Let me also say that it sickens me that the HARDEST WORKER on our team is coach, while our players pull sh*t like this.
Despite this one lack of professionalism by Steve has always been a gym rat and tireless worker. Generally, on the court he works harder than anyone else on the team. He might not always work smarter, but he plays with heart night and night out, and is often the only Rocket diving out of bounds trying to save the ball, or diving to the floor. He takes care of injuries and illnesses promptly so that it has the least effect on his workouts, he seeks help from older more experienced players etc. I'm not defending Steve's missed team flight, and I think he deserved the suspension, but to try and claim that he doesn't work hard the superbowl incident not withstanding just doesn't hold water.
My money is on Van Gundy if there is a battle of who stays longer between him and Francis. Francis had the opportunity to lead the team to a playoff berth last year with Rudy T. The team was mediocre. Suns tore their team down even with Stephon making the playoffs. Frank Johnson got canned. That means that there is now precedence for what I think will happen.
You're missing the point. After this whole suspension business, I don't know what it's all about any more. Steve lied and skipped flight. OK I can live with that, let's just stop there and call it a day. But some people here insist on bashing coach for the suspension. I CAN'T live with that. I mean, you can argue about his coaching abilities, but the guy stays up before every game night preparing. He's never caught off guard. He tries to prepare the team. He tries his hardest to do his job. For all this argument about Steve has heart, Cat has heart, Yao has heart, Kobe has his heard (and others) on a white hoe, JVG is more pissed than anybody after a bad play. When we win a game and play well, everybody says Steve played good, Cat played good, JJ played good, Yao played good, nobody ever said great job JVG for preparing and get them to play good. Yet when we lose a game, half the blame goes to him. He did not ask for glory. He didn't say I want media attention. He didn't want to get to the ASG. So is it too much to ask to give him some respect? Give him some credit for doing the best he can? Or at least don't bash him every 2 hrs?
I'm sorry but I don't see the need to punish all of your players by making them miss the superbowl while it is in their own city. If one were to put on any Rocket player's shoes and if you happened to like football and you were hosting the Superbowl, I think it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Granted, you're on a 3 game slide, but what does that have to do with the event at hand. You only live once. Don't jump to go press the post reply button, read the above sentence again. You ONLY LIVE ONCE! JVG is just jealous because nobody invited him to a suite at Reliant and so he took his frustration out on the team. I don't think JVG is a bad coach, but I think he made a bad decision. I also am not happy that Francis did not suck it up for the team, but se la vie. You only live once.
Let me tell u something. For one, JVG is getting PAID for pulling in this 'hard work.' of course he is the hardest worker, he is getting paid 5 mil for a 42 year old, for coaching, not playing. Its the players that u see on the basketball court, the players who take courizone shots when they get hurt, its the players who rehab hours a day to get back from injuries, the players u buy tickets to see, the players who win championships. NOT coaches. Tell me, do u buy tickets to watch Rockets to see Steve and yao, or JVG on the sidelines? thats what i thought. I appreciate what JVG is doing for the Rockets, really, but to say that a coach means more to a team just because he works harder is bull****. And i never said i was a SOF, so DONT assume anything. I'm trying to argue with u in a cool manner, but u shouldnt assume things about me, unless u have read every post by me. I called u a JVGO fan cause u, even with everyone giving u a dozen reasons to criticize him, DONT see anything wrong with him at all. At least we all 'SOF' admit Steve was wrong. Gosh dude, all we are trying to say is a coach should stick up for his players if he wants to get their respect, thats all. Especially if they are such fragile players like Francis.
What a stupid question!!! Did your boss pay your extra money because your home is more far away? Dose a basketball player's job just need to appear in the game?
Is JVG also getting paid for staying up late and preparing? Isn't Steve getting paid for flying with the team? Enough said.
Actually he gets his flight paid for if he travels with the team, otherwise he would have to arrange his own flight. He gets paid on a per game basis, not on a per flight basis.
Its not worth arguing w/ u if u keep bringing up the same plane deal. If u choose to hate Francis for life thats your choice. I dont even hate JVG. I just think he is not a saint. But i'm not arguing any farther since u cant seem to get that. I would rather argue about basketball itself anyways. Wether JVG is coming up w/ good game plans or not. This is just side stuff.....
