Thats a great attitude to have. I have a similar view. No matter what happens to the Rockets always be a fan. Might not like some moves they make but ultimately I will be a fan no matter if we end up with Ricky Rubio and Clay Aiken as our starters.
Some entertaining replies to my first post in this thread. I enjoyed reading them, even when I was shaking my head. ;-)- To tell the truth, I'm not sold on the idea that McHale is the guy. If Dallas wins this series and has a decent showing in the Finals, I think Casey has to be the pick. He has deep experience, mentoring under some excellent coaches, and is viewed as a very good defensive mind, something many complained about this season, although some of us thought the problem was more personel driven, not Adelman and his assistants. It would be his first gig, so he'd be eager to adapt to the whims of Alexander and the philosophies of Morey. The dude simply makes too much sense. Yes, Adelman is gone. BimaThug is correct that he ain't comin' back, as absurd as many of us find that notion. In my opinion, this will drag out a bit and then they'll announce Casey. Maybe Finch will get a spot on the staff, maybe not. If Casey is the guy, he'll get at least 3 years to show what he can do, IMO. Guess we'll see.
That's why I don't think they are doing it as a set up for some sort of future Finch takeover. It's too convoluted a plan and takes too long to set up. Making moves to set up a coach for 2 years from now is like clearing 2013 cap room. The GM that makes the move now won't know if he'll be around in 2 years to reap whatever rewards there is. Whoever they hire will be hired for his own merit.
I am sorry I basically posted the same thing you said. Like you mentioned, the coach will have his own merit to contend with. Just like the players, its an interview for the entire league. If mchale performs well and morey pushes him out the door, another team would hire him on his merit. Rudy T had 0 coaching experience and he learned on the run.
The problem with coaching hiring for Morey is that coaching performance is much harder to measure with analytics. I doubt that he has any significantly useful data on, say McHale or even Finch, as a coach.
Actually he said the opposite of you. He is saying the next coach they hire, McHale or whoever, will not be part of some convoluted plan as a lame duck. They will hire who they want as their coach, not developmental coach. Personally, I think it is somewhere in between. I agree with Carl that if they do hire McHale, it won't be to fire him in 2 years. It will be because they like him as their head coach. On the other hand, it is said that McHale's weakness is his X and Os, so surrounding him with analytical assistants like Finch makes sense. Assuming in 2 years we have the talent to compete or try to contend again, I think McHale will be given every opportunity to succeed. However if he fails, a guy like Finch who they like and has been accustomed with the same players and system for 2 years can step right in. It is not that they planned that all along, or that McHale is all or nothing. Just that they would like options going either direction.
Well obviously, Finch has never coached a single NBA game while McHale has coached less than a full season. Evaluating a coach is different from evaluating players. There are so many factors at play. Analytics might be of some use, but no way is Morey relying on it. More likely, the coach's philosophy is more relevant in who they end up hiring.
You make very good points. I, too, think it's going to be Casey as well because if it were Frank or (God forbid) McHale, they'd already have been announced as the new coach. However, I don't believe that DM will give the next coach three years. Two more years in the NBA lotto and he'll be toast. Don't understand all the fuss about Finch but what the hey.
Is it possible that McHale only wants to coach for 2 years or so and then be elevated to some other part of the basketball operation? Face it, Houston is a mediocre basketball destination for Free Agents and we could use a legendary face like McHale to be part of the team hereon. No Elvin Hayes. No Moses Malone. No Ralph Sampson. No Hakeen Olajuwon. It's been years since we have Rudy T and Calvin as part of our franchise. We have Clyde Drexler but he was only a Rocket for a couple of (important) years. All the stuff about McHale not wanting to travel.... maybe he's willing to do it for a couple of years while w/he groom(s) Finch... Dwane Casey and Lawrence Frank probably aren't interested in that kind of gig but McHale... maybe so!
