Our team is affraid to miss. Methinks Deadeye Bogans (2-12) and Gunner Howard (3-11) must have mised that memo. My impression from seeing the game on TV was that Dallas is loaded with talent. It sure would be nice to have Stackhouse (who would start for most teams) to come off of the bench.
I thought of the same thing. What was JVG doing? You either pay respect to the legends or pack your bag to somewhere else. I'm pissed!
the problem is: what coach will replace him? (must be good enough to lead us towards a title) and would you feel the same way about him if we were in 4th place in the west?
Just find that Del Harris was Rox Head Coach in 1979-1983. That's his first Head Coach job. Why can't we let him home and also re-unite with Yao? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Harris
I start to believe that JVG is not a good coach for a developing team like us. He is an ok coach if the team has already had talented players like the Knicks.
Yeah, when Bill Worrel mentioned that Dallas was only playing 8 man rotation and they are missing whole bunch of good players due to injuries, I was like holy crap. Even their 8 man rotation is way way better than our rotation minus Tmac. Man, they are deep on talents. We gotta do something to adress it this offseason.
Yobod and Oschada, Great thread Yobod. I agree with everything you and Oschada said. As they were interviewing Del last night, I thought to myself that he has grown so much since he coached us back in the day. His personality is awesome. He has a positive vibe about him that you can see that players could pick up on very quickly. Having played this game, I totally understand how you have to relax and play your game to be effective offensively. You cannot shoot a basketball with all your muscles pumped. You have to play defense that way, but you can't play offense the same way. You've got to be able to relax your body and flow into the shot smoothly. All the best shooters do it. The worst shooters are the hesitators. The best dribble drive penetrators are the guys that see, take off, and make it happen. AI and Manu aren't thinking about every move they are gonna make. They just do it. That is what quickness is all about. Not only that but you've got to be able to relax to uncork the entry pass. We have way too many plays where the ball swings and Yao is open. The pass should be dropped in quickly but instead there is just the slightest hesitation and in that moment the defender releases leverage and comes front side enough to deflect a possible entry or a perimeter defender drops down a couple feet to be in position to steal the pass. Why the hesitation, even on the entry passes? I believe it is because they are fearful of making mistakes and having to pay up by riding the pine because he hates turnovers so much. They are so nervous about getting a TO that instead of taking the risk on getting a great look at the bucket, they don't take any risk and wind up getting a poor shot attempt up, from lala land, with a hesitant shooter putting it up. All that stuff.......if you've played this game, and you've played for a demanding coach, who is not balanced in his positive/negative aspects, you know what I'm talking about. I would be wiling to bet everything I own that you could take this same bunch of players and put them under a coach like D'Antoni and their shooting percentages go up around 10 points or so. I would also bet that if you took Phoenix's guys and put them under Van Gundy their shooting percentages drop about 10 points. I'm not talking about changing systems, I'm just talking about changing the personality of the coach a little bit by having the captain(coach) yelling charge at his players in a positive manner. I'm just talking about playing halfcourt basketball, take out the break, take out the transition, take out the defense. Not that D'Antoni isn't conscience of turnovers and dribbling and lack of ball movement but that he approaches it from a positive frame of mind. In other words, "Guys, let's put it on these guys. If you will move the ball quicker from side to side, and throw that ball in the post as soon as you see the opening, and Yao be ready at all times to receive the ball, turn and fire, and if that 3 ball is open, nail that bomb, or if you see a lane, take it to the hole strong, do not hesitate. I don't care if you miss, I ain't going to yell or yank you because of that. I don't care if you get a shot blocked, I ain't pulling you for that. I don't care if Yao fumbles an entry pass, you're gonna get the next one, and we're gonna put some buckets on these guys." Any sport, you can draw tremendous analogies from the battlefield of War. What do generals do when in a defensive mode in foxholes or in a defensive position, trying not to yield ground? They are in what I call the "Van Gundy" mode. Their players (privates) are forced to rely on their strategic manuevers, they depend on the ORDERS of the generals. There isn't time for encouragement. They've got to be able to watch the ball, watch what play the opponent is making, watch the back door, all the while sifting through the information being bombarded to them by a general who is yelling to get their attention and get them to move or shift somehow because he sees a bigger picture than they do. There isn't time to waste on some idiot private that doesn't know where to go, what to do, and can't follow orders. They're better off in most cases with those types of recruits taken out of the battlefield because they give away their positions and strategies too easily. That is what it is like playing defense in sports, whether it be football or basketball. You've got to have that toughness to take the heat from your generals during those kinds of heated situations, because you realize that general is trying to win, hold position, and preserve everybody's life. A private has to be able to take the yelling and react as best as he can. And the general has got to yank or eliminate the guys and replace them quickly if they are giving away position. Van Gundy is awesome at this. He's one of the best, if not the best, defensive generals in the NBA. Now, compare an offensive position for a military group. Take the beaches of Normandy for instance. Those