What do you want from our next head coach? JVG is the defensive mastermind but he is not terribly creative on the offensive side. MD is pretty smart offensive mind but just average defensively. I am beginning to lean towards MD a bit. As another poster mentioned in another thread, the Rox D isn't half bad. With the excpetion of Steve unfortunately, everyne imporived their D and for a little while the Rox were in the top 5 for fewest ppg allowed. The offense is where we struggle IMO. It was not creative or flowing and if the one-on-one jumpers weren't hitting, the O was worthless. I think Dunleavy is better suited to solve that problem than JVG but JVG is one of the smartest basketball minds in the game so I wouldn't mind him either. Whoever the coach will be, next year will be very interesting.
Dunleavy is much more than average on Defense. His Portland teams were pretty damn good defensively. I think the title of your thread should be good to great defense (maybe) with absolutely no offense or a well balance team with both good offense and good defense.
JVG just isn't creative on offense. He runs isolation-type stuff, kinda like what we ran with Olajuwon. And since we now have Yao, dumping it in to the big man every second time down the floor again might not be such a bad idea. Dunleavy is better running a Sacramento/Portland type team that has talented players up and down the roster. I also think JVG will develop EG more effectivly. Dunleavy is too moderate in everything he does. I'll go with JVG.
Drexler you make a good point about JVG developing EG. There is no way JVG would let Eddie just stand at the 3pt. line but that ISO stuff scares me. Would Dunleavy really ignore Ming? Whoever we get needs to get Ming the ball every other possession so if JVG does that that would be great. I do like the ball movement from Dunleavy though. Either is fine for me anyway I'm justleaning slightly towards Dunleavy.
You want creativity on offense?!? Then DON NELSON! But no...he is not coming. There is no whatever Verse is saying. Dunleavy likes to run and fast break. More up tempo. His teams also led the league in rebounding and something else whenever he was coach....of course....he had a lot of talent. Van Gundy. Boring. Half Court. Also values defense. I don't like either one that much....
Both!!! We don't have to be like the 2003 Mavs. And we don't have to be like the 1995 Cavs. We should be like the Spurs, with a little Lakers (post play) thrown in. That's a well balanced team. Why do we have to chose or compromise?
Pretty much the way I'm thinking. Thats one of the reason i really like Cleamons to come here and install the triangle. Steve can still have his moments, but with Yao playing the triangle, the Rockets could score 100ppg or close to it which would be enough. I'm not that high on JVG especially since i remember the kind of droughts his team used to go into.
Well w/ the coaching options we have left, it looks like we might have to. We definitley will if we choose JVG, not as much w/ Dunleavy who is not as good a defensive mind as JVG but is at least decent. I think if we can fall between 8-12 defensively in the league while improving ouroffense from last year we're in the playoffs.
Did you just imply that adding Lakers to the mix will get you the post play that's mising from the Spurs part of the equation??
Our defense should be like the Spurs........but better. Our offense...well hmm....I don't really like it. But it works. I'd rather mix it up with fast break of New Jersey and then if unsuccessful...slow it down...and have half court set. Either Yao in the post...low or high...and maybe Mo Taylor will be a starter...Glen Rice is on injured list...Nachbar is a great bench player...and oh well!
It is true that Dunleavy is a pretty decent offensvie coach...and a pretty decent deffensive coach...There is no truth, however, to the rumour that he played MIDDLE linebacker in MIDDLE high school, that he was often in the MIDDLE of a game when the MIDDLE would open up, and he'd cut throught the MIDDLE, sacik the quarterback, recover the fumbled ball, and run it all the way down the MIDDLE of the field and score. JVG is a very good defensive coach, and there are questions about his offensive abilities, allthough he is saying the right things; that the offense should be run through Yao, etc. At least he has an identity, unlike Melba Toast Dunleavy. I swear his favorite colour is gray or beige...But, hey, maybe he can't make bad teams good or very good teams better, but I hear he's a nice guy, gives great interview, and really really really really really wants to be here, so who do you think his buddies will hire?
How do you guys know Van Gundy isn't a great offensive mind? He didn't have much to work with in New York and yet they were in the playoffs time and time again. I think he will be much better than Rudy T. was at designing offensive plays and making adjustments. He might not be Larry Brown, but he is still very smart and respected for his knowledge.
I do give the edge to Dunleavy as an offensive mind, but I definitely think Van Gundy is superior in the department of developing his players. I mentioned EG as just one example, but what about Yao? Steve? Come to think of it, this entire roster? We got a bunch of players that I think JVG could squeeze much more out of than MD. We don't want a players coach. We tried that. Now, a MD-type offensive mind would work as an assistant. That would be the best of both worlds. We can have both, you know. The Pacers had it all with Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle, and Dick Harter. Bird was the motivater/instiller of work ethic, Rick Carlisle ran the offense, and Dick Harter ran the defense. He played it like it was football: he had an offensive and defensive coordinator. And it worked very well. Bird gave his assistants real control, because he knew they were better at X's and O's. I mean, those two were the ones actually drawing up plays on the sidelines during games. It was perfect, and they made it to the finals like that. I don't believe it's just a matter of offense or defense. To me, JVG has to be the choice because of the discipline he'll bring. However, that doesn't mean our offense has to suck. There's no reason we can't go out and find an offensive mind to sit alongside JVG. And even if we don't, JVG WILL AT LEAST GET IT TO YAO. I'm paraphrasing here, but I clearly remember him saying at something to the effect of "I would dump the ball in to him all day long." He was a big supporter of Yao. If we do end up with an offense which is mainly isolation, it will be focused around Yao more than Francis, which I don't think is all bad anyway. Whoa... 800th post
You caught me there...but read on... Actually, I was going to say, "add a little Sun's Marbury" style. But, I don't think that we need to work on the ISO part as much...heh... So, I just quickly changed it to Lakers (as in a center that dominates). That's all I meant. As far as TD. Well, he's a PF. And Shaq is a center. Why can't Yao be somewhere in between? Not necessarily as powerful as Shaq. But no pansy. And not as complex on post moves as TD. But close. I'm mean, we haven't seen the best of Yao yet? And he sure has shown me that he has a lot to offer that's different than TD and Shaq. What does Yao have as a rookie that the others didn't'? Shooting and hight. Let's just hope that he can play with the same intensity as the other guys.
Yeah, it's funny how we improved on the defensive stats and rebounding by just adding Yao. Before Yao, weren't we like last place in both stats?
Who exactly did JVG develop? Houston and Spreewell were already established and Ward and the other regressed. I'm like Macbeth, both seem no better than Rudy.
I think Dunleavy's offense is equal to JVG's defense, however, Dunleavy's defense is better than JVG's offense.
i dont think that anyone who watched the rockets fail to make the playoffs the last few years would disagree that defense wins ballgames. your offense will eb and flow but your defense should always be there when you need it.
