David Thorpe on the Rockets Draftees

[Carl Herrera]

David Thorpe discussed the NBA draft with Henry Abbott on ESPN's NBA Today podcast. The Rockets portion starts around the 16:40 mark:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8112547

David Thorpe does offseason and pre-draft training for pro hoops players and prospects. Among guys who trained with him are Kevin Martin, Courtney Lee and Marcus Morris.


Summary of Thorpe's thoughts:

1. He thinks the Rockets have deals coming. Doesn't understand how the picks help the team other than Royce White.

2. He thinks Lamb fits the team's need on the wing because (a)"Kevin McHale doesn't think Kevin Martin is good enough to help them win" (b) Courtney Lee is a restricted free agent, (c) Chandler Parsons is generally speaking a bad offensive player," (d) Budinger is gone, and (e) Kyle Lowry does not want to play with McHale.

3. But Lamb is an "antithesis of a Kevin McHale player." He thought Marcus Morris was a terrific player coming out of college, but he couldn't see the floor because "McHale thinks he stinks."

4. Lamb was engaged when UConn's offense was highly scripted with bunch of off-court action centered on him, he looked slack-jawed and distinstersted otherwise. He would fit within Adelman's offense, but McHale's offense didn't have those actions and was PG-centered with everyone just spreading the court. McHale also will not like Lamb's sleepy demeanor.

5. He thinks the value of the picks is to get a guy who clearly has big time NBA talent that makes him a good trade bait.

5. He likes the Royce White pick. He fits not only in terms of having a "warrior spirit" personality that McHale likes but also in terms of having a diverse skill set that makes him a fit anywhere-- always good to have a big who can play like a small.


6. The Terrence Jones picks is a head scratcher. He coasts sometimes, he doesn't really have a position and the team has a ton of PFs. Thorpe thinks Patterson was a better player and he didn't get a ton of time. Thinks McHale's gonna hate Jones. If McHale doesn't like you, he doesn't play you.

I have to think some of this stuff comes from Thorpe's conversations with Martin, Lee and Morris, so it's interesting to hear. Some of this stuff is just objective truth (like having many PFs). I am not sure whether Lamb and Jones will fit, but I wonder if McHale having these guys as rookies and having them in training camp will make it easier to work through the personality differences than it has been between McHale and the more veteran Martin. There's a bit of the step-mother/step-child thing going on with McHale replacing Adelman.


Your thoughts? What are "McHale-type players" and are the guys on the rosters them?

[tofu--]

McHale thinks Morris sucks? Wuh oh.

[mr. 13 in 33]

Originally Posted by Carl Herrera David Thorpe discussed the NBA draft with Henry Abbott on ESPN's NBA Today podcast. The Rockets portion starts around the 16:40 mark: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8112547 David Thorpe does offseason and pre-draft training for pro hoops players and prospects. Among guys who trained with him are Kevin Martin, Courtney Lee and Marcus Morris. Summary of Thorpe's thoughts: 1. He thinks the Rockets have deals coming. Doesn't understand how the picks help the team other than Royce White. 2. He thinks Lamb fits the team's need on the wing because (a)"Kevin McHale doesn't think Kevin Martin is good enough to help them win" (b) Courtney Lee is a restricted free agent, (c) Chandler Parsons is generally speaking a bad offensive player," (d) Budinger is gone, and (e) Kyle Lowry does not want to play with McHale. 3. But Lamb is an "antithesis of a Kevin McHale player." He thought Marcus Morris was a terrific player coming out of college, but he couldn't see the floor because "McHale thinks he stinks." 4. Lamb was engaged when UConn's offense was highly scripted with bunch of off-court action centered on him, he looked slack-jawed and distinstersted otherwise. He would fit within Adelman's offense, but McHale's offense didn't have those actions and was PG-centered with everyone just spreading the court. McHale also will not like Lamb's sleepy demeanor. 5. He thinks the value of the picks is to get a guy who clearly has big time NBA talent that makes him a good trade bait. 5. He likes the Royce White pick. He fits not only in terms of having a "warrior spirit" personality that McHale likes but also in terms of having a diverse skill set that makes him a fit anywhere-- always good to have a big who can play like a small. 6. The Terrence Jones picks is a head scratcher. He coasts sometimes, he doesn't really have a position and the team has a ton of PFs. Thorpe thinks Patterson was a better player and he didn't get a ton of time. Thinks McHale's gonna hate Jones. If McHale doesn't like you, he doesn't play you. I have to think some of this stuff comes from Thorpe's conversations with Martin, Lee and Morris, so it's interesting to hear. Some of this stuff is just objective truth (like having many PFs). I am not sure whether Lamb and Jones will fit, but I wonder if McHale having these guys as rookies and having them in training camp will make it easier to work through the personality differences than it has been between McHale and the more veteran Martin. There's a bit of the step-mother/step-child thing going on with McHale replacing Adelman. Your thoughts? What are "McHale-type players" and are the guys on the rosters them?

