No. 1. Yao is not going to lead. There are one thousand reasons to say so. The top one is, He is too damn soft, period. There is nothing wrong playing soft. But if you are the leader, you have to play tough when the game calls for it. Tim Dunken and KG are often critisized as playing soft, but their softness are not like Yao's. Yao is really, really soft. Same are Dirk and Paul Casol. These guys are no leaders. The teams are going nowhere with them leading the way. This is not saying they are not good players. They simply can not lead. <br> No. 2. Steve Francis is not the franchise, but the rockests need him to win. All year round, people are talking about Steve's stupid decision-making and turn-overs. But when the season was closing, and when it came to postseason, it was Steve who carried the rockets. No, Steve is no Koby Brant or Tmac, but he is far better than Jim Jackson and alike. If not for a better player such as Tmac, I do not see the Rockets trade Steve during the summer. <br> No. 3. The rockets need a hard-nose player on power forward. this has been said a thousand times already. Being in the highly competitive west conference, the rockets need someone powerful enough to counter Webber, Malone, Dunken and Garnett. I would be happy to see Rasheed Wallace, Elton Brand, or K Martin in this team. <br> No. 4. Jim Jackson is good, but he played too many minutes. If he was playing 30 minutes during the regular season, I would not imagine his collapse during the postseason. That being said, next season the rockets also need a backup small forward, or Boki is going to play significant minutes?<br> No. 5. Jeff Van Gundy is disappointing so far. Yes, the defense is better, but the offense is worse. Remember the rockets' defense was always good, their problem was on offense. Yes. the rockets made play-off. But come on..., the Trail Blazers fell down, the Suns fell down, the Jezz fell down, if Nuggets and Grizzlies made, why should the rockets miss? to make the offseason is fair, JVG should not earn credit for this.
I don't get it. I love Van Gundy. I loved Rudy T. I think their styles are diametrically opposed, but Van Gundy did as decent a job with the team that he had that any first year coach could be expected to do. I firmly believe that the Rockets didn't make the playoffs in four years because of BOTH Rudy T and the players. Rudy was losing his edge and having health problems. Letting him go and giving him the chance to find himself again was the right thing to do.
Firing Rudy was not the right thing to do. By the time the season had rolled around he was fine and would have been perfectly able to do his job. Even if he indeed did need to step down, you cannot say that this was not handled the wrong way. Les Alexander just showed how loyal of a person he is. Being a New Yorker he probably had an eye on JVG from the time he stepped down from the Knicks.
I can not agree more that Rudy should go last year. All being said, he stayed too long as a head coach without making play-offs. But, do you think that JVG is an upgrade from Rudy? The rockets would have missed play-off if Rudy was the head coach? The rockets significantly improved? Well, in defense, a little bit. The rockets was good in defense last year. Though the statistics stays still, the offense sucks this year. Where is the significant upgrade, then?
Wrong... Les wanted JVG because he would add discipline to a team that desperately needed it. Rudy never had to be a disciplinarian, because back in the day, he had enough of a veteran presence on this team to take care of that for him. He was a great ego-manager... but, could never handle the irresponsibility of these young guys. Steve and Cuttino have grown more as solid players under JVG than they did in 5 years under Rudy. Now, they may not be the solution long-term... but neither was keeping Rudy. The players themselves may say they loved Rudy... he was a good guy... but you could tell at times that even Rudy had a problem making adjustments, and getting this team to play with any organization or composure. JVG isn't the best coach in the league... there are many that get much more out of their teams... but keeping Rudy here would not have changed anything else. The only reason I would have wanted him was to keep a sense of tradition... but everything has to change eventually. Chuck Daly, Pat Riley, Tom Landry, Whitey Herzog, Jimmy Johnson... all championship coaches who were either let go, or resigned, when it became obvious that it just wasn't going to work much longer with their respective teams.
JVG is a great coach. He brings exactly the type of attitude this team needs it's coach to have. He made us way better, if it not for the Rockets being so damn good at giving away games, we'd be at least 10 wins better. It's not JVG's fault we turn it over in the last crucial minutes.
