VSPAN could barely contain himself on the Bench !!

That's a great observation.

 

Chuck didn't have the stamina to play a lot of minutes last season. He has come out and said that himself. This off-season he worked on conditioning and strength to be ready to contribute more this year. Chuck has also said the difference between the college game and NBA was huge as far as conditioning was concerned. So maybe give Novak needs the time to build up to the NBA level like Chuck did.

He was able to contribute last season, about every three games. Though I doubt he would have gotten that much if there had been a better option on the court.

So I would say its more that he wasn't ready last year. (and if anyone was complaining about Chuck's playing time last season it was me)

 

No it is an incomplete observation.

Because I believe that while they would be making some mistakes, I also think they would be an improvement over those that are playing now, and that the team would be better off....NOW....and much better off in the future.

IMHO, if V-Span had been playing, these collapses would be much less frequent, simply because he can play perimeter defense, while Head and Alston can not.

But thanks to both of you for taking bits of the information and trying to formulate a cohesive argument, thus allowing me to so thoroughly dominate you both...again !

DD

 

The truth is, that the team plays better with Hayes, both this year AND last year....so yes, we do know that JVG's stubborness and unwillingness to think outside the 1990s NBA Box hindered the Rockets last year by not playing Hayes more, and in fact cutting him.

But, it continues today with his unwillingness to realize that there is a premium on players that can go to the hole and create their own shot, and him leaving the 2nd best player at that skill on the Rockets nailed to the bench.

DD

 

Which is why JVG is encouraging t-mac to go to the hole - or have you missed all of that?

I think you just hate JVG. I'm not even pro-JVG, i just don't see anything he's done to deserve the horrible ripping apart he's getting.

Some of you guys are worse then Yankee fans who rip apart their team for losing two in a row between 10 game winning streaks. Ah man, you should re-read this stuff in April.

And how many people were crying when the Rocks were rolling a year and a half back - before all the injuries?

May you guys are so damaged from losing last year you only know how to whine after every loss....and even after wins. I guess old habits die hard....but some of us remember that it takes a while to build a champ and a great team....doesn't happen over night. And rooks don't get played all that much right off the gate.

Do you think Kobe got substantial minutes his rookie season?

 

I find it more than difficult to believe that Morey forced JVG to play Hayes. However, I also find it hard to believe that Jeff couldn't see that Chuck was the answer in the Utah game on Boozer. Instead, if I remember right, Hayes sat the whole 2nd half of that contest and Boozer totally ate up Padgett, Novak, Battier, Yao and the rest of the team. Don't understand the reasoning on that one.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Hayes comes back from this injury. IMO, he should be stuck in there and given at least 25 mpg if not more.

 

I certainly want us to train our rookies; but where did you get the idea that I was also pushing for a strong start?

Be careful about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman">strawman arguments</a>. You lose a ton of respect if anyone catches you at it.

 

First off, please discard the "H" in "IMHO"; judging from your legions of suggestions and predictions which are documented here (many of which, unsurprisingly, have turned out to be dead wrong and in fact the opposite of what you suggest or predict turns out to be true), the least you are is humble. You are the absolute king of second guessing and monday morning armchair QB'ing. There has not been a single decision made by a single individual related to Houston sports, from Rockets, Astros, Texans, whatever, that you don't run to the internet to second guess the second anything at all goes wrong.

You see the grass greener on the other side,so you make up a back-story to support it based on some idealized version of the past and molded into post-facto rationalizations, such as the idiotic canard that Sam Cassell was a raw, immature kid and not ready to play in comparison to your shining ingenue of the moment, Vasilis Spanoulis. You know what? You might even be right in this instance. BUt since it's coming from you I feel inclined to discount, because you'll generally say anything, and considering the sheer volume of suggestions you offer, even a blind squirrel such as yourself can find a nut every now and then. However it doesn't mean you're prescient, it just means you're vocal.

 

I freely admit that I am not afraid to take a stand, and on top of that am not afraid to be wrong from time to time.

Ala, Langhi, and possibly Boki though that is still up in the air somewhat.

So, what I am reading above is that you discount my assertations because they are coming from me, which I freely admit to being prone to discourse concerning all matters Rockets.

And, yes, I do second guess, but more often than not, it is NOT 2nd guessing but rather as it is happening, or rather observational awareness which has led to my assertations.

My point is that Sam Cassell was not such a guaranteed HIT product, or else he would not have slipped into the latter half of the first round.

V-Span on the other hand has been playing professionally for several years, and is ready for the NBA....IMHO.....and whether you care to read the "H" or ignore it is up to you, I do realize that it is just an opinion, and only on an internet message board.

We are all just fans here, and this is common bar talk to me, something to sit around and disect and discuss our favorite team, we don't have to agree on every niggling little point.

But I do like that you leave it in your post that "I might be right" but I can't believe that you discount it because it was I that brought it up.

As for hating JVG, that is proposterous, I like the guy, I just think he takes far too long to recognize patterns that are obvious to me.

