The problem is the owners cater to Harden. Come back wins with him on the bench and he's b****ing about getting back in the game instead of cheering for the team. I truly believe he makes the final coaching decisions.
Sorry, analogizing those two is just not reasonable. McH is stuck in the bad boy era, green green Celtics. Does not relate well to modern player, does not buy into modern NBA ball. MDA? Just reverse the previous. BTW - this does not ensure MDA’s perfection, just his differences from KMac. When they were hired I was unhappy. MDA converted me. Now, if he’ll only stretch the rotation some, throw a curve or two into a game plan...
So. instead of being ALL offense and scoring, we're willing to go ALL defense? That sounds like exciting basketball. . . .(yawn). . . I'm sure James would love that
‘Little’ Nikky ‘The Mook’ Fertitta. He coached Bada-Bing’s softball team. How much harder can basketball be?!?? Ayyyyyy!
this is correct. just look at who morey wanted last time around: JVG, Vogel, Thibs, defensive coaches... it was Les who idolized the suns 7 seconds or less offense and wanted to play like what he called "phoenix-lite" so he went and got his man MDA. if tilman is telling the truth that this coaching change is up to morey (and we can never really tell if Tillman speaks the truth), then we can assume morey goes for a defensive coach. and as discussed, tilman probably won't pay up for a top name. so forget JVG, thibs, Jackson, etc... I was posting a lot last summer about replacing MDA before this season started because lame-duck coaches always underperform. well here we are. he knows he's not coming back, the players knew, and we had an underwhelming season thus far. should've replaced him last summer and we might've been in a better position going into these playoffs.
Then Les was right in this instance. MDA and Bzdelik > JVG/Vogel/Thibs Anyone who cannot see this is delusional or blind.
NOT what I said at all... As I said, MOST of our offense is preordained... whoever comes in is gonna have to be in line with Moreyball and hammer the 3s and isos - thats a given... Couple that with (as i stated) a strong offensive assistant - and I believe we will be fine on offense. Maybe not record setting offensive efficiencies - but given Harden and WB I have to believe we will still be upper tier in scoring... Otoh someone like JVG can really move the needle on defense. For EXAMPLE I'd be fine scoring 5 or 6 fewer points a game - if we were allowing 9 or 10 fewer points on the other end... and we have a far greater opportunity to improve net results from the defensive end - that is our best point of differential for improvement. Everybody loves offense - but its about the net result from BOTH ends of the court.
yeah I'd say MDA/Bzdelik were 1 hammy away from a ring and that's a hell of a lot closer than any of those other coaches ever came (as head coach). but this time around, with rus instead of Paul, less ball movement, less offensive sets, more iso, I don't think we need an offensive coach at all. I'm with morey here. let harden and rus run the offense and bring in someone who can make us a great defensive team. also, lets bring in some players that can make us a great defensive team too.
You are with Morey? Morey wants D'Antoni. The BEST offensive mind plus a better defensive coach is better than a mediocre/unproven offensive assistant and an old school defensive HC. Thibs defense when he was with Minny was nothing to write home about. Same with Joerger and the Kings.
Isn't that what we said about defense with D'Antoni? Bzdelik did okay for a while, but everyone has been whining that it's ALL offense, no one cares about defense. MDA offense, MDA doesn't care about defense. blah, blah, blah. But now, all of a sudden it's okay to swing the OTHER way? I love JVG, but don't think he's going to take us all the way
I think Bxdelik did a helluva job! Having him was a great offset to MDAs focus on the offensive end - "You'll have to talk to Jeff about that..." I dont think we should live at either extreme - its all about balance imo... getting the best possible net differential from both ends of the court. I wouldnt want JVG to just come in and run whatever offense he wanted - we got a system locked down - get some hotshot young up n coming asst to run it... Overall we need leadership thats gonna push and hold guys accountable without pissing them off - I think JVG does that... Idk if JVG is the answer - but i'd be willing to give it a shot. Maybe there are even better options out there... but I just dont think MDA is the guy... He;s certainly got his attributes - but he's too stubborn to change his negatives...
We need an old steady hand that knows what to say at the end of games and keep the superstars happy. If he could call a time out and run a rotation that is just bonus. I shouldn’t say bonus because our man needs to work for cheap. Morey is the brains of the Rockets till he not here any more. We can’t afford Morey & a “name” coach; lets stay away from the unknowns of the world and hire a good old constant from behind the behind the scenes as lead —> Jon Lucas
true about thibs. his defense is antiquated, pack-the-paint to force lower % shots, but in the modern nba it allows too many 3s. Joerger had a bad stint with the kings, and wore out his welcome at both of his stops within 2-3 years. his stars hated him by the end. but pop and doc both named him when asked who is the most difficult coach to prepare to coach against. and our window is only about 2-3 years so maybe. I see where you're coming from obviously with MDA being a great offensive coach and damn near won a ring here. I do have difficulty differentiating how much is him and how much is Morey's system and harden's iso. yes he needs a defensive coordinator, but he's also fallen off since that title run when it comes to preparation, adjustments, and game management. that's on him. for example there have been games where the other team comes in way more prepared for us than we are for them, games where there is no change in strategy from Q1 to Q4 even when we're being out-played. games where the sub patterns and lack of timeouts seemed questionable. great offensive mind, leading a great offensive team, yes, but his best coaching was 2 years ago and the game management has steadily fallien off since. however the offense hasn't really suffered, so again I wonder how much of our offense is just Morey and harden. if we keep MDA (and as you stated there is good reason to consider it) we wouldn't just need a defensive coordinator but someone who can handle the game preparation, management, and adjustments. or at that point are we looking for a HC with an offensive assistant? just food for thought. I would not be surprised to see morey go in that direction.
With most of the cap tied up and holes still in the rotation that we have no money to fix it only makes sense to have a coach that is willing/able to develop talent to patch it together as needed. Well Jon Lucas currently is our developmental coach, he has head-coaching experience, and most players respect & like him. We are so close now that should keep MDA or replace from within because someone from the outside tear apart already here.
That team was on another dimension. Great defense, rim protection, rebounding. Multiple ways to beat you. Everyone could hit a 3. This team would get beat in 5 or 6 vs that squad. More spread out talent now to. We could get bounced round 1 easily.
Who wanted Blatt (or Blatt type coach) again? “All I know is I was getting tissue and paper towels because every time there was a crucial moment and David Blatt got nervous his nose started bleeding,” Perkins said when recalling the final moments of Game 4 of the 2015 semifinals between the Cavs and Bulls. “I’m getting the paper towels because his hands shaking, nose bleeding and he draws up this play for J.R. [Smith] and I’m like, ‘Hold on.'”
Reviving this thread again as (1) ESPN just updated it after news of Brown and McMillan getting fired. (2) We are legit in Dan Tony exit time. So...any change in who you want to take over after D'antoni? Who you want the Rockets to go after?