What he didn't learn to kill in the 96? What a softee..... take the ball to the hole Ron, your shot sucks!
Why in the hell is everyone freaking out? We still have not seen Yao, T-Mac, and Artest all healthy together. Battier, arguably our floor "leader", has only been back a few games. We've lost a couple heart break games (Portland and Indiana). And, oh yeah, we're still tied for the division lead. What a terrible team, let's trade Yao and T-Mac for a couple top draft picks and some squash
I think you're watching a different team than I am. I'm no Yao apologists - frankly, what I'm going to say lowers his capabilities. But I will say I don't see anything getting in Yao's head. Does he get extra fired up every once in a while? Yes, but so does every player....there is not a player in the league currently or historically who has ever played all the way amped up all the time. Frankly, it probably isn't the wisest thing to do. So why does Yao dominate sometimes and not others? because he is what he is, from a talent perspective. He simply CAN'T chase down long rebounds, or jump high enough to get rebounds that are flying over his head. AS much as he wants to "bang" with the Marc Gasol's of the world...and can, he doesn't have the athleticism to mix it up enough to keep them constantly off balance. It's why it is so frustrating to watch when he gets fronted, too. as Matt Bullard competently pointed out, when Yao is fronted, you shouldn't have to work twice as hard to get him the ball, you should take advantage of it. But the Rockets do work twice as hard, and still don't get him the ball. That's partly coaching, but it's also partly the fact that Yao doesn't have Hakeem's, or Shaq's athleticism to go get that ball that is lobbed over his head. He can, sometimes, but then has to worry about his goofishness charging over a smaller player on the back side, or coming down and traveling. At the end of the day, the pass has to be so perfect, it is difficult to do. Most of the time these days, the team quickly goes to another play when Yao is fronted, that starts with the PF going to the high post...they could definitely do this better, as the spacing is never good then, but it still can be and often is successful, as the PF has the shot, drive or swing pass to the other 3 point corner. Yao dominated the Warriors the other night. Biedrins, Turiaf, Anthony Randolph, Brendan Wright. Take out Turiaf and the other 3 combined have as much weight as a Marc Gasol (exaggeration, but you get the point). the Warriors also chose to double Yao on the dribble as opposed to front him. Again in Yao's defense, he has gotten much better with his turnovers this year, specifically recognizes where and when the double is coming. Does the team need some more mean-ness? Sure. But dang people overlook logic way too often. They ignore the fact that the Rockets 97 points should get them a win over Memphis 9 times out of 10 if they just play better defense. They overlook that while the Rockets got outrebounded, it was only by 4, and that even with Yao out of the game, in the 4th quarter, the Grizzlies were still able to get consecutive offensive rebounds and run down a minute and a half because no one else can grab a board, either. Defense lost this game. And while one guy guarding Yao was in constant foul trouble and only played 10 minutes, and the other, in 34 minutes of action, was 3-10 from the field, Mayo, Gay, Lowry, Conley, Buckner, etc. went off. Greg Buckner scored 8 points on us - granted, not a huge amount, but his season high. Conley was 4-6. OJ Mayo, 7-13. Rudy Gay 8-14, 20 points, 24 minutes. Hakim Warrick had only scored at least 18 points while grabbing at least 8 boards twice thus far this season before doing it again last night. Yao wasn't guarding those guys. Unfortunately, neither were Artest, T-Mac or Brent Barry, 3 rotation players, 2 of the Big 3, all out. And with all that, when Yao went out of the game in the 3rd quarter, it was still fairly close. Hayes was horrible. Luther Head was twice as bad. Battier was limited in minutes and didn't do that much while he was in there. It's the NBA, not the D-League. The Rockets didn't just lose, there were pretty much blown out most of the game. A "killer" wouldn't have helped. I think they need some more attitude, but I also think this thread is reactionary and over-reactionary.
Its professional sports ask the PATRIOTS Game planning is a big deal....... even the Bulls lost to some bad teams in their prime, it happens. The killer is DEFENSE and usually its on our side..... but not without your best players.
I'm hoping that once Ron plays on the team a bit longer, he will start to take a bigger role in helping the team get tougher. I just think that he is trying to fit in right now
this is the guy who single-handedly cut off the broadcast of game 5 in the 1994 Finals. he's one bad mutha... yeah, f@#! him.
Well, people on this board love the limited boy scouts like battier and hayes. Ron is probably the guy, but he's still trying to fit in. Tracy and Yao lead by example and both have their moments like yao vs gsw last yr and tracy vs hornets.
simple.. JVG's always demonstrated that he's a coach that approaches different personality types differently.. off and on the court.. excluding rookies.. And if he felt a certain player personality would be less responsive to his usual methods, to the point of being detrimental to the team.. he'd simply refrain.. when coaching said player.. an example of this.. besides Sprewell.. is how he would constantly scrutinize Yao's game through every game.. where you'd see him give him a firm chewing out.. at any and every inconsistency in his performance.. "tough love".. while choosing the "positive reinforcement" method with Tracy.. such as the uplifting little note he gave Tracy to read before the playoffs.. and most recently where he was quoted as saying.. "I'd give Tracy an even HIGHER chair. To show him who's still top dog".. from the commentating booth this season.. and considering the terrible season.. 3pt % aside.. he's had thus far.. and the single digit pt games Tracy had prior to that game.. that comment reeks of coddling..
I would call that positive reinforcement. My point was that JVG held all his players accountable. He might have handled Tracy differently to get better results, but he still expected results. When he thought Tracy could do more, he spoke about it in the media.
This "killer" mentality thing is overrated. Froth at the mouth all you want, you wont beat talent and execution. We have talent. We need time and players to buy in to get good execution. Its that simple.
