This is Van Gundy's 3rd year. He coaches us to the playoffs both times, and for the first time since 1999. Thats enough to get my appreciation. And last year we were damn good and fun to watch. Just last year for God's sake! Yet you people want to fire him because we are having a bad 1/5th of a year. He is not a genius, and certainly he screws up. Still,he is a good coach, and that is a fact–his record and reputation sustain it. It is just stupid to fire him right now. Tracy an Yao can and have flourished in his system (see last season folks). This team has many more problems than bad coaching (if that's even the case). Roster moves didn't work out is one problem. Yes JVG picked em. So what? Happens to teams all the time. Its not possible to get it right with every pickup. And its correctible. This team will bounce back and at least finish respectably. And JVG will be our coach. He's not going anywhere because Rocket management is not stupid enough to fire a good coach on such shoddy reasoning. Im proud that we are not one of those fickle teams that pick a new coach every couple of years because they need a scapegoat or a new friend. You all that call for his head now ought to be eating crow when this team gets back on track, but I know you wont fess up. You will never give the guy any credit.
I suggest we leave JVG bashing to other threads like "Fire Gundy II" and keep tone of the current thread somber. Of course we can have some variations on the theme of *appreciation*, like one would expect to see in a typical eulogy at any obituary.
Pasox, Hows Larry Brown doing? You see any miracles over here? The team is already turning on him and he hasn't been here TWO months. But let him come back home. Come back in time to enjoy a nice White Christmas. Thats why I keep a nice supply of ductape to keep retaping all the broken ankles from people that keep jumping on and off the bandwagon. Sure, lets fire him as long as he has the appreciation of the top two players on the team. Hell, from the whole team actually. Makes sense to me!
It WILL take a miracle for LB to do anything with that sorry Knick roster. . Sucks for you, NY NY. That may be the only team desperate enough to do a midseason trade for expirings . Maybe the two hard-ass coaches can help each other out.
I agree, we should keep him for a little while. I don't think JVG had a losing season here yet, did here? We still have a lot of basketball left and we have only played a little over a month. When we get to the half-way point is when we will get a good idea of how the team will go the rest of the way. If we show little to no improvement by then, then you could say whatever you want about JVG.
I'll be the first to admit that I was never a real big fan of JVG. That being said, success last year had a lot to do with major mid-season trades. Not just because of the coaching. As many posters have pointed out, just because you want him fired, doesn't mean you don't appreciate him. He is a great defensive coach who rides his players to conform to his system. But his strengths may not be the best fit for the Rocket's needs.
