Why people compare this years team to last year's? That team was under JVG for several years, had his finger prints everywhere. If you want to compare two coaches, compare JVG's first year to this year, or give Adelman a couple more years before jump into any conclusion.
I would say "I told you so" but I'm going to wait until the season is over. That said I've enjoyed what little opportunity I've had to watch the Rox this year and I'm glad is the coach and not JVG.
i'll own up to it, i tried hard to avoid making the mistake of judging him too quickly, but that looks like it might have been what i did. i mean, after the philadelphia game, can you blame me? it's one thing to lose while adjusting to a new system, but it seemed like we were getting progressively worse, and that was my main issue. granted, we're beating up on teams due to an easier schedule, but at the very least, he's not doing worse than JVG. i love how deep he goes into the bench, and i love how he doesn't immediately pull players out after they make mistakes. that being said, i'm not ready to say he's a success, gotta wait until the end of the season to say that.
I am still not ready to embrace him. I think he handled the Francis situation very poorly at the first of the season. I think James could have been a valuable piece in the playoffs if handled better. His substitution patterns still baffle me. I like his development of the rookies, and he seems more animated than he was during the first part of the season when he often looked "confused" and even disinterested. Better, but no cigar.
You rooted for the Utah Jazz to beat the Rockets in a playoff series... Excuse me while I go throw up.
i knew there would be transition period. i mean i was dissapointed about losing all those games before we started to get into a more consistent stride. but im surprised as the next fan about our 11 game winning streak. even though they arent against all elite teams we did beat NO.
I am fine with his substitutions. I just want the Rockets to keep winning. He could stick Novak and BJ for 20 min/g, if the Rockets continue winning into the playoffs. Hell yeah!
Scola is millions of years ahead of V-Span. How dare you mention his name with Scola! On top of that, you throw a McGrady diss in there like V-Span could do better. My ass. Did you forget that it was T-Mac and not V-Span that played a huge role in why we won so many games with Yao injured?
Pretty incredible. I've always been a Rockets fan first and the players, coach, management, and owner come second. It's simply unimaginable to me to root for a first round loss in order to get rid of a coach you didn't like. That couldn't possibly be any more removed from the actions of a fan. Want to lose a game when the season is hopeless and you hope for a better lottery pick? Sure. Some have a problem with that, but I don't. To wish for a playoff series loss, though, because you want to get a coach fired? Beyond the pale.
Actually, I think it's the mark of a true fan. I've been a Rockets fan since 1989. I am with this team through thick and thin. And it pissed me off to have 4 years wasted with some great talent on this team, including a Yao Ming approaching his prime. Wasted with a subpar coach who is wrong for the team. JVG's style may work to some extent with certain players, but here it was a case of trying to meld the team to fit his system, when it should have been the other way around. Did I prefer a first round exit last year to another 1 or 2 years of treading water with a coach who absolutely can't make adjustments to save his life, who keeps talented players off the court and in his doghouse when they could be helping the team, who got outcoached by a freaking rookie head coach in Avery Johnson? You bet I do. The team is now much better off for it. I believe this team will be in the western conference finals and has a very good shot at winning it all. That really couldn't be said if Van Gundy was still running this team. I am a Rockets fan. Those who question my sincerity and dedication lack a view of the big picture.
Aces, Believe me, I hear where you are coming from and share a lot of the same thoughts about the previous coach, but in the playoffs, I just want the team to win..... Gutsy for you to admit it though......and at the end of the day, it was probably a much better thing for the franchise than a lot of fans would care to admit. DD
Outside of Tracy and Yao, who each missed a large chunk of the season, what "great talent" are you talking about? After a season riddled with injuries, somehow we were able to scrap and claw our way to 52 wins and get home court advantage. No one expected that midway through the year. And you're telling me, after all of the work our guys put into the season, you rooted against us in the first round and you think that's the mark of a "true fan"?
LOL, tons of D-league players would have been better than Oakley at that point. Only JVG would even try a 10-day contract with him. To me, signing Oakley was insignificant in the big picture but a clear indication of JVG's perspective on what kind of players he would use. Look, I have lots of respect for JVG. There were only two things I dislike about him. 1. His over emphasis on defense over offense, effort over talent 2. His personnel decision And while I think people gave up on Adelman way too soon, I am not declaring him the savior. I have said elsewhere that we should not judge him until after the playoffs. JVG is an honest guy and many times he admitted his own faults and mistakes. I respect him for that. I guess getting you to come out to admit you have been wrong on anything is harder than getting JVG to grow his hair back. (And you came out too soon to declare you were right on Mike James's effectiveness and Adelman's offensive/defensive rates.)
I think what happened in the first 10 games of the season was that Adelman didn't want to rock the boat too quickly and largely stuck with JVG rotations and plays but when the Rockets started hitting the wall with the JVG system he started experimenting with his own system and figuring out what worked. That's why for about the next 15 games we got some very uneven results with brilliant victories against Suns at Phoenix but also a sad slide. Its taken him a while to get the feel of how this team works and the team for Adelman but I think now we are seeing the results of that experiment. Barring injuries I think things look good for the Rockets from here on out and given Adelman's willingness to try different things when something doesn't seem to be working I'm more confident with him at the helm than I was with JVG.
You are wrong. It's not so much defending JVG as trying to set the record straight. Folks try to pin ALL the blame for the Rockets' shortcomings solely on the head coach - first it was Rudy T and then JVG. Well, JVG was here by my count for only 4 years. The Rockets haven't won a playoff series since when? 1999? So how can he be the reason for the "failure" of the Rockets. WHO was the owner of the team during all of those years? And WHO was the GM in charge of talent acquisition during that time? Hint: It sure as HELL wasn't JVG. And yet, we are constantly bombarded with posts that blame JVG for everything that went wrong while he was here when the reality of the situation was that the dumbasses running this organization couldn't find their collective asses with both hands and a flashlight. But no, let's ignore their contributions to this mess and instead let's all point the fingers of blame at JVG. Look back at the big trade that brought McGrady to Houston. Look at that Rockets team before that trade - look at how many years it had been in the NBA lotto and look at the number of players those lotto years had produced. After the trade just what was the prevailing consensus on this board? It was that ALL the Rockets had to do was to "surround" Tracy & Yao with the right mix of role-players and that this team was set. It was accepted almost as religion that the Rockets had the right people in place to do just that. Well WTF happened then? Did JVG decide to take over both jobs of head coach AND GM and in the process, screw it all up? If that's the case, I would love for folks to provide some concrete evidence that it was JVG and not Carroll Dawson was in charge. Now if JVG was responsible for this team's lack of playoff success, if he was the prime factor holding them back - then the Rockets didn't need to overhaul the roster when Adelman came onboard because they had eliminated the major obstacle to their success namely JVG. So what was the first thing that Morey did when he came onboard? Why, he overhauled the roster - the very same roster that JVG was supposedly holding back. I ask you now: Why is that so? How come the roster that was good enough for JVG wasn't good enough for RA? After, it wasn't the players who weren't good enough but the head coach right? Look, I realize that JVG was not everyone's cup of tea and that's OK with me. It's fine with me if people did not like his coaching style or his demeanor. It was even OK when certain people embarked on a personal crusade against him. But to continue to drag him up as the reason for this team's lack of success is both simplistic and silly. And yet, that same way of thinking has been clearly on display all season once more. Folks here were calling for Adelman to be fired before this team had played 20 games and I am certain that if the Rockets somehow falter in the playoffs once again then it will Rick Adelman taking the spot of blame now occupied by JVG.
I was the first to call for an Adelman contract extension. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=138302&highlight=extend+adelman
