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Si.com: It's time for Van Gundy to fire up the Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by thiagu88, Oct 29, 2005.

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  1. thiagu88

    thiagu88 Member

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    Feeling the heat
    It's time for Van Gundy to fire up the Rockets
    Posted: Friday October 28, 2005 4:39PM; Updated: Saturday October 29, 2005 1:00AM

    Spotlights tend to find stars, don't they? They shine the brightest in Los Angeles, where Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant will unwittingly be battling for theirs. They shine in New York, where Larry Brown has taken on a Pat Rileyesque stature without having coached a regular-season game yet. Of course, the XXL spotlight tends to follow Shaquille O'Neal, no matter what coast he is playing on. But the biggest spotlight of them all, at least this season, will be square on the league's shortest coach, Jeff Van Gundy.

    Van Gundy was the hottest commodity on the coaching market in 2003, but so far he has had mixed results in Houston. In his first two seasons with the Rockets, Van Gundy has altered Houston's style, turning a once potent fast break team into a stingy defensive unit. In both seasons, the Rockets have ranked among the top five teams in defensive field goal percentage and points allowed. Wins have gone up too -- last year Houston topped 50 victories (51) for the first time since 1997, a major step for an organization that has struggled since winning back-to-back titles in the mid-1990's.

    Sound good? Maybe to fans in Milwaukee or Golden State, but in Houston people have grown accustomed to the success under popular coach Rudy Tomjanovich and stars such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Winning games in January isn't enough. The Rockets need to be successful in May, and under Van Gundy Houston is 4-8 in two trips to the postseason.

    Should we assume, based on those numbers, that Van Gundy is a mediocre coach? Absolutely not. I'm just not sure he's an adaptable one in Houston. Van Gundy had his kind of team in New York. He had Patrick Ewing, Latrell Sprewell and Charles Oakley. He had guys willing to slug it out for 48 minutes and let the team still standing be declared the winner. These were his guys, playing his style. To borrow a phrase, they fit like peas and carrots.

    This is not the case in Houston. For all his many skills, Yao Ming will never be Ewing. Tracy McGrady will never be Sprewell. Van Gundy's stars now are prima donnas, not bullies. But you know what else they are? They're a whole lot better.

    This is the year Van Gundy must prove himself. In the offseason, Houston acquired two up tempo players in point guard Rafer Alston and power forward Stromile Swift. Van Gundy has publicly said he will take advantage of his new talent by pushing the ball on offense. But will the Rockets actually do it?

    Old dogs rarely learn new tricks and Van Gundy is a disciple of Riley's punch-you-in-the-mouth defense and grind-it-out offense. You can't argue with its success; Van Gundy has the third-most wins in Knicks history and advanced past the first round in five of his six trips to the playoffs with New York. His style works. It just won't work in Houston.

    What happens when Alston bounces the ball off his foot one too many times? Or when McGrady takes a few too many ill-advised jumpers early in the shot clock? Does Van Gundy revert to a hockey style dump-and-chase that revolves around Yao?

    The bet here is that he does, and if that's the case Van Gundy's third season in Houston could be his last. General manager Carroll Dawson has put together a talented lineup capable of putting up 100-plus points on a regular basis. He has given Van Gundy a deep bench with Juwan Howard, Derek Anderson, Ryan Bowen and the ageless Dikembe Mutombo. There are no more next years with this team.

    The time is now. Take a look at the Western Conference. San Antonio is the favorite, but after that it's a crapshoot. Phoenix has reigning MVP Steve Nash, but with Amare Stoudemire likely sidelined until February (or perhaps longer), the Suns should struggle. Denver is talented but very young and has a gaping hole at shooting guard. Dallas? Minnesota? Memphis? Do any of those teams scare you?

    This is the year Houston must take the next step. Yao is 25 and one of the best centers in the league. McGrady is 26 and an MVP candidate. The onus is on Van Gundy. This is a contending team. Let's see what he can do with it.
     
