That is not the only "serious" competition he has faced, he has won in the D-league, which to be quite honest if more important for coaching in the NBA. Having said that, the Rockets coaching situation, like every other team in the league, is fluid. Finch is close with Morey, but that does not mean he will ever be the Rockets head coach. Many issues go into selecting a head coach, so timing is everything. Rudy T was not going to be the Rockets HC until Dawson became ill. Greg Popovich was a surprise in Spurs. Brian Shaw was assumed to be the Lakers heir to Phillip Jackson. It is just the way it is.
Just a word about the German league (which actually is pretty bad itself compared to the real good european leagues) - the team he was coaching, the Gießen 46ers, is actually a pretty poor team that, as far as I know, has never won anything or competed for a championship. In Germany there are a handful of teams that are fighting for the championship each season and Gießen is more a middle to bottom of the pack team. So don`t read too much into that statistic.
Good point but the D-League is hardly a good example as there are no big names to coach/manage there. Coaching an NBA team is more about that and a young coach who never played in the NBA or won big titles is unlikely to be respected by the top players. Kevin McHale for sure is and, if successful, may as well keep his job for a lot longer.
Gießen has won more than a handful of championships, but it's been a long time since they have been relevant, yes. I'm not sure there's much purpose looking at this since we really don't know anything about the strength of his team or the league at that time -- I should know, but I honestly can't remember -- but Gießen went 11-15 the season before Finch got hired and 18-12 the season after he got fired. Fich went 4-13. Doesn't make him look too good, I suppose, but again, I wouldn't put much, if any weight into that.
Macedonia were not in the Olympics. What games are you referring to? Yup, this was a bad game for GB and Mills was on fire, going off for 39. Having zero point guard play means that its hard to infer how much you can blame Finch. Last time I checked, three pointers were a legitimate tactic, especially in the international game with the slightly closer line. This is the second time they have come extremely close to beating Spain though, so at some point you have to give him some credit as a coach. Here is a clip that shows what Finch is all about: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mL-Hfsq9BaQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I don't know who's saying that. But to imply that he's complete garbage because he hasn't won anywhere, has only coached in bogus leagues and failed as GB head coach is far off the mark. P.S. Paragraphs are your friend.
Well, Macedonia were not given a free place at the Olympics regardless of their 4th place at the EuroBasket (GB finished 13th!), The games I refer to were qualification games etc...it is OK to score 3's from well organised offence, not add-hock off the dribble and chaotic as GB did. Anybody who ever played the game can see the difference,this is why it never really worked for them and they never beat anyone decent. As far as playing a 38 year old guard, this was Finch's decision as he cut 2 guards, one of them is the biggest talent GB has for the future. This is one more reason for the guy to be critisized so much in the press. And the game with Australia - isn't that a coaching responsibility to make sure that a "hot" player is not allowed to shoot freely for 20 minutes? Finch looked out of place and in shock himself - this was the most embarassing performance of any Great Britain team at the Olympic Games (as announced on TV!).
I just wanted to add that I have nothing against Finch as our assistant - let the guy learn his way around the league. My problem is that someone like him is being pumped up as the next big thing in coaching by a few fans here when actually there are many other guys that are way ahead but constantly criticized- McHale and Sampson are just two of them.
Really liked this fake pick&roll flare screen the Rockets went to against the Raps on one possession when the earlier set had broke down. Rockets generally bring the screener from the weak-side. This time they faked the pick&roll and set a flare screen for Douglas on the weak-side slot instead. Good recognition and well executed. Amir Johnson was already getting in position to hedge/contain. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/loreBfrhe5I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I still think at times the offense is a little too stagnant and there isn't quite enough player movement, but the Rockets are up there with the best of them taking advantage when the defense is overloading.
I remember this one. This was when Casey took out Ed Davis near the end of 2nd and the Rockets were able to get whatever the heck they wanted against the "normal" Raptor "defense" without Davis. Also helped a lot was Davis's sub was Linus "Airballs for Jesus" Kleiza, who kept chucking clankers. McHale had 2 whole screens set on Calderon at the beginning of the game, called a quick timeout apparently to "make an adjustment" not to set another screen on arguably the worst PnR defender in the history of the NBA until midway through the 3rd. It's pure negligent genius. I have no idea how dumb Amir & company fell for that one. They haven't set a real screen on Calderon for a quarter and a half by that point.
Just wanted to bump this thread to see people's thoughts on Finch. IIRC, Rockets FO (and some fans) were very high on Finch and his offensive coaching style. I haven't really seen any alterations in our offense pre and post coaching change. Is Finch just a puppet? Is he actually a good offensive mind? Has he made any changes?
