I don't think winning a meaningless game is winning, and losing a game to improve your draft position to get your TEAM better in the next season is losing. On the contrary, the latter is actually winning in the result. Professionals don't play to lose, but they also shouldn't be playing for their stats or the fake "pride", they should play like a real professional - serving your team conditionlessly. That's NOT as some of you claimed "losing", that's actually working towards WINNING, not just a meaningless game, but rather seasons. I call that professionals play to win.
First of all, u need to read carefully this page:http://www.clutchfans.com/news/1306/van_gundy_pride_hurts_rockets/ Next, If there would be no rewards for losing we would be getting crushed every year! Imagine if Detroit and San Antonio got the first picks in the draft, that would be Murder in the 1st degree next year! The sorry teams will stay sorry and the good teams would destroy everybody else. LOL@ 1st pick Detroit 2nd pick San Antonio 3rd pick Dallas 4th Phoenix
How do you know the JVG doesn't want his young players to EARN their minutes as a motivation technique? And the argument you're presenting is different then before. It's one thing to say we should be tanking games to improve our draft position, and completely another to say we should be playing young players to get them some experience and see what they can do. Personally, I think they are getting their fair chance. And I don't see Juwon Howard playing 40 minutes. Maybe he WANTS to win...maybe Juwon ASKED to play the minutes. You just don't know what's going on in their locker room and it's much easier to judge when it's clear what would benefit YOU as a FAN. Resting your players for the playoffs is something that no one questions as being unclassy or morally suspect. Tanking games to improve draft position is. George Karl didn't TRY to lose the game. What you are suggesting is that the Rockets play their younger players so they have a better chance of LOSING. That's the real motivation...and I just disagree. Hey, I hope the Rockets lose too, I want the draft spot...and I also wouldn't mind seeing JVG go...but not because he wouldn't tank. I respect more for that. At least the guy has principles...and in the end, that's worth more to the team and organization then a few draft spots.
Nobody has EARNED any minutes when you are in the lottery and are not going to win even 40 games, NOBODY. The coach hasn't even EARNED the right to coach, but we are going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He should give players the benefit of the doubt that have not EARNED it in favor of moving this franchise down the road in a positive direction. It's too late to play the "EARN MINUTES" game when there are 2 weeks left in the season and you are out of the playoffs. And Juwan doesn't want to win more than any other player. They all want to win. So if a players ASKS for minutes, he should be granted minutes??? Lame Bro.
Admittedly, I can be idiotic and clueless, although I think it is possible for intelligent people to disagree on this without calling names. What really gets me, though, is that I am supposedly a LESSER fan - or an enemy - because I like the Rocks to win. I guess the true loyalists are the one's who want us to lose. What an upside down world we must live in.
Think of it this way, the last 10 games or so have been less important than pre-season games. At least in pre-season you are trying to find the right combinations of players and see what you got in young guys right before the season starts. I have never heard of anyone complaining about sitting vets and starters late in preseason in any pro sport, it is the norm. But in this case, the season was over, many players (including vets) are moving on, you have 9 months to tinker with a new line-up and infuse talent, and wins cost draft positioning. Like I said, these games are even less meaningfull than a preseason games, and there was NO EXCUSE for playing vets if the ROCKETS FRANCHISE is your priority. JVG/Rockets brass put themselves, and maybe some vets, ahead of the Rockets future in how they mananged games with zero implications for winning championships.
Turns out it really was mission critical to lose them all. Had we lost to Denver we would have been in a 3-way tie for #6. As it stands now, we're waiting to see how Golden State and Seattle do. GSW just lost the lead in the 4th to Utah. If both lose, we are tied for 8 through 10. In that event, the difference between #6 and #10 was one win. (Had we lost to Denver and Golden State, we'd own #6 outright right now)
Seattle's beating Denver? George Karl must be getting a kick out of playing with other teams emotions.
I guess those Seattle fans are really angry that their team is up by 15...and Golden State fans must be pulling their hair out - there team WON 4 IN A ROW! Even BOSTON won it's last game. What are these teams thinking? How can they be winning when they have so much to lose for???? Man, every team that isn't looking like a playoff team should LOSE EVERY GAME or they are STUPID!
That hurts, really. It hurts as much as the moment JVG and players did stupid thing to cost us some meaningful game.
LOL. I didn't realize what I said was combatitive, but I'm not the slightest bit surprised by your reaction. With Golden State losing, the minimum dropoff will be from 6 to 9 for one win (for either the Warriors or Rockets). That's not important though - what really matters is our vets, after getting their ass beat by the Nuggets A-Team, managed to knock off Denver's C-Team 11-0 in the final 1:45 for the in-no-way-damaging victory. We can certainly build on that!
