I posted this in the other thread. Thought it might be relevant here. ""I believe most of us KNOW what picks are for in basketball. The bottom line is to create space and open shots for your teammates. Of course, there are many ways in setting them up, but it doesn't take a basketball genius like JVG, , to know that there are good and bad picks. It's totally legit for the original poster to question the effectiveness of Yao's FREQUENT high picks in the context of our offensive flow. I wonder how many 7 footers in this league would actually spend as much time as Yao does in setting up those picks. One also needs to know the limitations of his players. Yao's stamina is still a problem. He is supposed to be one of our top 2 scorers. I certainly don't think it's a good idea for Yao to spend half of his time setting up picks for others and picking up stupid fouls. Yao is SLOW, in case you haven't noticed. Yao is simpily not good at rolling to the basket and catching the ball at the same time. And we rarely have Yao to take an open 15 footer from most of those picks. JVG might have all these wonderful offensive schemes that only some of you with high IQ basketball know-hows would notice, , but it doesn't take a genius, like us, to SEE that they haven't been that effective, definitely not pretty to watch most of the times. More often than not, the defender wasn't fully screened off, we ended up taking a not-so-wide-open jumper, and Yao was "nowhere" in sight for rebound. In the two games Yao has dominated so far this season, Yao has set the least picks compared to in other games. The games Yao sucked the most in his career so far have been the ones he spent much of his times setting up pick, away from the paint. No wonder his rebounds in those games were PATHETIC."" Just substitute the word "games" with "quarters" in the last two sentences.
I don't love JVG. I don't want him fired either. I certainly don't Phil Jackons in place over JVG. JVG's offense is ugly. But he did do some good for our players. He helped Francis work harder and improve his defense. He got Francis(who many called selfish) to try and change his game. We can argue about what kind of results we got out of it, but it happened. This year the team looks like they are just focusing on running the plays the right the way. They don't seem to be thinking about the result, playing with heart, adjusting with the flow of the game, and that makes everyone out there appear slightly uncomfortable, and not very confident. The team is new, and the team's former leader, heart and soul is also gone. Francis was able to mold the team enough to his personality that the role players felt comfortable in their roles and were able to do their part. Nobody on this team has stepped up to be the leader on the floor this year. Until the leader(s) take over and put their stamp on the team, the role players aren't going to really know their role, and what's expected out of them. The season is early and someone could still step up and become the leader we need. We have great potential, but without a focus that potential won't be realized. I think JVG put in an offense that is too complicated or too much of a foreign style for these players. He's trying to do 6th grade work with 3rd graders. JVG doesn't understand that he needs to simplify things, to allow the players personalities to enter into the game. Once they understand the simplified version they can begin to work on the more complex version. The players aren't capable of doing JVG's system and they should be. But because they aren't ready for it yet, they spend all their energy on just trying to do the work correctly, and aren't focused on intuitive part of hte game. JVG isn't blameless, but neither should he be the scape goat for what's going on.
Yao himself said that he doesn't want to set those high picks. It's the coach's decison, he just has no choice.
This is Les Alexander's fault for owning the Rockets. I mean if the Rockets didn't exist, we wouldn't have all these problems. That may sound over the edge, but listen to some of these ridiculous messages. On a night when Yao and McGrady had good numbers, we lost. Let's face it, in the last 6 minutes of the game, we got 4 freaking points. They got 17. Bottom Line: We got outplayed and outhustled. The Rockets had open shots and missed them. I don't think that JVG needs to be fired, yet.
