Everything good about this franchise happened under the Thomas family watch. Les bought a team in the middle of a championship run and made one move, (Drexler), that has payed off for this franchise. One!. Since then, nothing. Not one decent move in what, 9 years?. Not to mention that most of the move these, " not good" moves have been bad and are going to take a few years to fix, even if they don't make any more bad moves. Not looking promising.
you being sarcastic right? if not. what you been smokin these past 2 seasons boi? must be good stuff.
But thats not Alexander's fault. Thats the fault of the front office. Even if Alexander was having to OK every single move....he pays people to make sure the right moves are put in place. Alexander might not know if cato could be a great center of the future, but if CD is telling him he will be who is LA to argue?
First off I love the Rockets and yet they make stupid moves that would make any true fan angry. In any company the top guy has to lead by example and it goes right down the line. Les hasn't always made the smartest moves to put it nicely. The way he has handled the Steve Patterson firing and Rudy's resignation were lousy at best. He strikes me as a very hands on owner and to think that he has no input into the teams make up, is kind of foolish for him and the fans. Charlie Thomas was lucky to have 2 good GM's during his ownership of the Rockets and comparing to what we have now the only thing I can think is that Les doesn't know crap about owning or trying to run a basketball franchise. I mean he pays the bills and hires the people! And so far he has done a bad job. Now I Know we can't fire the owner but the guy has to wake up before the team sinks any further.
Gee! When the Astros underachieve, it's not Hunsikers fault, it's McLane's fault for being cheap and meddling in things he knows nothing about. When the Rockets are finally deemed to be a laughing stock, Les has no blame to share?. It is ultimately Les' team. He own's the team and is expected to run it in good faith for the good people of Houston. He has not been up to the task so far. If that means that RT and CD or SF or VG or Yao or any one stays or goes ultimately Les is responsible and he must initiate change. If it's a GM change or a house cleaning, it is his job to do.
I'm with DearRock. Good post. CD isn't coaching this train wreck. Neither is JVG. He's passing out books, making videos that depress everyone, wasting more time on how great his defense is in a conference that requires at least a good offense. It's time to relieve him of his agony. Why we allowed JVG and his group of Knicks yes men to return to where we gave him his biggest faikure is a bi unknown. He is trying to turn this team into something it will never be. Why would we, or Les, or CD crater to this egomaniac and let a Houston sports franchise turn into one of the worst NY Knicks teams while playing in the West? JVG and his antiquated coaching is the real problem. Go ahead, use some more negativity Jeff. looks like it works well against the better West teams. Maybe you should just quit (again) while you can....
People act like JVG owe them money or something. I agree that JVG's 3.5 hr practices are B.S. and only gonna wear out or piss off our players (re: Yao, Steve, respectively). But it isn't his fault that he has stubborn childish no-BB-IQ players. Get him some disciplined players who can listen and implement what he coaches and we'll win. Otherwise we'll have what we have.
I think JVG is trying to teach his player's a winning philosophy. 1) Play good defense. 2) On offense, get good looks by passing the ball. JVG is hamstrung right now because a) His dominant low post presence is not dominant. b) His other dominant player, SF, is not good enough to make the players around him better. If SF just flat out isnt capable of making his teamates better, as a PG, then there is little JVG can do. If Yao just flat out isnt capable of dominanting the low post, especially in single coverage, then there is little JVG can do. You can only coach a player so far, up to his capabilites since not all players are created equal. JVG cant coach SF to be Jason Kidd and JVG cant coach Yao to be Shaq or Duncan. So to answer your question, I think JVG is doing the best with what he has. We all just have to keep in mind that we cant be expected to consistantly beat elite teams, like the Spurs and Wolves when our best players is nowhere near as good as their best players.
How about get a dose of reality. We are not going to get a team of highly talented yes men for a wanna be coach stuck on defense only while burying his head in the sand to the fact his system itself sucks. The guy is clueless... He's an egomaniac bent on blaming players for his antiquated system. And then torturing them with "pseudo discipline", books, negative films and other BS. It's plain and simple - he was the wrong coach for this conference and these times...
