I'm upset because we're supposed to be 10-0. Yes, that's right... 10-0. I'm upset because Hayes is hurt and Bonzi is fat. I'm upset because we play our heart out for 3 quarters and then a heartbreak at the 4th. I'm upset because I don't have cable TV and my internet is slow. I'm upset because Scotty Quitten is a tool.
I blame PTI, Stephen A Smith, Jim Rome and all the sports shout shows for people being upset. Message boards and Sports shout shows work on the following laws: 1. Unless your team is winning a championship, they are worthless and you should be upset. Being decent is not acceptable. 2. Unless your coach's substitution pattern is exactly as you would do it on NBA 2K7, you should be upset. 2A: Unless your coach agrees with you about the rookie you are hyped about and play him at least 20 minute a game of "developmental minutes", you should be upset. 3. Unless your GM fires a coach after every loss, you should be upset. 4. Unless everyone agree with you that your personal hero on your personal team is the best in the league, you should be upset and fight with them on the message boards. Second place is just the first loser. 5. If your team's loses its lead when the bench comes in, the coach is an idiot and you should be upset becacuse he should have stayed with the starters. 5A. If your team loses its lead with the starters on the floor, the coach is an idiot and you should be upset because he should have rested them more. 6. Every player under 24 years of age has limitless potential, if they don't develop, it's because the coach hates young players and you should be upset. 7. After age 24 and/or 3rd year with the team, you are entitled to be upset about these players if they haven't developed into Hakeem or MJ. They are busts and you can take free shots at him.
I'm not upset Im concerned BUT We have good pieces, good players who I refuse to believe will not work on fixing their problems. As with many things in life, changes sometimes take a little time...and thankfully for us, the NBA season is a looooong grind. Teams that are kicking butt now, may not be later...teams that are struggling now, may be kicking butt later. We have a impressive looking starting 5 (come back soon Chuckie!) that kicks the butts of some of the best this league has to offer when they are playing together. We neeed just a little more help from the bench to help our guys keep their leads....Bonzi will help when he getgs back (and he will be back), and everyone's favorite rookies WILL get time at some point this year....Im figgering probably before New Year. Thing is....having tired players who know what to do is still better than playing rookies who would not be as effective eventho they were fresh. and before I get someone arguaing that I dont know that SPan and Novak would be ineffective...I say that preseason means nothing as far as how rookies are gonna do....and no matter what you think of the coach....aint no way in hell he doesnt play someone that could help better than who he currently counts on. When the rooks can be more effective than the guys they would replace, they WILL play. VG is a professional...and professionals do not impare their job results for no reason. on a side note....I find it funny that the same posters who will trumpet whatever the sports writers and talking heads say as fact will totally overlook the fact that VG is always mentioned when those same sportsguys talk about the best coaches in the league. "He sucks cause I dont understand why he does what he does.....waaaaaa"
I think Rudy T would be playing these guys including Bonzi. JVG would not have played Sam Cassell at all his rookie season. I think they should be playing some. That bothers me.
JVG never gave Novak and other rookies a chance even when players on the court were 0 for 14... that's subborn and no sense coaching method.. That's why rockets collapsed in 4th quarter again and again... We will see this happened more in the future games until JVG changed his method for using his players.
I think the problem I’m having with this team so far is that we’re so eerily similar to last year’s team. Same strengths, same weaknesses. Only difference is Battier has taken over for David Wesley and Snyder taking over for Bogans. I really did not like the moves the team made this past summer because they left us with the same flaws we’ve had for several seasons. We still rely too much on Yao/Mcgrady because we have no other playmakers. We still get torched by teams that have great perimeter players because our guards are inferior. Power forward position is still a question mark. Teams speed is still poor. Mcgrady’s health is still a concern. These are not problems that we’ve only been having for a couple of games. These are problems we’ve had for a couple of YEARS. Instead of addressing these problems, I feel like the team simply swept them under the rug this past summer, and said "let's just strive to be as good as we were 2 seasons ago when we lost to Dallas in the first round".
lol... I just thought it's pretty funny that sports message boards and the shout shows have so much in common... in fact, political talk shows are very much like that too... There really isn't a whole lot of difference between the Rush Limbaugh show, the Jim Rome show, and GARM. Different topics, same conversation. Liberals and illegals are ruining America!!!! Van Gundy is ruining Novak!!!!
What I'd like is just a calm, reasoned discussion. The "JVG sucks!" comments aren't helping. Ok, some of you want him to play Spanoulis and Novak. Fine. When should he play them? What should the substitution pattern be? What will the advantages be? What will the disadvantages be? There are no obvious solutions to our problems right now. A lot of you want these young guys to play, because you're fans and you just want them to contribute. Fine, but be realistic and consider exactly what the pros and cons will be.