    #1 thiagu88, Oct 29, 2005
  2. dragon167

    dragon167 Member

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    #2 dragon167, Oct 29, 2005
  3. GATER

    GATER Member

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    I stopped reading here. "Potent fast break" is not a word that comes to mind when I think of Francis and Mobley as Rockets. Those Rockets teams were dead last in the NBA in fast break ppg.
     
    #3 GATER, Oct 29, 2005
  4. macfan

    macfan Member

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    LOL

    Yao Ming will never be Ewing- Yeah, he's more polished and skilled than Ewing

    T-Mac will never be Sprewell-- That's the best compliment I've heard about him. After all when you put up Jordan numbers you don't want people comparing you to somebody who can't make it on an NBA roster.
     
    #4 macfan, Oct 29, 2005
  5. Quakes

    Quakes Member

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    "For all his many skills, Yao Ming will never be Ewing. Tracy McGrady will never be Sprewell. Van Gundy's stars now are prima donnas, not bullies."

    I really really do not get this sentence. Of all the superstars and quasi-superstars in this entire league... Yao and TMac prima donnas? These two are the most soft-spoken top players in any professional sport, are never thought of as selfish and are never disrespectful of other teams or their teammates.

    And comparing Yao to Ewing and TMac to Spree is perplexing at best and insulting at worst.
     
    #5 Quakes, Oct 29, 2005
  6. Pat

    Pat Member

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    Tracy McGrady will never be Sprewell. :confused:
     
    #6 Pat, Oct 29, 2005
  7. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    It'll work because TMac will make it work.

    The guy must've done research for the article three years ago. Jeff isn't coaching Steve.
     
    #7 Invisible Fan, Oct 29, 2005
  8. Jebus

    Jebus Member

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    Maybe Kelly can give us some insights on exactly what this guy's problem is.

    (besides the fact that he's clearly an idiot)
     
    #8 Jebus, Oct 29, 2005
  9. crash5179

    crash5179 Member

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    I thought he was trying to describe JVG still coaching Stevie Franchise and Cat.

    Potent fast break? since when? Certainly not until last year.

    Prima Dona's? this team got along great last year and loved their coach.

    Dump it into to Yao and charge back down the court? He tried this to start the season last year and it did not work. It was JVG's ability to adapt that gave us the best passing and smartest offensive team we have had in years.

    There are no next years for this team because of age? What the hell is he talking about? Yao, Swift, TMac, Head and Alston make up a very young and talented core of players. Howard, Deke, Wesley and Barry are all getting close to the end but preliminary evaluation looks as if JVG has done a very good job at getting a fussion of youth on this team. Head, Alston, Swift and Baxter are all players in their 20's and all new additions to the team.

    I don't know how this season is going to play out just yet but I just don't know what the auther based this article on.
     
    #9 crash5179, Oct 29, 2005
  10. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Why do they always say "Riley's punch-you-in-the-mouth defense and grind-it-out offense" ....if I am not mistaken, wasn't he the coach of the SHOWTIME Lakers?

    Coaches adapt to their personel, JVG did this too....


    Well, let me rephrase that...GOOD coaches adapt......

    And we got us a good coach here in Houston baby !!

    BRING ON THE LEAGUE !!

    GO ROCKETS !

    DD
     
    #10 DaDakota, Oct 29, 2005
  11. apostolic3

    apostolic3 Member

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    I'll say it again: You can judge how well informed the national writers are when they write about your team. The only thing this clown has done on the Rockets is read a few second hand articles and use them to spew out an opinionated piece with no depth or insight. This writer must have watched very few Rockets games last year and has no inside information whatsoever. If he knew what was going on, he'd know how rock solid JVG & T-Mac's relationship is and how T-Mac and Yao are NOT prima donnas. Does he have a clue about JVG giving T-Mac a blank check on offense last year? No. Only people that really know the Rockets are aware of that.

    kellydwyer, aren't you associated with SI? If so, you should have written this story. At the least, can you tell this guy to be familiar with a team before writing about it? Maybe it's just me, but I don't remember Rudy days as coach being a bunch of run and gun, especially with SF & Cat. It was boring iso iso iso! Is this guy aware of the West Coast winning streak last year (right before JH's injury) when we started to gel and were destroying teams offensively? Obviously not. Tell him the "old dog" coach learned "new tricks" early last season when we got Wesley & Jon Barry and the slowdown offense was junked and T-Mac was turned loose.

