Is the loss of Sampson going to cost the Rockets in the Play offs?

I don't remember their record, but I think their worst stretch of the season(by their standard anyway) was when Kawhi Leonard was hurt.

 

Maybe lack of accountability by McHale? I think from a Defensive standpoint this late in the season, the team already knows what the coaches want on the defensive end, i would understand early in the season but not this late. Sampson appeared to me to be the type of coach who would get in the players faces when not executing. Lack of focus would be my main reason (obviously missing our top 2 defenders doesn't help)

 

I think if this was one of those questions that an interviewer posed to McHale after shootaround or after a game, he'd brush you off and say something like, "Hey, I've never seen Kelvin Sampson in the lineup yet this year! Gimme a break, the players just have to play defense. Next question."

 

It gets pretty embarrassing when night after night some scrub goes off for a career night against our putrid so called defense. They seriously need to address this issue in the off season because the team isn't going anywhere trying to outscore their opponents. Championship caliber teams just doesn't work this way. I'm terrified of the Corey brewers, jodie meeks, and james anderson's.

 

Knee jerk until sample size is larger. I think once Howard and Bev come back, we will be fine. We are trotting out only 3/5 of our lineup out there, Lin is slumping... again(?), and our SF/PF/C backups are complete garbage. Once Howard and Bev return, Lin will hopefully go back to the bench where he can focus on getting his mojo back to beat up on bench players and Asik and come off the bench to give us 48 minute of elite rim protection.

 

I'm a bit confused. Sampson hasn't left for UH already, has he? While I've seen the games, my life "outside" of the Rockets has been very busy lately, so perhaps I missed something. Why on earth would the Rockets allow Sampson to leave the Rockets coaching staff before the end of the season, including the playoffs? I don't believe it.

 

I think coaches can switch jobs or retire if they are not under contract. And I do feel Rox defense has dropped badly, missing players and defensive coach. I thought Sampson was known to help McHale in defensive schemes for the team. Certainly shows the poor results these past few games.

 

I remember a time when Sampson not being at a game made a subset of the fan base very happy.

Something about racism and not liking certain players.

But to answer the question, no I don't think him leaving makes much of a difference at all for the playoffs.

 

The new scapegoat for Jeremy Lin's poor play: the loss of Kelvin Sampson.

We didn't play defense against the Lakers or Nuggets in our wins but neither did they. We've had a few bad games defensively without Beverley and Howard, but I'm confident that with Beverley returning as soon as tonight our entire team will improve.

 

Have you seen McHale's post-game interviews? He never once blamed himself for the losses. Every time, he blame certain players or all the players, even for the wrongs they didn't do. If he can't even bring accountability to himself, You think he really will bring accountability to all players?

But I don't think Sampson is the main cause for bad defense last few games. Its really a combination of things everyone mentioned. We are just in a very bad combination of events currently. Once Dwight and Bev come back, we'll be able to better determine the cause.

 

Odd that I didn't catch that, or notice that he wasn't on the sidelines. I thought it possible that he might miss a game or two because of the hire, but that he wasn't committed to the Rockets through the end of the season didn't occur to me, and while I certainly am not surprised that he's allowed to escape his Rocket contract for a better position elsewhere, that he was allowed to leave during the season, or chose to leave before the end of the season because his contract allowed him to, stuns me. I'm shocked that his contract allowed that, and if it didn't, shocked that Morey let him leave early. Miss some games because of going to UH after the end of the season? Sure. Leaving now and not coming back to coach during the playoffs? Frankly, it pisses me off.

Any major disruption of the coaching staff is a huge deal for this young team. This is incredible. Thanks for the information.

 

Ox strong is gone and so is Sampson. Sad day.

 

I was being sarcastic with the Lin comment hence the wink. A decent amount of the points in the game would have been prevented with Beverley. Our PGs allowed their PGs to push the ball up court before our team could get back (or put in the effort to get back). This is somewhat visible in this clip but was obvious throughout the game. There were a handful of plays where Rubio beat Lin to the halfcourt. Beverley gives our team more time to set up on defense. I don't know exactly how much more time or if this is calculable but I'd assume this is one of the main +'s of his defense.

