cough... Rox championship years cough... Just saying that Sloan had two seasons to win it all without MJ there (with Horny defending him LOL) and fell short of even making the finals...thanks to Dream and Co.
you mean bust? depressed? and low iq? i dont get the flexible argument? do you want him to be flexible and play subpar players? and kirk did get some minutes in game 2...to only have him make a stupid pass and turn it over.
agree, a good PG would help JVG a lot... I don't think, by reading all the old articles, that he was ever a part of a deal he always says he is here to coach and nothing else...I think thats a mistake on his part, every coach should have a part in picking up a player
It must be his "high time" to hand in some of his homework and couldn't come up with anything else after scratching his hairless head.
He's not up on the front lines, but he clamored loudly for Battier. I feel certain that he has given input in many deals.
Yeah, guys with some talent but who have issues with depression, low BB IQ, really out there odd balls, etc. I'll make the analogy with Phil Jackson. He got Bison Dele to produce a short time (I think it is known this guy was clinically depressed, in addition to being exceedingly eccentric). Dennis Rodman produced (when he didn't before or after and was run out of SA). He was able to get Scottie Pippen back in the fold after he quit on his team in the playoffs. He got Kobe Bryant to defer to Shaq for as long as possible (now Kobe's ego is out of human control). He got Glen Rice to agree to be a 3rd scorer. He got BJ Armstrong (far bigger ego than skill, and suckeed away from Phil) to be very effective. No I don't think JVG could have got the same team buy in and kept such guys on the same page. As for Wells, Snyder, Swift, etc, yes they have issues of one sorts or another, but I wonder if there PT was different and if they were handed differently we might have got more out of them. If Jackson got Bison Dele to play a good year or two for him, anything is possible. Yes at this point I think it is too late with Snyder. He never got comfortable in a role in the regular season (despite decent performance figures when he played), asking a guy to fit a role and play well with the pressure and intensity of the playoffs is much harder. But, like I said I think we should stick with JVG. He is better than 99% of the options. But we better not add a Swift/Snyder/Wells, anyone who we think for some reason or another can't take his system/discipline. Work on adding another player or two (PG, PF, Big/athletic SG) that can handle it.
Utah had about as many as many chances to win the championship a team could have, but failed to capitalize. 1. M.J didn't reach the finals until 91. (Utah in that time bowed out to Trailblazers, Warriors, and Suns). In 88, before Sloan took over, the Jazz even took the eventual NBA champions: L.A. Lakers to 7 game series in which they lost. 2. Houston ended their season in back to back playoffs (94,95). 3. They had several chances to beat Chicago in both series, but they could quite get it done. 4. After M.J. retires, Utah is still a type-tier team even having being tied for the best record in the West, but loses two years in row to the Portland Trailblazers. 5. Team is offically in decline, while the Lakers are the 2 time reigning Champs and being followed by the Kings and Mavs. Lose to Dallas and Sacramento in the first round of 01,02 playoffs. (00-01, being last 50 win season until now). 6. Along with Steve Nash, Malone might be the one of most questionable MVP s in NBA history, he got 2 MVPs, when he really wasn't the best player or even on the best team. 1 in both seasons, there was two better players on two better teams, the Bulls and Spurs. Both of which on the championship in the years Malone grabbed it. a) 98-99The Spurs weren't supposed to be as good as the experienced and championship-battled Jazz. And Tim Duncan was becoming the premier power foward in the league and lead the Spurs to the best record and championship. b) 96-96: The Bulls tied the second best record in NBA history, one year after breaking it, and M.J was obviously the best player in the NBA, but he doesn't win the MVP........this kinda f'ed up. But do have to admit this was at a time, writers believe that no player should keep winning the MVP every season and their needed to be different players winning it. Funny they don't play the same tune now.
It's POSSIBLE that Bonzi & Co would have played better under Jackson, but I wouldn't bet on it. Jackson is very very good, but he has his limits. The Isiah Rider experiment didn't work out too well, for example. He was also unable to stop his team from choking away the playoff series last season (or to start 0-2 this this season). Bison Dele and Dennis Rodman also had played at comparable levels even before they joined the bulls. Phil does a good job, but even no coach can make chicken soup out of chicken ****.
He got Kelvin Cato, Latrell Sprewell, McGrady, and Alston to play for him. He's got McGrady "back into the fold" after quiting on his last team. As for Griffin and Swift, there have been NO coaches that got anything consistent from them.
I'm halfway sold on JVG can't handle certain players, but at the same time he coached a Knicks team with lots of strong personalities, a few malcontents, exiled players, and could even say one or two trouble players. Camby, Oakley, Mason, Sprewell, and Childs. Then you had veteran all-star like Ewing who could have easy ran a young coach like Van Gundy out of town. high priced f.a. in Allen Houston and Larry Johnson. all that fighting those teams used to get into with either Heat or Pacers. He did pretty well in N.Y.
i think that as long as the "tough" or "malcontent" players actually want to play and win, then i dont think jvg has any problems with those guys. its the knuckleheads that are more concerned about their salary, their stats, and such, that he cant stand.
Don't forget Sprewell, Mr. "I can't buy groceries with a multimillion dollar contract, while I cruse around on a yacht with my hoes" or Mr. "DIE PJ DIE DAMN IT", or Mr. "b****, I'LL CHOKE YOU ALSO, GOLDDIGGERS NEED CHOKING TOO" ain't exactly free from mental and character defects either. We can't forget punks like Charles Oakley who fought with other players(Tyrone Hill over dice, Jeff McInnis over a girl) and a producer of NBA videos in 2001 (post-jvg). He started a brawl with Shaq in 2002(post-jvg). JVG hasn't been coaching boyscouts. Swift, Bonzi and Snyder are boyscouts compared to Sprewell, Oakley, Me-Mac(dubbed by his previous team as a quitter), and Alston(feuds and temper tantrums with COY Mitchell), Juwan Howard(a cancer).
He came in 4th of how many? I am confident that when you derive this figure you will change your mind.
