I have to admit I have been back and forth about how I feel about McHale. I look at other coaches and sometimes how he just let's the game flow and I get frustrated. On the other hand I feel like he can superstars to listen to him. We did not get to where we are by accident. He is a players coach for sure but can he take us to the promise land. This article gives some oversight to that. I sometimes wonder if his greatest assets is getting drastically different personalities like a Dwight Howard and a James Harden to over look their difference and simply play for the team. This is far from a fire McHale thread. I would like to hear others prospective on the pros and cons of McHale. I don't think the fire McHale crew has put enough thought into this. He has taken of deeper in the playoff's then anyone else besides Rudy T who if you remember was also a players coach. Rudy was not a X's and O's guy and he had a lot of the same language like McHale talking about heart, effort, and juice/ energy. Just so food for thought. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rockets-respond-mchales-old-school-coaching-approach-065610662--nba.html
Yeah Mike, but you do realize when everything is said and done, any result that is not winning one or two championships with the talent of Howard and Harden should be considered a failure.
Steve Kerr called more timeouts to stop us from getting with 20 points, than McHale did to do anything. Translation: Yes, we're being outcoached again
''I felt like I was talking to an actual player,'' Harden said. ''Obviously he's won championships so he knows what he's talking about. So my ears are just locked in and focused in on what he's saying.'' So then why don't you play harder? (clap clap)
Another interesting thing: if Cav and GS play in the final, they have something in common - Rookie head coaches... Makes you wonder how much impact Mchale really have on our "success" this season given that not many teams have 2 superstars like we do.
But... The only reason why we're getting beat is not because of talent, but because our coach sucks, right? Our injury-ridden roster earning the 2nd seed in the toughest conference in modern NBA history = McHale gets no credit Our team losing in the Western Conference Finals = all McHale's fault ???
Rudy was a great Xs and Os guy, Larry Brown even said Rudy had one of the best basketball minds he ever worked with. DD
There are 30 teams in the league. Harden&Howard is not better than Curry+Thompson+rest, Kyrie+Bron+Love, Durant+Westbrook, etc. So saying they have to win a championship is wrong in my eyes.
Rudy t was great overall coach, his team's offense changed based on personnel. Oh who do you think put horry at 4 and made him jack up 3s?
I am not saying this year. Not what I was saying. When the end of Harden and Howard comes, Dwight will remember why he chose Houston. Because of the good possibility of 'Winning Championships'. Depending on that he will recall whether his decision was the right one.
I never really considered him a great Xs and Os guy. Most of what I remember was throw it into the post to Hakeem, wait for double team, then kick it out for a 3. Or iso Franchise/Cat/Norris, wait for double team, and kick it out for a three.
I read somewhere that that HOU team via Rudy T pioneered in the strategy of surrounding our big with outside shooters. We shot the most 3s in NBA history up to that point. From then on, other teams followed suit.
I think he sort of invented the inside out game. That should count for something. Well, the inside out game existed before Rudy, but he took it to the extreme and it was very effective. I don't know if Rudy was an Xs and Os genius. But he certainly was good at maximizing his star players. He understood the strengths and weaknesses of his main guys and exploited their strengths and hid their weaknesses as much as possible. Steve Francis was a very flawed player. Rudy knew how to made him into one of the top players at the time.