Lose by 20 to Denver Lose by 20 to Golden State Lose by 20 to @Miami Lose by 20 to Oklahoma City Lose to Orlando Everyone would be mad/angry/disappointed but McHale definitely won't be fired.
McHale is in the first year of a three-year, $12 million extension. It's hard to see Les Alexander eating all that money barring a prolonged, unmitigated disaster. McHale is not an elite coach IMO. But I've come to appreciate him as a pretty good (sometimes great, sometimes subpar) coach. I don't see him going anywhere anytime soon.
If the Toyota Center was nearly empty every home game, most TV viewers stopped watching games, merchandise sales tank... as long as that organization makes money, there's no need to make any changes...
I completely forgot that Les is a relatively poor owner. You're right, we are in a situation where a long-term contract could actually keep a coach from getting fired here barring something crazy like missing the playoffs.
Aside from Harden, Thornton is the best player on the roster in terms of flat out scoring the ball. You're underrating him significantly by saying his only talent is hitting threes at a decent rate.
It depends on how prolonged we're talking. If they get off to a really bad start and don't even look competitive, Les may have to bite the bullet and eat that extension. He can't risk a lotto season with Dwight due to be a free agent and Morey hoping to lure another star here next summer. Keep in mind that last season had Durant(and Westbrook for a short period) not been injured, the Thunder would've won well over 50 games and easily been in the playoffs. Meaning the Dallas Mavericks with their 50 win total would've been the 8th seed. It's entirely possible that's the minimum wins necessary this year to qualify for the postseason. The Rockets can't dig themselves too deep of a hole early on and just assume they'll come back. Especially given how much tougher the schedule will get as the season carries on.
Any time you supposedly to have a good team, and you come out the gate and play stink, that tells you the preparation is not good. or we just accept that the Rox is not a good team, which we hope not. Ultimately, the preparation is up to the coaching staff.
He would've been fired if He was black by now, that's exactly what he's saying, can't say that I disagree.
LOL people blaming Morey for Mchale's bad coaching, lol. How does Mchale have the ability to convince so many people that it's everyone else's fault, I think that's his real gift, lol.
i really doubt morey/les would fire mchale even with an 0-7 record, which is very possible to start out the season now. aside from the money owed on his contract, they would give him the benefit of the doubt for at least a few more months, and most likely till the offseason. that's just based on what i've seen from this front office since les arrived in '93. but i want to bring up an aspect of this whole situation that is unique to houston. there is only newspaper in town (feigen's chronicle). and maybe only 1 or 2 television sportscasters (such as mark berman) even cover the rockets. so there is no pressure on the organization to address problems or produce immediate results. there is nobody asking any pointed questions postgame, in the interviews, or even at large on the air. another town like NY, BOS, CHI, LA, etc and mchale might be feeling a lot of pressure to step down himself..
I wonder about that. The "Morey offense" is about emphasizing the plays that produce best on a statistical basis: 3s, layups, and free throws. But I don't think it is required to have "no offense" and just play street ball out there. I think you can have an actual system and plays, both formal and read-and-react, to get the type of shots Morey wants. For example: the Warriors. They are the Rockets, except they run an offense to get their shots and high percentage players into better positions for the shots needed. Essentially, the Warriors are the Rockets except done right from a coaching/scheming perspective. And of course, there's also the rather large omission of not having true shooters for a team that relies so heavily on the three ball.
Exactly. There's plenty of room for more coaching influenced shooting opportunities in the form of scheme/plays to get the type of shots Morey wants. Just rolling out the ball for street hoops is not cutting it.
