Novak, from all appearances, will never be a starter in this league. Right now, his goal in life needs to be Matt Bullard. If becoming Matt Bullard appears to be the outer limits of your reasonable expectations, it's time to figure out how to score without a lot of minutes. It's not JVG's fault. Novak will only succeed if this league if he learns how to knock down a 3 after coming in cold.
I did not express my self right what I was trying to say is that Novak has a weak body, no muscle, built as baby in someway my sig, I could not find something better for that fool poster McGrady, guy was banned on RGM like 3 or 4 times, he used to talk crap about this board, but still comes here to make some stupid statements just to get attention... thats all
I actually thought Novak was much improved on both sides. The TMac And-1 layup in crunch time came off of a Novak PnR. He missed his shots, but that's the last thing that worries me about him...especially considering he's a rookie dealing with a ball he hasn't really played with before after this switch. I thought it was a big thing, a lot of the time he was in there, KG was on him. Forcing KG out there changes the nature of the game, he can't affect the lanes or block shots, which was a big part of the comeback imo. I watched his defense closely, and while Blount punished him in the post (and Blount punishes nobody), he was pretty reasonable on rotations and closeouts. JVG yanked him after the play you're referring to. You've got to remember, this was a guy who didn't know whether or not to run at a shooter on defense...I like the progress I'm seeing with him.
I tend to agree, in retrospect drafting a one dimensional player like Novak was a mistake, its easier to teach a good athlete to shoot. Novak is slow and unathletic making it difficult for him to lose defenders to get open shots and I don't think he'll ever rebound or block a shot. Padgett should be ahead of Novak in the rotation.
novak does look a lot better on defense IMHO...he knows where his man is and where to rotate...although he does make a lot of careless mistakes such as picking up wreckless blocking fouls when he comes around a pick
The premise of this thread is ridiculous. JVG gave Novak a chance to make shots and he missed them. Novak and V-Span would likely benefit from some time in the NBDL when we are at full strength. Novak to get his confidence back and work on his D...and Span to work on his handle and fine tune his shot. Try not to start threads in anger after a tough loss.
JVG played Novak to-day just to show all the complainers that he can't play. But what we must remember is that this Novak is not the same Novak , selected by the Rockets in the second round of the draft.The Novak they selected was a crack spot up three point shooter. The one we saw to-day is what JVG has made of this once great role player, a player who doesn't know if he is coming or going, because he has had so many mixed messages from JVG, now he is just trying to do everything to keep JVG happy and is poor at everything. If we don't change the coach at the end of the season then Novak might be given a chance to shine with another club which knows how to get the best out of its players, with them he can proove just how good he is at what he does best.
LOL @ posters blaming JVG for Novak missing shots. Worrell and Bullard talked about this very thing, and Matt said he had to go through this a lot. Of course it's not an easy thing to do, but it's part of their job. It's like a pinch-hitter in baseball. They are expected to get a hit in their first (and only) at bat against a flame-throwing reliever. Should Astros fans blame Phil Garner for pinch-hitters not producing? NO! You know why? Because that would be r****ded.
Span has played 80 more minutes than Novak in one fewer game. He has averaged ten minutes per game to Novak's 5. Novak's "mediocre" shooting percentages are better than VSpan's. So how can you say that Novak has shown that he sucks but VSpan has not been given a chance to show what he can do? They both have sucked as they both are not ready yet.
You don't understand the situation of what JVG has been trying to do to Novak's game, he has been trying to make him into something which he isn't. Instead JVG should have used Novak as a spot up three point shooter from the get go and not meddled with his game!!
Bingo. The "logic" of this thread is the same used by Terrell Owens saying he dropped passes because he didn't get into a rhythm. I call BS on that line of reasoning, these are all professional athletes, they need to be ready when their number is called. No excuses, why would a coach call your number more often if you don't perform when he does call your number.
Novak is a pure shooter, he needs more mins (10mins is proper as a rookie IMO) to build confidence. Without Yao, Novak and V-Span get less mins, the way JVG used Novak is kinda gambling, unfortunately, it failed. After Yao's coming back, he draws double team in the paint, Novak will have more wide open chances and V-Span can penetrate easier, they will get more mins.
To all the hardcore Novak fans, yall shoudl be happy. Like NIKE said, his prescense on the court is getting better...his roatations arent pathetic anymore,and he is doing a much better job of positioning his body on defense. that alone will ensure he sees enough time to get his groove going. he played quite a few minutes in the 4th, and it wasnt till he got abused badly inthe post twice that he got pulled. IM nto worried about his shots, they will fal leventually....just recognize that Novak was a second rounder for a reason...he so far isnt showing the ability to be much mroe than a 3 pt specialist so his minutes will never be excessive.(more than likely...imo of course) Id love it if he gets to be a dependable starter one day...but its gonna take a helluva lot of work from him. btw Dak wrong again....the Rockets *have* played a zone from time to time...they just dont do it very often.
I guess fantasy is necessary when your hero sucks and isn't good enough to play in the NBA. Maybe you and a few other posters can form a second round draft pick support group. I can give you some names....
If Novak's defense improves, he should get minutes. I pray every day that he will not become the second coming of Dan Langhi.
He appears to be markedly less skilled than Langhi at this point. Langhi at least could move a little bit.
I'm still trying to figure out why everyone seems to believe that second round picks should become starters. Anyone care to run down a list of second round draft picks over the past, say, five years that have had a significant impact on their teams? I'm not saying it isn't possible. Obviously, good players CAN slip. The most obvious example in recent memory is Gilbert Arenas. The Rockets found a good one in Cuttino Mobley. But, out of the 30 or so players taken every year in the second round, only a handful see ANY playing time and only one every couple years goes on to be a guy that plays big minutes for his team. Novak came in as a great shooter with extremely poor rebounding and defensive skills. He also has very little athletic skill. His talent is shooting the ball and he's not able to do that effectively at the moment. He probably will be able to do that eventually. He obviously is a shooter. But, this isn't college and a guy with limited skills like his will need time to become the dead-eye shooter in the NBA he was in college assuming he can do that.
