McHale was fired for good reason, but committing to an assistant coach unproven in this league till the end of the season is not the way to go, especially since there is a top level coach out of work. Before you fire McHale an offer sheet should have been tendered to Thibs, the assistant we DIDNT give the job to after firing JVG. These rockets got to the wcf and thought they have arrived. Reality has smacked them in the face and I believe you need a coach that commands respect immediately. I don't understand how you can piss away this season and experiment when there is no guarantee Harden will improve next season or more than likely regress like his team has this season. Or...... Is this Morey buying himself more time till next season. Lastly this season goes down as my worst as a rockets fan. I had a chance to buy a ticket to the rockets game in dc. But I changed my mind....never happened before. I can't take this teams lack of leadership and wayward unwatchable bball.
Lesley Alexander <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3r5byXcQMGg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
You can't just hire somebody. It's not that simple. There's two sides to every negotiation. He might not like what he sees in Houston.
it's hard to fix what we need fixed in season as practice time is limited due to the nba's heavy schedule
Exactly! I wouldn't coach this team looking at Howard and Harden are playing now. Not to mention the team chemistry that's deteriorating...
To be honest team will need a whole off season with rigorous practice and drills to get rid of all the bad habits developed under 4 years of McHale "coaching" They're used to hearing "juice" and "sticky" and "throwing darts" that they'd get confused when the new coach runs some plays like back door cuts and off ball screens to free up a shooter
I hate to say this but I don't think Thibs will solve anything. Howard and Harden combination will not win a title in Htown. Howard is towards the end of his career and Harden looks satisfied with just going to the Western Conference Finals. He does not seem to be driven, he's more interested in the Karashians and being in the spot light, rather than working on his game during the offseason. I still remember when the Dream used to add something more to his game every offseason. I just don't see that with Howard and Harden. It's time to blow this whole thing up and go after Durant in the offseason and build around him and a get a solid point guard, I know easier said than done. Morey get it done!
Like all the posters said before MONEY $$$$$$$$$ They will get one this summer. But for now since morey costs les all that money with mchales contract, they will at least save some money this season with JB while they still are paying mchale.
thought mchale never taught anything? and now you're saying he teaches "habits"? lol. what habits? care to give us some examples? such as harden walks the ball up in full 8 seconds? it's ok to let mchale go, and under the circumstances maybe it was even necessary. but if one thinks the solution to this team's problems is as simple as firing a coach and hiring another, that's too simple too naive.
It's not the money. This season is important. We only get a couple of bites at the apple with Harden and Howard. In fact, with the possibility of Howard opting out this season and given his bad back, this might be the last season. You don't throw away a season of contention (especially one in which you're paying $85m in salaries, plus luxury taxes) because you're not willing to put up a few million more on a coach. Bringing in Thibs midseason might be too disruptive given that the Rockets are already halfway down another road. But, I'm concerned that the reason is something else: that Les and Morey have decided there is something fundamentally wrong with the team (Howard will never be healthy again, or that Lawson can't be that third star, or the curse on Harden is real) and have written off the season and are just biding their time to do another big trade.
because Les said it's JB's job for the season 100 PERCENT. SMH..can we move on, now? Coaches don't want to jump into a job mid-season, especially when it's a disaster they have turn around immediately.
Maybe because Thibs is still getting them checks from the Bulls? It is about money, Thibs wants his free money from Chicago.
When coaches ever take a job in season? JVG says he would never do that and seeing as how Thibs is very JVG like, i doubt he'd do the same. I bet Morey wanted Luke Walton anyway. Analytics and running the same style that Morey wants. Thibs and Morey probably differ too much in philosophy.
It could be that management believes the team, in particular, Harden will not respond well to a coach that is strict and holds players accountable. I disagree completely with Bickerstaff as the coach, but it doesn't matter at this point.
they shouldnt completley get rid of mchale's system. it has been very sucessful. they should look for a new head coach who can mesh his own sytem and mchale's. keep jb and maybe one of his assistants.
I wish they didn't fire Mchale if they were going to keep this crew on all year. Mchale did alright in the playoffs. Do you think JB will have the guts to bench James for the 4th quarter of an elimination game?
This. Thibs would sit Harden everytime he half-assed on defense (which means he would be sitting a lot). Before long, Harden would demand a new coach of his liking or a trade. It is a players league after all.