9 games, come on people, If this was Feb. and we were lingering aroung the .500 mark then that's a different story but come on. The players showed no life and no real interest in winning that game last nite, it was pretty clear after Jimmy Jackson made that fast break layup. It seem like the Roxs just figured the game was over at that point. They didn't execute, plain and simple. Game tomorrow nite, time to move on and see how the players respond. Van Gundy can only do so much, I doubt he told them tone down their focus and intensity half way thru the 4th quarter last nite. Time for them to get over and move on to the next game
Yep, Nice to have search available, isn't it. I did like JVG compared to LB, but I don't like JVG compared to Dunleavy. In fact, after seeing JVG in action for a year, any like I had for him is now gone. I despise him now...I guess the more experience you get with something the more educated an opinion you can make on it. What was your point again D.o.D? DD
Yes, you are right. Mr. Mean took over with a few weeks to go. But at the time, the team was doing so bad that there had to be a change. This goes back to why people go after the coach before the stars of the team. FranchiseBlade, that a good summary. Some have said before that JVG offense is to simple; high-schoolish. But I see the opposite. What you said above is correct. It's a complex offense that requires players move without the ball, and relies on passing and teamwork. The star player initiates the offense, but there are still plays run for the role players. What about Rudy's offense? His offense was half-court as well, just like JVG. But, it was more iso-based. Too simple. No creativity. At least with JVG you get more than one play or two plays. They do mix it up. The problem is that it takes time to learn. There's also a problem with our defense. We can't get steals or blocks that initiate easy baskets on the break. We're just not that good at causing turnovers. McGrady seem to be the best at that. But easy baskets are not as common as it would be if we had, say Bosh or Daniels on our team. Players that were more athletic that could help Yao and our PF's out. Our PG/PF positions are too slow to cause any defensive baskets. If we could get some players like that added to our depth, it would help us in getting easier baskets. Last night we were doing well until the 4th. The Hawks ratcheted up the defense and our players lost themselves. They even tried getting it to McGrady/Yao, but everyone was double teaming them. This is where our lack of depth comes into play. We need some speed. Our best players are not faster than our competition; Yao. Our worst players are just slow.
Random question about coaching in general: Does anyone know what, if anything, assistant coaches do? I'm sure they help out in practice, though to what extent, I don't know. And it seems like they are pretty much record keepers during game time. It's not just a Rockets thing...I just don't get it. If I was an NBA coach, my assistants would be as follows: (1) offensive specialist, (2) defensive specialist, (3) guard/sf specialist and (4) big man specialist. If JVG can't create a good offensive system that works into his gameplan (which seems to be the case), why doesn't he hire an assistant coach who can?
When Les Alexander realizes Toyota Center is always like a ghost town EVEN with YAO and T-MAC, you better believe he will fire Van Grumpy and get rid of his uninspiring coaching style and his ugly game low-scoring system!!
edc, silly boy, lest you forget we had just beat up on some really bad teams to get that 35-30 record. I am tired of the schtick that Rudy's absence knocked us out of the playoffs. Apologize for steve all you want, apologize for Rudy all you want, but the truth of the matter is that team had no brains and played themselves out of the playoffs. The thing that's scaring everyone is that this team was supposed to have brains and they are making the same mental errors. I am not ready to say this team doesn't have the ability to win with their gaping defensive holes, but soon (especially after Sura's return) there will be no more excuses.
Seems to me, they had "just beat up" on Phoenix, their main competition for the playoff spot. This isn't the point of this thread though, and those discussions have no end point. Specifically to this thread, Jeff Van Gundy should not be fired right now. However, if I were Les, I would be taking those calls from "Phil Jackson's people." Returning a championship caliber head coach to this organization would be a good thing.
While I'm here, here is something from the "everything old is new again" file: http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2001/11/18/kkgcolum.htm
That's just sad. This article basically describes the Rockets, and that was right before JVG quit on his team. I doubt he will quit on the Rockets. There's too much money on the table.
There are many factors for Les to consider before he would can JVG. He will at a minimum eat one year of salary. JVG will get another job. He'll get a job at a East team without talent. Foxsports might give a bonus to the Rockets if JVG is canned. That's a factor. Attendance will increase if Phil Jackson is hired. That's a lock. The maximum payout is $9 million though.
9 million - that's one year of Mo Taylor. If we trade him for expiring contracts, there's your money. Come on, we can do that.
