That was Francis' approach at the start of training camp. Since then, there has been a slight change of tone. Van Gundy has been critical of the Rockets' effort entering the season, even pointing out Francis' flaws.

''There's not one area that's not even close to good enough,'' Van Gundy said. ``It starts with our effort. We don't play hard enough to win. We're not adapting to change. There are a few pockets of resistance. I do know what a winning team looks like and what a losing team looks like. I've been fortunate to be part of winning teams for a long time.

``We should all be on the clock. Really, the clock is ticking for us to win and to show progress and improvement. I don't want to hear how long it will take to jell. Those are excuses. Those are for people not ready to win. I don't want the guys to be given that excuse or to take it.

``Steve, offensively right now [is] trying to hit the home run every time down. Steve is sometimes so great he can hit a home run, to shake somebody and take on another guy and take tough shots. The game's got to be easier. We're not playing team offense the right way. Blown play after play, assignment after assignment.''

The obvious assumption, then, is that the ''pockets of resistance'' include Francis, who was perfectly happy with the previous system where he was free to display his talents at will.

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

''I've been playing the same way for five years,'' Francis said. ``The part of me going one-on-one when the shot clock is going down, that's what I got to do. I'm not going to throw the ball to a seven-foot guy on the three-point line if I can do something at the end of the shot clock. If that's what it is, that's what it is.''

steve should do what his coach tells him.

Stan Vangundy is ok, he never manipulated his way to be head coach so my hats off to him he did it the ethical way. Riley hand picked him to be head coach he didn't hand pick Jeff. LOL We went outside the organization for a seasoned coach(DON NELSON) because Ewing tried to rule everyone within and we needed a (real man) to stand up against Ewing the bully. Back to franchise. This is the NBA, Vangundy as (gony) says must suck up to his best players huh? Isn't this a players league? If Vandummy doesn't know he better ask somebody. Young guys want to win in this league but they also want to get paid when they young because when they get older they can only get so many big pay contracts especially if they rely on athleticism. Do your thing Steve Francis!!!!

this isn't a knick thread... despite what you may think.

I CALL IT GULLEY, CUT THROAT!

Posted by playa2:

AT 5-1 is jeff vandummy coaching Steve Francis, or is Steve Francis teaching jeffrey vandummy how to coach and how to come up with a game plan to score more than 67 points a game? Because we all know it took injuries on the knicks to show the stubborn lil man that they could even have a fast break on their way to 99 title run! Yao Ming has not been the focal part of their offense so I guess Stevie hasn't changed but Gundy has. LOL

dude, lay off the weed.

How about this quote:

"How does No. 1 in the league in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage sound? How does an NBA-best point differential of 13.4 sound? How does four of the top 25 defensive efforts (points allowed) through the middle of the week sound?"

from this article:
Rockets Defense Takes Off

Posted by martin:

[quote]Posted by playa2:

AT 5-1 is jeff vandummy coaching Steve Francis, or is Steve Francis teaching jeffrey vandummy how to coach and how to come up with a game plan to score more than 67 points a game? Because we all know it took injuries on the knicks to show the stubborn lil man that they could even have a fast break on their way to 99 title run! Yao Ming has not been the focal part of their offense so I guess Stevie hasn't changed but Gundy has. LOL

dude, lay off the weed.

How about this quote:

"How does No. 1 in the league in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage sound? How does an NBA-best point differential of 13.4 sound? How does four of the top 25 defensive efforts (points allowed) through the middle of the week sound?"

from this article:
Rockets Defense Takes Off
[/quote

Are you on Crack man? The Rockets have padded stats based on playing cup cakes DENVER, MEMPHIS, MIAMI, ORLANDO, CHICAGO ETC... even Vandummy has said wait until two weeks and see if they are still on top. Last night proved him right! He played against a scoring team and his team got blown out the water! The score wasn't even as close as the the Mavericks dominated the ROCKETS.


Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy spent much of the 1995-96 season on Mavericks coach Don Nelson's staff with the Knicks, eventually succeeding Nelson when he was fired. But Van Gundy said he considered Nelson's tenure with the Knicks a success, and that he uses some of the offensive schemes he learned from Nelson.

"It was so different a way of looking at the game," Van Gundy said. "It was so productive for me. From the first time I met him, I loved his irreverent sense of humor, sarcasm. It was just great. I loved him. I thought he was brilliant with personnel. He knew who could play. He just knew."