He will be well advised to pay close attention to what is going on before this honeymoon goes up into thin air. Yes I know he inherited certain players but my god, as a bball genius, it should be painfully obvious that you plan is not working. Who must I blame when all of a sudden we are having the least amount of shots in the league, even after being the best defensive team? Who must I blame when JVG is fixated on making Ming what he cannot be so soon if not ever?
so if his dominant low post player isn't dominant, why is it justified to continue to play like he is, because its his philosophy. His job is to utilize the talent he is given to the best of their abilities. I'm not as frustrated with the Rockets record, as I am with the way they have lost some of these games. They make no adjustments when Yao doesn't clearly have an advantage. He's made no attempt to work Nachbar in the lineup when Jim Jackson has no business playing the three. All he does when they have bad losses is say the team isn't buying into his philosophy. The Rockets actually didn't play all that bad last night, but when plays are designed for Kelvin Cato to be an option fifteen feet away from the basket, you have no chance against good teams. They only had fourteen turnovers, its just players in positions they shouldn't be in.
He needs to take a pointer from his mentor Riley - just step down. Or better yet, quit again JVG. Go run away and blame it on the players. Go play Monday morning coach behind a microphone. BTW, you sucked at that too... "There's nothing that I can say," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, appearing more disgusted than after any game or practice this season. "I don't think there is any reason to comment on anything.
I can't believe so many people do not remember this quote. It was what Les said last year before the season started. I am thinking Rudy and CD told him that, and he believed it until he saw the on-court product.
OK, so when are you going to put some blame on the players? They had a always positive coach in Rudy, now a strict coach in JVG and they don't listen to either. I am hoping that by the All-Star break they will start to listen to him and turn this around.
Pga, you are spot on. It is almost two weeks now I have been complaining about the no fast breaking and early offense. At this point he should just back off and increase the tempo offensively. Take it easy on the pactices and lenthen the damn rotation. Start playing MoT more at the 3 because he cannot get is done at the 4. MoT is so outclassed at that spot, soon, little children will be pulling his pants in the street.
Partly agree, but I don't think there were many possessions that Yao got single covered with the ball and coundn't finish it. On the contrary, he hit those shots with single coverage most of time. It is very hard to stop him without weak side help. The problem was he didn't have the ball when he was single-covered. His teammates either totally ignored him or were hesitant to pass when he was fronted. It was not all their fault, Yao himself had huge problem to grab mediocre entry pass, I don't know why it happens a lot recently, resulting in many turnovers. Then teammates just stay away from this play and he give up also. Second, it is true Yao isn't dominate enough in the low post, that is why it is more important a power forward is needed to ease the burden, finish some midrange jumper and do some post work. Cato totally fails to do this, when he is on the court, on offense end it is like we always 4 on 5. Worse, he doesn't even bother to set the pick often. So all low post focus in on Yao, and he has to use all his strength to bump and to fight position, especally he is not good at it and still need to learn how to initialize contact and create space for himself. As dominate as Tim Duncan, he still has a partner like Robinson and now Rasho, not mention Yao Ming.
PG, Its not a given that if a coach utlizes talent to the best of their capabilites that would be good enough to be an elite team. So in that, you have to push your talent to bigger and better things, and that, IMO, is exactly what JVG is doing. SF has a history of not being a capable defender, but JVG is pushing the envelope and Steve, up until recently, has responded and is playing much better D than he has in the past (although still not great). The team's defensive capability is better because of it. JVG, I am sure, can easily stick Yao in a high post/face up role. But can we even name a center who primarily was a high post/face up center that one a title, that wasnt also dominant in te low post?? JVG wants Yao to establish himself as a low post dominant player before adding a high post game to his arsenal IMO. That is a good thing IMO. Coach's don't change their philosphy to fit a teams talent, but ask that talent to buy into his philosophy if he thinks they are capable. I fully believe that JVG feels Yao can become a dominant low post player and that our guys have the athleticism to play good team defense. As far as Nachbar over Jackson. Its a temp fix. Nachbar might be able to hit a couple of those open shots that JJ misses, but he can do all the other little things that Jackson does??? Did you know that JJ leads this team in +/- this year?? JJ's presence on the court is more important than one might think. As far as Cato. Hell. I agree. Cato cant hit open 15 footers. But what else can be done to keep the opposing 4 off of Yao??? IMO, that 15 foot jumper has to be a threat to open up the offense. At this point, JVG just prays that Cato can hit a few of them to keep the D honest. 5 out of the last 7 games, Mo Taylor has played more mins than Cato has, and more often than not, has played the entire 2nd and 4th quarters while Cato sits. Thats because Mo can hit that 15 footer. The problem is, Mo is weak on defense and the boards, which puts more pressure on Yao. So whether you start Mo or Cato, the team is going to have to suffer because of their weaknesses. Choose your poison.
