We get the occasional post mentioning JVG costing the Rockets Brandon Roy. We might have another JVG decision that doesn't turn out too well in the long run. CD had two trades lined up, James for JHo, and Lucas for Kleiza that was dependant on the first trade. One of the reasons for JVG turning down these deals was that he felt Kleiza wasn't better than JHo at PF. In the playoffs last season JVG was right. The two shared similiar numbers and impact for their respective teams but today...
Wow! Denver is a hell of a team. I know it's one game, but if you have a player not named AI or Anthony that can score 40+ point and another role player grabbed 24 boards and blocked 11 shots. It's very hard to lose!
Come on Camby is not a role player, he is an all-star level type of player for more than a decade! His main problem has always been injuries!
The Rockets, by contrast, simply don't have anyone outside of TMac and Yao who can put up numbers. They're surrounded by scrubs.
JVG cost us Roy by winning out the schedule, specifically against Denver. Just imagine, Roy, Kleiza, subtract Battier. That's what it could have been. However, we would probably not have Brooks right now either as we would have probably beat Utah and would up with a lower draft pick. Not only that, but if that had happened, JVG would probably still be coach, which means no Scola, Francis, or Bonzi either. Our starting 5 would likely be: Either Rafer or MJ Roy McGrady Yao Hayes With Kleiza coming off the bench. That is.......if Roy had developed under JVG. Scola, Francis, and Bonzi may be collectively seriously underperforming but those guys coming off the bench is a significant upgrade over anything we've had over the past 4 years or so. Ryan Bowen? Weatherspoon? I'd rather be messing around with this bunch. And I love the kid. After Burners is gonna get even better.
So basicly any trade or signing you guys like was the GM and any trade or signing you didn't like was JVG
A lot of this thinking originated from Less, at the top, with the whole WIN NOW approach. Rookies are not valuable in that scenario, hence trading Gay for an established veteran in Battier, or winning out the season. Of course, JVG has always tended to have a lower value for rookies. But, the Rockets have not historically done well at drafting, so one can understand his logic. Hopefully, Morey can do better with drafting. As much flack as he got, it seems he did well with what he had, although I still think we could have bought another pick or 2, and moved up, giving us a little more. In all honesty, I don't have a lot of confidence in this team, nor in Adelman running it. This team was built for JVG, and are used to his authoritarian ways. They just aren't responding to takiing personal responsibility well, and gelling so far, and perhaps never will. But seeing how well the draft picks have turned out, I'm more encouraged about our future. I'm assuming TMac will eventually get traded for younger talent that will be better pieces to surround Yao. I'm beginning to realize that Adelman's system will take a few years to get down, before we'll have championship hopes. But, more importantly, it'll require players with more leadership qualities, and that's not what JVG chose for his teams, since he was the floor general. I think we're going to have to let go of our WIN NOW expectations, or its going to be a tough next couple years as fans.
He kept his starters in to win a meaningless game against Denver the year Roy came out and caused the team to move down a slot in draft pecking order. Dumb ass move.....got to think bigger picture... DD
Not to crap on Camby after a performance like that... impressive to say the least. But.... How do you only score 8 points in that game? 7 offensive boards, and 13 shots?
That's exactly what crossed my mind, I bet it's nearly as rare as the quadruple double because of how hard it can be to NOT score 10 points in a game. On another note, Ronnie Brewer's playing time has gone downquite a bit lately, even though they're the Jazz, it would be nice to get him from them somehow. Pugs
A meaningless, last-second win against Denver at the end of the season cost us Roy, not JVG or Portland.
Maybe, but no Yao or T-Mac though. Our starters were Deke, Juwan, Bogans (40 mins), Wesley, and Skip (42 min), not exactly formiddable and certainly bad enough that year to lose at Denver to Melo, Camby, and Andre Miller IMO. http://www.clutchfans.net/game_boxscore.cfm?GameID=2849 If I remember correctly, it was a game we were about to lose before either Hayes or Skip stole a pass on a half-court trap or something, giving us the go-ahead score with very little time left. It was a fluke win...
thats the way I remember it but like most everything in the previous years its still all JVG fault damn it!
Stop making this dumbass statement. Do you really want a team that goes out intentionally trying to lose. If you want to blame JVG, why not blame the players who were in the game. Shouldnt they have all tanked it so they could have a better teammate the following year. Say the Rox get eliminated from the playoffs this year with 10 games left to go. Do you think Yao is going to start intentionally missing free throws so the Rox lose all 10 games, cuz Adelman isnt going to sit him out all 10 games if he is healthy. Look at Portland last year. They didnt tank the season and got rewarded with the top pick. Memphis seemed to want to lose every game and fell out of the top three all together.