I dont want the young guns to get some playing time because I am a fan of them. I want them to get some playing time because their development is crucial for the long term success of this team. Let's be realistic here. Do you see the Rockets winning a championship this year? There is a chance but highly unlikely. So they should set a goal. Late Second round or WC Finals is a realistic goal for this year and serious contenders starting next year onwards. While they are building chemistry, they can try to develop the young players in a parallel process. In order for long term success, Rockets have to find a decent solution for a bench and a PG. How much more failures will it take for Rockets coaching staff to realize that Juwan Howard and Rafer Alston will just not cut it. We need mentally tough players, who are talented, and speed up the game a little. We have 2 young players rotting on the bench when they could be be developed right now. Not for immediate success but long term success. Squeeze them a couple of minutes now, and it might pay dividends later on. Cmon, You are telling me that as bad as Juwan and Rafer were playing last night, Vspan and Novak could not get even 5 minutes of playing time? There was no way to go but up after that pathetic dispaly by Rockets veterans. Chuck Hayes was used a year too late. It took 1 whole season for JVG to realize that Hayes should be getting minutes over JH. Seems like JVG is either a slow learner or too damn stubborn. Do we really need to wait to learn a lesson late this year in order to give some minutes to the youngins? BTW, I am not really concerened about losses at this point. I am not looking at the record. I am concentrating on 1) patterns 2) mental approach 3) Tactical approach of this team. Patterns are very similar to previous Gundy seasons. I expected him to learn from his past mistakes. Mental approach by both players and coach is disturbing. It is apparent from his statements and his patterns so far that he is trying to get a contract extension this year. Tactical approach? ugh. I could keep writing on this one.
Our record isn't that bad and I guess if you're gonna lose...you should lose to good teams (SA, Detroit) but I think the reason a lot of us are upset is becase of the way we are losing games. Besides the Miami game, we've been downright horrible closing out games. We've blown huge leads against the Bucks, Knicks, Spurs, Bulls, and also let a game go in Detroit.
I get upset at seeing Howard and Padgett in our Rotation, JVG overplaying exhausted players, the game when its not going through Yao Ming, our bench isn't being trained to play the NBA Game in a form of real game experience, players who's roles are not well defined, Tracy Mc Grady- great scorer or playmaker and decent scorer, too many wild and low percentage shots, Howard is like a black hole when he gets the ball and there is a 10% chance of him making the shot
You want them to have a different plan for WC Finals as opposed to a championship goal? A) I think the championship goal is still well-within reach as the team comes together and as we add Bonzi. B) Your team will be screwed up if you're aiming for the 2nd round or WC Finals and not the championship. What kind of an approach is that? "I'm certain that we can come close, but I'm certain that we can't go all the way...so I'm gonna hold back JUST a little bit." I understand you want to develop young players, and that's fine. But it can't be because the goal is something slightly less than a championship. On Hayes, I think with all the injuries, JVG did realize that last season was shot--at least once TMac was still out after the AS break. With Hayes getting less minutes and not starting, not showing insane value to everyone...we were able to sign him at a very cheap price for a starting PF that's contributing a lot to the team.
Every coach will have 2 kinds of goals. 1) BS goal: The one they mention to all their players and media when the season starts. Every team in the NBA and their coach comes out saying they have a chance to win Big this year. No team is going to come out and say, "Yeah we are really hoping we suck this year. Some lottery would do wonders for us!" 2) Realistic Goal: This is the big one. Coaches and management base their personal moves based on this one. Players know about this. Coaches know about this. But they might not say it openly to public. Rockets have a chance to win it all this year if LOTS of things go right for them...some of which are.. 1) Tmac plays top notch thru entire playoffs. 2) Yao plays top notch thru entire playoffs. 3) Rafer does not keep making boneheaded decisions in clutch time. 4) Juwan Howard's @ss remains glues to the bench. Eh. Sorry but 3 and 4 alone will keep this team from winning a championship this year. Forget the talent, just on experience alone Spurs, Phoenix, Clippers, and Mavs have us beat, and they are equally talented if not more. Experience goes a looooooooong way in playoffs. Teams like Spurs, Mavs, and Phoenix did not become overnight and instant success. Be realistic. You are so high on a championship this year when neither Yao or Tmac have been out of 1st round of playoffs...sheesh... How about getting the right pieces FIRST, getting some playoff experience after that, and THEN talking and counting rings?
My turn!! Let's see im upset because: 1) Our backup center should be retired and contributes no offense 2) Juwan Howard, our starting 4 should be our back up 4 and he contributes no offense 3) Scott Padgett is our backup 4, plays 15 mins a game, should not have even made the team... not to mention he contributes no offense 4) Our backup point guard.... wait we don't have a backup point guard except the one buried on the bench... thus he contributes no offense 5) In the fourth quarter our 9 man rotation, which is made up of the oldest guys on the team, is dead tired... their defense starts to suck... and they fail to contribute any offense
Remember, I was upset even after we blew out Miami. IMHO our strategy -- our team's long-term thinking -- is completely wrong: <ol><li>Our big man is being run into the ground. What other big is forced to chase the guards on defence the way Yao is? <li>We are trading away too many of our draft picks. <li>We are not developing a deep bench. </ol>On top of this, our head coach is unable to evaluate young talent. This could be why he refuses to play them: he has no idea which of them would be worth the investment.
