McHale's offensive philosophy shaped by Morey, his own beliefs, or personnel?

LOL they used to say this about Billy Beane and Moneyball. Art Howe went to the Mets after winning the division with the A's and the Mets stayed horrible.
Fact is, coaching basketball is not rocket science. Traditionally, coaches have been ex players or basketball "lifers." Not necessarily the most intelligent people out there. The NFL has been using brainiac head coaches will little to no high level football playing experience for years. About time the NBA caught up.
Playing ability does not equal coaching ability. I'd rather have brainiacs develop a team's playing philosophy than some ex jock.

 

I think playing with pace comes from the top, from Alexander. It's his vision and his preference. How that has been implemented does seem to come from D Morey, coaching staff, as well as being dictated by personnel, inexperience, etc.

This article was posted in earlier, but it's right on point. http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2012/12/running-to-wins-was-rockets’-plan-all-along/

"Running to wins was Rockets’ plan all along
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 8:03 pm by Jonathan Feigen in General, Houston Rockets, Rockets

There seemed to be no way Rockets owner Leslie Alexander could know how his team would play, given that at the time, he had almost no idea who would be on the team.

But Alexander was determined and in a position to expect to get his way. Last season had barely ended when he said the Rockets of this season would run. He could not name them, but he was certain that whoever wore his uniforms and received paychecks with his name on them would play faster than his teams ever had.

Reminded that he had made such proclamations for years, Alexander made it clear this time the topic was not up for discussion.

“Oh, we will run,” he said with a tone that sounded much more like an edict from the corner office than a prediction.

Through 26 games and nearly as many roster moves, the Rockets run more than any team in the NBA, winning more often than Alexander expected when they do and standing little chance when they do not. They did not shape the roster to fit the owner’s wishes, choosing to go with the NBA’s youngest team for other reasons, but that has made it even more imperative that they do what the boss wanted.

“I definitely wanted this team to run,” Alexander said. “I think running is the future of this league. I’ve thought so for many years. When we hired Kevin (McHale in June 2011), he was on board, and I knew he was ready to do it. I don’t think personnel matters. I think anybody can run if they buy into it, and this team has bought into it.”

Alexander has preferred this style for so long that general manager Daryl Morey said, “I think it’s been Mr. Alexander’s vision since 1994.”

The championship-era Rockets were much more halfcourt-oriented, with Alexander’s blessing. Jeff Van Gundy’s teams, built around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, ran only when they had numbers.

But with rule changes and improving defenses, Alexander believed few teams would succeed offensively without an up-tempo style and then watched the Spurs evolve into a fast-paced team to prove the theory."

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“We’re not changing our team for anybody,” Alexander said. “We’re going to run for the next 10 years. We’re going to run forever. We’re going to run. I don’t care who the personnel is — we’re going to run.”

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“Part of it was you look at the personnel and where we’re at with the youth,” McHale said. “To play execution basketball, it’s counters; it’s so much experience and seeing things. The offense we run is a little different than a lot of NBA offenses. It’s read, react and push. Guys get a lot of freedom. Inside that freedom, when we’re moving the ball well, it looks pretty good. There’s times it gets sticky.”

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But the Rockets also believe a running team can be a title team.

“I 100 percent believe we can,” Morey said. “The first thing we’re doing is to make sure we add the best players possible. The second thing is to fit our style of play into those top players and the people we put around them. Those Phoenix teams, I thought, could easily have won the title. They came close. There was no reason they couldn’t have won those series and the title.”

 

I hear this crap all time and it just isn't true. There are different types of coaches and different philosophies. McHale did not want to dictate our offense, nor our defense. He has a head assistant for each role. McHale is the leader, he keeps everyone on the same page and addresses the team... Very similar to an NFL head coach.
There have been a number of successful head coaches that follow this philosophy including Phil Jackson, KC Jones and Doc Rivers.

We don't run McHale's offense any more than the Texans run Kubiak's defense. We run Finch's offense but only have a few of the pieces he needs.

 

Many are forgetting what probably shaped McHale's offensive philosophy. He played most of his career with Larry Bird, probably one of the all time creative offensive geniuses. I still remember watching those games, with McHale the mid to inside game, Robert Parrish the inside presence, Dennis Johnson on the perimeter -- that offense flowed through Bird, and he would make everyone better.

McHale naturally did not have to be the creator on offense. Therefore his reliance on Harden. Except Harden is no Larry Bird. In fact, Larry Bird is the only player in the history of the NBA that can be legitimately compared to Michael Jordan.

 

Yes. It is because fast-break + 3s require less xp and chemistry to run but flash legs. Thus, it will benefit a young team like us. I still remember most of the clutch fans believed the rox wouldn't be on the playoff run, yet here we are.

No. When Les was said about the fast pace offense the fist time, he said it wasn't a must, and the rox would run whatever system that led to win.
(However, later after our winning streak, he said we would run run run. I guess he was trolling.)

