a note. lock it if you want. delete if you want. don't read it if you want... Is it JVG to blame? Is it CD to blame? Is it T-mac? Another player? This team could almost beat the Spurs at home. This team played poorly against the number three team in the East. This team is struggling to reach .500. This team is struggling to make the playoffs. This team also played without two starters tonight - one of them the focus of the offense. The "worst GM in the league" managed to move Steve Francis for T-mac. Drafted Yao. The horrible and mean Mr. Jeff Van Gundy has managed to somehow get this team to the point where it might actually make the playoffs. Yao Ming is becoming the dominant force that most of us hoped might be possible; and some of us knew was inevitable due to Yao's spirit and dedication. I ask you who is actually to blame and I ask you to think about what our record would be right now if we could have had a healthy T-mac, Wesley, Yao, Alston, J.B. (miss ya' man), Sura (ya' fainted... by God, ya' fainted...), etc. It's easy to hide behind a nickname on the internet and toss daggers. It's more difficult to think. Regards, Brock
My first blame is to Les Alexander for bringing us bad Karma by hiring Clyde Drexler. Clyde is the trully the reason we are horrible - I smell bad Karma all over him. Sounds cheesy but I am serious. P.S. Tracy also let us down, he could have asked for a better back from God. He better have some kind of back transplant before next season.
Appreciate the thought and the thread... but I hope your not looking for many well concieved or rational responses. Unfortunately nowadays, you seem to get as many thought-out responses and posts on this board as the espn boards... okay maybe not quite that bad posted by: not j
Does anyoen know our win-loss record with Drexler broadcasting games is, compared to Bullard? I guess it's roughly the same as our home vs. road record, but I remember Drexler doing some road games we lost as well.
It's all about results. You can analyze, theorize, and pontificate all you want-but us fans aren't paid to coach or play ball. We pay to see a winning team and in the end this is ALL that really matters.
As much as I admire your optimism, the Rocks have to make drastic changes to be competiteve. The observations have been everywhere: no shooting, no perimeter defense, poor offseason acquisitions, and, by JVGs' own admission, a lack of passion. Need I say more?
Good post. If the Rockets were complete all the season, they would be in the playoffs, battling for spot 4 or 5. How can you blame a coach or GM for an injury of a star player. (And im not bashing T-Mac)
We are 2 games over .500 with Matt Bullard. With Drexler, we are 8 games below 0.500 - this is not even an accident. And we have played some of our worst games with Drexler pair with Bill save for the blow out in Phoenix (competitively speaking).
Numbers don't lie! We must have Bull announce more games and reduce time for Clyde. He is killing us. Clyde is the only thing holding us back. Just look at his track record; he hasn't won anywhere he's been since retiring from the NBA. I can't stand it. I'm going to post 50 times a day on how much Clyde hurts the team and never discuss anything else. In fact, I'm going to completely hijack game threads and post the same repetitive babble. Bull should get more games because we need to develop him and see if he is our full-time guy for next year. Bull's development is more important than winning games now.
YOu just said a bunch of bull****. -even with wesley we would have lost this game, we didnt lose becuase of lack of depth if u know anything of the game -drafting Yao was a no brainer and the francis for tmac was more of stupididty on the majic part, i dont blame CD though, i blame JVG -The rockets probably wont make the playoffs, and if the last game was a great reason to question JVG -Yao is becoming great on his own will, i dont know why u even brought that up -sure our record could be better with last years lineup, the one that lost by 40 points and blew a 2-0 playoff. But that isnt the lineup we have right now so know one needs to care about it. You got to wonder why this lineup is playing so ****ty and why JVG cant learn to adapt.
Everyone in the team, be it the coaches, the players. Basketball is a team sports, everyone should share the glory when win, and take the blame when loss.
