doesnt have professional playing experience. No, I don't think one needs to be a former Pro to be a good coach, as I have seen numerous cases whereby outsider has transformed the game in many sports, but realistically I find it very hard that somebody without personal experiences playing in high pressure situations could fully understand the mindset of players. Sorry Jeff, but you simply can't take such attitudes like, "If I had your physique and talent, I would have done X and Y to become better player." The matter of fact is you don't and you can't play for the players instead. You have to take their mental and physical attributes as a whole, and work with the player himself, instead of patronizing them, and building their game into your image. In another words, because Jeff never been a player himself, he simply doesnt quite understand the developmental process players go through in their career. I have a feeling Van Gundy doesnt quite appreciate talent enough: Not hard to graps given that he lacks those attributes himself. I really feel for Yao and Tracy. The likes of Suns, and Spurs go out there, do some research, and find ways to develop, unknown quantities like, Francisco Elson, Manu, Tony Parker, Borris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa, into star players or at least servicable ones. Meanwhile, Rockets brass gets them likes of Rafer, Bowen, and god knows how many crap-shots we had over the years, because (1) they work hard, and (2) they are suppose to complement our players so well in so called text-book manuals, when it is blatantly clear that they are simply not good enough. Drop the crap, and give us some good more attitudes, more firepower, and most importantly more fun. Frankly we have been one of the most boring team in the game over Van Gundy's tenure. If I wasn't so emotionally attached to the team pre-Gundy era, I would have left this team long time ago. But such is life, I have to go through the pains of freaking Spazz playing for at least one more around (hopefully). We need somebody like Sura ASAP.
If your goal is just to see them avoid the lottery each year, then be my guess. I however want them to contend for and win a championship.
JVG has to go. Losing to the Jazz was on him, he never made the adjustment by either trying Deke on Boozer in game 3 or 4 to see if he could contain him or having Yao back on Okur when Boozer started dominating him. Yao covering Boozer was a good idea but when it didn't work he stubbornly stuck with his defensive scheme and it cost us.
even if we had advanced to the second round, the writing was on the wall. Our 7 game performance against the Jazz sucked. Badly.
I want Jeff to stay, he is a very good coach. Not many coachs could have done what he did when Yao was out. Also, there aren't any coaches better than him out there...(No, Adelman doesn't stress defense, something our roster is based on). If he doesn't coach, I hope he coachs somewhere else. Would love to see all the Gundy haters proven wrong.
WTF? Losing JVG does not make this team a lottery team, I think it frees them up to be a 60 win team. DD
I too think Jeff should stay. He's a good poster, a heckuva photographer, helped keep the Rockets in Houston, and a cornerstone of the Clutch Crew.
Ummm... actually we would've have been a 60 win team if T-Mac and Yao were healthy ALL YEAR. Of course, then you would contend that we would be a 70 win team if JVG developed his young "talent". Please. JVG rocks.
I agree, Jeff stay, and by "stay" I mean "go", go to New York and never look back. The Knicks need you my friend. How ironic, Steve is with the Knicks and I wish he was here, and Gundy is with us and I wish he was with the Knicks. Has there ever been a player for coach trade? I would love to see if we could do it, I mean, if players can be traded for draft picks, cash, corn nutts, can't they be traded for coaches? I'm sure Gundy wouldn't mind a sign and trade.
If he would have just shown me some creativity during the series I'd be fine with him staying. We have jake on the bench, so why not try out some twin tower action(mutumbo and yao) to keep them out of the paint. We can't hit a shot to save our lives. The latter usually leads to bringing someone off the bench who can, but this was not the case with JVG. I'm not saying that trying these moves would have worked, but I would have felt a hell of a lot better knowing jeff was doing everything he could to win the series.
I really can't blame the coach on this series. Jazz is a bad match up for the Rockets. Just think of our regular season struggle against the Hornets. Hornets and Jazz fully explored our two biggest weakest spots and kept pounding in it. That is how they won the games against us. The coach had no control when Yao turned the ball over. The coach could not push TMAC to attack the rim more than he was able to. For all season, I missed only 3 Rockets games. I saw A team playing with great discipline and great chemistry. That shows the capability of the coach. I agree many times watching Rockets' games were more like a torture. Part of it was because I care so much for this team. But I believe that is the right way to play, the way a championship team like the spurs and the pistons will play. Teams as the Suns and Warriors are far more exciting and entertaining. But they will never be able to win a ring by playing that way. Never! Bringing in Rick Adeleman won't help this team because it does not have the talent to execute the Princeton offense. Do a google to see what Kings had six or seven years ago. The Rockets need an operation on the roster but not at the coach position.
I disagree. Chemistry is more about the players than the coaching. Chemistry can not be coached as much as it is felt. I think the suns will eventually win a championship, and it is looking like the new breed of basketball. If you think that playing style will never win a championship then that is just ignorant. More and more these teams are spawning and it is only a matter of time before it happens. In trying to support JVG, you are hitting the nail on the head for the other side of the argument. Great coaches make the adjustments against the Hornets and the Jazz. jeff didn't. He goes in with a premeditated gameplan and would take getting hit by a bus to leave it. I'm just tired of having a stubborn coach.
