Mchales philosophy of playing time being earned and not given is what has this team 16-11...Adelmen likes to play his favorites MORE minutes if they're struggling in hopes they find their groove...to the detriment of the team he'll keep trotting out the same players expecting a different result. Mchale doesn't play favorites and seams more willing to mix things up. Mchale has even gotten Bud, Patterson, and even Hill....players who were weak links...have now become strengths. Adlemen was also slow to change rotations...the game would easily get out of hand.. or if the bench is playing we'll he would replace them with his favorites who are playing poorly..Mchale will ride the bench to a win..if they are out performing starters.
I think you argued before that the only the reason the Rockets won close to half their games last year was Adelman. Our GM sucks, the new coach sucks, and our talent sucks was pretty much your opinion, right? How do you reconcile that with us currently being 16-11? Every player on the team has had their slumps this year, like last year, so you can't attribute it to that.
I think Adelman is a better coach, better at getting the most out of his players, but McHale seems to be a better motivator, and is growing on me as a coach. Love Adelman, am liking McHale more and more. DD
this thread is unnecessary McHale has been coaching for what 3 seasons vs 20+ for Adelman both are great coaches tho
I agree DD. I think Adelman is the better coach, and I was shocked when we hired Mchale. Now I have warmed to him, and really like his strategy as for as playing hard to earn playing time. That within itself is motivation.<p>I didn't want to start a new thread, but looking at the standings got me thinking. I know this may be way too early, but do you think Mchale can win "Coach of the Year". Here me out..... If the standings stay consistent with where they are now (in both conference) and we finish in the top 4 in the West and only 3-5 games out of first, could Mchale win it. No teams record is heads above another (Chicago & OKC slightly, but we expected them to be up there), and most of the top teams have superstars (OKC, LAC, CHI, MIA, SAS). If the standings stay where they are right now and CHI & OKC don't run off and win their conference by 10+ games, I feel the top coaches for the award would be McHale, Frank Vogel (IND), and Doug Collins (PHI). Thoughts
Besides team winning record, McHale holds his players accountable, and can play more young players when needed, and bench those bad vet players when they are looking embarrassing (like Martin). McHale is the man.
I don't think Adelman would have this team at 16-11. At the same time, I don't think McHale could have taken the Rockets on a 22 game win streak a few years ago or pushed the Lakers to 7 games without Yao. They are both good with their own strengths and weaknesses. I think McHale fits better with Morey's philosophy.
This thread is funny in how differently people can view things in just a few months. No more venomous diatribes against the Rockets management for hiring a lame duck yes man nor talking about McHale as the most horrendous coach in the history of history.
Give me Mchale over Rick all day. Mchale does not play favorites and will sit you if you are not getting the job done. Removing Bud from the starting lineup and then not playing him all to together. Last three games he has not played Martin really since he is useless if he is not scoring. Right now at this time with Rick we would be 500 or under because he will be trying to find a rotation. Mchale really does not have one he just plays you if you are getting it done. Oh yeah Defense.
Did anyone else catch the Kevin McHale interview this morning on that national show that used to be heard in Houston? He talks about old school NBA and his approach to coaching. He also mentions the Lakers/Celtics rivalry. Here is the audio: http://takebox.stucknut.com/?id=17b0
What would be the basis for this? Most of the victories were due to bench players like Lee or Dragic playing out of their minds, that wouldn't have happened under RA because he always pulls the bench in favor of the starters. Secondly, Hill and Dalembert have some space cadet blood running in them, no way RA could have gotten the two play like they did this season. Of course the flipside is I don't think Mchale could have coached the Wolves team, but for the currents Rockets team, Mchale is definitely the better coach. Saying otherwise is just relying on Adelman's "HOF" rep and disregarding his disconnect from Space cadet guys like Hill and Dalembert.
Thank you for this; it was excellent. I really don't feel qualified to judge one NBA coach over another, both I am sure, are heads and shoulder above me in basketball knowledge. One thing I guess everyone can comment on is whether they enjoy watching the type of team that is out on the floor. It was entertaining to watch the Rockets offense of the last couple years, when it was clicking it was a thing of beauty. When it was not, we were not in the fight. I should have counted the number of times McHale used the term "fight" in this interview. What this years team has is some fight to them, something we have not had in a long, long time. We spent years trying to play textbook defense followed by years of finesse offense. I don't know where McHale is going to take this team, but it feels right. Maybe it is just me.
These last five games are enough to induce projectile vomiting, but the season as a whole looks like it will be about the same as the last couple. New coach, drop off in personnel, worst case would be to suspend judgement until next year.
Huh? The Rockets have basically the same winning percentage they have had the last few years with Adelman at the helm. The issue is talent, not so much coaching at this point.
The results with a squad with similar talent as last year are eerily similar. Both coaches seem to have over-achieved, if anything.
Considering we still ended up with a better record than the Wolves I don't know why you're complaining about Mchale. If we had Adelman we would have an even worse record: T-wolves: 26-38 Houston: 31-32
