Something you would never see if JVG was still here...

i'd rather them win a bit!


But i dont get the automatically assuming that guys like rookies wouldnt get any pt, although i never have understood that myth.

one thing we wouldnt see is, rockets in the 10th seed in the west

 

Your logic is flawed a little

The West is so dam good that when the Rockets finish with the 5th best record (6th seed) they will still be serious contenders in the playoffs. Playing in the West right now is like being in the AFC in football or the AL in baseball.

I think the Rockets have the talent to be a top 3-4 seed the problem is all the other teams have had little roster turn over while the Rockets have had coaching changes and a complete overhaul of their bench.

I also disagree with the your point on the season, it's perfect the way it is and I think at the end of the day you will see a 50-52 win team 26-12 28-10 is about how I see the Rockets ending up. At that point you can say "we will judge RA in the postseason.

 

Oh come on Max, how can a team have 33% roster turnover, many rookies contributing, total change in philosophy, and lose arguably their best player and not struggle.

Realistically the team is just coming together.....if Yao was healthy they would have beaten Utah.....

There is plenty to be happy about with this team, they are really starting to get it......they still take the occassional lump, but the team has been playing some really good ball of late...which bodes well for the 2nd half and the future.

DD

 

I would rather build a REAL championship contender, and that means playing the younger guys and taking your lumps as they learn.

DD

 

DaDa --

This team doesn't have time for building for tomorrow. This team isn't being built like the TrailBlazers. The idea of bringing in RA was to improve immediately...to get farther in the playoffs this year. They're not improved. They made moves to be better...not to be worse.

It's enough already. It's been a freaking decade since they won a playoff series. I'm not at all convinced this team will pass others to get to the playoffs this year. Will you tell me then that it was OK? That they'll just be better next year?

 

Yes, Rockets should try rebuilding for sure since Tmac and Yao are only going to get younger...The fact is the Rockets would not be a sub 500 team with JVG still coaching and fighting for the 7-8th spot. You would see JVG ripping on the refs, just currious has Rick gotten one Tech at all this season?

 

you are assuming thats what they are doing though and assuming they werent before. You know thats flawed thinking. You may think youre right but dont let your hubris ignore your clearly flawed argument

 

exactly. this isnt rebuilding time. Rockets are/were there as is. Like you mentioned, portlands best players are rookies and 2nd year guys...rockets best players are late 20's guys (one with a back injury and retirement looming, the other a 7'6 guy which doesnt scream "longevity").

i wouldnt even mind the coaching change if it hadnt been primarily for PR reasons and an owners personal dislike for the coach.

Regardless, people believed coaching was holding this team back which is why they changed coaches (ignoring personal Les' personal reasons that i think are valid), especially offensively. Well now we can clearly see that was/is not the case. Even the most strict anti-jvgist

 

No, I will concede that there is no guarantee of that way working, or that the players will be part of the final puzzle.

But, I said it all last year, I did not believe the team as assembled was really good enough to compete...and I was right. It was why I wanted JVG to take a longer view and develop some of the rookies....

Not because they were the answer but to find out if they could be part of the future solution.

Same thing this year, the team has holes.....well, one really gigantic one at the PG position - which is the most important position on the floor in today's NBA.......

So, I think they are getting better by developing Brooks, and Landry and to a lesser extent Scola (he is pretty much a polished product already)....

Brooks may be the answer, and honestly, I don't see why Rick wouldn't start him now...tonight....

Let him guard Monte Ellis and have Rafer come off the bench to steady the 2nd unit.

DD

 

Once the team was gutted to pick up McGrady, it has been mix and match with a bunch of cast offs to try to get a real team.

Add to the fact that both McGrady and Yao are flawed as players (Yao slowness of foot, McGrady weakness of mind) and you need time to surround them with the right complimentary players.

But it is not an exact science...which is why the Stromile's of the world come and go.....

I applaud management for trying to find the right fit, and I think finally this year they have added some pieces that WILL work.....but we have to take some lumps to get to that point.

I am NOT giving up on this year, but if the team develops players that will help us next year...and the next few years after...so be it.

DD

 

you aer right. that was a flawed roster...YET they still competed and looked better than this team. A current team that has MUCH more talent.

and that was a "flaw" last year...an even BIGGER flaw, but the team still wasnt this bad.


Brooks is/was already a player and i dont think he has to "develop" (he can already dribble, he can shoot, he can finish, etc) so much as just get into his own groove. V-span, however, he had to "develop".

But if brooks is "the answer" then why i ask hire a new coach since that assumes that coaching was a problem? I know you dont "think/feel/believe/like" jvg, but if you can separate your personal preferences for a while you can see what is painfully obvious...i.e., it was simply not necessary or even smart to fire last years coach.

 

Well, I certainly dont agree with the OP. JVG has magic. JVG can make everything happen.

See, JVG can even teach a donkey how to type. Amazing!

 

I my recollection, JVG played the players he believed would help his team win. Hence if this better crop of rookies, when compared to what JVG had to choose from, provide they could help he would play them. I don't think it's that far of a stretch but since everyone want to continue to harp on the great satan JVG, disregard anything i said....

 

well lets not go overboard

well put. Rookie or not, if you gave a chance to win and produced on the court...you played, despite your flaws. See: luther head, chuck hayes

 

I totally agree with that statement, I just believed that management should have forced JVG to take a longer view, and develop or find out if some of the younger players could help.

It is why Popovich is so good, he started a 19 year old Euro PG, knowing that they would not win, but that it would make his team better in the long run...it did.

The Rockets need youth and energy, their passive teamates (re Tmac) feed off of this energy....

Young, aggressive, attacking players who hustle....now we have 3 new ones......let's see if they can help inspire the veterans to play harder.

I think this team can still get it together.....they lost a close game to Utah without Yao.....that has to be expected....

Let's see how they fair with a full compliment of players...

And Rick...it is time to start Brooks.

DD

 

Roster turnover is a cheap excuse. Yao, Hayes, Battier, McGrady, and Rafer were starters both this year and last. Where as last year our bench relied on Head, Deke, and Howard, this year we've got Head, Scola, Landry, and Brooks.

Upgrading your bench shouldn't mean you stumble backwards. It's not like we have new stars. Our top 3 scorers are the same.

We're pairing a soft personality coach with soft personality franchise players, and it's killing us. There is ZERO fire in this team - Yao may have gotten upset here and there, but it would be a stretch to think he could whip the locker room into shape on his own - it's just not who he is.

Van Gundy had serious flaws, and I doubt we'd have a championship under him, but he was a leader - something this squad no longer has.

Keeping the roster intact, we aren't going to vie for a title under Adelman. Not this year, not next, not when McGrady retires because of his back. We'll get drummed out of the postseason because we have no fire, no hunger, no desire.

The Hornets, Sixers, and Jazz have all clowned us in our own building in the past two weeks. And we're supposed to be serious contenders this spring?

You need more than talent.

Evan

 

well put. Roster turnover isnt the right term either, it was roster improvement.

really? he knew he would not win? they went to the freaking conference finals the year before.

He had david robinson and TD. Sorry, but thats a bogus, and flat out, made up statement you just made about "he knew they wouldnt win"

In fact, I remember pop saying he didnt even like playing parker that early but only did so out of necessity.

i think the team can get it together too, i also think they shouldnt havebeen as bad as they have been. No way in hell

 

Not with that line up

Rafer and Battier played in most of that stretch

 

How many more lumps until we're out of the playoff chase?

Is this really about Spanoulis?

 

of course...but i think it started with boki