For all your talk about talent, I just have to ask what the fudge happened to the Lakers this season? Talent will only get you so far, Lakers had talented players, even with Nash down most of the season but they only barely got into the playoffs and without Dallas missing Dirk for much of the season, either Houston or LA probably wouldn't have made it. Heck, conspiracy theories are abound about how much swung the Lakers way including Houston's collapse down the stretch to get them into the playoffs. What about Portland? There is no doubt Aldridge and Batum are star caliber players on the rise and so is Lillard. Yet for all the talent they have now they failed to make it and in previous seasons where they had Roy, Aldridge, Gerald Wallace, Fernadez and a host of other players they still never got far. I'm not saying a coach can win without talented players but I will say talented players can't win without the right coach.
Well said. And a technically good coach who also knows how to prevent or cure a cancer would be great. There aren't many in the league, PJ is one.
Those losses against Suns have come back to bite us in the butt. We wouldn't have played Thunder and got swept if we won a couple more games. All this is down to Mcfail being incompetent. Dude easily lost us 6-7 games which we shouldn't have lost if our head coach was anyone not named Mcfail.
Just wanted to add to this. Talent is only important if used right. As for Lakers case, they are not used right. D'Antoni is a average coach. He only have 1 system and he expect players to fit into his system. Unfortunate, players have strength and weakness, you cannot expect players just fit into your existing system. You have to adjust your system to the player's strength and weakness. Pop and Woodson are example of great coach. They work with what they have. Their systems evolve around their players, not their players around their systems. If you just talk about raw talents, there are many teams have more talented players than these two veteran (old) teams, but look at where they are, they clinched 2nd seeds.
Those defending McFail are clueless. Rockets reached the playoffs in spite of McFail not because of him. And to compare Adelman to McFail is even more ludicrous.
That's right, how could we forget. This was a 55 win team that was hijacked by this coaching staff, possibly in a failed attempt to get a lottery pick. There may need to be an investigation.
Man to think, the Rockets could have had 55 wins if not for McHale. Imagine if we had not traded Patterson and had a competent PG. Could 65 wins have been possible?
To all the posters saying the Rox could have been a 50+ team this year are probably exaggerating just a tad. However, the Rox aren't just Harden and a bunch of scrubs. As the season progressed I truly believe the coaching cost the Rox games throughout the season and I feel Rox could have won around 50 games. Rox still need one more legitimate star (whether on roster or through acquisition) to be a contender but Rox had enough talent to not finish in 8th spot. Experts started consistently listing the Rox as a top 10 team in the league as season went forward. The fact is Rox collapsed for the second season in a row under McHale and that's a problem that can't be ignored or excused.
There are tons of things going on behind the scene that we average fans wont know about. How is the coaching staff ulilitize the players to their best strength? How do they come up with game plan best suited with the talents they got? Who is better with whom on the floor playing which game plan? Developing players? Coaching control of his talent pool? etc...... Ultimately, the GM has to evaluate based on the pieces given has the coaching staff used it in its fullness. Personally, I dont think we have the pieces to contend this year, so the coaching staff is doing a above average job. I doubt Morey has us entering playoffs with any expectation of winning first round. we are 1 to 2 star players away and a coach that can coach. There are coaches that can win you titles and there are players that can. We got none of those.
lol this. Players haven't reached their potential yet (including Lin and Harden), and McHale has made questionable decisions this season. But we made playoffs when we were projected to be like bottom 5, with the youngest team in the league with no real training camp. Looking at how this team has progressed together, I think a lot of people would agree this team is definitely capable of making a 50 win season.
I hope you're trolling because that comment is completely delusional. You do know that the Miami Heat barely got 65 wins right? And the record for most games won is 72 by Jordan and the Bulls. But why wouldn't a team with a bunch of first year starters and rookies match that right?
