I've seen so much crap on this board calling JVG stupid, egotistical, whiney, etc in the last couple of days that you'd think he was the one that skipped the game. People said he SHOULDN'T have gone to the media. For all those haters out there, you are already b*tching at JVG for suspending Steve when STEVE skipped the flight. So, you won't b*tch at JVG if he just outright suspended Steve without reason and we lost the game bad? Whatever.
He was wrong in letting it all out in public. What the hell did he think was gonna happen? the media will just let it go? what, he expected Steve to bend down on his knees on national tv and apologize to the city, the fans, and his coach? what did he expect? if he wants to suspend him, then do it. Just say he violated team rules. Just dont let it out in public when your team is in a freaking 3 game losing streak.....and this right after u question their heart a couple of days earlier....yeah, just praise him ALL u want, huh? Face it, its BOTH steve and JVG's fault. I dont hate JVG, just think a coach should have some kind of a bond with his players, and i dont see it yet. Maybe it is there and we dont see it.
So let me get what you're saying. If JVG shut his trap and didn't say why he suspended Steve, and Houston lost bad (which we did), you wouldn't bash him? Give me a break. If I was JVG I'd be out there covering my ass too. He suspended Steve and rightfully so, then he realized he had to cover his own ass after the loss, which from all these bashing threads, proves true as well. JVG did nothing that any normal person with a brain wouldn't do. You are already bashing JVG for suspending Steve even though you know he skipped the team flight. Can you imagine how he'll be bashed if you thought JVG just suspended Steve cuz he didn't like him? Enough said already.
its called sticking a little to your player, not always looking to covering your ass. Do u think Rudy would have EVER let out in public that Steve called him from the super bowl parking lot instead of being on the team flight? Or wait, maybe he doesnt have a brain......
I still have yet to see one post where someone said that JVG shouldn't have suspended Steve. Why are you so defensive? Is JVG above criticism? Is it only Steve that can be criticized on this team and it's ok?
No doubt we have Van Gundy haters, and we also have haters of making people responsible for their own actions.
Was Rudy ever in that situation? Ask all other 28 NBA coaches (hell ask the other 28 GM's as well) who they side with. You'll get your answer.
Oh really? 1. Juggie's post: "What if your boss told you he wants you to take the bus to work every morning, but you want to take your car. Does he have the right to tell you what means of transportation you have to take to get to work? Or does he merely tell you when to be there and you'd better be there on time. BTW, I work for a major animation company that has put out one of the highest grossing animated features of all time and we are owned by one of the largest media comglomerates in the world. The way we recruit and keep good people is to treat them fairly, treat them like adults, and create an atmosphere where people actually like coming to work. One of the owners of the company told me in my interview that he absolutely refuses to work with people he doesn't enjoy working with. I don't believe in micro-managing people or being a drill sargeant. And it's workd DAMNED good for him. He has guys that will do anything for him." 2. buddry's post: "I would not be working for an inflexable jerk. I would find a different job. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and not be a yes man." 3. pgabriel's post: "Comparing anyone's job to a proffessional athlete's job is silly and I don't know why everyone goes to that card in situations like these. The only job to compare Steve's job to is other players. That's not an argument either way in this case, just about the whole "if your boss blah blah blah" mentality. As we saw in New Jersey, these employees can get even a successful boss fired." 4. farhan007's post: "He does have a point about yao missing alomost the WHOLE training camp, while francis misses a flight. He didnt have to miss the game. But you cant put the bame on yao on that, because it is manditory for yao to play with the chinese national team. He still is a citizen of china." 5. ricerocket's post: "JVG showed his horse's ass mentality. You will bow before me, I am the little Hitler - he even tries to look like him - just paste on the mustache..... A plane flight to Phoenix takes about an hour + Every sports and media dignitary from all over the world was here Steve Francis was supposeed to be with those like him. Not sitting in front of a TV in a Phoenix Hotel watching it on some 27" TV so some horse's ass coach could massage his control freak ego... JVG got what he deserved.... to watch his mistake lead his Knickets to a 20 point loss over a rebuiding team. Does anyone think that Steve's boys were going to dishonor him over JVG with any effort? JVG is a cancer" I leave it to you to find the others. WHAT HAS JVG DONE WRONG TO DESERVE CRITICISM? There's only ONE guy here above criticism, STEVE FRANCIS. And he's "only fans" has been exposed.
Who's saying people shouldn't be responsible for their own actions? Are you saying that the starter of this thread is saying JVG shouldn't be made responsible for his own actions. Sorry that I'm not understanding your post. It's just that I think most people agree that Steve should have been suspended and been made respobsible for his own actions. I think some people question JVG turning the thing to the media. Whether or not the media of fans know of what happened has little to do with anyone being made to take responsibility.
actually u see players get suspended for 'violating team rules' all the time. And 90% of the time, there is NO explanation. U dont go around openly discussing every issue with the media. Unless it is crime related, we usually never know what an athlete has done to deserve a suspension. Its ok. I would rather have it that way than to have the whole city think of your best player as an ass. I mean we had people calling 610 to trade Francis for Jason Williams Yeah, Francis screwed up. He missed a flight because he wanted to watch the superbowl, which he didnt go to anyways probably cause of guilt or looking bad or whatever. But how long do u think he will have to answer for that now? His VERY delicate fan base just took a big hit for something that could've been avoided. I'm not defending Steve, he screwed up, but so did JVG. If u think JVG is a saint, then u r a JVG only fan....
