First let me say that I am glad we are trying to get Adelman. I wish Van Gundy could have worked because I really respect him. But we must move forward and Adelman seems to have very good credentials. Here's one last look in hind sight- Not that it matters but I believe you are exactly right. I had the good fortune to hear Van Gundy discuss the team before the season started. Here is a somewhat vague recap of what I heard- 1. He told me he wanted a larger 2 guard who could defend and hit the open shot. He named the player he would really like to have and said he would be willing to trade the #1 pick to acquire the player. He felt Luther was limited by his size, he called him a 6 ft. shooting guard. Van Gundy really emphasized he wanted a large 2 guard so he could keep Tracy at the small forward spot. I think he felt strongly that Tracy could be maximized at the 3. 2. He told me he wanted an athletic, larger power forward who could rebound and defend the paint taking some load off of Yao on defense. A shot blocker who could also score in the low post. He showed disappointment in the power forward they had in that spot-my impression he wasn't behind that move. 3. He wanted Mike James. The reason he gave was that he brought an aggressive attitude that the team lacked. 4. He wanted Brandon Roy. I say that because when I asked him who he thought would make the best impact in the draft he first said he didn't really study the draft much, that CD and Morey would handle that, then he went on about how Roy could be the 2 guard that had the most complete NBA ready game. He talked a couple of minutes about Roy's game. I think his comments betrayed that he really liked Roy and wanted him. My OPINION is that if Van Gundy had gotten what he wanted I am going to GUESS our starting lineup last season would have looked like this- Yao- Center Good tall, strong athletic Power Forward- PF Tracy- Small Forward Brandon Roy/ Matt Harpring- 2 guard Rafer/Mike James- point I think the Battier deal was plan #3 and came about because they missed out on Brandon Roy and Matt Harpring. I think the idea was that Battier could play the 2,3, and 4 and Tracy could at least play some at the 3. I do not think Battier was targeted by Van Gundy, again I think he signed off on it because they really needed a 2 guard and at that point Roy was gone. They saw the other players available to them as future small forwards and even though Battier was a small forward they thought he might be versatile enough to slide both to the 2 guard and the PF position. That is what I remember about that meeting. (although my memory is not that good) I hope Adelman has the same BB IQ.
some good ideas there. I especially agree with tmac playing the 3...thats where he should play and thats where he plays best. i see people say that he is a sg but i've considered him a natural SF since he's been in houston. I would wet myself if b-roy was here. Its a shame that deal never went through. He is a great fit for this team. The PF situation is also important. as effective as hayes was in some areas he just cant be your best PF on a successful playoff team. Its really amazing that the rockets were still a good defensive team with no weakside shot blocking...yao doesnt get over very well and hayes/howard just arent good enough athletes to really scare anyone
I just want to point out that I think Van Gundy had a pretty good idea of what the team really needed and it didn't happen like he would have liked.
of course not. He called all of the rockets weaknesses. lack of athleticism, lack of quality guards, lack of killer instinct and ability to close out games. and what did the rockets do to fix that? not a whole lot. they 'tried' to address the issues at the guard spots with vpsan and snyder but those were long shot moves, at least concerning last year.
The timeline in yesterday's sports page was really good...All coming down to a "mutual decision" for JVG to take the consulting job and bam... I do agree with JVG that this roster isn't right for the up tempo style...
Maybe but it has to be suited for an offense!?! JVG had no offense and what bugged me the most about him is that he would try to take someone who is good at one thing and make them into a different type of player. Vspan and Snyder are not spot up shooters. Novak will never be a defensive stopper. Use them to their strengths. At this point IMO just changing the coach is going to make a "huge difference" in the stagnant offense. We always talk about the defense but when last year did this team ever jump on someone and stay up on them the whole game. If we had a 20 pt lead it was a matter of time before the other team came back on us.
JVG had T-mac, Yao, and an average player in Battier. Rafer was a servicable point guard. The rest of the team was a bunch of scrubs. Why can't people get that into their heads - we didn't have a contending team. Offense - defense, it doesn't matter, no coach in the history of the world could have made us play any better. Sure - you may see more fun offense, but guess what, you won't see a better record or results - unless we upgrade the talent. Period. End of story. WIthout significant upgrade, this team is going no where next year.
I beg to differ. Unless the league has changed the schedule, we'll be going out of town for 41 games.
You're right, the rockets didnt have much talent, but some of that is due to JVG. I know a lot of people dont think this, but he had to have some say in the aquisitions of this team. He wanted the Battier trade, he was the one who didnt want Bonzi on the floor, he was the one that didnt test the bench during the season to see if they were actually able to contribute. He wanted role players on his team, not talent, and that just isnt gonna cut it. Its not all his fault but a lot of it is.
That's not the whole story...JVG or whoever on the staff designed an offense that mazimized what Yao and Tracy do best. That is Yao with good low position on the block and TMac slashing and attack off the high pick and roll. When Yao gets it deep and TMac can drive then you surround them with quality shooters who can drain the open shot. This is exactly the same offense Rudy ran with Clyde and Dream- except he had clutch shooters sitting out there knocking down clutch shots. Dream set up on the block, Clyde slashed off the pick and roll. You can't have everyone driving into the paint if Yao is set up on the block. The VSpan situation was the sad part for me, because he had a very quick drive into the paint and he could finish... He just challenged Van Gundy and Van Gundy isn't the kind of coach you can jack with. I'm not defending how Van Gundy handled it, that is just how he is, he has a doghouse if you want to jack with chemistry and challenge the game plan.. I wish Van Gundy would have made the exception for VSpan or VSpan would have kept his mouth shut and earned his time by being more patient. Anyways Van Gundy wasn't trying to change Snyder or VSpan, he was trying to maximize the fact that TMac and Yao were the only consistent and effective offensive options, no one else really showed that they could be the third option. I wouldn't be so quick to say that VSpan would have been better running the team over Rafer (who I think is barely a point guard) as far as getting the most out of TMac and Yao while limiting turnovers.
Question: Is anyone in the national media saying getting rid of JVG was the right call, other coaches? I haven't gotten a chance to read or watch.
All the teams in the confrence finals are good defensive and slow tempo teams, if we couldnt have kept van gundy and added a few pieces we would have been far better off.
just the few random people i've heard on the radio (cant remember names) thought that jvg did a great job here and did the best with what was available. I think thats the best way to sum up his tenure here.
The last JVG thread We will miss JVG because: 1.) He worked hard 2.) He helped Yao improve 3.) He inspired T-Mac 4.) He was a good defensive coach 5.) He gave his opinion openly 6.) He got us back to the playoffs 7.) He helped bring spirit back to the arena (red rowdies) We needed a change because: 1.) He couldn't make game time adjustments 2.) He was too stubborn with Wells 3.) He didn't coral T-Mac's poor shot selection 4.) His was a poor offensive coach 5.) He didn't develop his bench 6.) He couldn't get us out of the first round He's gone. Get over it.
Well didn't they correct that mistake last week when they fired JVG? After all, weren't those shortcomings were primarily his fault because if he was such a "good" coach, he would have gotten these players to play above their abilities. Also, didn't he fail to harness the vast untapped basketball talent sitting on the bench in the person of Spanoulis, JL3 & Novack. That won't be a problem with Adelman according to numerous posts I have read on the BBS. In fact I'm already seeing posts that say that under Adelman, Novack will become our Peja while Spanoulis will become our Bibby. Now that's coaching!
