i agree with going out to win every game, but i guess i'm talking bigger picture. yes, there are games when we play teams like the mavs, suns, spurs, etc when we have to shorten the rotation in order to compete...i have no problem with that. but not every game is like that, and thats where i see the problem. we have our starters out there running extra minutes when they don't have to be, so i guess its more a matter of in game management on a game to game basis than anything else. being quick to adapt is not how i'd describe our coach, and i think its that mindset of 'if it aint broke dont fix it' that will get us in trouble. i'm really happy with the way the team has played with yao out, but i'm simply proceeding with caution. there are some obvious issues (pg play, starter/bench minutes) that we shouldn't ignore just bc we're winning at the moment. seeding is pretty important, i'll admit that in a heartbeat. but if you're looking to go deep in the playoffs, you'll have to be prepared for the better teams anyway. again, win now at all costs or sacrifice some now for the good of the playoffs? tough call.
is snyder unable to play still? i thought i had seen him come in to play a couple games ago against the lakers. i didnt get to see the game, so i didnt hear anything about his status right now. not blaming the coach for this loss, just looking ahead and down the road to hopefully a strong playoff run.
I think a lot of people vastly overrate our bench players. Lets see what we got. Chuck Hayes - Decent role player, only there to play ok defense and rebound, definite liability on the offense end if hes not getting offensive rebounds. Luther Head - good role player, undersized 2 guard who is a liability on the defensive end. Can score some points, but his 3 point shot went down the drain with the synthetic ball. John Lucas - Can only play against certain match ups due to his midgetness. Steve Novak - Our bench savior, who attained his greatness in the summer league and preseason, who is a 3 point shooter who can't make 3 pointers. If hes not making 3 pointers then he is completely worthless. Scott Padgett - 3 point shooter who cant make them. Kirk Snyder - Just came off a broken hand, reported having trouble holding onto the ball. Vassilis Spanoulis - The Next Ginobili, who hasnt really done much except have one good game against the US national team and dish out some assist with a lot of turnovers in the preseason. Has a horrible 3 point shot which significantly handicaps our team. Look at how many open shots Rafer has, imagine span taking all those 3 pointers. Bonzi Wells - Established player who refuses to get into shape, expects playing time and doesn't earn it, and when given the PT promptly injures himself. Might be oversimplified, but the point is our bench sucks ass right now. And people want to give them some minutes against the best team in the league.
They're taking it slow... the wrist is healing well, but its not all the way back yet... they don't want one wrong blow to set him back another 3 months.
All this talk is moot. Last night's game would have been a win (and possibly a blowout if Yao was playing). Yao is easily by far our most consistent scorer, and we know the Mavs have no answer for him. Plus, they wouldn't have been able to try that nonsense they did in the 3rd putting Devean George on Deke to take him out defensively (knowing that Deke is not a low post scoring threat). Yao would have burned them for 8 straight points before they could blink. This team at full strength is capable of beating anyone in this league. Anyone. And we haven't even seen this team at full strength yet.
I'm not... I was saying only when we're completely healthy could our bench possibly compare to the Mavs... and that's only after Mutombo has had his resurgence as a starter. Mutombo, Bonzi, Snyder, Head would have a shot against Stackhouse, George, Diop, Bucknor.
I knew this would happen. We lose one game against the best team in the NBA without our best player and now JVG is "r****ded". Did people seem to forget how well we've played without Yao Ming these past couple weeks? Snyder, Novak, nor V-Span was not going to help us win the game. We were winning plenty games these past weeks, why no crying about playing the bench then? Oh that's right, we were winning games. Still, some fans always seem to find something for JVG to take the blame. Seriously, when we win, nobody says anything. All the JVG haters are shut down because they don't want to give credit to JVG for winning. But when we lose, the world is over and JVG is the reason. It like guys just sit at their computers waiting for the Rockets to lose so they can create a new thread on how it was JVG's fault. DD, please stop creating these lame, predictable threads everytime the Rockets lose. Stick to making excuses for why V-Span is not in the rotation.
the only thing that is short sighted is this topic. if you look around the league most teams don't go deaper then 7-8 guys in the rotation and there is a reason fo rthis - CHEMISTRY! If you add to many players to the mix it screws up the team chemistry on the floor. Certain matchups may dictate a slight tweak to the lineup but coaches like to stick with a certain lineup every night so the chemistry can develop and is always there. this includes offenseively and defensivley playing as a team. if you notice when a bench warmer comes in he seems lost, out of place and tends to disrupt the flow of the team.
We lose a game by bad defense and rebounding, and there are still suggestions to play Novak. Brilliant. I'd like to see an 8-10 man roster too, but not when it involves playing either V-Span, Novak, or JL III. We are not a team that is comfortable enough in our wins nor our standings that we should give valuable minutes developing those scrubs. They're NBADL bound, as far as I can see. Might be for the best... Azubuike had a poor preseason with us and is now averaging 10 pts and 3.5 boards for Golden State.