SO JEFF WHY WAS HE FIRED WHEN HE KNEW EWING COULD NO LONGER BE THE MAN TO WHOM THE OFFENSE WOULD RUN THRU?
Mavericks stun Rockets with 97-86 victory

•











DALLAS -- The Rockets' reserves bolted off the bench, clapping happily and slapping high-fives as if the Rockets finally had reached the playoffs.

The Rockets swaggered downcourt, having stood toe-to-toe with the Mavericks and not flinched.

But there were only two minutes gone in the second half. The Rockets found out heavyweights don't get knocked out by one punch.

The Mavericks barely seemed to notice that little Rockets run. And when they slapped the Rockets a few times with the zone that tormented them last season, the Rockets crumbled.

Stepping up in weight class for the first time this season, the Rockets were blown out in the second half Thursday night before the Mavericks settled for a 97-86 win at American Airlines Center.

Though his criticism was not as harsh as after the Rockets' other loss this season, or the first half of the preseason, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said the Rockets remain "fragile," the emotional equivalent of having a glass jaw.

"My main concern is not how we played against their zone or how we defended certain situations, it's the emotional stability that champions have to get to the next play, always," Van Gundy said. "Every team has a certain fragileness based on results not going your way. That's probably when I came (to Houston) the No. 1 thing I wanted to correct, and I still think it's the No. 1 thing, just being emotionally less fragile.

"For us, the next step is when things aren't going our way, instead of playing a bit frustrated, is to be more determined."

The Rockets had begun the second half with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 51. Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley had combined for just 10 points, and the Rockets were keeping pace with the Mavericks' collection of shooters.

The Mavericks needed 12 seconds to regain the lead. And minutes later, having dabbled with a zone in the first half, they went all zone all the time, daring the Rockets to beat them from the outside.

Mobley had been making 65.2 percent of his 3-pointers, but Thursday made just 1-of-5 and 2-of-10 of his shots overall. Jim Jackson found his shooting touch, making nine of 16 shots for 23 points. But in the decisive Dallas run, Jackson took two shots, making one.

The Mavericks outscored the Rockets 22-8 after going to the full-time zone, taking a 79-63 lead.

The Rockets, shooting 46.7 percent this season, made just 40.2 percent of their shots Thursday. Making 41.9 percent of their treys, they fell off to 34.8 percent (8-of-23) on Thursday.

"The reality is that we weren't making shots," Francis said. "Even though they went on a run, I thought we didn't knock down the quality shots that we normally do.

"I don't think I saw guys frustrated. We couldn't convert. We got the shots that we wanted. We just weren't knocking them down. The way you go about it when you're not knocking down shots, is to play tougher defense. They were getting a lot of easy looks."

But he did not agree with the term "fragile."

"When they were making shots, I don't think guys were focused enough defensively to put a stop to it," Francis said. " `Fragile' is for teams that are in the lower echelon of the NBA. I don't think we're fragile one bit."

But whether losing focus constitutes as `fragile,' the Rockets let a close game become a rout. Unable to go to Yao Ming inside or make enough shots outside, when the Rockets started missing, they began officiating instead. And as the game began slipping away, they began reaching and hoping defensively as they had not this season and in Thursday's first half.

Again Francis and Jeff don't see the same things in a game. LOSING HAS A WAY OF BRINGING OUT THE TRUTH!




[Edited by - playa2 on 11/14/2003 07:28:24]

PLAYA I KNOW A VERY GOOD PSYCHOLOGIST THAT COULD HELP YOU WITH THIS FIXATION !!!! ANOTHER OPTION WOULD BE THE BETTY FORD CLINIC FOR YOUR ADDICTION TO JEFF VAN GUNDY !!!! I WOULDN'T BE SUPRISED IF JVG HAS AN ORDER OF PROTECTION AGAINST YOU !!!!

I knew you were going to bring up last nights game as soon as it ended! However, you are not making excuses for JVG as you would for Chaney. For example here are a few, you may have come up with:

1- THe game was in Dallas. Dallas is supposed to win

2 - Houston has 4 guys on the bench due to illness or injury, INCLUDING the starting PF who is off in some psycho clinic right now. (read its like DICE not being there for Chaney).

3- The game was close for 2.5 quarters and then Francis made some key to's. It's all his fault. (replace Francis with Spreewell)

SO you see, excuses are easy to make. What is not easy is winning every game. Houston will be fine.

What is more important and ACTUALLY RELEVANT to this forum, is how are the KNicks? What is their record? 2-5? Hmmmmm.

Rememember the NBA is about results.

Ummm...Playa, weren't you the one glowing about how we had the leagues best defense after we had played Orlando twice?

I just signed in. This is my only name. What does who I am have to do with anything?