Alston and Head for instance in the game at the same time is a recipe for collapse, neither one can play perimeter defense, but, low and behold there they are in crucial situations letting the other team's guards by them for easy scores, a foul on a big, or passing out to a WIDE open person on the perimeter because someone on the Rockets had to leave that man to cover for their sorry defense.

Am I saying that V- Span is the answer????????? HECK NO !!!! I am saying he is worth a look, and that if he messes up, yank him.

But....I think he will be messing up less and less as the year goes on...but he needs to be getting his feet wet, NOW, not in March, again...IMHO.

And I find it completely and utterly Ironic that a guy with 15,000+ posts in only 3 years is calling me Vocal !!!!



DD

 

hmm, a little assumptious, are we DD?
Sam could be a woman...

 

This is obvious to anyone that follows the game of basketball, in the new "no touch on the perimeter" NBA.

And, to be fair it took JVG a while to get to the point, while the rest of the country was watching other NBA teams get the point much sooner.

I don't hate JVG, It just bothers the heck out of me that he would rather play a Rick Brunson, or a Charlie Ward, or Rafer Alston in an age where speed and penetration at the point guard position is essential. Again, it all breaks down to having playmakers that can drive and get by their man, and we need more than Tmac, because teams are going to take him away in the 4th by doubling him early.

Hmmm, I actually may Hate the Yankees......

And, I am not all that upset by the team being 6-4, I think they have shown flashes of becomming a good team, but right now they are getting beat and losing games that honestly, IMHO, they should be winning.

And come playoff time, I think the Rockets are going to need every advantage they can get to help overcome some inexperience, IE, I really want home court advantage.

If you can build a 20 point lead, you should be able to finish it off.

 

Sometimes he posts like one...that is for sure.



I actually enjoy a lot of Sam's posts, but he is a bit like me, gets something in his craw and it is like a dog with a bone.....we disagree frequently, but we also agree a lot too.

He is one of my favorite posters, believe it or not...cause he is so often wrong about basketball, as is evident here, and in the Boki bet that he lost to me.

SCHWING !!

Sam Fisher = 15,355 (11.67 posts per day)
DaDakota = 23,943 (8.53 posts per day)

And he calls me vocal....pfft !

DD

 

LMAO!!! that's funnyyyyy

 

I don't think the Rockets should have one any of the games they lost. I mean, you could say they should have won every game this season, and you can make that case for any good team.

We were down big to Utah in the opener before making a pretty strong comeback to make a game of it at the end. Does that mean Utah choked? NO! The NBA is full of runs - especially now that the rules are tweaked against perimeter defense.

We don't have the backcourt speed to break down defenders. I'm not convinced VSPAN can outplay alston just yet. And yet is the key word. VSPAN will get his chance for sure - way before novak. I figure 10-20 more games....

 

I am not saying "Start" V-Span, I am saying get him on the court as a backup PG, and see what he brings to the table.

Or, send him down to the NBDL and let him work on his flaws...but having him rust on the bench is just stupid.

DD

 

Are these Hayes quotes from actual published articles that I missed or personal conversations?

And come on, a guy who can get into a game and pick off 5-6 rebounds in 10 to 15 minutes against NBA level talent then needs 3-7 days to recuperate before he can play 10-15 minutes again? If he was that pathetic then I am sure Gundy would have put him in a hospital on a respirator rather than wear his *** out at practice.

Look I've had people pull the wool over on me on boards before, like a guy I knew who I didn't like who pretended to be his own high school priest and gave me such a sad woeful tale about himself.....

Yao had pitiful conditioning his first 3 years and we ran his *** out on the court for 30+ minutes every 2-3 days.

Links?

New Yorker - how many years has Gundy been coaching here and you don't recognize any patterns of his behavior??????? (delete)

Jopatmc - yeah I hear you - I admit I am stabbing in the dark and probably will never know - but like you also say - Jeff couldn't see - Hayes played 8 min. in Utah!!! Perhaps Gundy is also a blind squirrel who roots around in the dirt long enough and pops out the occasional acorn to impress his bosses. Or they hand him one and force him to eat it. I just am getting tired of the obsessive/compulsive behavior and the unwillingness to adapt quickly to changing circumstances in the NBA environment - as mentioned by others on this site.

It's not like Van Gundy just got here and now he gets a bye on everything he does the first two months of this season.

He's a big boy - he can take it.

And yes it is fun to watch Sam and DD go at it. Sorta like Oscar and Felix. DD which do you want to be?

 

He'll get playing time in 10-20 games. Trust me. He's not going to be a bench warmer the whole season.

 

Hmmm, tough question, take the effeminant guy who is clean to a fault, or the slobby sportswriter who drinks a lot.

I will take Felix, cause Tony Randall was still having kids well into his 70s, and I don't think Sam is secure enough in his heterosexualness to be compared to an effeminent man.

DaDakota - Metrosexual man of the year.



DD

 

I would be shocked if this happens...but pleasently surprised.

DD

 

sure - so you're saying JVG will not let VSPAN play this year (barring injury to head and alston)?