Great Post. All great points. I'm praying for you too. I've had family members go through that and I just wanna say **** cancer.
Thanks for the invaluable insights mate. I have been through that myself, it will get better. Keep strong, watch some highlights of the Dream, that will definitely help
The more I think about the Coach K theory the more I believe it. Especially on defense. Harden came into that season with a purpose. He was never considered to be a MVP candidate before. I remember so many people saying he's the best SG by default...then he had some time with Team USA and he did not come into the season with hot shooting BUT he did play defense. Now he's back to the same habits of constantly losing his man. Great post, the one question I've always had is how did we even hire McHale? I remember the names rumored to come here were all better options, one of them was even Budenholzer. I drool at the thought of having Budenholzer coach this team. So how do we go from courting THAT guy to McHale? People really underrate NBA coaches. People always say "Phil had Kobe and Jordan!" but Jordan and Kobe would both attest that they were fortunate to have Phil. He got something out of those guys, a killer instinct and a structure to adhere to. When Phil left that Lakers team went to the dumps...then he comes back and they go back to winning championships. Yes Kobe and Jordan were going to be great...but that coach got something more out of them. Just like how Curry has transcended his game to some otherworldly level under Kerr. Under Jackson he was just an all-star level player. Under Kerr he becomes an all-time great caliber player. Kerr's tactics and his motivational tactics that many of the warriors players speak of keeps that guy on his game and he makes the game easier for him. I imagine Harden playing for the Spurs, how much easier it would be for him. Right now and so many nights he just ISOs at the top of the key and goes one on five. Obviously if that's our game plan then obviously it's going to be hard to consistently dominate like that.
McHale's fault our players can't man up and put some effort with their defense. McHale's fault out players throw up a million threes despite being poor shooters in the first place. McHale's fault our roster isn't built to suit an already flawed offensive philosophy. McHale's fault our players don't try and sook despite being paid millions and millions of dollars. C'mon guys, lets be serious, McHale might not be the best coach but to say he is the root of all evils is delirious. Let's not give a free pass to the team. He is a problem but a problem among any others.
When we do well, we praise our players but when we suck, the coach is almost always the fall guy. Funny thing that.
Why was Ariza guarding Gallo when it has proven nothing? 2 games this guy goes off on us. Reminds me of that Portland series where LMA goes off game after game with no adjustments. Playing zones and putting players in bad position is his fault. Seems like that's the strategy though. You have to discourage and encourage what you want players to do on the court. If you do nothing when a player takes a bad shot then player will keep taking it. Have you ever seen Popovic after someone on the Spurs does something stupid? No matter who it is he'll tell them to sit their ___ down and think about their life for a moment. I don't know about this. I've not seen much proof that Morey is forcing McHale to play this way. It certainly seems that way because of how he talks about the game but he did have Adelman coaching under him. Well yes it is. Every team is filled with millionaires except our just play badly. We know that McHale isn't the entire problem but he's certainly a big part of the problem no? I mean if you want to start fixing the issues of this team you have to start somewhere, what do you suggest should change?
Great post. This is why it was evident from game one that we have a serious problem. It's not the losing that's the concern, it's the way they've looked and played.
Yes, E praise our players. Because with such an incompetent coach at the helm, it takes superstar efforts for this team just to scrape out wins. This Rockets team wins in spite of Mchale - not because of him. It isn't even a grey area anymore. He isn't just the worst coach of Playoffs teams, I consider him as the worst coach in the entire league.
whoever les decides to replace mchale with, it will likely be a big name. les seems to get a boner from having big name players/coaches in his stable. but i'm not sure if some of the big name coaches would agree to immediately takeover and be looked up as the guy who bumped incumbent kevin mchale out. it might go against the nba coaching fraternity. jvg and thibs seem like such guys. therefore, we might have to endure bickerstaff for a few weeks first as 'interim coach' as a sort of cooling off period before les' big name would take over. codman, have always loved and appreciated your posts. hope good health is in your future soon and forever
Somehow I had hoped that my and many of our opinions were just that, an opinion, but after what we've watched so far this year, how can anyone with a straight face say McHale is doing a good job? To use his own words, he's throwing at darts at the board and hope something sticks. Harrell in the starting line-up all of a sudden after not playing over TJ? Thorton who gelled with the first group to the bench? Lawson still not used properly and at least have him come off the bench since this is not working. Codman's post just says it all, he has no control any more, which is sad because coach is here to stay and it doesn't bode well for us that players give up on their coach and team the way they do. Jet was the voice last year that was so important and now he's not even pulling guys together to get something going? There's just no leadership and changing coaches could help if it's a guy like Thibs, but maybe he cannot even right this wrong mentality of our players.
I think they will still make the playoffs. Looks like home court advantage isn't going to happen, though.
respect to codman. pulling for you my man, you're a great clutchfans poster and i stop what i'm doing every time i see you post. but what you said is pretty much undeniable. the team is too talented to just wither away into nothing. this is why you NEED a change. bad habits can derail good players. dwight may be past his prime but on paper there's no reason why he can't feast on a team like the nuggets. something misfiring.
