Look out Karla! Maybe thats the real reason malone is considering retirement or joining shaq in miami.
Just because someone believes that Rudy is a better coach than JVG doesn't make them a Rudy lover. I also think Larry Brown is a better coach than JVG. You would have to at least acknowledge that with a more talented team and a improved Yao (much improved) the team only showed marginal improvement. Yes the defense was improved but the offense was terrible to watch at times and mostly anemic. Coaching at this level is more than just x's and o's. It's about motivating your players to execute. And while many on this board may believe that Rudy is not very good at that. I think he is one of the best in the league at it. I also think (contrary to many) he is a pretty damn good x's and O's coach as well. Oh and I am not alone in that. Donnie Nelson recently Rudy is one of the best Basketball minds in the League. This is not a put down on JVG he is a good coach and I think he will take this talented team and put us a position to compete. But he is not better than Rudy in my opinion.
Excellent job, Saphan. Thanks! I really liked Nachbar describing his play at the end of last season, "After a very good ending of last season and after summer talks with my coach, I really expect quite a lot this year. Coach told me that he’ll be disappointed if I won’t make a step forward. I expect to get more minuets and a bigger role in the team." We saw an improvement in his play, but you always have to wonder about how a player sees himself. Nachbar is a "glass half full" kind of guy, and clearly has a head on his shoulders. I also liked reading his take on the trade and it's ramifications. Very realistic and positive, but looking at it, and the following moves we'll make, from all the angles that could affect him and his role... "if we get a guard it could also affect my status in the team. Cause if we get a playmaker that it won’t affect much, I won’t lose a lot of minuets. But it could change a lot for me if we’ll get a player in position 2. That would mean that T-Mac might play some on mine position too." I was one of those guys who was pumped when we drafted him, based in large part on the film Clutch was able to post of some of his European play. And he's been a disappointment, until the end of last season. As we all know, well, most of us, players develop at rates that very as much as the places a typical American would place Slovenia on a map. Hey, at least I know where it is, and saw some of it through a train window. I really like this guy, and while I don't want to go overboard, my expectations for him this year are pretty high. He's finally going to find a spot in the regular rotation. Book it, unless he gets traded. Again, thanks for the info, Saphan. You're an example of what makes this site so groovy. We get stuff that no one else does. Nice scoop.
Maybe you missed the whole thing about Francis telling ESPN that JVG told him he was not being traded just hours before the trade? It was actually quite a big story, with a huge thread....... Anyways, its a good article.......I for one hope we dont get a small forward anymore, and let Nachbar develop next year...
I must have missed the end of last season because I don't remember this guy doing anything beyond Game 4 of the playoffs.
Unless they pick up someone new to play a swing position. JVG has no choice but to play Boki, AG, or Pike. I don't think JVG is changing his mind on Pike anytime soon because of his god awful defense, but I expect Boki and Griffin to get some more playing time with the serious lack of depth.
Before every game they should force Boki to watch his infamous "4 minutes of chaos" against Malone and the Lakers. That should do wonders to his confidence.
Game 3 was his best game in my opinion. The playoffs did not last too long if you will remember that week and a half... LAKERS COACH PHIL JACKSON COMMENTS ON GAME 3 On the game: "We played good, the Rockets played well. They shot the ball well. We were pretty active the first couple of games. The game turned around when Yao Ming made a short jumper in the lane. That was really the point that turned the game around. I thought we made some poor judgments and poor decisions defensively. We gave up way too many three-point baskets. I thought we were going really well with a five-point lead and then Houston got an offensive foul and it really turned the game around. They shot the ball well and that was the big part." http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/quotes040423.html Boki created that offensive foul and did alot of little things during his 14-15 minutes that helped the Rockets go on a real nice run. I guess you had to be there because those in the building really could see the spark he provided during a period where the Rockets may have been getting a little stagnant. Keep in mind that this was Boki's first extended amount of playing time in the playoffs because he sat for most of Game 1 & 2 losses in LA. Game 3 & 4 alone are what gets me pumped about Boki's play in the last part of the season. The final regular season road game in Seattle with Boki battling against Shard Lewis was also fun to watch.
Francis and mobley are the reason why this team didn't improve. The guards are the anchor of the ship, which is one of the reason why the rocket's ship sunk against the top team in the West. I think Jeff did a heck of job with this team. I think you will see a much improve team this year.
I didn't have a good feeling about Boki after I read this part. Cmon Boki, if you're going by the same standards as you 'normally' do then you'll just end up where you normally are during the season...at the end of the bench.
Good to know that he's working on his game. Would love to see him start next year at teh half season. The guy need to pick it up because it's his 3rd season coming up. Think he should be working on his 3pt shooting.
He's gonna' make mistakes... He'll probably be rushed and spastic for a while. This is good news that they are possibly going to give him more minutes. This season is going to be soooo much fun. The season after is going to be freakin' scary!!! ;~)
uhhh, yea. Nachbar no business in this league. Book it. I can't imagine how bad he is in "not in the best form". On the bright side, if Moochie is tradeable, Nachbar is tradeable. JVG guaranteed he'd get more minutes? Unless we add someoone that doesn't play his position. Quite a guarantee. Hold yer breat Boki!
