I've had my doubts about McHale before, and this thread won't get as long as the "Fire McHale" thread, but I got to give the guy props. Don't know why the announcers were so clueless; by the second or third replay it was pretty clear Randle had a broken leg by the way it was flopping. McHale and the Rockets bench, being closeby, probably heard him cursing in pain. To see the old Celtic get up on his bad leg and hobble fast to mid-court to call for a timeout almost made me forgive him for all his prior coaching mistakes. Very classy move, way to stand up for another big fighting in the paint like McHale did in his youth. And taking the lead like that, for an opposing player, completely deflated all the silly bad blood between Kobe and Dwight, which otherwise would have continued to simmer, even as the players all naturally focused their concerns on the young rookie. Well done coach. You get a 5 game reprieve from second-guessing from this quarter.
I didn't realize McHale called a time out after the 1st ft. If so, that is a classy move. Props to McHale for that!
The announcers seemed pretty unaware of the injury. They had Randle on screen for a long time, dragging himself off slowly, and were just talking about DMo going to the foul line. In the background you can see McHale watching Randle and then getting up like "the Lakers don't realize what happened" and start going mid-court waving someone towards him (the ref I guess).
I'm guessing you didn't read the first post but that's cool. No sticky ball is something to celebrate as well.
I don't have a screen capture utility on this computer but if someone has BallStreams it's at about the 2:32:00 time mark.
On the TNT telecast, they mentioned some of the Rockets players came to console Randle too. The NBA is one of the few sports where a lot of the players are tight with one another. Nice to see McHale did that. Throwback player and coach right there.
I thought he did a good job on his rotations. He played his vets more, figuring the young guys would be nervous this 1st game of the season. Still had garbage time for the youngsters to play. I also liked Harden and Howard taking turns on the court.
It is amazing how hobbled up McHale is. Just the residue of a rough style in a rough era, or is there something else going on?
Fairly certain he was the one that alerted the Lakers bench or officials that Randle was seriously hurt. When the camera goes to Randle sitting on the sideline, you can clearly McHale motioning for someone to come over and check on him
No, that is it. He broke his foot in the playoffs and played anyway, doing permanent damage. Guy played for a team I hated and is a coach I wish the Rockets would let go -- but he is one of my favorite players in history, and one I wish I could have rooted for. I would love to add a guy with that much toughness and heart to this Rockets team...especially a power forward. edit -- ninja'd by ~chandlerparsons.
