JVG "We left Steve out there stranded on an Island"

aww.. i was i had one.

 

The way I remembered it, Kenny pumped faked his defender, and then spot up for a three. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how Kenny Smith could possibly launch an off balanced shot. His low trajectory shot is pretty much only good for catch and shoot. And he was awesome at that.

 

At first glance, JJ appears to be open...but he isnt.
His defender is only 3 feet from him...and the only time he looked away from JJ was when Francis was not in position to make the pass if he had been so inclined.

Cat was covered like a glove...there wasnt anyway in hell they were allowing Cat to get the shot....

Padgett's initial attempt at a pick was where that play went wrong...if the pick would have effectively served its purpose...francis would have been open long enought to get the open shot....the only problem there is that he would have been going right and shooting...which is not the direction he likes to go...Francis is much more comfortable going left.

towards the very end(about 3 secs left), just as Francis was going hard right for the laast time...if he would have cut back towards the top, he would have seen JJ open for the shot since JJ had moved from the corner back towards the top.


farhan...just go back a page..I posted a link to the play.

 

A good example would be how you didn't understand my sarcasm. Intelligence indeed.

I also recall JVG's words meaning far less to you last week.

 

That was my take after watching the play a number of times. On the playground or in high school ball that pass to JJ might be makeable, though better highschool defenders would be able to defend JJ after he caught the ball. In the NBA, against these Spurs and Manu, the pass to JJ would have been swatted away or intercepted outright.

MacBeth, I agree that Steve could have driven for a two. I think the team's philosophy was that we needed a 3 pointer that possession.

 

there is no doubt that we weren't willing to settle for anything less than a 3.

thing is...if you look at the tape...francis and VG were talking during the foul shots that came immediately before that play.

I refuse to believe that he didnt tell Francis what to do....unfortunately, the play was not executed correctly.

SA defended it too welll...I suspect based on what I saw that if the Padge pick would have been correctly executed, the shot would have gone to Padge.

The pick failed...and Padge wasnt open...so then Francis was lost at what to do...and failed to deliver.

 

I think there is little doubt about that. I agree. The thing that is so frustrating is the pick has been a problem for this team for some time. Both the guards and usually the player setting the pick all seem to have problems running it correctly. From JVG's reputation and talk it seems like that's something the team would have worked hard at correcting. Maybe the basketball IQ and their learning curve is even lower than I thought.

Maybe it just took something like the San Antonio game to make it that apparent and it will get fixed. Because even when the play ends up working it's still not run too smoothly.

 

Houston Chronicle :

Rockets summary
Van Gundy: My bad

One day after his team lost to the Spurs on Monday, coach Jeff Van Gundy was still bothered by the Rockets' final play. The team had no timeouts and trailed by three points with 15.5 seconds to go. Steve Francis dribbled out the clock and tried to shake off Robert Horry. His attempts failed, and his last-second shot missed terribly.

Francis took the brunt of the blame for the loss after the game, but Van Gundy said Tuesday it was all his fault.

"I let our team down," Van Gundy said. "That was terrible. Bad, bad. We didn't get a good shot. It's my job to get us a better shot. I left Steve stranded out there on an island. We'll do better next time."

The Rockets had no timeouts left, but Van Gundy said that makes no difference.

"You should be able to generate for your team a much better opportunity," he said.

Francis said he wasn't surprised by Van Gundy's comments.

"That just shows you what type of coach he is," Francis said. "That just shows you how much he cares about us as a group. That's just a coach sticking up for his players. That's what you need to become a good team."

 

Which leaves EQUALLY as much CONCERN over JVG and his coaching, awareness, game management, as it does over SF's dribbling, awareness, game management taking that shot.


It's STILL a 2 way street.

I think A-Train said it best, sarcasm or not.

 

Don't know if this was already mentioned but this sounds to me like JVG stroking Steve's ego to keep him playing at a tradeable level, kind of babying him.

 

JVG is very capable of that kinda mind game.

He's a "smoke and mirrors" kinda guy. And SF ain't sharp enough to know better.

 

maybe he is motivating steve to play at a level to make us go far to the playoffs.

Just a suggestion.

 

I always wondered how sf did in school. Is he really actually dumb, and like almost failed school?? Or is he just immature?

 

I think that's a moot point either way, except I'd lean toward the maturity issue.


It's the EGO that's making him lose his smarts, on the court and off.

I like SF, but mainly because he's a Rocket. I'm seriously gonna be surprised (as I've said) if he's here past the trade deadline.

I hope not, but I fear he's got a UPS tracking label already printed and affixed to him, and he's just waiting to be shipped.

 

GODDAMMITT!!!
HOW F**KIN STUPID ARE YOU PEOPLE???
this is the NBA, if manu can't cover up JJ being that he is 3 feet away, he shouldn't be playing in the NBA. also, why pass to someone who is pretty well covered who has no place to go, and all of the spurs defenders are gaurding for the 3???? manu would have stolen the ball or JJ would have been wearing an argentinian jacket by the time the pass was HALFWAY there!!!! they were practically trying to give stevie the 2. and we would still have lost. they needed a play to try to get stevie free or to find the open man, and that could have been drawn up if they had a timeout....
BUT THEY DIDN"T!!!

it was jvg fault, and possibly padgett and cat for standing there and not coming out to set another pick.

thats it, i am goin away again, i can't bare to read this crap again for a while....

call me when yall grow the f**k up.

 

I agree. Looking at that picture, I can't believe people think JJ was open. Parker was saggin to try and cover the lane in case Steve drove but he wasn't leaving JJ open. Also, unlike a pass out of the post, Steve was to JJ's left, which means JJ will have to turn to catch the ball and then turn and shoot, which gives Parker time to come and recover and guard him.

With the large amount of posters saying JJ's actually open, it makes me question how many of the "Ming was open off of the pick and roll" posts were legitemate.

That said, Steve has played subpard this season and whined too much instead of acting like the leader of this team. I wouldn't mind trading him if the right deal came along.

 

dun quite understand....... why is there no off the ball pick for either JJ or Mobley to get free? why must it be a pick for SF to either get open of the pick to get open.......

I watch the clips..... off the ball pick from Padgett for Cat would've work well here....... though who knows what kind of switch will SA makes......

 

is that for real?

 

If you'd read farther you'd see the answer is "no."


MacBeth is just a genius of a deception artist... a story teller if you will.

 

Apparently not as stupid as you! 3 ft?
JJ was outside the 3 pt line, Manu straddled the Rocket logo. That is easily 1/3 the distance to the basket. You tell me it's 9 ft from the 3 pt line to the basket?

Even if Manu could rush back to JJ, the best he could do was hand in face, he wouldn't risk fouling. JJ was ready to catch and shoot from a standing still position. His jump shot over Manu would have been a much better option than Steve's off balance shot over 6'-10 Horry.

If Steve gave JJ a quick shot, we still had a chance for a rebound had he missed.

Also watch R2K's mpeg, you will see what else Steve missed.

The TNT analysts suggested to take a quick 2 and foul. Anything would have been better than what Steve got.

Did Jeff waste those time-outs so he could talk to Steve about the weather? He called them 'cause the Rockets were pathetic thru 3 quarters.

Padgett did set a pick for Steve.

Cat setting a pick? Think about it. Where, how could he set the pick? Where could Steve go had he got a pick from Cat?

BTW, YAO set a pick for Cat at the 3 pt line to the right the moment he got down court. Cat did not use it and no way could Steve see it!

Right back at u, dude!