It took Josh Smith telling Mchale to bench him in favor of TJ.. I guess Mchale was waiting for Ty to tell him the same?
Not sure why they would be worried about perception at this point. If Harden is going to get McHale fired eventually he's going down anyways. Might as well try anything you can. Would Morey step in and say no? I don't think so but who knows. Worst that can happen is Harden pouts and asks for a trade which you surely don't have to do.
It clearly starts and ends with Harden. Until they can get him going, this team isn't going anywhere.
The difference between McHale and other coaches is that when the other coaches say "we need to make a change", I instantly think "oh good, finally we'll start to accomplish something." When McHale says that... I can't help but wonder if it will be good or bad.
There's actually not much else Mchale can do at this point. He already shuffles the front court lineup. His last thing to do is the backcourt if it's true
Benching Harden is insanity and a risk not worth taking... The only way this season could get any worse is if he quits on the team and demands a trade.
I think Harden needs to be surrounded by the best possible defensive players we can get on the floor. Like AI's Sixers. That means no time with Lawson until they can gel offensively to the point of potency. A Lawson/Harden PnR should be lethal but it isn't being done. Let Lawson and Dwight team up with Thornton as a release valve. Dmo can't return soon enough. He gives us so much of what is needed: Excellent positional defense, outside shooting, clever passing and efficient post play. I like Jones, but if Harrell can hit a consistent 15-18 footer, which he's shown he can do I don't think Jones is needed (as well as he's played).
It doesn't matter if Lawson is benched. Harden plays so many minutes that most of Lawson's minutes will be in the court wiht Harden still. It needs to be done what every coach does aroudn the league by holding his players accountable. If Harden does three consecutive terrible defensive mistakes, bench him. Same for the others. Control their playing time to motivate them. Hold double hard practices of 2.5 hours each like it's training camp. And in all those hours only practice defences.
“Dwight (Howard) and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets,” “The rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team. We’ve lost some pieces and added some pieces. I think we’ll be fine next season.” you don't bench cornerstones.. now, if the current setup is not working, its on morey and mcfail . they need to get their act together and get the man & DH some long overdue help!
I saw them call "floppy" several times tonight. The hand signal for floppy is moving your hand side to side like you're telling someone to move out the way.
Nothing sends a message like a trade. Lawson tradesd for scraps to dump him says this ain't about friendships, this is about Championships! Now get serious!
the team was up 15 before the collapse to end the 2nd quarter. the team was then tied before the epic collapse into the 4th. these collapses have been a very regular recurring pattern in each of mchale's 4+ seasons here as coach, regardless of who has been on the floor for him. before lawson got here, and before harden even got here. with bev on the floor, with terry on the floor -- collapses galore. mchale can tinker with his lineups till the cows come home, but it won't change the fact that this team desperately needs direction on offense and defense regardless of which players are out on the floor.
Enough damn small ball. Jones or Harrel at pf, Ariza, Dwight or Capela. Starting backcourt of Harden at point and Thornton at scoring guard. Thornton is a good rebounding guard and certainly no worse than TY. No brainer. Hopefully Lawson does not lose it when benched.