How long as JVG been around? Not very long. I can also honestly say he was never well liked by fans. If say Larry Brown was suspend a player without reason, he gets the benefit of the doubt (cuz he's known as a good coach). If Flip Saunders is to suspend a player without reason, he also gets the benefit, cuz he's been on the team for a long time (which somehow translates into credibility). JVG is not EVEN in the same boat as them. He's in town for 47 games, has not established a reputation in Houston. He's also a good defensive coach and average offensive coach in the league, except that he gets better results by preparation and hard work. But if JVG were to suspend Steve in the middle of a losing streak he'll get ran out of town. When we were in NY routing the Knicks and the fans were chanting "fire Chaney," you don't think that affects him? Even if it doesn't, why SHOULD JVG take the hit for some stupid sh*t Steve decides to pull. To further pamper or spoiled fake all-star? This team wasn't playing hard and JVG did the only thing he could to get them to respond: calling them out in the media. If that gets better results I'll take it any day of the week and twice on sundays. Me a JVG only fan? Now I've heard of everything. YOF, JVGOF, can we make a category called Houston Rockets only fan (HROF)? How about JJOF, MIGOF (Mo is god only fan). When you look at it, there are far more SOF than any other category. JVG is the one doing the hard work and preparing. I won't bother argue whether he's a good coach or not cuz that's subjective, but I can honestly say that JVG is doing the best he can to help his team win. So why shouldn't I like him? Instead I'm suppose to like the spoilt crap team that underperforms every year, doesn't play hard AND finishes out of the playoffs? I didn't even blame Steve for anything about skipping the flight (check the post history) until he started lying and his OF started making lousy excuses (and bash JVG) for it. Only Steve is above criticism on this team cuz HE IS GREATER THAN THE TEAM.
He is establishing a reputation now...a bad one. This is Houston, not New York City. I expect head coaches here to live up to the example set by their predecessors. How you run your team is your business. When you are representing your team, act with a degree of decorum and professionalism. The place for dirty laundry is behind closed doors.
i dont know why all this bs is starting to get to you people. jvg screwed up. francis screwed up. end of story. its their first year together people. nothing gets fixed overnight especially this kind of things. jvg screwed up by overcritizing his team. he shouldnt have embarrassed his players like that and should have left his comments on himself, his players, and the four corners of the locker room. as for steve, he screwed up for not showing up and lying about it. why criticize steve? dont tell me all yall havent done the same thing steve did?! dont criticize a person if you have done the same mistake your criticizing the person about. and i believe almost all the members here in the board have done what steve did. skipping an event just to attend another. i did it. and i was sorry for it. but anyways, all of you need to stop crying and whining like immature fellas and just give them time to really bond. to MFW2310 and all yall steve haters, your overhyping the problem which causes fans to hate steve and jvg more. so stop this bs.
Then maybe we should act like ostriches, hide our heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away. Guess what, Rudy tried that already. It didn't work.
I'm a hater now? As I've clearly stated OVER AND OVER AGAIN, I didn't even criticize Steve for skipping that flight until he lied and his fans started making bs excuses about it. Hater my ass. Just admit there are plenty of SOFs around and get over it.
i never said your a hater.. let me quote my self, "to MFW2310 AND to all yall steve haters". i didnt say to MFW2310 and the rest of the steve haters club.. so, dont put words in my mouth, well now, on my keyboard. if you got hurt by that comment, then you might have hate on steve as well. but anyways, why does everytime a player screws up, he gets criticized and makin them look like a jack ass whereas a coach scews up, he gets treated like a big assed baby that needed a diaper change. and plus, i admit, i am a steve fan, but i never saw any steve fans makin excuses for his mistake. me myself, im disgusted on what he did and he deserved that suspension. i lost respect to steve but that didnt made me all ballistic and starting trade steve threads or [insert cuss here] steve thread.
So how did JVG screw up? You felt he shouldn't have went to the press, which is your opinion. JVG has done absolutely nothing wrong from a moral or legal point of view. You may argue he was tactless, but you can't argue he was wrong. As I've also demonstrated in my previous posts, the SOFs were bashing JVG regardless of whether he went to the media or not. They were bashing him just cause he suspended (and rightfully so) their favorite player. You think there are just Steve haters? Every other hater (JVG hater, Yao hater) also crawled out of their hole to bash coach, as I've proven. You just have to read their posts to see how blatantly obvious it is.
