That's because there is nothing to their argument, just the same tired "McFail!" Taunts and complaints that he does not treat Lin fairly. Meanwhile, the Rockets have one of the better records in the Western conference, despite working in a lot of new players and dealing with persistent injuries to key rotation players.
This is what someone who doesn't actually know anything about basketball thinks. A coach is a very important piece of the puzzle, sometimes more important than the players. They choose the style of a team, which players can play, how much minutes they play etc. People who know basketball, know why Mchale is not as good as Rick Adelman or Phil Jackson and his team. I coached basketball for years and I've had to change my style of coaching to fit the players that I have or I get the players that fit my style of coaching. There is a reason why the Rockets lose to lesser teams. Preparing your team to fight and letting them know that they can't just coast, is part of a coaches job. This team has no Identity right now, he needs to find it before midseason, teams with no identity do not do well in the playoffs. The things that the Rockets are not good at right now are due in most part, to poor Coaching. Hopefully he will get better or be replaced by Karl.
McHale suddenly got better after Beverley's injury forced him to play Lin more, to start and finish down the stretch.
But that comes with a cost. Have you seen how badly the Rockets bench has performed recently? Ideally Bev starts and Lin finishes. That also allows Lin to act as the backup shooting guard, where he performs quite nicely.
I haven't read all the posts but I must give the coaching staff credit for something. It seems like the plays they call out of timeouts all work this season. They may not always score but the play is well designed and executed which results in a good shot all the time. Props to them for taking a big stride forward in this area.
Rudy T, JVG, and Adelman also lost to lesser teams. Name me a coach that hasn't lost to a better team. This is another stupid meaningless Charles Barkley type quote.
As much as I hate to talk about Lin again... but isn't Lin succeeding by doing the Rockets coaches are telling him to do? I remember the prevailing sentiment last year against McHale was that he was "making Lin stand around and shoot 3s" which is "using Lin wrong." Now Lin's making game changing 3s where he's been spoting up, something you didn't see during Linsanity. Shouldn't McHale get credit for expanding Lin's game? Lin is now a much more complete player on offense. And on the subject of Lin's defense, isn't it true that he has improved since last year? Last year McHale switched in Douglas and Beverley numerous times for Lin to end games. Well, this year Lin's defense has improved, has it not? Again, doesn't this mean McHale's methods worked? All I remember hearing was how McHale was destroying Lin's confidence and that's what causing Lin's bad play. If Lin has persevered through that and improved, wouldn't that *gasp* means McHale's coaching succeeded?
The most annoying part about McHale's poor management of player rotations and minutes is his attitude about it - he defaults to this ridiculous line about how back in the day all the old-school ballers were just happy to be paid money to play basketball and how they would be on the court going 100% all the time. I would understand if this was just some sort of canned cliche response to random questions about this kind of thing (or player attitudes), but it seems like that's actually what he thinks, because it would explain his weird decisions. Guys don't need "rest" - the only reason to sub someone is for "match-up" or "strategy" purposes, so any break you get from the floor should be treated as icing on the cake, and trying to manage those breaks so that they aren't too long or too short is not part of the equation.
Good post. I like both McHale and Lin. And they are both improving at their jobs. Lin should be the starter, but I'm not worried about it. McHale will see it my way eventually
No one is as good as Phil Jackson. Adelman is a walking disaster on the Timberwolves. Knuckle pushups? What coach would ever condone such a policy??? Plus he has the best PF in the game, Kevin Martin and a serviceable center and is struggling to win at a .500 clip. What a joke. "The things that the Rockets are not good at right now" are due to the problems associated with the integration of 3 new players into the starting lineup and injuries. Nothing more. You say the team has no "identity" right now. What does that mean? Does it mean that you have little understanding and knowledge about the NBA and fall back on platitudes and pablum to make your point? Yeah, probably. The Rockets are 21-11. Savor it.
I think they just need a copy of birth certifate and social security? Or is this the eyeball test thingie? ARE ROCKETS ILLEAGAL ALIENS? DOES LIN HAVE A GREEN CARD??
Actually i don't think you know what a team identity is if you don't think the Rockets don't have just about the clearest Offensive identity in the whole league. The Rockets and everyone else know exactly what they try to do every game. They know who the Rockets 1st and 2nd options and who the 3rd, 4th and 5th options are at any given point in the game. The team knows exactly who the closers are and who the playmakers are. What exactly is your point about team identity because I don't think you know what it means.
I am a Coach, I have coached several years in the US Navy and I played basketball in High School. A "TEAM" Identity is when a team works collectively to achieve the same type of play style. Whether that style be to run and gun, like last year or to slow down and post up playing lock down defense. You can have a team Identity that likes to make extra passes or milk the clock. This identity suits your players and makes it easier for them to reach there potential. Last year a player who couldn't hit 3's or run would not have been good on the Rockets because the ROCKETS IDENTITY did not fit that players strengths. When you do not know your teams IDENTITY you get confused and when times get hard you scramble and have no idea what to do. Mchale needs say ok this is how we are gonna play because this is who we are right now and everyone needs to know there roles. I believe last years team over achieved because Mchale and his crew established that they were gonna run and shoot three's. This year the team has no identity much like the years after Yao got injured and was barely there. They were a team built for the post play of a big man without the big man, thats a major reason why in 2011 I was saying the same thing and asking for the team to be blown up. Are we run n gun? Are we a slow it down, feed it to the post team? Are we a half court primarily pick and roll, DRIVE and kick team? right now the team doesn't know and they need to find out by midseason, what their go to is, what is our major strength and what style of play highlights the strengths of our players. To me we play best when Dwight is in the post and we consistently make cuts to the basket so that he can find open shooters and cutters for easy baskets and layups. That should be the first thing we do every game. But often times we just throw up contested shots and play one on one ball and the WHOLE league knows that.
Actually your the one being rude and childish. I'm not gonna back off what I said or be bullied just because you have never heard the term TEAM IDENTITY used before.
So, you are saying that there is a such thing as a team identity? I'm lost at what you guys are arguing here. Also, what is their identity?
