no, I did not say that, Yao improved like none other in the NBA the past 5-6 years....there are other reasons, I will not get into it, we don't need this the become a personal bash thread....
Sam Mitchell should be nowhere near the COY award. Without Garbajosa or Calderon in the game, the Raps just can't win.
All I can say is that I hope he wins. That would be great. I remember when Don Chaney won it for the Rockets. We had a huge winning streak with Hakeem out with an injury.
actually, i dont want to know b/c i have a feeling it will just be splitting hairs. all i know is yao has become better, luther has become better, chuck has, heck, even snyder has shown improvements in limited action...and al this happened while jvg was coach.
exactly we are the 5th seed, cause if we go on to win it all, it will be a 5 seed winning it all which is a better story. gotta think PR Shaq vs Yao!
JVG wants Rafter to shoot 3s when hes open, and he should. Rafter is shooting .363 behind the line, so having him shooting the 3s is better than him drive in and float one up. Also, his 3 FG% is better than VSpan, Lucas, Synder, Bonzi, and TMac. Luther is not running the point like Steve Nash. He just brings the ball up to the court and pass it to TMac. JVG played Bonzi more than enough. 28 games and 21.1 MPG, he just didn't perform well because of his terrible body condition. Vspan had his chances when Tmac went out. He just sucked... miss shots and turnovers. You can't blame JVG for not playing him afterwards, especially when Yao went down and every game is so important. I think JVG made the right decision, and the record proves it. Synder played 38 games and 13.9 MPG, that's a lot of PT considering he was out with an injury and the team was winning without him. JVG uses 8 man rotation just like every other playoff contending coaches in the NBA. The bench players also didn't perform well enough to crack into the rotations when they had their chances. Battier is averaging 10.1 pts per game, that's right around his career average. He also has the toughest defensive assignment every night, so he needs as much energy as possible. You can't ask him to chip in more on offense when hes guarding guys like Dwade, and Lebron James.
I see a lot of JVG bashers on this board but who would the Rockets replace JVG with? There's no one better for the rockets right now than JVG. He changed MAC from a known quitter to a championship crazed superstar. Yao continues to improve each and every year. It is not his fault he mostly uses an 8 man rotation. It is all about the raw talent the rockets have. If you were to ask any New Yorker how they feel about JVG, 99% of us would praise him to no end. Oh yeah, at first I was only a YOF but the addition of TMAC (favorite player) and JVG, I became a complete rockets fan. I missed the old Knicks days when JVG was the coach. Be glad the roxs have him
i believe Don Cheaney was fired the year after he won COY (not directly before the season, but halfway through)
If he is open, our offense depends on him taking (and making), those 3s. That is how our offense is built. If JVG were to take the 3 option away from Rafer, then you would see teams really pack it in on Yao and T-Mac. Luther is not the ideal backup PG, but it is the only way he is going to get minutes. And seeing as how he is our best 3 pt shooter, I say you take the bad with the good and get him on the court whenever you can. Is it just a coincidence that we lost 3 in a row when Luther was out then won our next 5 when he came back and shot 60%? Not giving Luther all the credit, but he has been a huge factor in our run. His shooting opens things up for T-Mac and Yao and we are a worse team w/o him playing. Snyder played minutes before he hurt his hand and JVG has worked him back into the rotation since he has been back. Novak and Span were both clearly not ready to contribute this year to a championship run. Most successful teams use an 8 man rotation with fringe/spot minutes given to 9th and 10th men. JVG is on record as saying he wants Battier more involved. Battier is not an agressive offensive player. He is that way by nature, not because JVG restricts him. How many times do we see Shane pass up good shots?
So ..if a player doesn't improve, its JVG's fault ....but if he does improve, JVG doesn't get credit? Sounds fair to me!
Basically, the question is, could any other coach have done better this year with the situations the Rockets faced? I think JVG did a good job considering the circumstances. Who knows if anyone could have done better. I don't agree with much that JVG does, and I don't care for his personality, but he is an effective NBA coach. I miss Rudy.
Some of you JVG haters are a pathetic lot. We go from a lottery team to the fourth best record in the loaded Western Conference and the hate still spews. My guess is that JVG will get the "Coach of the Year Award" due to the fact I mentioned above and fueled by Yao missing almost half of the season. And I am sure the haters will still try and bash him. Even after he has give this team two fifty win seasons in three years after a decade of mediocrity and having to completely purge the team sans Yao Ming.
I really hope JVG wins Coach of the Year.. I think he deserves it and all the haters can suck a Left One.
if anything, JVG's most significant contribution to our team should be his work with Yao. How many of us have complained about JVG insist Yao to bang inside and does not use him the right way? IMO, he showed why he is the coach and we are not right there.
earlier in the year my pick was between sloan and van gundy, with the award going to the team with the better record. right now that's van gundy, and since no matter what happens the rest of the season, the records are going to be close, jvg should get it anyways. one of the best records in the nba with yao ming out 30+ games. that speaks for itself really.
I agree with this. The accomplishment of winning without Yao -not just 500 ball-treading water -or maintaining-give JVG credit for winning. This is a great accomplishment in itself that should be remembered for a long time.
When McGrady went down they didn't really win much. When Yao was out most of the credit has to go to the performances of T-Mac, JHo, and Deke.
Jesus... on Inisde the NBA NO ONE picked JVG Kenny - Avery Johnson Chuck - Sam Mitchell Reggie - Tie between Mitchell and Jerry Sloan Unbelievable.
