It's on the SportsRadio610 website, on the left side under "Podcasts". Or, download the MP3 with this link.
im getting goosebumps listening to JVG talk about how good the rockets will be JVG says a little overrated defensively, but underrated offensively. he says you put artest against any of the best defenders in the league (kobe, battier, bowen) and they would ALL need a double team. the season can't get here fast enough.....
He pretty much said the same thing last year. When has Jeff ever said anything bad about the Rockets. I think he doesn't want to say anything that can be interpreted as him being bitter for being fired and lets face it, the dude wants to work again in the league and does not want more enemies
Yeah, I see your point. However I think he genuinely cares about T-mac and Yao. He felt alot of grief post 2007 not because of losing his job, but for them not getting that monkey off their back. JVG is a good character guy. He's good with politics too I'll admit, but I think the dude really likes our team.
JVG will NEVER have any problems getting a job in this L. he's one of the top coaches. if he wants a job, a lot of teams would beg for his service.
It is really interesting. I agree with Jeff that the Rockets will be a lot better offensivly because now they will have a lot of missmatches. You gotta guard McGrady and Ron on the perimeter. And when opponents best defender guards McGrady that means Ron is have missmatch and when the best defender is guarding Ron it means McGrady has a missmatch. Ron is so strong, he can post up against everybody and it is a big plus. I think now with him in the lineup McGrady will have more space, the game will be easier for him. Artest gives this team a lot offensivly. I just don't understand why JVG thinks Kobe is better defender than Ron...
How an NBA coach can come up with a plan to guard Yao in the paint with Tmac and Artest on the wing at the same time is interesting.
Great interview, as usual. "If you put the stronger defender on Artest, and the worse one on McGrady...are you kidding me?" - JVG
No. He said Artest was overrated as a defender and underrated offensively, but it wasn't intended as a slight to Ron's defense but rather a compliment to his offense. He said that Ron isn't really built to chase wings around screens because he is so big and strong. The most striking part of the interview was when he said that Artest is such a matchup problem that not one of the top wing defenders in the league (specifically mentioning Bowen, Battier, Kobe) can guard Artest without a double team.
Basically what JVG said about Artest on defense was that he's a great defender because of his competitiveness (and by implication, physicality), but his body type isn't prototypically suited to being a top wing defender... essentially he's too big to fight through screens and stuff. But like durvasa said, the intent was to complement his underrated offensive abilities, not slight his defensive abilities. He's essentially a matchup nightmare -- you put your best defender on McGrady, now what do you do? Put your weak guy on Artest? Even the best defenders in the league can't guard him one-on-one. He also thinks that the Kings got absolutely decimated in this deal, and can't believe that they didn't try to get more value for Artest.
If you don't understand why he'd think that, why assume that's what he meant? JVG has talked about Kobe's defense being overrated as well.
You either need to improve your listening comprehension or you are just not too bright. This is one of my biggest pet peeves.
either way that will wear out both odom and kobe esp with battier being able to spell artest in guarding kobe on the other end. kobe can guard tmac (i mean as well as anyone can) but will he able to exert all that energy on both ends of the court for the entire game? odom can give artest some trouble with his length and agility but artest can post up odom down low with his strength if needed and also draw odom out of the paint where he is a great rebounder (much better than gasol imo) vice versa artest will wear kobe out with his strength tmac has the speed to get by odom. the lakers maybe best suited in handling a tmac-artest combo because of kobe and odom but factor in battier being able to spell either of them defensively its going to be tough because they aren't going to be able to rest on either end of the floor when they are in the game. (well maybe when guarding battier but he isnt a total liabilty the way kobe was "guarding" rondo in the finals)
