Mark this: I don't like the Jazz, but Utah will beat Golden State in the 2nd round, then take the winner of Spurs/Suns to 7 games and win that series, and will beat the EC winner to become NBA champions this year. When they take on the Spurs/Suns, people will start to realize just how good that team is, and people on this board MIGHT start to realize that there was no way in hell our team should have won against them. I regret saying this, but the Rockets talent-wise this year really wasn't all that great. All of our players were 1-dimensional, so JVG HAD to play our team the way they played. It's amazing that we had won more than 50 games. You can't hate a coach because the players on his team shot 41% as a group in a 7-game series and barely lost to a superior team. You can't hate a coach for grooming Tmac into one of the best all around players in the NBA. If you guys think JVG is the only problem, then you guys are very short-sighted. And by the way, some of the stuff people on this board are saying about JVG are just mean. No person deserves that, especially one who are good to the fans and actually bought tickets for them for the season. JVG might not return, but stop the hate.
If Utah won it all this season, will they replace Stockton and Malone statues by Williams and Boozer? If that's the case, I will root for this team till the end of it.
The Jazz aren't winning the NBA title. A Western Conference Finals berth is a definite possibility, but I don't see them beating the Spurs or Suns.
May 08, 2007 Coach Van Grumpy needs a hug. Does anybody have Oprah's phone number? Can somebody please send off an emergency e-mail to Dr. Phil? Coach Van Grumpy needs a hug. Geez, it was bad enough to get an eyeful of the disaster that was Game 7. Now we're supposed to sit around watching the torture of Utah playing Golden State in "our" second round playoff series while Mr. Tough Guy spends a couple of weeks having facials and massages, trying to get sort out his inner feelings? Jeff Van Gundy on Monday afternoon: "To me, this is how I look at it. I'm under contract, I love the team, I like the organization a lot. I've been treated extremely well here. I have zero complaints." So then, where's the decision to make? If Van Gundy can't step up immediately and say that he's ready to go back to work and try to get to the next step, then I think he's making the decision for Rockets management. He's telling club owner Leslie Alexander that he has no more answers, no more drive. He can probably find the door. It's a funny thing for the guy who usually has no time to be touchy-feely to go all marshmallow on the inside and before the TV cameras. Suddenly he's Tony Soprano in search of his basketball version of Dr. Melfi. This is Van Gundy who sees Tracy McGrady go down to the floor in Washington, writhing in pain with back spasms, and tells his team, "Don't worry. We have enough to win." This is the Van Gundy who sees Yao Ming break a bone in his right leg a few weeks later -- with a prognosis of missing 6 to 8 weeks -- and says, "No excuses. We have have enough to win." No retreat, no surrender. That's the Van Gundy motto. But now he's lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in four years since arriving in Houston and he's asking the existential questions? It's like seeing Gen. Patton show up to kick it around with the girls on "The View." Come to think of it, where is Rosie O'Donnell to give him the Donald Trump treatment? Van Gundy says he's re-evaluating whether to continue in coaching is in his best interest. Sure, maybe it's time for a complete change. Perhaps he could hang around the house brooding in rumpled clothing, unshaven with dark circles under his eyes, rather than at the Toyota Center. If he walks out the door talking of retirement and stays retired, we'll know that all of these years of spreading gloom and doom like Johnny Miseryseed have really taken their toll. But if he hides out behind a TV microphone and then shows up on some other bench in a year of two, we'll know that he just couldn't clear the hard-nosed bar that he sets for everyone else and quit. Again. Remember the Knicks? Remember JVG's other motto: "No mas." Van Gundy obviously has some personality issues with Alexander. He didn't like it when the owner ordered him last summer to be less dour in public. He wouldn't pout over that, would he? It's quite possible that what Van Gundy is telling management is that this roster is much farther away from being a championship contender than everybody in the front office wants to think. You know what? Tough. Just like Van Gundy would tell a Luther Head when McGrady goes down or just like he'd tell Chuck Hayes and Dikembe Mutombo when Yao is sidelined for two months. You have a contract. You are a professional. Now act like one. I've enjoyed his passion, his combativeness, his dark humor, his sarcasm. Imagine that. More than anything else, I've enjoyed that there has never been a sign of giving up. Until now. Make no mistake about it. Van Gundy did a damn fine job that was worthy of Coach of the Year consideration, holding the Rockets together through another injury-plagued season. He kept them focused on one game at a time and got them home-court advantage, even if it came at the expense of developing a bench and a flexible philosophy that might have delivered success in the playoffs. Then came Game 7. Another playoff series that got away. Another failure. Another disappointment. Another knockdown. If Coach Van Grumpy needs a hug, he should call Oprah. If he's everything he ever said he was, he should stand up. Next season starts in six months. The clock's ticking
good that jvg dominates the conversation. not the poor play of yao. disappearing of tmac in final minutes. no supporting cast stepping up. blwing a 5 pt lead, at home, in game 7. no...lets only focus on the coach. some real deep thinkers we have here
short and to the point.....JVG is a good coach and people will realize it when its too late..if he is gone... also, how many coaches would spend their own money to buy tickets for fans (rowdies)..not many...give him some credit.....he stresses defense (defense wins championsips)...look at the spurs and pistons.....how many rings do Dallas and Phoenix have>?..e.xactly alot of coaches can get their teams to play offense (its fun) but only a select few can motivate them to play defense...we were the best defense in the league..... what a mistake this weill be if we run jeff out of town...
just found a news site that obtained an actual letter of the Van Gundy family correspondence. unfortunately, it is about as humorless as Jeff's news conferences. May 7, 2007 Dear Stan – Hey, it’s your brother Jeff writing to ask you for a big favor. I’m debating whether or not I want to continue my coaching career with the Rockets. I know you once faced the same sort of decision when you were coaching the Heat. Currently I am leaning towards returning to coaching. However, I really miss my family and I think they need a fatherly figure around. That’s why I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to spend time with my family. I’m sure you’ve grown tired of your own family by now, and my kids – and my wife, unfortunately – find me kind of creepy. Not that I can blame them. I look like a corpse. Anyway, I’d love it if you spent some time with them. An uncle is almost as good as a husband and father. (Just don’t do my wife, please.) If you agree to do it, please just keep me up to date on their activities with phone calls and home videos. (And again, I don’t care to see videos of you doing my wife.) Please consider it. Your Brother, Jeff http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/09/jeffstan.vangundy.ap/index.html (note: this link will change on May 16)
JVG is a bad coach and people already realize it; also, how many coaches would spend their own money to buy tickets for fans (rowdies) to buy favor..not many. We gave him due credit.....he stresses defense, and defense only never wins championsips...look at the spurs and pistons.....how many rings Bulls and Lakers won, and how many rings Jazz and JVG's Knicks won??...exactly alot of coaches can get their teams to play offense (its fun) but only a select few can motivate them to play defense...we were the best defense in the league, and exit first round 3 times in 4 years..... what a mistake this will be if we keep JVG??
JVG, please RETIRE. Your family needs you. JVG, please RETIRE. Your family needs you. Take care. So long. Enjoy your private life. Best wishes.
