It seems like every other person in this forum wants to blame the players 100% for the rockets’ problems this year. Of those, it seems like Steve (75) and Cuttino (20) combine for about 95% of the blame. Has everyone forgotten about Jeff Van Gundy? The Coach 1) The biggest problem is that Van Gundy only coaches 1 type of basketball, regardless of the kind of talent he has. Unlike a Larry Brown or Don Nelson, who mold their coaching style to their rosters, Jeff Van Gundy only has a “1-style-fits-all” type of system. It is scary to think of him coaching a team like the Mavericks, and how much they would lose by every night trying to run the shot clock down, and “packing it in” on D. Obviously, we do not have the same type of talent Dallas has, but with steve, cuttino, jimmy, and yao (throwing outlet passes) we should not be last in the league in fast break points, and near the bottom in total offense. Some of the blame has to lie with the coach. Unrealistic Expectations 2) It takes time for players, coaches, and organizations to become successful. Look how many years it took before Michael Jordan, Shaquille Oneal, Wilt Chamberlain, and Hakeem Olajuwon all won championships. At least 7 years for each person. Not to mention people like AI and Garnett who still haven’t made it (and in AI’s case might not ever.) To expect our team to be one of the 3 or 4 elite teams in the NBA during Yao’s second year and Van Gundy’s first is simply unrealistic. It was realistic to hope that at this point during the year we would be in position to make a run at the playoffs, which we are. Given the strength of the West, expecting anything higher than a 5 seed (we are a 6 seed right now) for this season would be stretching it. Conclusion 3) Hopefully, with this in mind, we can tone down some of the constant criticism of the players (steve in particular) that has recently dominated the posts. At the very least, it is helpful to remember 1) what would make this season a success (for me that is simply making the playoffs) and 2) place some of the blame on not just the players.
You must not see all the games. JVG keeps wanting for Steve to rush down court instead just walking up the court.
I completely and whole-heartedly diasagree with you. I blame the players. We've 2 completely different coaches with different philosophies. Same results.
My only beef with Van Gundy is him calling a timeout every time the other team scores two baskets in a row...god forbid you show a little confidence in your players to figure things out on their own...
I would agree with you, but our players can sometimes play like idiots and a 4 point run can balloon into a 10-0 run in a hearbteat. Notice how Francis looks lost when things go badly and is looking to the bench. It could be that he assumes JVG will call a time out, but I think he is wanting to be bailed out.
In the San Antonio game I do think JVG deserves some of the blame. The game was close in the fourth quarter with about 9 minutes to go and Yao blows a rebound. San Antonio scores. The very next possession after the blown rebound lead to a basket for the Spurs the team doesn't box out, we don't get the rebound, and the Spurs score again. Shortly after that Yao misses a lay up, Mo T gets the follow and misses a lay up. In the 4th Yao needed rest. He couldn't rebound to save his life, he didn't box out, and blew the lay up. These are the moments when San Antonio blew the game open. He was having problems getting back down the court fast enough etc. JVG should have put in Cato, and rested Yao. If we kept the game close, then put Yao in down the stretch so we can finish strong. This isn't the only reason we lost the game, so I don't put all the blame here, but it was a part of it.
We are on pace for a 3 game improvements with the tougher half of the season coming up. We are doing well indeed.
I wonder if Rudy T could get these guys to run a descent fastbreak. Bottonline is Francis is not a push guard period.
Not only that but he cannot shot to save his soul. Just hit an open basket, SF. I do not understand how people expect him to play the 2, with that kind of shooting.
Yao was not tired in the forth. The guy was pumped in the forth but pissed off because he didn't get a single touch. The two rebounds was because 8 feet tall Spoon was on the court and he and anybody else were nowhere near the sceen and Yao had to rebound against TD and Rasho one on two. Anyway you are not even trying to blame JVG, you are bashing a certain player. I had my doubts on JVG in the forth quater. I thought he called the plays for the guards. If so then he should shoulder the blame. If not he should still be blamed for not calling a timeout and shout in the guard's faces.
Would it have helped if I added a "thus far"? I think you get my point. We are on pace to equal what we've done 3 of the last 4 seasons.
Which player am I trying to bash? I mentioned a number of players and the team as a whole. If I was trying to bash Yao Ming I wouldn't have suggested that it was a good idea to bring him in at crunch time so we could finish strong. I want a strong Yao Ming because he's good, and can help us win. When Yao was tired he was outrebounded by shorter guys and this happened even when he had the inside position. He was too tired to box out correctly and go after the rebound. When the Spurs were pulling away Yao was not getting it done. I would rather rest Yao so he could take over during crunch time. Whether or not Yao Ming grabs the rebound has zero to do with whether he was being fed the ball. Or are you suggesting that Yao Ming doesn't try hard unless he gets fed the ball?
Does it really matter how much we score? The end result is the same. All that matters are wins and losses.
old offense and the new defense would be neat. we would be scoring abouve 80 pts, and also holding teams to 84 pts.
