I was going to predict it a few days ago that the best exit strategy for the Rockets and Jeff Van Gundy to part ways and still ‘save face’ would be to kick him upstairs so that he can still be part of the organization but have hardly any commitment to it.

This would be just like what the Rockets did with Rudy Tomjanovich a few years ago when they wanted him out as coach, but didn’t want to make him look bad. Surprise, surprise, Rudy T. then showed up in Los Angeles later as the Lakers’ head coach. He obviously wasn’t ready to retire despite wanting some time off to rest, as was explained at the time.

However, I thought there was no way the Rockets would go that route with JVG like they did with Rudy T. because it would be…

– too predictable
– everyone would see through it
– they already have ex-GM Carroll Dawson as a “consultant” that makes the organization already too top heavy
– JVG’s is not great at seeing the potential in young players
– a new head coach would not want to be bound to what JVG thinks should happen. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

However, this article from Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle suggests something like that may happen.

We’ll see how this drama unfolds in the next few days. Either way, it will be interesting to see if JVG says anything insightful about the situation Friday night on ESPN as he resumes his career as a television analyst.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 18th, 2007 at 2:09 am and is filed under Rockets' off-season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.