Hi all! I'm new to this board, but just had to put my two cents in about what we've learned from this season. One of the main and most crucial things missing from that list is turnovers! Why do the Rockets have such a problem with turning the ball over? Is it miscommunication? A lot of times. I think if they can get to the source of this problem and work on really improving this, then they will be a force to reckon with. I too loved Rudy, but it was most certainly time for him to depart as coach. Van Gundy is an amazing coach. He is driven and expects nothing, but the best from his team. So did Rudy, sure, but V.G. is focused in a different way and his approach is much more "aggressive". This was his first year with the Rox, give the dude a break...next year will be a whole different story.
No...IMO opinion it is very questionable if they would have made the playoffs had Rudy remained with the team. Here are the facts.... They hit a high water mark on Jan 17 after defeating the Lakers 108-104 in OT. They were 23-15. Two months later, Rudy didn't make the trip to SEA and Rudy never came back. So after beating PHX in Rudy's last game, the Rockets were 35-30. Meaning the Rockets were 12-15 in Rudy's last 27 games. The slide had started before Larry Smith took over.
I agree with all of the pro Van Gundy post above. Theya re right on. I am a huge Rudy fan. Had he stayed, we probably would have made the playoffs. But the Rockets went from a very talanted, sloppy team that was justnot improving to to a much more disciplined one. It is a platform that can be built upon. I think that is a real plus, and I can't wait to see "JVG season II".
Rudy T was all right in terms of motivation in the early 90's, but even that part went sour when he couldn't motivate his players no more and resort to pampering. I know this might sound harsh but Rudy T is a waste of time and space in terms of basketball coaching. I don't understand the infatuation people have with him when he is just a one trick pony with the luck to use that trick with Dream - iso, dump it in, toss it out for three point shot. Take that dominant big man off his team and Rudy is nothing, there would be no defense, no offensive system, no motivation, and no mental preparation against adversity. Therefore Rudy has this infatuation with big man in the post to resume his one trick, he and CD handed the fat contract to Cato after a single triple double game in preseason, he even tried to make Cato as a post player, the result? Utter failure. We need both Francis and Yao to win. The difference is, we can't build around Francis, but the jury is still out on Yao as a second year player and good big man is hard to come by. So when the right deal comes around you trade Francis for upgrade and keep Yao intact.
Defense don't win championships. Get rid of JVG and his negative, mean, uninspiring attitude!! I bet the players absolutely hate him!! If discipline is what we needed, lot of coaches can provide that. But how many negative mean uninspiring coaches win championships??
SF has enough HEART to lead, but he is short of basketball IQ to be a court commander like Nash. Rockets should give Boki 20 mpg.
Yes! YES! Boki our starting SF, in a lineup that includes T-Mac, Brent Barry and Yao! C'mon folks! How can this possible line up not intrigue you or really make ya drool in temptation?? Brent Barry T-Mac Boki Nachbar (PF about any decent one with a decent balance of offensive/deffensive/rebounding game would do in this line up) Yao Those four just seem to fit so well with eachother's games. And so complimentary to eachother's styles.
1. Next year is Yao's big year. If he doesn't average 22-12, he never will, and will essentially be a bust. He showed us he has the skill to do it, but does he have the drive? The stamina? 2. Steve must not be traded unless they can get a superstar in return. If you want to make a deal for role players, trade Mobley or Taylor. 3. Thanks to Van Gundy, defense is no longer a big issue. This team needs to figure out how to put the ball in the basket, especially in crunch time. 4. Continuing from 3, the Rockets need more quality shooters off the bench. 5. There is still hope for Boki to become Stojackovich Light.
Definitely! I think Boki would really surprise us all of what he's capable of, in hussle and smarts. His determination and optimism is so constant in his eyes, and backed up by smarts, that I think his skills and talents will really flourish with starting minutes. Energetic defensively, especially in clutch moments. And has a well rounded offensive game, I bet his 3pt shot would get better and better if given starter minutes.
