I can see now in hindsight that we are in for a rough ride. If you polled the players from last season they would probably all say they believed in Van Gundy's system and plan. Adelman walked into a unique situation and may be failing to see it. 1. Adelman had very good off screen shooters at Sac- Peja, Miller, Bibby, Jackson, Webber. 2. He had a big man who could spot up and knock down the open 18 ft. shot. 3. He had very good passers and cutters- all of the above. The Rockets do not have any of the above, at least not on the level of those teams. JVG had a good evaluation of how to get the most out of this team. What he lacked was bench depth and PG depth. JVG built a chemistry and identity for this team around very tough defense. This was our MO. JVG added to that Yao as a dominant low post scorer and ran the offense through the post. Keep in mind this doesn't work without the tenacious defense. JVG used TMac to come off P&R and to drive and dish or score. JVG surrounded Yao in the post and TMac with 3 pt shooters. Our defense had chemistry and identity, our offense had the same. JVG took 2 superstars and a bunch of role scrubs and built a 52 win team. He just needed patience and more talent on the roster. It is going to be very difficult for Adelman to replicate the kind of over acheivement that Van Gundy was able to acheive. The players really liked playing for Jeff. Pray that they really like what Adelman is doing. We are either going to turn it around after the New Year or implode. The latter sounds really scary at this point.
in 04 we started 6-11 in jvgs second yr but mcgradys 1st yr with the rockets.... patience is the key as a fan...
Um, we're not going to get anywhere near 50 wins this year. Have you watched any of the last 15 games? We're absolutely terrible (except for the Denver game).
Bump I just think we need to understand the situation if we can... stop all the trade this one or it's the players fault or fire RA we are in a big pickle Pray for Adelman if you believe in prayer we need a clutch city miracle
How shocking that Rhester made a JVG is king thread, but didn't really discuss what is wrong with the Rockets at all. SHEESH ! DD
as a rockets fan? if not then you dont know. its very possible to get to 50 wins....very likely actually.
He actually did, you just missed it because it doesn't fit your narrative about the evil Grumpy. As I said: the absolute WORST thing for the kind of superstars we have is a laid back coach who lets them 'do their thang'. You can hate Gundy all you want, but I think it isn't a stretch at this point to say that the current coach has failed to properly motivate his players. Saying that Adelman hasn't done a great job isn't necessarily an endorsement of JVG, although it might be an endorsement of his 'style' of coaching (i.e. a no excuses, no bs perfectionist who believes firmly in a philosophy that's tried and true: defense or death).
I am rookie, and this is my first shoot. Please ignore me if this reply fails to make any sence My best guess is the coath is not doing his job very well. Maybe it's just because of my ignorance, I just don't see any good coming out of his coaching for this team? If players were indeed lazy, soft, heartless, and it's so obvious that even a rookie in this forum like me knows it, what is the coach doing about it right now? What is about adjusting for a new system? GRB -------------- Bottom line is NBA is for fun, not for frustration, especially to innocent basketball fans. We should really get a life and all of a sudden, everything is a kind of sweet. Let's the coach and players decide what to do, go up or down -- whatever -- they are the only experts, and they have got to do their own job.
Eventually he did. His first year his starting line up was Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Chris Webber, Jason Williams, Vlade Divac, and Corliss Williamson, and they went 27-23 in the lock out shortened year, losing in the first round to the Jazz in 5 games. Granted that was coming off a lottery year, not a team that won 50 games. So do we. The problem is that there are quite a few players who can shoot jumpers consistently AND who are more mobile in putting the ball on the floor if pressured. Yao is a good shooter, but he is only the best center in the league when getting the ball within 10 feet on a regular basis. They became that eventually, but really the Kings were not an "elite team" until 4 years into Adelman's tenure when they traded for Bibby and had picked up Christie, Peja and Bobby Jackson. I said before JVG was fired that our losses in the playoffs were more on the players than the coach and nothing has changed my mind there. Still it is early and I expect us to improve significantly. The only question is whether we will do it with the current roster or make roster changes. On paper our talent level is significantly better, but obviously not ideal for the King's system. Tmac is your best creator both scoring and passing, so just running him off picks and screens doesn't necessarily maximize his strengths. Yao is an average player at best when not in the low post. Even with the increased depth, we still have a huge drop off from our best two players to our 3rd best player. Still it is pointless to ask for a coaching change this year. It's both unrealistic and unreasonable at this point. You can pretty much guarantee they will try to make a roster change before they make a coaching change.
I can not argue that Adelman has not gotten through to the team, clearly the team does not trust or believe what Adelman is preaching. Rick's way is proven and the players are there to make it work, but they have to COMMIT to running his system. And for the life of me, even as they struggle on offense they could still be winning if they played defense, but for some reason they just don't play defense either. I believe Adelman is looking for someone on the floor to lead, but that may prove to be a bad strategy, as Tmac is no leader, and I am not sure Yao has it in him either. DD
Possible, yes. Likely ... they'll have to go 39-21 or better. I just don't see that happening especially if they drop 10 out of their next 11 (look at the schedule ... we're underdogs against almost all of those teams).
Are you kidding me? You don't know WHY they "don't play defense" anymore? Is it really that hard to figure out? Defense is the hardest thing to do as a player, no one likes it. If you don't have a coach who's on your arse 24/7 and keeps feeding you defense over and over and over again until you vomit, you will probably end up not playing much D either. As for the offense, Adelman doesn't have near the spread-out talent and high IQ he had with the Kings and before them with the Blazers. Those teams were tailor-made for him, this one ain't.
I think JVG did a good job of getting teams to focus on defense, but it was proven that JVG was not good enough to get this team to the next level. They played hard for JVG, but they failed in the playoffs. That does not mean that Adelman will be able to get them further, it may well be that Adelman falls on his face like JVG did.... But, IMHO, this is more about the players not "buying in" to Adelman or his system. And if the team continues to fight the full implementation they will continue to struggle. DD PS. I sure would like to see Andre Miller at PG for Houston.
If the near future is without any trades and a big upgrade then we can consider that the Rockets under Coach 'A' have already imploded and the implosion is going to get bigger till Les realises that he is loosing money. THe Rockets with their win now scenario and a tight pocketbook are not developing a team for the near or distant future. Ever since Yao & McGrady have been together the management have continually added cheap scrubbs and hoped that with the two stars they would have a win now winner. Seems to me that by now they should have realised that they are barking up the wrong tree and need to think anew because the Rockets could be on a downward spiral and only disaster is the final face.
If this was JVG, you'd be saying he is too stubborn and should adjust his system to fit the players. Since it's Adelman coming after JVG, it must be the players now. I could go on and on. That's why it's hard to take you seriously. If JVG was coach, the last thing in the world you would do is blame the players for fighting "full implementation" of his system or not "buying in" to it. It would be all his fault.
They had 4 years of JVG, and 2 months of Adelman.....in Tmac's first season with JVG they started 6-11..... And Rick is not blaming players for not buying in....I AM....because that is what is happening. Just watch the games, Tmac gets the ball and all movement CEASES, and Tmac rarely moves without the ball. The team is doing a half assed job of running the system....and I do think Adelman needs to force them to run it or sit those who aren't down, no matter whom they are. DD
