There's no "whatever" about it. You feel that way because you want JVG fired. So, spin away. Booo hoo....You told me nothing about what aired. Since it's coming from your mouth you think I'd believe anything you say w/out first checking it out myself? Nope! You clearly have an knack for picking out statements and then blowing them out of proportion. Is the underlying meaning of JVG statements too much for you? Or do you take everything for face value? "He said, talent doesn't matter! He said talent doesn't matter! Fire him!" EDIT: I suggest you read Severe Rockets Fan's post. Depending on pure "talent ALONE (which can be defined different ways)" and not working on team fundamental will get you nowhere. So, that's what JVG was talking about. Want proof? Check out Detroit's ring. They were not the most "talented" team. LA was. But Detroit was the better *team.* And the difference between Detroit and the Rockets is that we have two of the best in the league (McGrady/Yao). It's the team aspect that needs to be worked out. Oh, and remember Portland? They used to be packed with talent. Yet, no leadership. They lost in spite of their talented roster. LA won because they utilized both individual talent and teamwork.
I thought every coach deserves at least two years to show his work. JVG was hired last year, but this year should be counted as his first since we basically have a new team now. If this team doesn't reach the expectation by late next season, then yes, JVG should be held responsible. As much as I don't like the guy, but you get to give the guy time to show his stuff. Of course, if we miss the playoff this year, then he probably will be fired.
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. How many times do I have to tell you. There is ZERO reason to fire Jeff Van Gundy as things stand right now, exactly ONE possibility where I would want it to happen in the near-term (the Jackson option), and exactly TWO possibilities (the Jackson option, or total collapse) where I would support it happening during the regular season. As to SRF interpretation of the quote, it is valid. It is not what I got from the quote, but that is why there are 31 flavors.
31 favors? Ha! Nope. It's only one flavor. Your blind perspective. You see what you want to see! That's why I said, "You clearly have an knack for picking out statements and then blowing them out of proportion. Is the underlying meaning of JVG statements too much for you? Or do you take everything for face value? "He said, talent doesn't matter! He said talent doesn't matter!..." It's your skewed understanding of the game and your disgruntled JVG bashing that is the root cause of your WRONG interpretation.
Uh, it's called ONE YEAR of JVG (w/Francis). And the 2nd that hasn't started yet. Allowing the coach time is a reasonable thing. Especially with practically a NEW team.
Excuses, excuses. Larry Brown won a championship in his first full season. Rudy Tomjanovich won the division his first full season, with a team that had been in the lottery the year before.
I'm giving an "excuse" after one year? Oh man. You truly are delusional. We should have won the championship last year!!!! Thanks man for pointing that out! Gussed you missed that part about LA, SA and Minnesota being better than us? Not to mention the Pistons. Oh, and as far as Rudy. Nice to have that guy named Hakeem, ya think? This time we have McGrady and Yao. There's no "excuse" about it. It's called reality. You actually have to play the season to see what happens, don't ya think? Excuses only happen at the END of the season. See how that works? Not after 7 pre-season games.
Seems to me, Hakeem was also front and center (no pun intended) on that lottery team. As to the "end of the season," I believe that is when I am saying Jeff Van Gundy's employment situation should be reconsidered. However, it is quite reasonable to question Jeff Van Gundy, specifically his offense schemes (or lack thereof) after seven preseason games. Even moreso given that he is falling into the same pattern established season after season with the Knicks, and in his first year as coach of the Rockets. Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Yep. And Hakeem, with all his *talent* wasn't able carry his team to a championship in 92. It actually took teamwork, role players (draft picks) and chemistry to do that. Not "pure talent." Remember that? All you cared about was spinning JVG's statement on, "talent." Next... It's not "reasonable" to question JVG offense after seven pre-season games. Because the pre-season is used to assess new players, find roles and get on the same page. That's why they call it pre-season. It's more reasonable to make an assessment mid-season, or at the end. And I'll repeat this again for you. Francis played on JVG's first season. That was a wash. Francis, Yao and JVG were not going to work. Period! Too much sloppy play on Francis's part. And an innablity for Francis to accept the Yao-post style offense; at his sacrifice. Yep. That's reasonable.
I did not assign any sort of motive. I didn't even think much about the quote until asked. I was just pointing out that Jeff Van Gundy said something which was the opposite of something you said. Further, It isn't just seven preseason games, it is seven full NBA seasons and seven preseason games. Different players, different teams, same old unwatchable offense.