Not messing with chemistry is fine, but the Rockets don't appear to have chemistry problem among teammates, to say the least. The far more pressing problem faced by this team, which you JVG apologists have shunned all along, is TMac's sustainbility due to his fragile back. A deep bench is imperative in the playoffs to the success of a team co-anchored by a superstar starter with questionable physicality. You can mostly get away with the lack of depth during the regular season as long as you make it to the playoffs, but don't cry for help if you get exposed and destroyed in a 7-game knockout series.
I'm forced to agree. We should be seeing a lot more of the younger guys like VSpan especially when we play weaker teams like those in the East. DaD is voicing a legitimate concern about Tmac's back. It is what it is but that doesn't mean that JVG should tempt fate by making him put too many minutes on that back. If Tmac goes down, or is unavailable for the playoffs due to back problems, then this team's chances drop to the level of that proverbial "snowball in hell". If you have no confidence in the guys on your bench, then why did you get them in the first place?
The guys people are clamoring for were never intended to be more than the 11th or 12th men this year. The "bench" that we got was supposed to be Bonzi, Snyder, Mutombo, Head. Not Head, JLIII, Novak and V-Span.
This type of thinking would criticize the Pistons for not playing Delfino and Darko in their championship run. Those guys were at least first round picks. As for TMac's back...we hear from OMR constantly that JVG treats TMac differently. If TMac were concerned about his back or heavy minutes he would/could ask out. He doesn't. If he's not concerned, you shouldn't be, either. From what it looks like to me, more frequent in and outs for TMac are a bigger concern - when he goes out his back can stiffen up. Perhaps its perception, but TMac usually comes back shooting a little cold after he gets his usual late first/beginning of the 4th rest. We sustained multiple wing injuries, with at least 2 of TMac/Kirk/Bonzi being out for probably 2/3 of the season so far. I agree that guys like Snyder and Bonzi should be playing if healthy, and the matchups last night were very frustrating without them. With Bonzi, it's clear that we have no clue what goes on behind the scenes. As for Snyder, I give the team benefit of the doubt - like Nick said, we have no idea how healthy his wrist is or how mentally comfortable he is with it. If he's afraid of snapping his wrist on a jumper, he's not going to be a good shooter. If he's afraid of banging his wrist on the rim/backboard, he's not going to play as athletically as he's should. JL3 got fewer minutes than he usually does last night because he was completely ineffective in the first half. We were getting pounded on the boards and defensively. Novak isn't going to solve that. Effectively, this is another "Free V-Span!" thread.
capable, but you say this as if having yao back will gaurantee the rockets going to the finals. rox caught the mavs in the first week, 7 game series will be a tough one. i am sure the mavs wouldn't want to face rox and yao in a 7 game series, but they are also the best team in the league and can kill teams in many ways. it would be a fun series though, and one I hope comes to fruition, as most people in here would like to see the rox personally put them out of playoff misery.
Um Suns?? Suns have a 6 man team basically playing 35-45 min a game: Diaw, Nash, Marion, Amare, Bell, Barbosa. They have scrubs play randomly: James Jones, Kurt Thomas but really its a 6 man roster, they are NOT deep, but hella talented.
I'm not JVG apologist as you like to label people. but i do have confidence in our coach to make the correct decisions. you guys whining about the rotation have absolutely no clue as to the bench players capabilities. i'm certain that if the coach feels like a player can help the team he would find a way to play them. the fact is that he obviously feels that they are liabilities of some sort when on the court and will make mistakes; and in this league one or two mistakes can cost you the game as most games are won with les then a five point margin. and i am also certain that he knows a lot more about basketball then all of us combined. how many of us on this bbs board or nba coaches or basketball coaches at any level?
I think I have mentioned this before even when we are winning... Jvg still makes too many mistakes/too slow to react...it is only masked because we won a game.... once again... how can we expect our bench to perform...in the playoffs... when we dont even trust them to play in a regular season game... id rather take the 10 extra losses... and possibly not make the playoffs... then to burn out our starters... and make the playoffs but then get blown out... if we finish where I think we will... like 6th too 8th spot... we will see top tier teams the rest of the way... assumming we make it out of the first round...
its easy to say we should rest tmac more esp after he tweaked his back last night. but when tmac was going off for 29 in the first half ... who wanted him to sit then? snyder and bonzi are hurt, jvg already explained why theyre not playing vspan had his opportunity and was terrible. JL3 is better (which isnt saying much) novak -- also terrible. entire defense collapses when hes in. guy couldnt guard a mannequin knee jerk thread. once bonzi and snyder get into the mix and find their niche we'll be ok.
Dirk was playing in the beginning of the second quarter and they went on 11-2 run with T-Mac on the bench. Our bench is terrible compared to the Mavs. It will be a different story when Yao and Bonzi (maybe) get back. There is no point in complaining about this now. We won 9 out of 10 and it could have been 10 straight, if it wasn't for Alston. There is no point in starting a thread like this just cause we lost to a team with the best record, especially since it was a road game.
I agree with the coach - uh Van Gundy, who substituted the smurfs unit into the Lakers game when we were down by about 30 and they almost brought us all the way back. Same smurfs guys, top tier team, so what has changed? He trusted them vs the Lakers but he can't trust them against the Mavs? And I wonder why Bill and Matt can see the fatigue in our players including Tmac, see their shots start to miss, and the short bald guy a few feet away cannot see it. Mind over Matter Jeff.
