Dec. 24, 2014 Less than halfway into Kevin McHale's fourth season as coach, the Rockets had seen enough to know they wanted more. The Rockets on Wednesday locked up McHale with a three-year extension worth close to $13 million largely to keep him from becoming a coaching free agent. "We didn't want anybody else going after him," owner Leslie Alexander said. "We think he's an integral part of the organization. "He is a no-nonsense guy with the least ego of anybody I've ever met. We thought he'd be great long-term." "We thought he was a good coach before this, but I think he's taken a step up this year with the way the defense has come around," Alexander said. "He has given the assistant coaches the ability to improve the team as well as himself. He runs his part of the organization perfectly. "Players love him. He has that rare ability to be straight-forward and honest and tough, but at the same time, it's sort of like brotherly love. Almost nobody can do that. He can. The players around the league love him. The whole league loves him." Harden said he was unaware that McHale was in the final season of his contract but said the extension was great news. "Ever since I've been here, Mac's been helping me. Obviously, he's a player coach. He lets us play and make our mistakes and learn from him. We're happy to have him back and extended for three years. I guess the organization, the front office, is happy with the progression and how he coaches. We love him as a coach. He's won titles (as a player). He knows a winning mentality, and he brings that to us. "We're happy he's here. He just works. He lets everything take care of itself. That's what I've learned from him. I don't worry about what's going on. I just worry about working and getting better and focus on what I control." 11 months later, Nov. 18, 2015 Rockets owner Leslie Alexander, seeking a "new voice and someone to turn the team around," fired coach Kevin McHale on Wednesday, just 11 games into a season that began with championship aspirations but instead started with waves of lopsided losses. McHale, less than a year removed from leading the Rockets to their best season in nearly two decades and landing a new contract, lost the confidence of his players, and Alexander didn't think the coach would get it back. "The team was not responding to Kevin McHale," Rockets coach general manager Daryl Morey said. "We had to make the tough call, and we had to make it soon. There is no time in the tough Western Conference to wait for a turnaround." "The team was obviously not responding - on offense, on defense - they weren't playing hard," Alexander said. "It continued for a while. I considered four or five games losing by 20 points something we can't take here. I've never seen my team in the 23 years (as owner) play as poorly and with less effort. "I'm not attributing it to the coach. I'm attributing it to circumstances. Who knows whose control it is? But I had to do something to make a change. It couldn't keep going on like this. Do I want to watch us lose over and over and over again?" "We know this team can win at a very high level," Morey said. "That team was still being put together. Second, it's not just losing. It's not just 4-7. It's the way we're losing, by how much, by how the team is responding. All those things go into a very tough decision, but I obviously believe was the right decision. "If you're a team coming off a Western Conference finals run and you're a team with mostly the same group, it was not working. We will change until it's working. "Mr. Alexander does not accept losing. I don't accept losing. The players, no one accepts losing. We've been the fifth-most winning franchise since Mr. Alexander has owned the team. We're going to do whatever it takes to win." "We're building around James Harden and Dwight Howard," Morey said. "We know they're winners. We know we can win with them. I'm not concerned with them. "We're just trying to win. You have to have stars to win in the NBA. We need everyone to respond. It's not about stars. The team was not responding." "We were starting to address some of the issues that were the reason I was let go," McHale said. "We just weren't playing with any juice, with any rhythm. We haven't been able to get the problems solved. "We probably had more meetings in the last six weeks than in my previous four years here. It wasn't working. We got off to a terrible start to the season. I would have obviously liked the opportunity to solve the problems. But I've been in the position (as a general manager) to have to let people go. They are trying to do what they think is best for the organization." "This was very tough," Morey said. "The bottom line is we believe in this team. We believe in the players we have. We know this team can win. We aren't in a good place. We're going to make changes until we win. That's the bottom line. "We had to make the tough call of what is the best thing to be done to get our season on track. I'm very confident we can turn this around." Alexander was not so sure. His confidence left with the coach he showed the door. "I won't have confidence until it happens," Alexander said. "I'm not confident right now, no. How can I be confident?"
MDA extension... a commitment to "seasons to cherish - even without a championship..." ....smh.... he's a Marty Schottenheimer...
Remember what Les Said about McHale... "We wanted to lock him up so no one would have a chance at him"
If you're committed to James Harden, and you've found a coach who fits well with him, and you're winning at a high rate ... it's not hard to make this call. People who made or are making a commitment: Harden Paul Morey D'Antoni People who didn't or haven't: Bzdelik Gordon House
So he 'thinks' he can coach at a 'high level' for as many years (3) that James Harden is under contract of course he thinks he can, because his whole strategy is 'give the ball to Harden and let him do everything'. He can't coach at a high level though, he can't even call timeouts properly. Right now we need a real coach. Not someone like McHale who is a terrible coach in all facets of professional basketball, and not someone like MDA who knows exactly how to ride his stars coat-tails. We need a real coach. For once, please get us a real coach. One who can manage in games, one who has balanced offensive and defensive schemes, one who actually coaches. I'm not expecting a Pop, theres only so few Pops in the world, but there are plenty of legitimate coaches out there. We had one in Bzdelik, he should have been convinced to head coach. We need a real coach like that.
Looking forward to just playing our game @kjayp No timeouts/adjustments @tinman 7-man rotations "We'll/He'll be fine."
The article doesn’t say that. It says Mike has told the rockets he wants to do an extension and the rockets haven’t made clear what type of commitment they are willing to make. I for one hope we do sign him to an extension. Some of y’all are ridiculous with your line of thinking. The idea that the rockets should be better than they are is hilarious
Some of you guys ..... MDA has worked wonders with James and challenged the Warriors (an all time great team) to the point they need help from Adam Silver and his minions.
This. The Rockets have been the second best team in basketball the last couple of years... and they haven’t been the second most talented team. MDA has flaws, but he runs the offense and keeps the team chemistry good. MDA isn’t the reason the Rockets lost to the Warriors, and MDA isn’t the one that allowed back picks.
Holly ****. This is deja vu all over again. Reminds me of the McHale extension after lillard sent us home in the first round.
