You can't really put this one on JVG. The Spurs have a solid bench, and we really do not. I understand your frustrations with the rotation, but we don't see practices. There could be good reasons why certain people are not playing yet...and that could be because they are not ready yet. I do agree we need to get a set rotation. We need Bonzi to get his *ss in shape and get out there. I'm certain if we had a legit third option last night off the bench we wouldn't have choked the way we did. It is possible that Novak isn't ready to play. V-Span as well. Hopefully that changes, as it is obvious that we need them. Also, Hayes was out.
Gater, The Spurs only have 2 penetrators on the floor, Parker and Ginobli.....Duncan, Bowen, and Oberto are not going to create anything. The Rockets have Tmac and Rafer as penetrators, while Battier, Hayes/J-ho and Yao are the other end. We match up perfectly with the Spurs. Our problem is our perimeter defense, when other teams go small, JVG generally takes too long to counter. Where was Synder last night? And V-Span needs to get in the game he is a tide changer.... DD
yeah, but neither of those guys can hit an open jumpshot (from the little amount of time that I have seen them play). The both just drive to the hoop, which is tough with the Spurs D
Totally agree with this post. Pop benched his starters to make a point, not because he was counting on his bench winning the game for him. It just so happened that they got hot and started hitting some shots. I'll bet Pop was just as surprised as we were. JVG stayed with his starters to try and finish the spurms off, but they got tired, and when SA made their run, it was too late to give them any rest. You don't want to put in 3 rookies when the Spurms are in the midst of a huge run like that. Yes, JVG was outcoached, but Pop is one of the best in the business. He outcoaches just about every other NBA coach too.
So far, I think YM-34.6mpg, TMac and Battier-36.9 mpg are just fine for starters of their age. Only Rafer-38.8 mpg seems a little bit overused. IMO, because our situation is special this year, the first step of JVG's entire season plan is make the starters and rotation solid. So he wants them to play together as much as possible. And so far so good, we get a not bad winning percentage. During this period, I think almost all of the NBA coaches will not develop rookies frequently. JVG is stubborn but not a fool. If we can see the problem, he definitely also can. Give him time. I wish he will complete the first step very soon. Actually, he has made several bold and brave adjustment, right? Starting Hayes, playing Head as PG, making Yao as the first offensive option..... So let's just be positive and see what happens in next few weeks.
whats wrong with vspan? he is 100 times better than udrih in the WC games. juz put him in there and let him guard udrih. he get us easy basket and is the spark plug of this team.
Average minutes played this season ... Minutes played Last night SAS's big three + 1 scrub - Tim Duncan 35:36 ... 37 - Manu Ginobili 30:53 ... 34 - Tony Parker 34:47 ... 29 - Bruce Bowen 32:17 ... 35 HOU's big four - Yao Ming 34:42 ... 35 - Tracy McGrady 36:53 ... 39 - Rafer Alston 38:47 ... 40 - Shane Battier 36:47 ... 37 The gap in the depth between these two teams couldn't be more obvious. You have to wonder if our main guys can still have legs in the late regular season and playoffs. Even if JVG is aiming at "win now" for this season only, his desperate banking on the limited resources in our starters without further investing in more bench players is bound to spell trouble for him months later. JVG is no match for Pop.
Actually, it probably will hurt, as tight as games are in the NBA. On opening night, Novak looked pretty clueless on the court, and Utah increase their lead during his stint in there. Had Chuck Hayes played those minutes instead, things would probably have been different. The Rockets could have gotten some momentum and made it a game down the stretch. What I saw was that the Spurs bench was basically better than the Rocket ones. I have my questions about why Snyder didn't play more, too, but overall, the Spurs bench: 1. actually produced last night. The shooting numbers have been cited above, but in other aspects of the game, they brought it last night more than the Rockets bench did. Why play the Rockets bech 97 minutes when they didn't produce in 62? 2. have better proven players. These guys are just a lot more accomplished and used to playing pressure minutes than Head, Snyder, and the rookies. There's a reason why the +/- stats for the Rockets 5 regualr starters were so good... whenever they sat this season, the team has generally struggled. All is not lost though, if Hayes comes back, Juwan (who actually played decent in the last couple of games) adds to the bench depth. Bonzi Wells also hopefully gets in shape and gives the Rockets some decent minutes off the bench. Get better bench players and you'll see better bench play. Van Gundy certainly has nothing against bench players per se, he gave plenty of minutes to Mike James, Mutombo, Jon Barry & co. when these guys earned their minutes.
