Ahh the Rockets, the team that, to my Suns, was the Devil during their championship years. The primary difference is that during that rivalry, we at least respected the Rockets players and team, unlike the Spurs, whom even the casual fan here in Phoenix does not care for, really.
First off, the Rockets did the right thing by letting Van Gundy go. Don't get me wrong, I think he is one of the top 10 coaches out there, bar none. But his style is not really that effective in making a player's talents shine. He is more of a system coach, and with the talent on the Rocket's team, a system will only take you so far. You have to have a more talent-oriented coaching style with a bit of a system thrown in for good measure, kind of like what Scott Skiles has done for Chicago and the Suns, when he coached here.
So, now who do the Rockets look at for a new coach. It's a pity Chuck Daly is not available, he would be a perfect fit. But that's neither here nor there. I would give serious consideration to someone like a Mike Fratello, to be honest. He has proven time and again he can take big talent and make big moves with it, and he would have the most potent duo in basketball to develop if this move were made.
In addition to the new coach, the Rockets need to take a serious look at their guards, they simply get out hustled and out played too often to be reliable in crunch time. Tracy is a great guard when he wants to be, but would be even better than he is now if he had more help from the other guards feeding him the ball off of dribble penetrations and spot-up passes.
Now for Yao. I really feel sorry for this guy. Everyone looks at him talks about him, but if you look at the comments and tones of voices, there is always a "sad shake of the head" quality to them, an almost "what might have been". Yao needs something more than Patrick Ewing to reach his true potential. Yao is not Ewing, Ewing was a big, burly man who could stand in the paint and take a pounding while still being productive. Yao is more of a finesse player, and when he is allowed to let his finesse style come thru, he dominates.
The Rockets need to stop treating Yao as if he is a traditional center, because he is not. Maybe move him to Power Forward and let him use his overall skills starting out a little distance from the basket. When Yao has room to move, he is totally unstoppable. But when he is standing still he becomes one of the weaker players on the court, and no one seems willing to address this problem. He's over 7 ft tall, for goodness sakes, give the man some ROOM! :)
The Rockets management needs to look at the current state of their overall team and admit to themselves that it ain't working as is, time for some changes. Van Gundy was a good first move, but now they need to look deeper. Move Yao to the 4, McGrady to the 2, bring in a SOLID point guard and Small Forward (both of whom can make spot up shots and get reliable assist totals), and then get a decent, but not necessarily great, center, and you'll have a team that very few can beat over a 7 game series.
Lastly, keep the bench and let them develop. One of Van Gundy's main weaknesses in all his coaching assignments has been his benches never seem to improve, and this was the case again here. Re-evaluate the bench, trade off those who do not make the grade, and then let them develop - give them playing time, let them give Tracy and Yao some quality rest minutes in the games, and suddenly they might not be getting injured every year like they seem to now.
The Rockets are close to contending for a title believe it or not. But something has to change. Van Gundy was just a large tip of this particular iceberg.
Great post!!! I couldn't agree more about Yao, about having a solid point guard, about a better coach (which I think Aldeman will prove to be), about giving the bench enough playing time, etc....
Thank you very much for the reply. I've gotten so few on this series I figured either (A) no one is reading them or (B) my views are so far off the mainstream I must be a nut LOL.
It's truly a pity how Yao has been utilized to this point in his career. I remember seeing video on the man when he was just a name on the NBA radar, and here was this 7+ footer, tall and gangly, shooting beyond the NBA 3 point line and making 3-4 out of 5 shots...and then footage of him in a chinese league dribbling down the court end to end and laying the ball up thru traffic. He made Dirk look like a slow, plodding center.
He could be so much more than he currently is, but unfortunately, Patrick Ewing is being his teacher, and Ewing, while a great center, is not at all an authority on big men of today's NBA, who have to be so much more than just a big presence near the basket.
Rick Adleman MIGHT be able to make the necessary changes to the Rockets to bring them to the next level, but I have never really seen Adelman as the teaching type of coach. He's always been at his best when his teams already have the basic skills but lack direction and focus. The times he has had to take on a coaching job that also involved teaching and improving his teams overall skills, he has stumbled along the way. If he does end up being the next coach of the Rockets, I wish him well, but I do not feel he will be the right coach to bring the Rockets to a title.
And the Rocket's problem really does not lie with them being in the West. They can go far, they are just improperly using the talents they
Let's get this straight: You want to turn Yao into a Patrick Ewing, a guy that didn't have nearly the skillsets Yao have. I hope, you too, haven't made the mistake of thinking Ewing is the ONE who has trained Yao since his tenure with the Rockets.
Ewing's only notable accomplishment with Yao Ming was helping him understand how to position himself in the low block. That's it. Yao had "game" and there was nothing Ewing added to it.
Moving on...... it was Tim Thibodueax that taught Yao his current post-moves. It was him that worked with Yao on shooting from different angles on the court. It was him that sat Yao down in a chair, just pass the free-throw line and made him shoot jumpers after jumpers til his arms hurt. Ewing fooled alot of people about Yao's progress and I'm here to set the record straight. Tim should be credit with the "work" on Yao.
So, you want to turn Yao into a PF, huh ? Tell me exactly how Yao will be effective as a PF ? The best he could do is catch a pass from a high post area and shoot it. Shoot it. Here's while :
1.) He doesn't have dribbling skills or body-balance to start from the wing and make it all the way inside to the goal. Too big, too slow.
2.) If Yao is turned into a PF, this is "paradise" for the quicker guards/pfs. There will be lots of steals and turnovers. Yao is a "stiff" that's best utilized deep in the post. The closer his shots, the higher pecentage shot it is.
What Yao needs is a complimentary PF to play alongside him. Chuck Hayes is decent but he lacks the height and shooting inside the paint area. With
um..I never said for a minute I wanted to turn Yao into a Ewing clone, in fact I think Ewing was the WORST guy to be brought in to advise Yao in the first place (Remember when the news hit that he was hired, it was specifically to tutor Yao on the rigors of being an NBA center, confirmed by the Rockets owner at the Press Conference).
I am a big basketball fan, tho I admit I prefer the NBA to college, mainly because the NCAA has even more stupid rules than the NBA does. I enjoy other sports as well, tho I do admit I prefer the playoffs than the regular season for most sports other than the NBA.
My favorite teams in the NBA ?
1. Phoenix Suns
2. Dallas Mavericks
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Indiana Pacers
5. Los Angeles Lakers (Tho I can't STAND Kobe)
