Yao sees that his career is being wasted by a coach who is unadaptable...I think Yao's comments are MASSIVE in this discussion. Yao is typically understated, so he must really be frustrated with JVG to even mention it. DD
Oh, man you are so insightful. Just one question, why did JVG take the Rockets job 4 years ago? So that he can rat out Yao?
Yao played injured, and Tracy played passively (I have no idea if his back was acting up or not). I don't think its a matter of trust, on the contrary I thought he relyed on them too much to bail him out of his horriblely predictable offensive schemes. The 4th quarter of game 7 was indicative of what even slight changes can do for you. Instead of having Yao catch the ball 10-12 ft away from the rim, they used him as a finisher instead. I have no idea why this just suddenly occured to them, but a big man is at his best when he only needs to turn around and shoot, instead of having to dribble. Yao just needs to post and repost and bully himself into the lane. JVG needs to communicate that to his players, but even having Yao for 4 years wasn't enough for JVG to figure that out.
People will say that JVG did teach them that but it was the players who ignored it. So, either way, JVG must go....because if the players are ignoring what he is telling them to do there is an accountability issue, and if he didn't tell them what to do their is a coaching issue. Either way....it is JVG's fault. The players follow his plan.....and his plan failed.....Buh BYE ! DD
Don't even try to pin the 4th quarter on some massive adjustment change by the coach. Players started playing with desperation... and Yao amped up his energy level to be more of an aggressor. If its JVG's fault that Yao either doesn't have that instinct, or doesn't have the energy to sustain that instinct, than by all means... get us somebody who can. But my contention is that its still up to Yao as to how dominant he really wants to be... he knows it. But yea... lets keep with the mantra that when the player plays bad its the coaches fault, but when he suddenly plays good, its all because of the player. Also, go back 4 years and watch a full game of Yao... you won't even recognize the guy. To say JVG wasted 4 years of Yao's development is you being more short-sighted as you claim JVG is. To be fair, I do want Yao to mix up his game a little... but its also much easier to transition from the low block to some high post stuff than vice versa. Rik Smits never learned how to dominate on the low block... neither did Vlade. The fact that Yao has that knowledge/skill is what separated him from all of the other "soft" big men that many predicted Yao to be.
Based on reports this morning, the holdup is on the Uncle Les' end. He's taking a long time to decide what he wants to do. And some folks here still want him back as the starting PG after he was virtually run out of town on a rail. I'd say MIXED. I can see both the good and the bad from the JVG era. I think I understand what he wanted to do in terms of basketball style of play but I also can see where he couldn't do that because of the inept job of putting together a competitive roster done by this organization. Agree - especially if they go out and pick up one of the usual NBA coaching suspects because I don't forsee the end results being all that different next year without a dramatic upgrade at the 1 and the 4 but they (Rox) just don't have the resources to go out and make the kind of deals they'd need to make in order to address those needs. It's my contention that changing head coaches will be the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs. Somehow, the word "MASOCHISTIC" springs to mind...
What reports? Where? Link please. I think JVG did not utilize what the organization brought him, it cuts both ways. Even Yao wondered where Snyder was during the Utah series. DD
At this point, they are likely just radio reports. But, I do know this about Les... he never likes to do get rid of anybody unless he knows there's a desirable replacement that he already has in mind. He got rid of Patterson when he already knew that Weinhuaer was willing to take up the slack. When Rudy was let go, he knew he had a great chance of getting either Larry Brown or JVG... two guys he coveted for a long time (or right around the time where Rudy invented the dribble-isolation for francis/Mobely for 20 seconds, and then have one of them shoot). He was already yakking with Van about a 3 man booth when Calvin made it eaiser for him to get rid of him. Last time I heard, Les doesn't really care for any of the currently unemployed coaches... with the exception of Brown (who's never said he wants to coach again). He also has never been inclined to go after assistant coaches. If he gets convinced that there's a suitable replacement out there for JVG, he'll be more decisive... otherwise, we're in limbo. DD... do you want Les' direct line so you can make your case for Adelman?
Heard Fran Blinebury report this on 790 this morning. Don't know if it's true or not but if this IS true, then that would go a long way toward explaining why it's taking so long. This could be the Rudy T scenario all over again where Rudy T fell on his sword and publicly bailed Les out. Les would like nothing better than for JVG to go away on his own - that way he can't be blamed for running JVG off when the next head coach fails to get the job done. Was also was told the same thing last week by a friend of mine who works for the Dallas Mavericks but I didn't think much of it (considering the source) until I heard that this morning. Snyder played himself out of the rotation with his inability to pick up their offensive & defensive systems. The guy just looked lost out there. This was supposedly the reason why Utah & NO let him go Yao's whining notwithstanding. As for what the organization brought JVG, you saw my list of Rockets' guards since 2003. The forwards list looks even worse. This is the point on which we disagree because I feel that this organization has done very little in that regard while you tend to give CD & the rest a pass on the terrible job they've done.
I wonder if Les would decide to do offer just the final year to JVG, and whether JVG would want to accept just the one year. DD
Keep in mind that Les already has offered multiple extentions to JVG this year (the last one being 3 months ago), and Jeff turned it down. If JVG wasn't willing to sign an extention then, some are saying he was likely never going to sign an extention... regardless of what happened in the playoffs (maybe with the exception of winning it all... then again, winning it all would be a good way to go out). If Les wants the upper hand, so be it... he also wants a viable replacement but somebody who isn't going to want too much power. Don't be suprised if he ends up coveting a high profile, but low experience-type coach.
Les simply can't have that desire if he's not going to put in the resources to improve this team, or hire people who are actually competent enough to do that. He's had a BAD track record of approving terrible contracts, terrible trades, terrible non-trades, etc. Les either needs to hand over all decision making capacity to a competent GM, or live with what he's got.
the longer this drags on, the better the chance I think that JVG returns...I don't know any other reason why they would be waiting
I agree you couldn't have put it any better yourself. The question to ask now, "is that a reflection on the statements lack of intelligence or yours".
I think Les is saying "Win now" but if you can't then at least be entertaining. They have enough to get one of the top 4 seeds every year, now they just need to tweak. DD