hes right on point with that

[JayGoogle]

Yeah...out of all the things wrong with the Rockets personally I worry about Mchale the most.

[DaDakota]

Ouch tough take on Moreys hand picked coach.

DD

[tehG l i d e]

McHales a hater

[RV6]

If true, thats horrible, because Mchale was suppose to be the coach who was more friendly with players...

[rezdawg]

Originally Posted by JayGoogle Yeah...out of all the things wrong with the Rockets personally I worry about Mchale the most.

Same here...I don't like what ive been hearing about him reccently.

[JayGoogle]

The scary part is, stuff like this can really put a dent in a players development.

Hopefully yeah...the summer league and training camp will help McHale understand the players more. If he's not going to like Lamb because of a laid back attitude then that sucks. That type of attitude never stopped Duncan.

[TEXNIFICENT]

What the hell is a Mchale-type player?

and

How many Mchale-type players did Mchale draft in Minnesota?

[Rockets Jones]

Houston, we have a problem! What's up with McHale's personality, if there's any truth to it, we better suck this season and fire his ass!

[Carl Herrera]

Originally Posted by TEXNIFICENT What the hell is a Mchale-type player? and How many Mchale-type players did Mchale draft in Minnesota?

Kevin Love and Kevin Garnett. Al Jefferson via trade. Not as many as he wanted due to the loss of draft picks to the cheating thing.

[Air Langhi]

Git Rid of McHale and get back Rick.

[TEXNIFICENT]

Originally Posted by Carl Herrera Kevin Love and Kevin Garnett. Al Jefferson via trade. Not as many as he wanted due to the loss of draft picks to the cheating thing.

So he managed to get two "Mchale Players" in how many years as a coach and executive?

[tofu--]

Originally Posted by RV6 If true, thats horrible, because Mchale was suppose to be the coach who was more friendly with players...

Actually didn't McHale make it clear that if Morey wants him to play certain players he would, which was the thing that caused Adelman to leave because he didn't want to compromise on the rotation?

[ArtV]

I'd give him 1 more year.

[AverageAgain]

Mchale players last in the nba for 3 yrs and flame out. Kevin McHale is god awful at asessing whethet a player is good or not...hence him trashing minnys roster full of garbage. I will never eeeeeeeeever understand hiring his wobbling ass as a head coach

[gah]

Inflexibility is a red flag, bc McHale is supposed to be more flexible in the first place I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. I do think Martin and him should work to get better results than last season, I hate to see his value plummeting to dead weight expiring contract.

[desihooper]

Sucks that Martin and Lowry got their feelings hurt.

Here are some interesting quotes from McHale in the paper this week:

Originally Posted by Kevin McHale I always said as a coach, your job isn’t to get along with everybody. Your job is to coach them hard. I don’t have a problem with Kyle. He may have a problem with me, but he better worry when I have a problem with him. If he has a problem with me, doesn’t like me, that doesn’t bother me very much. If I have a problem with him, he sits on the bench. That probably bothers him more. I’m, not even concerned about that.

And that's the God honest truth. The Coach controls the minutes, rotations, and philosophies. If you aren't as super-duper-star, you better learn how to roll with the punches and do what the coach asks you to do. Martin and Lowry aren't Kobe or LeBron or DWade. It's too bad that they think McHale doesn't like them, I guess they can go stand in the corner and complain that their pee pee hurts or something. Freaking earn your minutes and don't expect the coach to coddle you at all times.

Good grief, what a bunch of mental midgets - the whole lot of them! It's no wonder we only won playoff series with players who were mentally tough like Dream, Clyde, Kenny, Max, Horry, Elie, and then again when we had Yao, Shane, Scola, and Ron.

[Egghead]

McHale was a terrible hire, I hope he's done after this season.