If the Rockets are going to change next season, Ban Gundy has to change himself. You just can't expect the team to change if you don't make it a priority to change yourself. That's part of effective management and coaching I believe. This ability to adapt to players' talent and styles. It's the understanding of the players and not just x's and o's. You gotta know their strenghts weaknesses what they can or can't do and not force it. I don't think Van Gundy has given much leeway to his players. In some instances you have to let them play. Why do you think Phil Jackson is so good? Nelson, Adelman. He knows how to manage his players. This is the chemistry part of basketball. Sure there's a system that the coach has to lay down, but he's got to understand his players and change his system to adapt to the players. The Rockets were a relatively young team in 2004, but Van Gundy didn't realize this and continued to force the young guards to play in his slow grinding half-court system. There should've been more pick and pops, more screen and rolls, backdoor cuts, two man game, interior passing. Why didn't the Rockets play the Full Court in an open style game? Which is the reason they couldn't beat the Lakers in the playoffs. Why not launch more threes when open instead of waiting for the whole team to set up the offense? You gotta take risks. Look at the Wolves, Kings and even Lakers. I don't believe you have to set up the offense everytime. This would only make playing the game harder since you have to play against a set defense on every posession. Sometimes a wide open jumoshot on a fastbreak or a three on the run decides games. The team is usually a reflection of the coach. The Houston Rockets are a rugged, low scoring, intensely defensive team that depends on the half court set to score. This doesn't need to happen. There is no doubt part of the problem is personnel, but the problems mainly are based on one thing--team chemistry. The Rockets don't seem to play together and I believe Van Gundy is a big reason for this. Until Van Gundy reinvents himself as a coach, until he changes his unflexible coaching style and understands the players, the rockets will never change.
I agree with the philosophy to an extent. Above all, it is the coaches job to make the team win. On some teams - Lakers, Kings, Spurs, etc. - they are more mature, experienced (though not necessarily older) players where the coaching style can be a little more hands off. Note, though, that even there special situations arise - Tony Parker's development has been very deliberate, as an example. The Rockets problem is that despite what you want to believe, they are NOT a young backcourt anymore. Mobley is entering his seventh season, Francis his sixth. Yet there are still things one, both or the two combined simple don't get...mainly because Rudy was so used to coaching a team that could be given the free reign that he likely gave to much to that duo. All that said, you sound as if you want a higher scoring more up-tempo team. Guess what - that's what JVG wants also. I know. I was at many of the games where he would implore them play after play after play to push the ball, run fast breaks. The team as assembled just isn't good at it. They would be a very good half court team nonetheless if they didn't turn the ball over sooo sooo much. So, what's a coach to do. Defense still wins championships, so JVG preached that. Meanwhile, he slowed the half-court game to try and reduce turnovers while unsuccessfully trying to teach his team to run a decent and effective fast break. Just my $0.02.
Ummmmm, do you ever watch JVG during games? He is always the one screaming and motioning for his team to push the ball up the floor. When they don't, he has to settle back and go for a set play. Getting the fast break going was one of SF3's biggest weaknesses.
That is so strange because you would think that the first thing a flashy point guard would want is to push the ball up the court and use his speed to score.
I think it is pretty obvious that JVG doesn't know anything about how to teach a team to fast break. He obviously is a teacher, he can teach defense, so if he knew how to run a fast break, he would have been able to teach these guys to run. All that frantic waving at everybody to run back up the court ain't fast break basketball. His idea of a fast break is to wear the opponent down on the defensive end so much that his team can grab the board and everybody run helter skelter up the floor and just outrun the defense to the other end because they are exhausted. It isn't an organized, efficient break. And it all goes back to VG, not Steve or anybody else. Yeah, Steve sucks on the break. But he sucked on defense too until this season and JVG taught him how to play some D. But he didn't teach him how to run the break, because he don't know how.
Okay, which do you think is more likely? a) Steve can't run the fast break. b) A student of the game, who has been around basketball for 40 years, who was a point guard himself, and who has watched more game tape than he has slept in his life, doesn't know enough about the fast break to teach it. My money is on option A.
So is mine. I have felt this past season long that whatever Van Gundy had installed and wanted to install further got lost in the TO's and excessive dribbling. The Rockets in general and Francis in particular play inefficiently and it wouldn't have mattered if we could have kidnapped Pete Carril from the Kings.
My money is on "B." Van Gundy is set in his ways. For better and for worse, we can agree that Yao Ming is not Pat Ewing, and that Steve Francis is not Marcus Camby. Given that, is there ANY reason for the Rockets to be sticking so close to the Knicks blueprint, other than JVG not being willing, or not being able to adapt. Played point guard? Nazareth Freaking College ain't the NBA.
You anti-JVG people are just insane. It's like teaching r****ded students the basics of adding and subtracting (ie. fundamentals, discipline). It will take them a longer amount of time to learn, but they can and might pick it up eventually. These kids will never be able to go to Yale no matter how much they train in school. There is only so much teachers can do to help.
No. Steve doesn't push the ball..b/c he wants to let the defense set up... where all the guys move away..and steve can take his defender ISO..one-on-one,.. throw the ball off his defender's head and.. scoop a double-clutch lay-up. Ever watch And1 Mixtape Vol. 1-6??
This comment makes me wonder a little. The more I think about it, the more I think it's true. I've seen so many times where stevie crossed somebody over and can easily shoot that midrange shot or drive, but he step back and dribble a few more times to allow the defensive guy to recover (What kobe did to latrell last night at the end of the game). I wonder if the "I can burn by you easily anytime I want" mentality is related to the unwillingness to take full advantage of the current defensive holes prior to the defense setting up.
Steve Francis was an All-Star. If he looks "r****ded" this year, there has to be a reason why. There has only been one significant change...the head coach.
What is up with the hate for the coach? Learn to love him as he'll be here for the rest of this contract, and maybe longer.
Steve's known for his atheletism, not the basketball IQ. He's the only "smart" bball player to make the same mistakes again and again.
c) The Rox front court can't rebound for sh*t, so our guards have to hit the defensive boards to prevent the other team from easy put backs. Now SF once he gets the rebound could run a fast break, albeit a late fast break. Late fast breaks are harder to run and SF has decidely shown that this is not in his skill set. d) If SF forgoes D rebounds and always positions himself to lead the break from a front court rebound, everyone here would claim SF aint the baller he used to be since he can't rebound no more.
It's the coach's job to get the players to execute his game plan. Ultimate responsibility for wins and losses falls on the coach. If he can't motivate the team to play the way he wants them to play, then he's not a very good coach. The NBA isn't about X's and O's, it's about getting guys to play hard for you, and maximizing the abilities and production of your players.
What does him being an 'All-Star' have to do with anything? It's completely irrelevent. I really love Stevie...but you've got to admit that he doesn't have much discipline and fundamentals....
It means that despite his shortcomings, fans (somewhat irrelevant) or coaches (COMPLETELY RELEVANT) viewed him as one of the best players in the league. Steve underperformed badly this season. He must certainly take some of the blame for that, but Van Gundy did nothing to his "system" to take advantage of SF's strengths. It is all about playing the percentages. At least some of the time, a good head coach will design his offense to get SF the ball where and when he is more likely to be able to SCORE.
Steve underperformed badly this season. We haven't been able to run a fast break during Francis's entire career. It has nothing to do with the system or the players around him.
Lets say you're the coach. Please tell me what exactly you will do to maximize his talent while making the team better at the same time? Please don't say ISO. Actually we were pretty effective on the the pick and roll....so less of P & R and Yao's post up and more of what specifically for steve? And will this change make the team better?