reminds me of the dream,lol,but ya true. i am not geting into the pf debate, but jvg should not be allowed to call the knicks for anything next yr, tired of trading with them. also how about next yr we get murph for home games and barry for road? thatd be cool, have matt on the sidelines,or replace ric renner with matt
Fair post. I would not increminate: -Dawson: a GM is your negotiator that finalizes deals. The coach has a large amount of input on what players to bring in, the GM makes it happen and must get the player for value (contract or trade). CD has done a fine job, IMO. The only bad contract on the roster came as part of the price for McGrady. -Yao: growing into an elite center, not just relative to todays players, but historically. He's not far away, and the Ric Smits stuff can be tossed in the trash pile. -McGrady: you can't play through a slipping disc in your back. Anyone that thinks he could or should needs to moonlight in an orthopedic clinic for a week. My only hope is that he properly treats it before he walks down the path of Larry Johnson. -Alston: he's done a great job since getting over his fibular fracture. Mike James can pile up points and 3s, but he can't run an offense like Skip. -Howard: been playing smart and effectively all year, with nothing but professionalism and stepping up with some 20-point nights when we've been decimated. -Hayes: scrappy guy who's playing above most expectations. By rights, he should be a practice only guy, but his hustle on the boards has been fantastic. -Wesley: his wheels have fallen off, but he's given everything left in the tank. -Barry, Anderson, Sura: Likewise, when you're done you're done. In between: Luther Head - he's a rookie, so he gets a pass, but he's got to smooth out his game. Avg'ed 8 PPG, but he isn't a 8ppg guy: he's 15 ppg combo guard that is a ghost for week+ long stretches. Part of that is his youth, part of it is indecision on JVG's part regarding his role as a 2 or a 1. He's a keeper either way, but his progress will determine if he's a bench guy or future starter. Bogans - nothing impressive either way. Good defense, limited offense, can't comment on his character yet. Mutombo - minutes are declining, but that's mostly because Yao's been so hot. Focus of my disappointment: Stromile Swift - the only good thing about him right now is his contract is a good value. The majority of Clutchfans were determined to keep their head in the sand regarding his Memphis track record, but lo and behold he's every bit the tantalizing talent & underachiever here. Minutes are on par with his time in blue, but his numbers are barely on par with his career averages. Absolutely disinterested in hitting the boards. Meanders on defensive rotations and switches. But puts down one or two terrifying slams a game to keep half the fanbase thinking that making him a starter and getting big minutes is the only thing keeping him from being Amare Stoudamire. JVG - Let's start off by noting my absence in any current Fire Gundy threads. That said, a ton of blame lands on his shoulders for this season. Two general reasons why I feel so: (a) his push on Dawson for older players. Rudy was obsessed with bigs that played on the perimiter like himself, JVG wants grizzled vets for role players. Unfortunately, this saps the team of athleticism and quickness, sticks us with guys that are out of gas, and has taken precedence over real niche needs (shooting). As a result, McGrady (when 100%), Head (maybe), and Alston are the only players on the roster able to get around their man or hope to stay in front of him on the other end. Our defensive rotations are horrible because guys just don't have the footspeed to make them. Our scoring hits a brickwall when there is no one on the court that can create their own shot, let alone for others. (b) resistance to adjust to his roster. There are two kinds of coaches in the league - ones that install a system with the postseason in mind (JVG, Phil, Pop, Brown) and those that focus on maximizing the strengths of the roster (Don Nelson, Doc Rivers, etc). JVG is therefore stubborn to allow adjustments that go away from what he feels is necc for a championship (ex. his reluctance to put Yao in the high post as a passing center). That stubborness contributed to the collapse when Yao and McGrady missed so many games. He is adverse to bandaid solutions, even short term, and it may have cost us the few games we need for an 8th seed. All that said, I can live with writing this season off as snakebit. Bring in some fresher legs, especially a SG that can drill with range, and we should be just fine next year. There's little you can do when your top two players both miss a third of your games. Evan
My take on this: 1. JVG is a good coach, he should stay. Now if Phil comes calling, it is a different story, but I don't see it happening. Larry Brown is always moving, he has to be paired with a superior GM but Rox does not have one, it will be a disaster waiting to happen. 2. On the other hand, CD's time is over. Don't say that CD just do what JVG tells him to do. It should never work that way. If someone wants to say it is Les' fault to have an arrangement like this, well, since you can't fire the owner, you have to do something about the GM. 3. Rox has to fix the problems in drafting and FA signing. Basically both Yao and T-mac fall into the lap without the GM doing any creative work. Without Steve's magic touch, Rox would still be the Steve show at this moment. 4. Again, Drafting and FA signing is extremely important, there is very little margin of error because Les does not want to exceed the Luxury Tax threshold or at least does not want to exceed that too much. This team is not in New York or LA where owners could possibly spend lots of money on FA signings. 5. With all these constraints (money and capability in analyzing players), the best strategy for Rox now is to tank to get the best draft position as possible. It serves 2 purposes: 1) increase the (trade) value of that pick 2) reduce the draft error made by CD or other potential GM. Now how does the team tank without appearing so obvious that it is tanking? It is up to JVG to figure it out. Basically it should sit Wesley out for another 3 weeks. Without T-mac and Wesley, Rox has no perimeter defence, it can't win.