Both, it depends on the talent level of the FA. That is if the rox are looking for a backup or role players. They will focus those who will fit in the current system. However, if they have a chance to land an all-star FA, I don't think they will mind to change the way they play.

I don't think there is any free agent or available player will give us a clear path to the champion. Smith, Millsap and Aldridge are good, but they are only semi-stars(i.e. they are very good role players). Whereas, we don't have enough asset for young talents like Love or Cousin. DM said it before if they could land a star player now, they wouldn't be too picky in that situation. I believe the current strategy is to bring a quality trad-able FA, carrying the team into or deeper into playoff, and in the third year we may combine him and other asset to have a run for an other superstar. (The only exception is that one or more of our young project workout, and the young turns out to be a star. i.e. J.L., D.M., T.J. etc etc)

kmart is one of the best catch and shoot shooters on the legend, while harden's profession is foot steps.

 

I think it's good that they have changed the offense. In general the past running teams have usually put up lots of points but didn't play defense very well. If we can run and do better on D that may very well be the way the game is going.

Every year I keep thinking this is going to be the year SA drops off and won't play well anymore and I keep being wrong they are pretty amazing. They have a well run organization and if we can learn something from them we should.

I also think that DM has probably broken down the plays all across the NBA and figured out the best percentages and what type of plays are working best, that's great and we should use that to our advantage. There is nothing wrong with doing something a new way, the game is changing all of the time.

 

Ha ha.... funny stuff. You're joking, right? McHale listens to Morey's stats less than Adelman and Adelman hardly did nothing. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0IKWn-dCupk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Moery has repeatedly said that he does not interfere with coaching. We also know that Morey does give the coaching staff some statistical info FOR THEIR REFERENCE, not for dictating how they coach.

It's not that complicated. All good coaches adapt their systems according to the players they have. The players we have are just not very good at the half-court game. So we run. And it is not that difficult to stop an offense that thrives ONLY at running. They have to figure out some bread and butter half court sets that work.

The bad thing is, we don't have many consistent outside shooters to complement the attacking style of our guards. So our offense is as inconsistent as our shooters.

 

I don't think that McHale said anything wrong. Analytics are a way to measure or quantify hunches or suspicions.

Adelman was completely dismissive of it, McHale thinks it has value as part of the whole.

 

only cos morey told him so

 

Ehh I don't know. Morey and McHale work really well together and have had a good relationship for a long time. I just think that McHale is not a micro manager.

 

That is where it gets difficult to know.... because Finch has the single largest input concerning the Rockets offense at a micro level. Finch also is a firm believer than statistical analysis is a big tool in strategy. So it very well could be that Finch is taking it into account and not Morey pushing it.

This all goes back to part of the reason Adelman is not with the Rockets anymore. Now, the front office and coaching staff are more on the same page. Nothing against Adelman, but your coaches and front office have to be on the same wave length or the players provided by the front office will not be used properly by the coach.

 

cos McHale is a yes man.
How exactly do you know they work well together.?
I'd rather have someone who disagreed with me but had good opposing points that someone who kissed my butt and said every dumb idea i came up with was einstein lite

 

LOL what is wrong with you? Why are you such a big Morey hater? If you hate him so much take his job, otherwise stfu.

FYI Morey had to handpick his assistants because Mchale is a ******* GM, not coach. He's not gonna clap his hands and suddenly assistants pop out of thin air. If Adelman doesn't want to incorporate Morey's stats then that's his problem, it doesn't mean he has or doesn't have integrity. A lot of coaches use analytics in their decisions, baseball, football, even MMA...why should bball be any different? It's added knowledge, and unlike a lot of the "gut feelings" people use this one is based on empirical data and reality. It won't solve every problem you have, but it could certainly help a lot.

Oh, and who was it who took over when Mchale left? Was it Finch? No? Then why don't you stop making things up.

 

I know they work well together because I have family that works for the Rockets.

Working well together does not mean kissing someone's ass. I don't think that McHale kisses anyone's ass.

 

I am not a Morey hater. I just think for all the praise he receives for his high iq, vision etc, speaker at various sporting analytics events etc, he should be doing better. He should know better than to drop that asset bomb a while back.
Is Morey good at stats, yes, but however when u use stats with humans, you have to factor in the emotional aspect that stock and bonds do not use. Morey has failed in that regard.

If McHale was a ******* gm, then why did the high iq morey hire him as a coach, or was it cos of their celtics tie and that mchale was a shoo over.
Also, mchale coached in Minnesota, so im sure he has assistants.

Morey has talked about Finch being the future he envisions for the Rockets.
Based on the little i have read about Finch, im excited.
But i also like what i saw from Sampson during the break.
And Sampson was a more senior assistant than Finch, which im sure was why he was interim.