The flip side of this is that I personally do not believe that JVG has given a fair shake to anyone at the PG spot to try to take time away. Players need time to get comfortable on the court and both of the challengers for the backup PG spot have gotten a few minutes here and there, but not consistent play. It is almost as if, JVG is afraid of someone taking the job from Rafer. He knows what Rafer brings and he is comfortable with that, but JL3 shoots too much, and V-Span is a risky player, both traits that JVG would not necesarily be comfortable with at PG....however, both would probably get better at their weaknesses if given consistent minutes. DD
Not true JL3 had more than a fair shake. Vspan's the one who didn't get a fair shake. And JVG from day 1 demanded he be something he is not. But enough about VSpan. He will never get a fair shake, milkshake, handshake or any other kind of shake from Van Gundy. He isn't going to play the point for Van Gundy. So let's move on from these silly discussions. The playoffs or approaching and with Yao and Tmac we could be a surprise. We can still get homecourt advantage and if we get out of the first round anything is possible. With that said if we don't get homecourt advantage I think we should just fire Van Gundy on the spot. His stupity and stubborness cost at least 1 and maybe 2 of the 3 losses we just incurred. What makes him think benching Tmac when he says he is healthy can be a good thing for this team. I know it is my view but I watched the Golden State game and Tmac looked lackadaisical out there and I think JVG benched him for this (I don't have a problem with this but perhaps there was other options) and then Tmac responded by calling it a night. So to prove a point to Tmac he keeps him out of the Portland game. What gives him the right to bench TMAc when he says he is healthy and ready to play. Maybe he thinks he is a good enough coach to win without Tmac against Portland but he is not. ANd that Portland game may come back to haunt us. Yao and Tmac both had mysterious injuries and had equally mysterious recoveries. JVG says no player should miss if he is not injured. Tmac says he is not injured... what gives? What gives is JVG put himself ahead of the team. If we don't get homecourt against Utah it's time to retire him.
I have been reading Cluthcity/Fans message boards for a long time, and i have enjoyed reading your comments over the years, OldMan, mainly because they are really well thought out. Most of your comment above is understandable, but I just don't see how JVG should be at fault for any of our demise this year. We honestly could not afford to be just trying out players to see how they develop in the middle of the season. We all saw VSpan...he was so far from ready, I was severely disappointed as I had such high hopes for him. JVG's comments, while they hint at contradiction, are products of his humanity, specifically, we are all inconsisitent at times especially when we are put on the spot. He has always claimed that if a player is hurt, he won't play. If a player is healthy and just out of shape, he might get them some p/t to help speed up the conditioning process. But along came Bonzi, whom we all know had more issues concerning his attitude than his his health or conditioning. He had to say he was not ready dur to conditioning for p/r reasons. Then Yao is ready to come back but is out of shape. He again said he would play Yao because "he has always believed that if a player is cleared to play contact Bball by his doctor, then he would play." Direct contradiction to what he exemplified w/Bonzi. But...I understand him...and let him off the hook on this one. Bonzi is a jerk. That's why he didn't play. JVG is trying 's to build a TEAM. That's why he allowed Yao to play himself into shape and Bonzi to get fat on the Bench, or at bowling allies, or night clubs, or wherever else Bonzi chose to be instead of in the gym. Let's move on form this whole subject, I think JVG is a great coach who hust wants to win badly. If you ask me, I think his head is screwed on a little tighter than Larry Brown's was at times in Philly, Motown, and NY.
JVG gets to see more from the players than any of us do, and in the case of the benchwarmers, a lot more. If Spanoulis was showing him more in practice than what we saw during the limited time he got in the games (which was crap) then he would have gotten more PT. The fact is that V-SPAN was not ready this season. His numbers prove it. I hope he will be ready next season, so that we can focus on the PF situation, but that is not a guarantee. Maybe he just can't play at this level. Regardless, he has not been able to take any of Alston's minutes, which doesn't bode well for him, because Alston sure isn't doing much to hold onto them.
I hear your argument, and it has merit, but there are no practices during the season for the most part. And, JVG holds a grudge, so I am not sure there is much that V-Span could have done to get in the rotation this year. Hopefully next year. DD
There are a couple of reasons why Vspan is struggling, 1) They are forcing him to be a stationary player when he needs the ball in his hands to be effective, 2) You're not going to improve unless you actually play, 3) Numbers in garbage time versus numbers in actualy game time are not exactly comparable - I have seen multiple times when Vspan gets passed up in the offense. I think you may have also contradicted yourself when you suggested that JVG knows best about his players and who deserves to play, then indicating afterwards that Rafer has done nothing to hold onto its minutes. If JVG's assessment was so accurate, then we would of traded away Rafer for a better point guard already. I am also unsure as to why JVG condones Rafer's shot selection... they have digressed as the season has gone by.
Oooh, numbered responses. 1) V-SPAN is a rookie who can barely get off the bench. He is not going to be in a position to dominate the ball. He needs (needed) to prove himself without the ball being in his hands all the time, that is life as an unproven player. No coach on a competitive team is going to hand a player like that control of the team. 2) He did play some (240 minutes of game time) and looked bad. You also need to improve when you are not playing, that is in practice, on off days, in shootaround even. He got about the minutes he earned. Maybe in the offseason he will work on his game and be able to earn more time next year. I hope so. 3) Sometimes you get passed up in the offense. I have seen multiple times when Shane Battier gets passed up in the offense too. That doesn't mean he can't work out there, and it doesn't mean he can't contribute on both ends of the court. I don't think that is a contradiction at all. The minutes were there for the taking. If V-SPAN or Lucas had come in and proved to be competent PGs that were not a big dropoff from Rafer, they would have gotten more time. Neither of them really stepped up, so they saw a lot of time on the bench. It's nice to say that JVG would have traded Rafer for a better PG, but you can't always find a willing partner. I am sure JVG would love to have Kirk Hinrich out there, but the Bulls are not going to give him up for Rafer.
I can understand his frustration because he was given the impression how BADLY the rockets wanted him..and then getting no playing time.