Although I'd like to put it all on Lin I can't this time. Harden did a lot of standing around in that clip, although I didn't see much "awful" defense as we had other players guarding Brewer for most of the game. Garcia is really overrated as a defender. Asik was a sieve in the paint and only played 24 minutes for some reason. Jones is not quick enough to guard 3s and got continually burnt last night. We need Beverley and Howard desperately. I don't think it's a coaching issue.

 

I see the GARM still thinks the sky is falling...

Surprise, surprise...

 

To call McHale a coach is really only a reference to the title that Morey gave him.

In all reality, McHale is not a natural coach. He is a work in progress. He has way too many deficiencies to be a consistently strong coach on both ends of the floor.

Losing Sampson will hurt us greatly as long as McHale is here. Sampson and JB run this team. The players know it. DM knows it.

McHale was one OF THE BEST PLAYERS of ALL TIME, but he is a mediocre coach. I think he seemed like a good choice for a coach at the time of his hiring because he was a RECOGNIZABLE name. We were rebuilding. We wanted some "names." Dwayne Casey wasn't a name that people recognize. Older generations, however, do remember the great player McHale was. Historically though, the best players don't do as well coaching. There are always exceptions, but I don't believe McHale is one of them. I won't deny that he has some good qualities as a coach, but so do the rest of the head coaches in this league. I can find great things about Larry Drew of the Bucks, even with their losing record. Does it really mean that he's a good coach?

Again, I'm not on the Rockets, so my opinion is only from a fan POV, but you cannot fault me for wanting a coach like Pop, Doc, Thibs and the underrated Carlisle in Dallas because they are PROVEN winners and have evidenced it on both ends on the floor, with their in-game substitutions and overall approach to coaching the game. But...apparently our superstars in Dwight and James "like" Coach M.

Is he a motivator? Allegedly, yes. The players seem to like his upbeat personality. Sweet. I don't believe every situation deserves that demeanor. I respect a stern, specific coach in critical moments, and at the same time, one that knows how to loosen the grip and allow his players to make decisions. There are MANY of those coaches in the league. McHale doesn't seem to have that balance. His huddles often seem like they are taken over by players and his voice isn't truly "heard." I'm not referring to the Jeremy-clipboard incident either. Just in general, you can see guys talking over him, and when I've sat courtside at a few games this year, you hear James/Jeremy/Chandler the most.

I can frame that as having leaders on this team, which is awesome, but when it comes down to a "coaching voice" that demands attention because the players trust and respect the advice, it doesn't seem like that's the reality here with our beloved Rockets.

A gain, I'll credit some of what he does in his timeouts and during the game. That's only fair. He's positive and, sometimes, he gets up and claps for his team to play harder. Those are qualities coaches should have.
He shouldn't be praised for doing things that ALL coaches should do.

McHale has coaching qualities that are praiseworthy. However, the few qualities he has do NOT mask the deficits that he brings to the bench.

I have really tried to give him a chance. I don't blame him for the losses most of the time, because this is really a player's game. But, I'm not an idiot and I have a strong understanding of the game. My opinion doesn't matter more than the next guy's, I guess, and in Morey's eyes, maybe McHale is doing a good job.

It's just my opinion that one of our GREATEST weaknesses as a team is our coaching, but our problems also come down to defense, injuries,etc...

I think McHale is an awesome person, a great human being and probably an amazing family man. But, when I separate all of that and and view him purely as a coach, he has a great deal to work on.

James is playing phenomenally, and you can't predict the future. Dwight is breaking down a bit, and we all know that the window to win it all is usually small unless you're the Spurs. Props to Pop.

We are built to win now, but that's only on the players' side. I think McHale needs a few more seasons to get it together.

I just don't know if our roster has the time.

So yes, Sampson will be missed, especially during this critical time. He greatly helped McHale and the team, esp. on defense.

Love ya'll, my real, loyal Rockets fans. Just another opinion. Support my Rox regardless.

Peace.

 

foul trouble

 

Kelvin Sampson is not Gregg Popovich. The team just needs to get healthy and motivated.