Houston Rockets Fans have their say: Van Gundy Thoughts

In recent weeks Houston Rockets fans visited Space City Scoop offering insight and sharing their passion. The Editor was so impressed by their opinions, it was decided those entries should be featured for the wider audience to enjoy. Up next readers responded passionately about Jeff Van Gundy.

In an effort to share those thoughts with the loyal Space City Scoop readers the best of your offerings have been compiled and will be featured for all to enjoy. And hey if any of you would like to bring your talents to the site on a regular basis, we’d love to add you to the team!

To that end, the next in this series looked at fans thoughts regarding Jeff Van Gundy.

Van Gundy

Joshua Van Horn’s article: Why the Houston Rockets Should Hire Jeff Van Gundy drew copious responses from our readers and notably most of them foresaw that Van Gundy would have little to no interest in leaving the broadcast booth:

In order of receipt here are the posts:

John from Houston (a frequent and insightful Space City Scoop poster):

Why would Van Gundy want to come work for the GM that ran him off? Why would Van Gundy want to come work for a GM that has control over the on court philosophy his team plays with, when said GM pretty much has the exact opposite philosophies of said coach? I don’t get how everyone thinks it’s just as easy as go hire Van Gundy.

First, Alexander has to reign in the Morey ball philosophy this team operates with. If we do hire Van Gundy, it’s an indication that the power structure in this organization has tilted. Tom T has full control to do things his way up in Minnesota. I don’t see Van Gundy coming back to work for Morey under these circumstances.

From Greg Hill:

Sampson has forgotten more basketball than Van Gundy knows!

Followed by an interaction between jr romiyio and John from Houston :

First: jr romiyio wrote:

Coaching problems are only half the battle. Maybe even less. Harden has to get refocused on his career and must want to lead this team to win. Howard leaving or staying isn’t a big deal . He doesn’t know what to do in the post anymore. Relying on shooters like Trevor and jet isn’t realistic. Our bench line up is terrible. Our identity as a team is confusing .

Our offense is confusing . Brewer was played as a starter then benched next game. JB wanted to coach but I feel he was just a mouth piece because he wasn’t making the calls. Obvious that the players were confused because Morey was the one really coaching out there .

John from Houston responded:

I agree with all of that. And that last sentence is what makes this head coach search a sketchy situation

To which jr romiyio responded back:

Thank you John . I think anyone who knows basketball can see that the team was being told how to play from a source we couldn’t see. Hearing rumors of harden being a diva isn’t a big deal as long as he makes everyone around him better . Divas don’t have high turn overs. Just need to get refocused .

Every week Ben Casey serves up his Daily Rockets Science and one particular article solicited some great feedback with posters recognizing what apparently either eluded J.B. Bickerstaff or the team refused to do on court:

John From Houston opined:

How is this Rocket team still surprised by the unwritten rule change in officiating in play off basketball? It’s actually ridiculous to see a team play with out having grasped that concept. EVERY NBA FAN AND PLAYER IN THE WORLD IS FAMILIAR WITH THIS CONCEPT. Yet is still escapes the Harden lead Rockets. I called for it last year and it has only gotten worse. Harden and the Rockets must dial back the dependence on free throw shooting.

The fans and the refs are conscious of Harden’s efforts to initiate contact to get a call, and come play-off time, all that regular season abuse of charity backfire’s. Harden has to paradigm shift to an offensive player with singular purpose of putting the damn ball in the hoop and quit trying to initiate so much freaking contact at all times. And this team needs an offensive philosophy as a whole in the worst way. I have never seen a team that doesn’t hustle and stands around more.

Ultimate187 brought up a common refrain regarding Patrick Beverley:

And frequent poster Weirdbeard offered a similar opinion with further insight:

Patrick Beverley is garbage. He’s more concerned about looking like a tough guy than actually playing basketball.

More from Space City Scoop

I 100% agree that not even one game will be won trying to out-shoot the Warriors. I’m kinda proud that we went for it and made the playoffs, but to just throw the opportunity away is a sin. If we were going to tank, we should have done it in the regular season and kept our draft pick.

I don’t for a moment believe that we can win a series with the Warriors, but I DO agree with the author, that making them battle with our bigs down low might wear them down enough to take a game or maybe even two. It sure as hell can’t lead to a worse beating and won’t be expected. Use everyone of size and make GS work when we’re on offensive.

Push the ball inside. Let Dwight BE Superman. Give ’em a little muscle along with a little finesse from D-Mo. James WILL get his from wherever, as will Beasley most nights. Aside from that, clear the bench of every wide body we’ve got. Hell, we have a bench full of decent sized guys to throw at them. Plus we’ve got some wild cards that can do some real damage if they catch fire outside the arc. Wear the Warriors down. Let them know they’ve been in a game with an NBA contender.

When on defense, accept that they’re probably gonna win the perimeter game. but keep pressure on Curry and Thompson. As Andre Cantalogo pointed out in his piece today, Curry had a “ridiculous” game 1. OK, so let’s lean on him coast to coast and MAKE him EARN it, EVERY game. Let it be clear that ANY entry into the key will be contested with extreme prejudice. Who said basketball isn’t a contact sport? No cheap, schoolyard crap, but a tough nosed opponent on both sides of the ball. Come on, guys! We made it to the big dance! Let’s take a few turns around the floor before letting someone else cut in! GO ROCKETS!!!

Jan 15, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Broadcast analyst Jeff Van Gundy before a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Make sure you check out the current Space City Scoop series including our year end player analysis, draft prospects worthy of Rockets picking or trading for and our end of season Rockets Round Table:

Next: Houston Rockets SCS Roundtable Part 1

Next: Houston Rockets SCS Roundtable Part 2

Next: Houston Rockets SCS Roundtable Part 3

Space City Scoop is always looking to add new talent to our writing team. Currently we’re looking for individuals with a specialized focus. The first area of focus is perfect for someone who is constantly surfing the web for breaking news on injuries, trades, insider info etc. This individual would select the top news items and provide timely quick hits to keep SCS readers in the loop.

The other area of focus is someone who possesses a strong social media background who likes to interact with Clutch City Fans. You’ll promote SCS team content on facebook and twitter while also making sure to promote the best content coming from H-Town fans. If you have this capability and are interested check out this link and fill out an application.

Home/Rockets News