Some say that Yao's post up game is boring. For a Rockets fan it should be exciting. Everytime he scores big down-low, he is proving to the world; the "experts" dont know crap!
I think I didn't make my original post very clear, partly because I wanted to go to sleep for work the next day and I just wanted to get my idea through as quick as possible. Anyways, I'm not saying we should start giving the ball to Yao less. I never said that in my post. I did say that I was sick of the Rockets always "pounding" the ball into Yao so perhaps that's why a lot of the posters thought I meant give Yao the ball less. What I meant was Gundy really should be more creative in his offensive sets to find easier ways to score. Almost every possession, when Yao is in, the Rockets pass the ball around the 3 point line and wait until 15 sec on the shot clock and then starts looking for Yao on the inside. I would say about half the time, we get the ball into Yao. The other half, when we can't seem to get the ball to Yao, we jack up threes. Yao exerts so much energy trying to get into position that it really wears him out during the second half of the game, yet we still keep pounding the ball into him. Thus, at the end of the game, when we REALLY need him to score if the game is close, he sometimes deliver, when he should be almost always delivering. I don't understand why Jeff doesn't try pick/rolls or other plays where it doesn't involve Yao banging other big bodies. You don't see San Antonio going to Tim Duncan every single play, and what happens at the end of games if SA is in a close game? They go to Tim Duncan and because he isn't so tired, he seems to always deliver and not make some stupid turnover or wildly miss a shot. I don't understand why Gundy can't use Yao as a ball distributor like what Sac did with Webber and Divac. Yao is so tall and his passing is above average, it would really take less toll on him to have others cut and run around him. I remember the recent game against the Lakers where Yao got the ball in the post and Bonzi ran towards Yao. Bonzi's defender, instead of staying with Bonzi ran towards Yao and Bonzi did a smart thing and run towards the basket. An easy behind the back pass to Bonzi would've resulted in an easy layup. Yao turned the ball over that time because of the unexpected double team, but my point is that would've been an easy point if Yao knew where Bonzi was. Our offense is so stagnant when Yao posts up. I really find it hard to think that you guys like the stagnant offense with Yao and the amount of pounding Yao has to endure each quarter.
we should be happy about our MVP's 38 points. Who cares about 32 shots, 30 jumpers, 6 missed in last quarter, 4 layups blocked.......This is another not bad loss. JVG won't change anything because we are comfortable to the loss and the MVP stats. This thread has no creativity.
The Dream years...coughcoughchampionships!....Rudy T wasn't exactly that creative either.....so.......?
MY POINT STATED: VAN GUNDY HAS NO CREATIVITY. I DONT GET WHY VAN GUNDY KEPT ON POUNDING THE BALL INTO YAO WHEN HE WAS OBVIOUSLY TIRED, NOT CONVERTING, AND TURNING THE BALL OVER. WHY DIDN'T HE KEPT ON DOING THE HIGH PICK/ROLL WITH ALSTON. WHY DIDN'T HE LET YAO SIT THE FIRST 2 MINUTES AND LET BONZI POST UP. WHY
Bonzi tried to post up on Kobe and got his ass kicked. The pick and roll is HARDER on Yao than posting up because of the distance he has to travel AND there isn't a better option for PNR than Yao. Funny that this style of offense is remarkably similar to Rudy T's during the championship years. I'm guessing no one complained that Jerry Sloan kept running that damn pick and roll with Stockton and Malone. It's execution.
You cannot compare the days of Hakeem. Not only was Hakeem a totally different player than Yao (more agile, able to get better post positions, longer endurance etc), the defense of the NBA was also different back in his days. How can you defend Gundy and say that they should've kept on pounding the ball into Yao when it was obviously he was tired. Bonzi was pretty successfull throughout the game in the low post. I don't understand why Gundy didn't go to him or just try something else like Howard. Yao needed rest and it was so obvious but Gundy STILL played him. This showed in the 2nd OT where Yao kept on turning the ball over and getting BLOCKED. Which leads to my original point of the post. Yao wouldn't be so TIRED if they dont' always have him battle down low. The Rockets DID execute. They did exactly what they wanted, which was to get the ball into Yao. But what happened???? What happened almost every single touch after Yao got the ball?? How many shots did he make in the 2 OTs???
Anyone who doesnt blame a blown 20 point loss on the coach at all is dumb. We didnt mantain intensity and were inconsistent. Those are the two aspects that always point to coaching. I think the main reason we sucked tonight though is we didnt take any 3s. Only 4 actually. We needed to hit our 3s but didnt. This has to be blamed on the coach too. We didnt have many, if any, looks.
I think putting in some fresh legs (vspan) when we came out flat and tired to start the 2nd half would have been a nice change.
