Love? That was for gucci888. Those were his words. Respect? Winning brings respect. Even Bill Lambier got that! Now....please explain, "learned how to put his players in the best position to use their skills." Does that mean ISO every-time? Or less set-plays? More free-style? Fast-break when there is not one? Run Yao out of breath? Have McGrady go ISO more? What? What about trying to get Ward to play "Payton-like" defense? Make MoT rebound better? Lue get the ball to Yao better? Make Bokie hit more 3pts? How do we accomplish these things? One of the problems is that we are still have roster changes to do. We are NOT the most athletic team. Yao is NOT Hakeem were he can just shutdown the interior defensively. Hakeem could change the complexion of any game just based on a few block shots. Yao is not like that. He not that mobile. McGrady's defense is even in question. He can defend some players, but not all of them. He struggles with shorter, quicker guards. It's clear that we need to replace Ward/Lue and our PF duo in order to complement Mcgrady/Yao. We need some atheltics player that can off-set Yao's slowness. And a PG that can push the ball better. These are inevitable changes that *must* happen no matter what.
Please explain. Show me where the coach is restricting the players? Show me where Yao is not getting his shots. Show me where Mcgrady is not allowed to create (those games that he's played). From what I've seen those two players have lots of freedom to create. But they also have set plays to get their other players involved. What's the problem? Could it be that our supporting cast still needs some tweaking? That maybe Yao is not as good as Hakeem and needs a PF that can rebound and block shots? That maybe we need a PG that can push the ball better? AD? B. Jax? You know how everyone is saying that this team is the next Shaq/Kobe? Or maybe some say this is the next Hakeem/Drexler? Well, our two best players seem more like Drexler/Walton. Hakeem and Drexler played great offense. But they also played GREAT defense too! Yao is not capable of playing this type of defense. McGrady? Sometimes.
We might see the Rockets score 120 points, tinman. BTW, what is your take on JVG/Rockets defense/offense. My personal feeling is, it will take a little bit more time for these guys to gel. I'd like to see the Rockets win the championship this year. Yao will continue to progress, McGrady will emerge as the team leader. I think for the team to be successful, McGrady will need to handle the ball more. Also, McGrady and Yao will need to continue to trust their teammates. As a unit, they will have as strong bond and be able to conquer any opponent. Right now, the Rockets biggest enemy is themselves, which I believe they will master and vanquish.
What is the obsession with scoring 100 pts in a game. Who cares how many points we score. The only thing I want is for the Rockets to have more points than the other team at the end of the game. Every single game could be 68-67 and I would be happy as a clam. JVG's style of play is to slow the game down and limit the number of total possesions, believing that our defense can get more stops than the other team. That is a system that works and favors the team that has good half-court scoring options. We have Yao and McGrady which is going to give us an advantage in the half court most nights. Now, the Hawks game was ugly in the last 8 mins or so, because Ward, Lue, JJ, and even McGrady were all just throwing up garbage from the perimeter or turning the ball over. We went away from Yao who obviously had it working and everything went to hell. It didn't help that we shot horribly from 3 point land on the game either. None of that is on Van Gundy though. He cannot make the players execute, and it was execution, not game plan that lost us the game. JVG is a fine coach with a proven record, and now we have the building blocks of a dynasty in Yao and McGrady. We might need to get a few more complementary pieces with our MLE's and draft picks in the next couple of seasons, but everything is in place for the Rockets to be very good for a long time.
Where is Muncho? I love his sig. All I can say, is that when the Rockets got Gundy, I knew that if they didn't score 85 points a game then they where in BIG trouble. I say ship his *** back to NYC.
THen why do most of his players end up hating him? I mean, for gosh sake's, our olympic team practically quit on him.
Good God - some of you really need to get a grip. It is only 9 games people! However, when I got home last night and found out that we lost to the sucky-ass Hawks, that I knew people would go off the deep end, LOL. Don't get me wrong - it sucks to see our team off to a 4-5 start and to lose to a team like the Hawks. But this happens - even the best teams get beat by crappy teams from time to time. We just can't let it be a common occurrence. But does anyone honestly think that Les Alexander is going to give up on Gumby after 1 season and 9 games?? You are deluding yourself if you think so. As a couple of others have said - give him this season and see how the team does in the playoffs (if they make it, heh). Then make your decision.
once again Remember what u guts said when TWO YEARS IN A ROW WE HAD THE MOST WINS WITH OUT THE PLAYOFFS or GOING UNDEFEATED AGAINST AN ENTIRED DIVISION NO FRICKING EXCUSES!!! Rocket River
I would not I remember when UNLV were blowing everyone out IT was exciting basketball They ran into this team . .that walked the ball up SLOWLY . . used the whole 45 second clock UNLV won . . . it was not a large margin but it was something ridiculous like 50 - 40 For a team that was constantly hitting 100 It was the single most boring display of athletics I had seen at the time I do not want the rockets to descend into that Rocket River
Mr. Mean could not get the Rox to the playoffs when he was in the top 8 in the west with a few weeks to go in the season. Mr. Mean could not get a job in the NBA until his buddy RT came back to the game. Can't argue that VG's defense first mnetality is not great to watch but it's better than watching Francis dribble out the clock on every other posession. No excuse for poor effort. The guys did not get it done last night. They were out played by a team desperate to win when we were not. We lost a lot of heart in Francis and Mobley but also a lot of boneheaded basketball. We need to see who, if anyone on this team will step up to provide the on the court heart we lost. These guys need some time. If by the end of January with Sura back and fit we are not at or above .500 then we need a new coach AND some new players who can lead. Until then VG has the reigns and the players MUST execute his game plan.
Let's face it, besides Yao and T-mac, none of the players on the team can be a starter on a championship team. We also have a serious bench problem. Our depth is so thin. I don't know it is JVG or T-mac, T-mac right now is not the scoring threat he used to be in Orlando. His shooting percentage is just too low now for an elite SG.
I would have to disagree there. Up until last night, T-Mac's %s were on par with his career #s. And seeing as how he was going back to back on a strained hip, I would probably cut him a lil slack.
Wait. Wait. Let me get this straight: 9 of the 15 players on our team are new, we've played roughly 11% of the schedule, one of our superstars was out for 2 games, we're missing our starting point guard,... and you guys want to run Van Gundy out of town already? I don't get it. You give Rudy and Steve 5 long years of your patience (with no playoffs to show for it), but you can't give Van Gundy 2? Amazing.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~102~2539812,00.html It looks like Phil Jackson has been faxing out the resume to several teams with the Nuggets being one of them. I do not think he would sign with a team until after the season. Les may have to eat the salary for JVG for one season. It may be best for the Knicks to go sign JVG again since Lenny Wilkens is on the way out. Phil Jackson can come to Houston.