guys knew what they were facing. But there was something that their leaders gave them about morale that caused them to complete the task in the face of the best defensive forces on earth, dug into the best defensive position, with superior artillery and technology for that particular battle. Most of them lost their lives.....but they got the W. What do you think their captains were yelling as those brave, young, mostly 17-22 year old men were running and diving out of those amphibeous vehicles to their own death. I guarantee you they weren't being negative. They weren't cramming strategy down their throats and telling them every cut and every move to make. They had their strategy down. They knew the price that it was gonna cost them. They paid the price and got the job done while they generals were yelling ATTACK, and while their leaders were ATTACKING with them. They didn't have time to yell at the the privates because of their mistakes. It would not have been beneficial. It would have caused those boys to hesitate coming out of those vehicles and they would have all been slaughtered and lost one of the most important battles in the history of this nation. Isn't that what Phoenix does? D'Antoni has given them that mentality. They keep coming and coming and coming and coming. They may shoot 20% for a quarter or two, even maybe a game or two at a time. But nothing changes, they ATTACK! And let bygones be bygones. And because they have done that so long, they've gotten good at it. They've become EFFICIENT as they practiced their ATTACK! You WILL NOT become efficient and successful offensively without making lots of mistakes first during actual games. But more important than that is how those offensive mistakes are dealt with from the leadership. Do you deal with them from a postive frame of mind or from a negative frame of mind? Do you think Phil Jackson, arguable one of the 2 greatest coaches of all time, learned anything through the Shaq and Kobe debacle? I bet he learned plenty. Probably the greatest psychologist/motivator coach the NBA has ever seen, but I bet you he learned a thing or two about that whole mess. Now, look how he is handling Kobe? Look how he is handling Lamar? Because both (Phil and Kobe) of those guys are great learners, I hate to say it, but they will be back, and they will be a force to be reckoned with in the next few years. I would be willing to bet PJ gets his 10th, and Kobe gets at least his 4th. I hate that but it's the truth. They have outperformed just this year. And the reason is, PJ is flexible and will adjust his personal style to make things work BETTER. The thing that sets PJ apart from Van Gundy is his ability to adjust his attitude and mode of operation to draw out the positives from his players. It is why he is a championship coach. It is why he could take a player like Marbury and win with him while coaches like VG and LB go about trying to break their players down all the time. Van Gundy needs his Del Harris just like Don Nelson needed his Avery Johnson. But more than that, Van Gundy needs to learn from great coaches like PJ, Riley, K.C. Jones, Red Auerbach, Chuck Daly and great motivators like Mike D'Antoni, and Don Nelson, who every one knew how to motivate their players postively to play like there was no tomorrow on the offensive end. Van Gundy doesn't need their strategies, he's got great strategies. He doesn't need players. He's got 2 of the very best in the league. Van Gundy needs to be able to give his players the mental edge offensively that those coaches all gave their teams. Granted TMac is out. But this team wasn't playing snappy offensively with TMac in. We've got one player who is attacking. He had to lay in a hospital bed for weeks watching film of himself to finally "figure it out for himself" and get the motivation needed to attack relentlessly. That shouldn't be. 3 1/2 years for a 7'6" highly skilled player to figure out to attack the basket???? It would have taken 30 days max under D'Antoni to get that accomplished. The other player that lets his offensive game go had to have a heart to heart sit down with the coach to make his game happen. And the only reason the coach listened to him was because he was a max player that had just been brought in to right the ship and they were at 6-11 to start off the new relationship. That's not going to happen with bit/role players. They know they don't have that kind of clout. They're just privates. I'm not saying we should have 50 wins with these guys on the floor. But I am saying that we should be good enough to be holding our own at .500 with all these guys on the floor. Remember, half the league are losers. We should be at .500 even with the injuries. Our offense is terrible. It is terribly inefficient. And most of the blame goes back to the general, the guy in charge of it. He's a very good coach that needs to become a great coach by adjusting his own game.
Great post! What you're saying really explains why Yao suddenly exudes confidence after being out 2 months.
the point of the topic was to emphasize that theyre missing because of lack of confidence. were all well aware of what their shooting percentage, no need to remind us. sarcasm is like a 2nd language to this board. might want to chill out on it.
great post! really appreciate the effort and thought put into it. its funny i moved to houston after the championship years, and ive been a fan throughout the francis years when we totally blew balls. you guys know why? cause i grew up in california a warriors fan. tim hardaway, latrell, mullen, cwebb, mitch ritchmond. that team was the worst team ever. not once can i remember us making the playoffs in all my years there. and even when i go back home they all tell me this is our year, weve got baron and jrich playing well. their fans support them no matter what. losses dont bother me, ive dealt with loss. not having fun is what bothers me. run tmc never won a darn thing, but they were fun to watch. a part of me wishes van gundy would just let them have fun. but i realize hes gotten this far in his career doing things his way. hes overcome a lot. asking him to change what hes done for like 30 years might be asking a bit much. im without answers just as you guys are