Finch is a great coach. I think he is better than Adelman. But those titles are not serious. Those are from poor leagues in Europe. British League is awful (the worst pro league in Europe). Belgian League is a lot better than that, but still is a really weak league. Probably about the same level as the NBA D-League is, or maybe even worse, so a low level. It would be like the 15th-20th best national league in the European system. He went 4-13 in German League according to that wiki page (if it is true). The German League is a lot higher level than the Belgian League, but it is still considered a bad league in Europe. Good national leagues in Europe -> Spain, Adriatic (something like former Yugoslav League), United (something like former Soviet League), Greece Average -> Italy, Russia Below average -> France, Turkey, Germany, Israel (it counts under European sports system), Ukraine Bad -> All the others, with British being the worst. Finch is a great coach to me, but his track record in European club basketball is nothing in the least bit impressive at all. In fact, it's quite poor. Because to coach at those levels like Belgium and especially Britain is not good at all, and to have a bad team in German League, well that is very bad. Finch does wonders with Great Britain's national team, and he is a great coach. But his track record in European club basketball is very unimpressive. I mean, British League compared to top national domestic leagues in Europe like Spain and Greece, would be like USBL or something like that compared to NBA. And the Belgian League compared to the Spanish or Greek leagues would be something like the D-League compared to the NBA. And remember that for a reference point, even the best national league in Europe (Spain) is a second rate and inferior level to the Euroleague. Finch does not unfortunately seem to have any experience at a true top pro level, except in Germany, and apparently his team did not do well there. And, as I said, the German League is still not a good league in Europe. Yes, it is definitely much better than the D-League, but in Europe it would rank behind leagues like, Euroleague Spain Greece Adriatic United Italy Russia Eurocup Then you have leagues like France, Turkey, Germany. I would say the German League is about the 9th-11th best league in Europe. So, that's the highest level that he has coached in at the pro club level, and evidently, his team had a bad season there. Believe me, I think he is a really good coach, and I would love to have him coach the Rockets, but his pro club career coaching resume in Europe is pretty weak to be honest about it.
Because it is quite possible the front office want him to gain experience at managing primadonna NBA personalities. Half of the job of an NBA coach is managing personalities, and finding ways to get the most selfish athletes in the world to "buy in" to their gameplan and execute. Finch has coached on many different levels, but he needs to earn the respect of players around the league for the players to buy into what he is selling to them. He might have a great mind for basketball, but the front office most likely thinks that Finch will need a personality that can sell the gameplan to the team and communicate properly with the players one on one. That is where a Kevin McHale would fit in nicely. You have the assistant coaches running the day to day opperation and the head coach to act as the communicator to the players. I believe that this is the direction that the front office would want the coaching staff to take if they are to bring in Kevin McHale and have him work with Finch and a couple of their hand picked assistant coaches. Notice that the key here is HANDED PICK assistants. When they hired other head coaches in the past, they have had to take that coaches assistants with him. This is a great chance for them to build the coaching staff the way they want it.
Yeah, OHMSS pretty much nailed it. I like Finch, but his European coaching resume isn't that impressive. It's nice that he's mostly won wherever he's gone, but we don't really have any knowledge of how good his teams were, which obviously plays a major role in winning. I'm also not sure that any of the leagues he's coached in overall is a better league than the D-League. The German and French leagues might be slightly better, but the difference sure isn't big. He's build a nice programm with the British national team though and obviously has been very successful in Rio Grande Valley. So, yeah, looking at his resume and watching some of his interviews I really like him, but I think it's a good idea to let him learn the nuances of the NBA as an assistant first. I also do not believe that the next coach is just the mentor or tutor for Finch, nor that it's set in stone Finch will become the replacement for whoever ends up being the next Rockets coach. It's certainly a possibillity, but it's silly to believe that's the plan.
Yes. This is correct. As for German and French leagues compared to D-League. Well, they are better than the D-League, but indeed it isn't that much better, as you say. They are relatively weak leagues, by European standards. The highest level he has coached at is without any question the EuroBasket 2009, by far and away. There, he finished in 13th place, so it does not look good on paper. But then again, considering the team he had, they did exceptionally well. It will be interesting to see how they do at EuroBasket 2011.
There have been successful coaches hired with less. Rudy t replaced the former coach of the year and he was a scout. What kind of experince did popovich have when he fired a lifer like hill? If they really feel like he is ready or is the next great assistant, hire him and let him take his lump. There is no groom the next coach type of plan that can be counted on. That was supposed to be the case in football with the seahawks with mora but he got fired after 1 year and the entire staff replaced. I like mchale and casey and can't stand frank. Finch is seems like the next big thing and if so, do it and move forward. The problem with a newbie like finch is the credibility with players right now. Now as someone spoke earlier,maybe mchale is the coach,they acquire some high end players,and in a few years finch takes over. I think mchale probably has some guys in mind about who he wants as assistants also.