DaDa... Alston is NOT a penetrator by anyones' standard. Get that nonsense out of your head immediately. He is capable of looking good in the first half and flat out horrible in crunch time. I have reviewed his level of success more time than I want to recount. The Rox have an absolutely horrible record against quality teams with him onboard. Don't let the last seasons' "record with a healthy Yao and McGrady" fool you. We were not beating very good teams. McGrady is the only player on the entire team that that can constently get his own shot. Wells has yet to show up. But if they are more successful when he does it only lends more creedence to my postulation. Maybe VSpan can get his own shot. But right now he's a huge maybe. Let's contrast this to the Spurs... Parker and Ginobilli....Finley can still drive...as ancient as Horry is he can still finish at the basket better than Padgett or Novak. Udrih...that's Udrih was hitting wide open uncontested shots over whichever Rockets' PG was on him. Udrih penetrating is Manu-lite. The ancient Brent Barry can still get his own shot better than any current Rockets bench player. So we've got TMac, an injured Wells, a "maybe" V-Span with Snyder being a slight upgrade to Bogans. They've got Parker, Manu, Udrih, Finley, Horry and Barry. I don't expect you to buy my theory at all...not even 10%. What I ask is that you watch what happens to our perimeter offense vs the Bulls. Ben Wallace will start Yao with single coverage. That means no easy shots for standstill shooters.
Part of the reason is Spurs are there for years. Rockets never are since Hakeem's era. As a result, Pop and Spurs know how to save their energy (PT) during the regular season while maintaining high enough winning percentage. We have many new-comers and some of other guys are changing their roles on this team. We have to put nearly 100% strength to figure out what we can do and where we are in this league now. I just hope JVG and all the players can realize and get enough wins soon. Afterwards, it is the time to talk about saving our starters energy. So far, I am not worried about it at all.
I mwith DA and OMR on this one. The team desperately needs a change. Not because of the loss, but the manner they lose in, and the rate of change increased of injuries because of heavyy minutes. I can't believe to this day that people still make excuses for a coach not to play his rookies. If they weren't ready they wouldn't be in the pros. They would'e been cut in training camp. That and preseason is enough to know if a player can log a few minutes or not. Jacobsen and Abuike were not ready, but we have a couple of guys who can help, even if in short spurts. This coach is notorious for not developing young talent.Even Phil Jackson has wised up and started playing his rookies. Last nights meltdown showed a coaching problem. JVG was outcoached, and didn't use all of his resources. I say Novak should've played if you're going to throw Padgett in there everytime the team starts bleeding. He doesn't play defense either but he plays. OMR said it best, no more nauseating fire jvg threads, just let him resign.
JVG knows he is on the hot seat...I think it will take someone from upper management to force him to play some of the young guys. Parker STARTED at the age of 19....... And Gater, I agree about Alston, I can not stand him...he is steady with the ball, but is hardly a creator, and more importantly is worse than Steve Francis on defense.....and that is HORRID !! DD
Parker and Ginobili were recruited by the Spurs at very similar draft positions as our VSpan and Novak, respectively. Pop had no qualm about playing his two young guys for significant minutes during their rookie seasons, despite the fact that neither had any NBA experience. Why can't JVG have any faith in our rookies? As for 1st game jitters, probably nobody could play as bad as Yao in his NBA debut. In fact, Yao wasn't doing a whole lot better until his 9 for 9 shooting in LA some 7 games later. The rest is not exactly history, as Yao still had many ups and downs. Thank god Rudy stuck to his gun. Now imagine Gundy ...
That is exactly what I want to say: if you want to play Pa_get-type player, fine, then why not Novak? He is a killer outside 3-point line! To be honest, I was REALLY upset the first day JVG decided to give a shot at Pa_get, who couldn't even play a minute in Nets the second half of last season!
DING DING DING DING !!!!!! We have a winner !!! You have to find out what you have in the REGULAR season.....just think if JVG was coaching the Rockets.....there would have been no Sam Cassell.... DD
GATER, you are 100% correct in your assesment. The way today's NBA is officiated, a team has to have drivers. The low post game and 4 shooters looks good in 1994. But zones are legal now. Hand checking isn't allowed. The Rockets can still play that low post game, but the PickNRoll game is also a huge weapon if done right. But the logic of having Yao+Tmac and a bunch of shooters looks good in a vacuum where Yao and Tmac are having good games and are on the court together. But once they are cold or are off the court the house of cards falls because no one can create a shot. Bonzi coming back would be a HUGE plus to this team. If we would have gotten Mike James that would have been a huge plus. Guys that can CREATE and score. Guys that are KILLERS, high energy. That's what we need on this team with Yao and Tmac. And oh yeah, Hayes.....get better quick!
To be fair to Alston, he did ok in the first half. Hes probably out of gas in the second. Compared to himself last season, he improved a lot. The only thing we didn't upgrade/improve in this team is the coach.