    I could write an article on the [name your NBA team] much better than this. Just give me 3 hours on the internet to read up a little. I know the writer is young but that is no excuse. SI could do better.
     
    #11 apostolic3, Oct 29, 2005
  12. burlesk

    burlesk Serious business

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    This was my post:

    "Does this guy even WATCH basketball? It's like he researched this on the ESPN message boards or something...",

    but then apostolic 3 said it much better, so...

    right on, a3!

    Mediocre would be a step up for people like this. It stuns me how bad people can be at their jobs and still get paid. You see it all over... no pride in their work, maybe... Maybe he feels stuck in a dead-end position... "Christ, another day at this frickin' keyboard, well, better crank SOMETHING out..." Maybe he subconsciously wishes he would get fired, or maybe it's funny to him, "let's see how much complete bs they'll swallow today... I don't think anyone reads it anyway." Maybe he just had an off-day.

    Of course, MY work is NEVER less than superb... :rolleyes:

    I know part of a sportswriter's job is to say outrageous things that people will talk about (like me, now)... but if it was me, I'd feel the need to double-check myself before I tried to sound so knowledgeable... or else change their job titles: "SI BS-slinger"... it's like you're in the pulpit, but you haven't read the Bible. I'd be a little embarrassed.
     
    #12 burlesk, Oct 29, 2005
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2005
  13. ROXTXIA

    ROXTXIA Member

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    "But you know what else they are? They're a whole lot better."

    That's what this a$$ clown wrote after "T-Mac will never be Sprewell and Yao will never be the Leaning Tower of Pisa." So for those who stopped reading at a certain point, the guy is saying that our two players are better than those. I think. I'm still not too awake.

    In any case, let's just hope our Rockets kick some boo-tay this year and let the sportswriters write what they want.
     
    #13 ROXTXIA, Oct 29, 2005
  14. KeepKenny

    KeepKenny Member

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    Yeah, I'm sure Les is just itching to fire JVG if we don't go all the way this year. :rolleyes:

    Oh, and I believe Larry Brown was the hottest item on the 2003 coaching market.
     
    #14 KeepKenny, Oct 29, 2005
  15. burlesk

    burlesk Serious business

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    I especially like this part: "What happens when Alston bounces the ball off his foot one too many times?" Sounds like Skip, doesn't it? Mr. Handles, Mr. Assist-to-turnover ratio? I guess when Skip does that, we'll be wishing for Stevie back...
     
    #15 burlesk, Oct 29, 2005
  16. AroundTheWorld

    AroundTheWorld Member

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    That article is just badly written.
     
    #16 AroundTheWorld, Oct 29, 2005
  17. thacabbage

    thacabbage Contributing Member

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    Yea I know, we see this alot whenever one of these national writers is trying to contrast between JVG and pre-JVG. It's revisionist history at its finest. Just because Rudy T's Rockets played an undisciplined, out of control brand of ball doesn't mean they were exactly blazing up and down the court.
     
    #17 thacabbage, Oct 29, 2005
  18. SirCharlesFan

    SirCharlesFan Member

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    They're are a lot of poorly written parts in this article, but I think you guys are overreacting to the part where he says Yao & T-Mac will never be Ewing & Sprewell. I'm pretty sure he means that as a comment. Also, the guy should have used another phrase other than prima donna to describe our two stars. I think his editor is more to blame than anyone about this steaming turd of an article.
     
    #18 SirCharlesFan, Oct 29, 2005
  19. burlesk

    burlesk Serious business

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    I like how fair and even-handed your post was, and then that last part just cracked me up...!
     
    #19 burlesk, Oct 29, 2005
  20. daRox

    daRox Member

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    lol i stopped at "prima donnas". does he even know what it meant?
     
    #20 daRox, Oct 29, 2005
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