Wow. Makes PERFECT sense of something I saw in the game yesterday. Towards the end, Harden had switched, and made a play, ball was out of bounds and Sacto possession coming up again. Harden walks towards the bench, looks over to McHale and asks him what to do defensively (maybe whether the switch was the right thing?) - McHale says something, and Harden runs back to his man.
I'm not saying Coach K is a bad defensive coach, but when has Duke been a lockdown defensive team like the Rockets? Also, how many other Rockets, who are all playing great defense and far better defense than last year, played for Coach K in the offseason? McHale is a better coach than haters give him credit for.
Tom Thibodeau was the defensive coordinator for Team USA, he designed and ran the defense, quite literally
Pretty much. But don't give Thib too much credit for turning around Harden and the Houston defense. I believe what we are seeing is complete player dedication to defense, from Harden to the deep end of the bench. That is McHale and his coaching staff. If it lasts throughout the season that is going to be one dangerous Rockets team come play off time.
TR Dunn is named after President Theodore Roosevelt. Kevin McHale is named after an actor on Glee. Of course TR commands the players' respect and McHale does not.
What? As if McHale is not respected. Christ, Howard listed McHale as a reason to leave $20M on the table to come to Houston. Please make some sense Carl.
I know Carl loves chaos and baiting other posters. I appreciate that. But sometimes he is just so perpendicular.
Interesting thing is that Chicago so far has been pretty average on defense. Just goes to show you that coaches can coach all they want, in the end the players are still responsible for their effort and capability. The Rockets defense not breaking with Dwight’s injury is pure effort. That I have to give credit to McHale, although our offense I also have to discredit McHale, because I do feel we’re not trying to manufacture more good shots than we’re capable of.
I'm sure that would be true even if we didn't have James Harden, LOL. That's like saying, I know you guys have a young Michael Jordan but I'm really here for Doug Collins, lol. Last time Rockets defense was this good T.R. Dunn was a coach here.
Actually the last time the Rockets defense was this good JVG was the head coach here. Adelman and his coaching staff lorded over an incredible decline of the Rockets defense. Historic one might say.
I guess my refusal to give coach McHale credit for the dramatic turnaround in team defense can be interpreted by some as "hating", but in reality, it isn't really hating it's just my opinion. I base my opinion from the fact that it's much easier to be a good defensive team when ALL five players on the court play help defense, something this team has not been know for in the past couple of years under McHale's leadership! Harden's refusal to play defense under coach McHale is no secret, and there is a nice video on youtube that shows this perfectly! If coach McHale somehow was able to change Harden's attitude on defense then he deserves kudos for finally getting though to him, but I personally have my doubts this actually happened! As far as the rest of the players playing better defense, you'd be surprised how everyone fall's in line when the alpha dog (Harden) starts leading the pack! Also having Ariza with us this year can't be overstated, he's been huge for us this year, not only with his one on one defense but his ability to cover a greater area around him (help defense)! Regardless, I'm happy for the turnaround, and I hope it continues all year! GO ROCKETS!!! ....... ....... .......
Isn't remarkable how Houston's defense went from the 5th in the league to the 17th, to the 19th and finally to the 16th during Adelman's and Dunn's tenure? And that Adelman inherited the the 2nd ranked defense in the NBA in his first season? IMHO it is much more than coincidence. Adelman completely blew apart JVG's defense. Period. But hopefully you knew that response was coming.
Adeleman added a more robust offense in which you lose some defense, overall we were a better team and I truly believe, that we would've won it all in 2009 had Yao not gone down. Once Yao and Tracy went down and Artest left we really lost confidence and the defense fell. Talent can get you to the playoffs, but talent alone won't simply allow you to win you need strategy and teamwork. The difference is Mchale had the talent and still could not create a good defense until T.R. came back, that's not a coincidence my friend.
I thought this matter was settled. Dunn was hired the day the fall practices commenced. The focus and defensive system was already in place. Read it and weep. And don't bring that weak **** again, http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9364019&postcount=99 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9364583&postcount=111
