The Pick and roll from the top would at least give Yao a breather from all that banging on the block which is exhausting. All the holding & clutching...and impeding of movement, that is a lot harder than the pick and roll...heck do a pick and pop, just roll to the elbow for a 15 footer...conserve some energy. The Rockets needed to set some picks on Smush as he was ALL over Rafer coming up the court....one good bash to his noggin and he would have backed off.....it would not even have to be Yao...use J-Ho, or better yet..Deke.... JVG is certainly not all that creative, but for him it is more about a lack of trust in his bench.... He should have played another PG last night, whether it was JL3 or V-Span....someone to give Rafer a blow......and the Rockets a different look. DD
I know that he's a talking head and all that but even Bill Walton remarked about the dullness, mechanical like execution and lack of imagination of the Rockets' offense in the 4th period.
This is worse than when we had Francis and Mobley. Sure they were erratic and didn't run any real set plays, but you know that they could have either taken it to the hole or shoot a jumper. At least they had options open. Now, it's just dump the ball inside to Yao and expect him to carry the load. Granted, that's pretty much how it was with Hakeem, but the players around him hustled and did the things that were needed to win. These guys....it's like whenever Yao shoots, they either think it's an automatic (unfortunately it's not) bucket or just not rather go in there and get rebounds. Shame, just a shame.
Someone brought up a very interesting trade proposal. J-Ho, Sura, Alston for Francis & Cato I would seriously consider that.... DD
I haven't even seen Steve's numbers this year and I'd do that deal in a heart beat. But who's going to be our 4?
Most of the 4s these days are of the long and lean variety and not the standard slow footed bangers. Hayes, Battier, Tmac, Novak.....we could get by.....where we can't get by is with a lack of penetrating players on the perimeter, especially in today's NBA. DD
I don't know why he called a damned timeout at the end of qtr 4 .Hes just stupid .Head could end the game with a layup.
hmmmm... Hayes- A backup small forward at best who wouldn't make half his layup attempts if you put him in a empty gym. Battier- His job is to play defense on the opposing team's shooting guards but even if he tried the 4, I wouldn't go to war with his rebounding skills and size against the mobile fowards out there. Tmac- As if his back weren't fragile enough, and now he would be ask to guard the PFs of today. Novak- Him playing the 4 would be like adding more troops to the Iraqi war...just a disaster waiting to happen and adding more fuel to the fire. I actually had high hopes for Vspan to be our slasher and third scorer but boy, was I wrong...the guy has shown me nothing. Now my hope is for Bonzi to shape up and contribute the way I thought Span would.
Mate, i really dont understand your argument. This guy has been coaching for 10+ years and you're saying long-time NBA fans still couldnt judge his coaching abilities. So, the fans who put forward their judgement are impatient and immature? And fans call out JVG because of a few losses or wins? You have been watching NBA games long enough and should know who's good and who's bad. JVG is an average to good coach but he is no championship calibre coach. Citing injuries as his excuse is lame. I don’t think fans judge JVG for last season’s injuries plagued season. Every fan would give JVG a break for last season. But many fans have been watching the game for 2 long and know what JVG gets. I am not going to put forward those arguments again. I have been watching the game since 1980 and I think I know who's good and who's bad. I feel sorry for T-Mac and Yao because such a great inside-outside combo cannot realize their full potential because of mediocre coaching and their time is being wasted and couldnt even contend. And yes, there is a free agent coach that can take the Rockets to another level – Larry Brown. Larry Brown is a Super Duper Turbo JVG – more offense, better execution, better side-line coaching, more discipline, no fall off in defense. Also, Larry got a ring. And Larry is honest to hell because he called out his players all the time (actually everytime). Larry sure wont lick T-Mac’s behind like JVG does and wont appreciate T-Mac jacking up shoots and doesn’t says a word. My guess is Larry Brown has the abilities to fix some roaster flaws and take the Rockets at least to WCF in 2 seasons. Actually Larry is a perfect choice because T-Mac only has 2-3 years left. But don’t worry, this wont happen because Larry has a house next to Les in Malibu and Les didn’t like it. Of course I also dream about Phil Jackson and think about the beauty of T-Mac and Yao in triangle offense. But that’s an impossible scenario. BTW, the fans say “Rafer sucks” must be some impatient and immature posters to you because Rafer has only been with the Rockets for 1 season and they should give him THE BENEFIT OF DOUBT.
This has been brought up thousands of times as the season progressed because of our propensity to lose the big lead. Now many have responded by saying the reason why we can't put the fresh players in is because we need our best players to hold the lead but maybe, just maybe, the reason we lose the big leads in the first place is because of oure main starters and backups are just worn down. Can JVG just try to mix it up a little? He doesn't have to be so predictable all the time.
Excellent post. I will also add Phil did want to coach Yao. Too bad Les rushed Assistant coach an extension. We see it was a mistake now don't we?
I never heard about this Malibu house story but anyway, wasn't Larry Brown the first choice for Les? I actually think this is Les' next move, because if we don't get past the first round, with injuries or no injuries, I think the JVG era is finished and Larry will be brought in.
Even now I still can't believe they had a shot at hiring Phil Jackson to coach T-Mac and Yao and they didn't go for it. They didn't even make an attempt. Uncle Les even gave JVG an extension right before Rox lost to Mavs by a margin that went down to history book.
It is also natural for our best players to mentally back off after getting a big lead. Vspan etc are dying to play. I think giving them some pt would at least inject a little life back into the starters and get them their second mental wind faster. Vspan is the perfect, scrappy spark. Would he turn the ball over more than rafer was doing? All we had to do is hold on to the lead for 2 minutes longer and we won the game.
JVG may be a good coach, but he definately has no imagination and no creativity. The last play at Warriors, can you imagine he would use the exactly same play that he used last year against Warriors? Actually they just showed that replay (where Head hit a 3 to tie the game) right before Rockets inbounded the ball!! WTF! In the game against Lakers last night, Bonzi actually played a pretty good game. I remember it was him who started Rocket's 10-0 run to get the lead back to 13 by scoring 5 in a row in the 4th quarter. But in the two overtimes, he rarely saw playing time, when Rockets needed scoring and obviously Yao was too tired to shoot the ball for every possession. While nobody else was helping Yao, why not put Bonzi in and drew some plays for him to attach the basket? I know people say it is players not coaches actually losing the games. But I just can not help but think every time Rockets play against Lakers, he will be out-coached. This matters especially when playing a close game, and you can bet most of the playoff games will be close. One word, I don't care how great a coach people claim JVG is, he can NOT take a team to the championship. He may be extremely knowledgable about the games, but he has NO creativity and imagination!