God, can we go ONE DAY without someone starting a thread whining about Jeff Van Gundy, particularly before the season has started!?
Well, now you know it wasn't "oppostite" of what I said. You THOUGHT it was opposite, until Severe Rockets Fan pointed it out. Yep. And those teams had different player that were NOT Yao and McGrady; younger, newer and more potential.
And he's so wrong. Duncan, Shaq, Garnett- the best 3 players in the league just happened to be on 3 of the best 4 teams in the league. Detroit was a fluke- just look at history. His statement is probably egotistical in that he thinks that things that are under a coach's control (preparation, fundamentals, etc) are more important to winning than players. This means he thinks that he has more of an effect on a game than players do- which has been borne out in his over-coaching. Any team he coaches immediately takes on more of his identity than that of its players. Given that the NBA is a players' league, this is a problem. Can anyone honestly say that he utilized Francis' strengths last year? Is 'exposing' the weaknesses of one of your all-stars really what a coach is supposed to do? Why not play to your strengths instead of expose weaknesses?
Are you implying that those guys don't have preparation and good basketball habits? I thought that was part of what made them great. Obviously overwhelming talent is going to help you win in this league. But talent doesn't guarantee you anything. The Clippers have always had talent, yet they are perenial losers. The Jazz were supposed to be a bottom 5 worst team of ALL TIME last year, yet they barely missed the postseason. The difference is preparation and good basketball habits. Besides, what do you want him to say then? That talent wins in this league, and since we have that, we can just cruise? I think, instead of some ego trip of JVG's, at worst it was just a stunt to make his players play harder and smarter. As for Francis, obviously he was not utilized to the max last year. However that might have been a function of how much his style clashed with Yao's. If we had to fully utilize Steve, then we would have had to sacrifice some of Yao. Yao needed a structured inside-out offense, while Steve needed a clear-out, one on one exhibition. The two styles just don't mix and JVG had to choose one or the other. The beauty of Tmac is that although he can ISO, his strength also lies in the half court set, like Yao. He is a much much better spot up shooter than Steve, which can be utilized off of screens in the half court. And even his ISOs, he relies on a quick first step as opposed to dribblethons that totally disrupts the offensive flow. Now if Tmac is once again under-utilized like Steve last year, even though his game is compatible with Yao's, then I would agree with you.
Hey TheFreak, clearly it's best if you have *both* the best talent (if you can get it) and teamwork. Of those players, they need to be capable of learning the team game, not just the individualistic game; regardless of how much "talent" they have. Comparing Duncan, Shaq and Garnett to Francis is just wrong. They are *slightly* on a different level. And I'm sure that JVG would love to have those players. It's just that Francis just wasn't going to work out with Yao. Francis was one of those flukes. There was nothing to "expose." Everyone already knew it. I know, I know....you expect the coach to get Francis to *fit.* Well, Rudy tried. Rudy fired. JVG tried. Francis traded. We had to stop the coach road-kill before it was too late.
Now who is "spinning." You wrote "Jeff has more talent." JVG said "I don't believe in 'more talent(ed)'." Unless the sentence starts with the words 'I never said,' these are in opposition. Context doesn't matter, what he was "trying to say" doesn't matter, it is what he *DID* say. As to the other point, all you have is a nebulous hope that "the offense will improve." Seven years history shows that Van Gundy coached teams underperform offensively. The preseason shows that T-Mac and Yao in this offense still have a tendency toward underperforming offensively.
What he *did* say, is your interpretation. Love your *on the surface* analysis (Do you think in binary?). Nice. Heh....context doesn't matter? Ha! My statment was me making an observation (the acquisition of Tmac; better talent). JVG statement was him trying to break down a perception that *talent* is all it takes, i.e. don't *just* depend on ones talent. Just admit it. You misunderstood him.
I put zero interpretation in it. The words from his mouth were "I" "do" "not" "believe" "in" "more" "talent (possibly talented)" Did I misunderstand him? Possibly, although (as I said), I didn't much consider what he was saying, just that he had said something I thought awfully strange. When I did give it a minute's thought, my interpretation (ie: that JVG thinks talent is close enough that any NBA team could beat any other on any given day) comes close to SRF's.