What does "You only live once" have to do with the event at hand? SF is a employee of Houston Rockets and he has agreed to follow a set of rules and regulations as part of his employment agreement. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can't violate the terms in your contract without getting penalized. We all only live once. That's not a good enough reason to justify being irresponsible.
Hey MFW2310, do you work at Pixar or ILM? I really can't understand why people are bashing or even placing blame on JVG. The only fault that JVG has is that he tells it like it is. He doesn't sugar coat it for all of the babies out there. Don't you think that he has told this team that they don't have heart behind close doors. Sh*t, I am pretty sure that he has already tried that one. The fact of the matter is that this team doesn't have heart, not one ounce. They are all a bunch of pampered little babies. I relish the days when Hakeem and OT were leading our team. They never made excuses why they sucked and couldn't get better. As far as hating Francis, I don't think anybody really hates the guy. I think there are 2 different types of people on this board. Don't take any offensive if you fall into either category. There are those who are basketball fans. Fans of the NBA and fans of the game itself. These people have a little basketball IQ and can understand the nuances of the game. The others are a little harder to define. They are fans of the game, but they just quite don't understand it. They watch it and only see wins and losses. Kinda only see the game one way. They may think that scoring 35 points is great and fine even though one might take 30 shots. That 4-6 turnovers per player is ok as long as he was trying hard. I for one love the Rockets. I live in Austin and watch all their games when they come on national TV. I used to go to the Tavern (only bar in town that shows the games) to watch the games. I was happy when we got Francis, even though I questioned him for not playing for the Grizzles. But over the last 5 years it has become obvious what kind of player Francis is. I am not going to bash him or go into detail - I will just say that he is no all-star, not even close. JVG should be calling his players out in public. Hell they get paid $80,000 a game. You think that they could maybe earn a small portion of that. I guess I am too spoiled of the Rockets of old. Just my 2 cents.
You're not arguing with me cuz you have no argument. I even said I was willing to forgive Steve for skipping the flight. What I also said is I can't forgive people for bashing coach for no reason. Francis has a contractual obligation to be on the plane and he wasn't and people don't blame him, yet they blame JVG for following team rules and suspending him? I never said JVG is a saint nor did I ask anybody to carry his jockstraps. I DO KNOW however, that Steve DEFINITLY IS NOT A SAINT, as demonstrated by this whole incident. If people didn't bash JVG I would have gladly KEPT MY MOUTH SHUT. Funny how SOF are the ones going around labelling every body. YOF, JVGOF, Steve Hater. Well, I'd rather be labelled a Steve Hater than be a SOF.
No I don't. What bothers me is that this team doesn't know where its priorities lie and people are defending them. People are acting like coach is picking on Steve when he did the exact same things in NYC. JVG might get outcoached in a game; he might get outsmarted; his team might get outplayed, but he can honestly say that he's never been outprepared. That IS saying a lot. Any time you can say that about a coach, you can say he's at least a decent coach, as JVG's records show. I also can't understand, people make stupid excuses for Steve making the same stupid mistakes for (COUNT IT) 4 1/2 YEARS, yet they won't cut JVG some slack for 1/2 year. JVG never asked for fame or fortune. He just wants to win, so how about giving him some FREAKIN' RESPECT.
For the past few days, some posters have been criticizing JVG for not supporting his players or letting bad things out in the media. Do you know why players in NY respected him and played hard for him? Because they think he's their couch and stands behind them. Remember the incident when he held Mourning's leg to stop him fighting his players? Look at the difference between those two, you will see that really takes some courage to risk his own safty like that. Although this has been something funny around the league since then, NY players really appreciated his action and openly praised and showed their loyalties many times. Respect and appreciation is always mutual. People respect you because you earn it and you respect people. What makes you think JVG is a guy turns his back on the team and not support his players? How do you know he hasn't tried to enforce discipline behind the locker room door many times? Do you think people will get off his back if he didn't give a reason to suspend SF, or give a false reason to cover SF's a**?
bah................ Gundy has always been a media/attention w**** that often tends to cry like a little b|tch. Why be surprised with this situation. Read: I'm not siding with either Francis or JVG because honestly, I don't favor either of the two.
I just thinkg JVG handle the situation poorly. Very Poorly. interesting thing thought. . . M Jax goes to Utah and starts undermining the Pasty Faced Gangsta he comes here. . . and now . .. . [just kidding .. . or am I ] Rocket River
