He is trying to sell me the concept that #12 is an above average player ..to not speak out against #12,instead blame him(JVG);for he is the one that wants #12 to shoot the ball..
Steve Novak is sitting tight on the bench because he is drafted by a good team. Bottomline: Novak should go to a team like Bobcats or Hawks to get more minute.
That was actually a good interview with JVG, John and Lance hit some good issues. I'm lousy at recapping so if anyone can dig up the audio archive... Rafer is an above average defender, its the pick and roll where he gets used. JVG wants him to take the 3's..it's on JVG if he shoots too much...he's not a good around the rim finisher. Was pretty vocal about him defending Rafer and the criticism Rafer gets. Talked about the Bonzi issue...him signing so close to the opening of the season got them started behind the 8 ball...was injured of course...JVG saw that Battier was better suited for the SF then the PF and that didn't leave alot of minutes for Bonzi...was a good teammate and player to work with...didn't have issues with him until the no call at the end...talked about how Kings team was a better fit for him because of the matchup advantages he got there where here he wasn't getting...talked about how people were seduced by the one good series Bonzi had against the Spurs and to judge the entire body of work instead... Talked about Novak...and basically the rest of the bench...he'll play the players that are better then the players they are against... just said that the JVG audio will be on the 610 website in a few minutes...
What ever you do, don't speak negatively about Rafer or JVG will try an set ya straight. Bunch of crap!
i think the biggest thing, is there isn't a suitable backup behind Rafer, he has to overplay and then plays considerably worse when he is fatigued.
True. He is the best option.(better than other pg's on team) I'm just simply noting how he jump down John's throat when he talk down on Rafer.
For those who missed it, the JVG interview is already available as a podcast: http://sportsradio610.com/ Good work by 610 with the quick turnaround.
Why not develop another option? He had all season to try and groom someone to play backup pg. Rafer playing 40 plus minutes is not going to get it done.
I like Rafer. He isn't perfect, but he's improved his 3pt shooting, and that shows that he is someone who works hard. His defense is above avg. though he definitely has lapses. He runs the team extremely efficiently most of the time. He gets way more criticism than he deserves.
JVG is mostly saying that Rafer is our best PG "by far," which is true. imo, the only thing he said in terms of what Rafer is good at in definite terms; ie, beyond what he does merely as our best option, is this: "What you want your PG to do is to help your team function ... to play well. And that's what he does. And if people don't understand *that* then they don't understand basketball."
JVg sorta admitted not getting a viable backup pg was a problem...but he's taking the lesser of 2 evils which is playing Rafer more instead of taking a chance on what we have on the bench... JVG has seen JLIII and VSpan in practice all season long...if they can't improve there then why should JVG should give them more PT? I'm all for grooming another option but you can't turn water into wine in some instances...How about blaming JLIII and VSpan themselves for not improving enough so they can get minutes behind Rafer? JVG shouldn't sacrifice real game playing time for them in order for them to get better...improve in practice, on their own time, cause when they do get in the game it's on the record and they're being graded for every little mistake... I'm sure we all loved those jobs where we learn skills on someone else's dime while in the meantime the work suffers because we are in all actuality way underqualified, but there are employers who expect you to know the skills beforehand in order to get the job so the work doesn't suffer while you are doing the job...JVG happens to be that type of boss... that doesn't explain Luther but he likes Luther out there because of his shooting and has to kinda swallow the bad ballhandling with it...
Yup, that's basically where we are. And that's why the Rockets will once again look for PGs in the offseason and probably once again make ANOTHER attempt at Mike James.
Because he plays the guys who he thinks will help him win games. It sure is nice having won 50 games so far, and when Yao goes down you don't have the luxury of developing guys. You have to fight for your post season life.
thats a good point....they probably have been awful in practice, particulary Span...but it makes me wonder, the time I seen him play, he showed talent and he proved that he can play the PG spot... I really don't know... listening to the podcast right now
How many coaches of good teams devoted a lot of minutes to "developing" rookies like Novak, Spanoulis, and (effectively) John Lucas? And it's not like we're talking about lottery picks here.