No, anyone myopic enough to think that the loss could be blamed on any ONE thing is dumb. Back-to-back Road Game Travel day Playing against a good team Kobe scores 50 25 turnovers No T-Mac We still managed to take them to double OT. We ran out of gas. End of story.
I respect your opinion, Jeff, but aren't you the least bit concerned as to why, time and time again, the Rockets blow BIG leads (not just small ones) and it seems like JVG hasn't tried to fix any of that? It seems like we're better off being 15 down than 15 up. You have to have some kind of doubt about whether or not JVG and the Rockets are a good fit...maybe not now..but at some point down the road.
I agree. Throughout the summer since I joined this forum, and throughout the first months of the season, I have supported JVG and given him the benefit of the doubt. I truly believed he was a good coach who implemented a good game plan night in and night out. But tonight, after blowing another 20+ point lead, I'm starting to doubt if he can be the great coach that leads us deep into the playoffs, if the playoffs at all. I understand it's a back-to-back road game. I understand the starters all logged 35+ minutes last night. I also understand that one game doesn't make the season. But tonight's game DEFINES the Rockets season so far, and probably what the season will be for the rest of the way. The Rockets play GREAT in stretches, then play as POORLY as any team can play in others. Tonight is a prime, and the latest example of that. What does that mean? Lack of adjustments, which is rooted in the coache's playcalling strategies. The inside-out game between Yao and the guards worked perfectly in the beginning tonight. But what happened? The Lakers ADJUSTED their defense. And what did we do, call a time out and run the same plays again. Sure, the inside-out game is great when it's working: leads to open 3s, easy cuts to the basket, Yao doing his thing, opponent foul trouble. But when it's not, it is stagnant (like previous posters noted), turnover prone, missed 3 = turnover, and extremely predictable. Granted, a lot of what happened tonight was due to Kobe going off and some poor officiating, but in order to be a GREAT team, we need to rise above that. Van Gundy did not respond to Phil's adjustments. In the 4th quarter, it might have been beneficial to put in some more reserves so starters can finish the game strong and not winded. And when Smush was playing smothering defense on our guards, when we were turning the ball over left and right, more (or better) ball handlers should have been on the court, like Lucas instead of Alston. Finally, I would like to say that we as fans do not need to despair. There were MANY MANY good things that happened tonight. Although it was the gazillionth time we lost after having a huge, almost insurmountable lead, we showed some great basketball ability in the first half, and was able to hang with them for almost 2 overtimes. If JVG can figure out how to adjust after seeing the opponents making a coming back, then we can safely enter the playoffs and hang with the best in the west. Part of that is knowing when to use the right personnel, part of that is knowing when to stop beating over the head of a dead horse, and a huge part of that is adding a new offensive strategy that is easy to learn and easy to execute, which can give the opponents something else to look at when they are making those crucial defensive adjustments. Although I am starting to doubt if Van Gundy can do that, a huge part of me think he can, and really want him to.
pearlon: I just curious how long have you been watching NBA? Give JVG benefit of doubt? He's been coaching for more than 10 years. There's nothing we havent seen.
Well, to answer to your curiosity, I've been watching the NBA since 1992, the year I moved to America. I received a pack of I think 1990 Skybox cards that had an Akeen Olajuwon, and he had become my favorite player since. But yeah, can you tell me one full season that Van Gundy coached the Rockets that the players were not injured for a majority of the season? Oh right, the seasons when the Rockets made the playoffs? And all the seasons that he coached the Knicks, they were in the playoffs, including conference finals and NBA finals. Why SHOULDN'T I give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe if I were immature and impatient? Maybe if I think there is a better free agent coach out there who can change the Rockets so drastically within 2 seasons, that they win a championship with the current cast? There is an extremely fine line between him receiving coach of the year considerations and him being trashed by people like fans in this board. All it takes are a few wins and a few losses to jump between that line. And all I am saying is I was giving him the benefit of the doubt until tonight. Hopefully we can jump over to the good side of that fine line going forward.
hilarious. so we finally get yao 30+ shots and people are b****ing about it. we go to yao even when he's tired because it's still a better option then anything else we have. when yao's out of the game and t-mac's not playing, it's not pretty. bonzi had his best game so far but he's still out of shape as evidenced by the ownage that kobe put on him defensively.
bonzi wells is really cute, i'm starting to have a crush on him. seriously though, bouncy whales can ball, his talent is like a skyrocket through the roof. love hina baby.
Kobe scoring 50, no tmac, playin against a good team, travel day, road game are all dumb excuses. The lakers didnt have lamar odom, whom they were 3-18 without. 25 TOs is JVGs fault. We still managed to take them to double OT? We had a 20 or so point lead going into the half. We had a 13 point lead in the fourth. Our defense stuffed them at teh start of the game. Yet all of this dissapeared and we ended up losing. This had happened way too many times for you to not blame the coach.
