It is very clear he has no idea on what hes doing. Hes been silver spoon fed his entire life and all he knows is the shape of the spoon once its in his mouth. We have awful defensive schemes and the fact that he just sticks his hands in his pockets while the culprit commits his crime and stands 2 feet away and doesnt improvise, it kills me.
To implement his own system and way of doing things as a head coach? Then not at all without an off season and training camp. I can't think of a single time when a head coach is changed mid season that an entirely new system was adopted.
JBB has had tons of opportunities to coach to get this team to heel, he chose to basically keep on keeping on. When he took the job, he knew, or should have that the chances were slim he keeps the job - so he was auditioning to the rest of the NBA and basically did nothing to help himself, he is not ready. He should have DEMANDED players play hard or sit them, regardless of whom they were, yes, they would have bristled at that, but JBB should be looking out for his own future, and he would have built up a lot of cache around the league by being tougher, and maybe, just maybe it might have worked. By continuing the enabler culture that Morey and McHale fostered, he was dooming his time in Houston and probably slowing down his career to be a lasting Head Coach. The definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results - he SHOULD have come in and changed the culture - he chose unwisely. DD
JB has his flaws. Countless. He's made epic mistakes, called horrible time outs, used awful rotations and has been unable to push our guys to the point of going on decent winning streaks. I agree that he isn't the best fit for the Rockets. James and Dwight are too comfortable with him and some guys don't respond to his energy. Even with acknowledging ALL of his coaching deficiencies, this wasn't going to end well for him. I'm not defending him by recognizing the difficult transition of an interim head coach, but it truly takes a preseason and camp, with the same coach, vision, identity and routine to make a team competitive and whole. No one really believes that JB wants to embrace the flawed culture and play of this team. How would that make sense? I don't really believe JB had much CHOICE or POWER to do all that he wanted, in terms of recreating our sets on both sides of the floor, as well as improving the wretched, discombobulated chemistry around here. He isn't voluntarily enabling things that don't work, and I don't think that's the correct word, considering what he had to work with after McHale's mess. I'm sure JB is intelligent and recognizes that the current system doesn't function with our group. He has to see it, just like we do. But, again, with all of the conflicts and variables in play, especially with the firing of McHale (who failed to gain any control or create any identity, arguably for years, even with our wins), JB didn't have the time, power or resources (players) to fix this thing. He couldn't just demand or force the players to do anything. Coaching doesn't play out that way. It's an investment, an active choice to stay loyal to a shared belief system, an identity and on/off-court routines by the players, coaching staff and the entire organization. Sure, everyone wants the Rockets to play harder (lol...McHale), defend and grow from last year. But, if you have outliers who don't buy in, or coaching chaos, nothing comes to fruition. As fans, our disappointment comes from expecting these positive things, without being honest about the reality in Houston. JB is just a small part of the failure this year. Les and Morey may have kept McHale around because of his flexibility and probability of buying into their ongoing vision. JB may have had SOME opportunities to switch things up after his departure, but with all of the variables, this is not a coaching situation where he could reinvent the wheel. Plain and simple, Morey kept JB to help this team survive. But, that's not all on JB. It's not even close. It disgusts me to say that, but I understand the rationale behind going through the same motions at a certain point. The team's internal issues were too complex for an in-season rebuild. Here's the thing: Even if JB had all of this time, from the point of Kevin's firing until now, he STILL didn't have his own touch and command of the team during pre-season and forward. Developing an identity,before the games count in the standings, is essential to being a successful, competitive team. Some posts suggest that JB simply "took" this Rockets' coaching job, almost like a free agent. We both know that JB wasn't offered a "clean" opportunity. He was transitioned into the head coach spot because it would have been even more of a disaster to hire a coach that was outside of McHale's coaching staff. This core of coaches has been here for years. This is the group, along with DM, that developed the offense/defense (Which, I agree,are equally horrendous). However, from what we've read, our so-called system has McHale's philosophy all over it, probably with the suggestion of Morey. We just don't know if JB would have chosen this system if he were hired as the head coach before the season, when he could have tweaked things to his comfort level AND around the individual strengths of players on the roster. In reality, even with the amount of games he's coached with this group, JB is going with the "safe" decision and using the offense from last year, which was obviously successful for us (Though, in my opinion, not pretty or "smart"). I don't necessarily believe this is by choice, but with the hole we started in, and with all of our chemistry issues, it was a logical decision. Without a tough (Hi, JVG) identity, we don't know if this group could have adapted to something new. Again, I think JB was kept on to hold things together, not necessarily grow with James, Dwight and the role players. I don't consider that unsaid understanding as his failure. The defense has been atrocious. We all can agree with that. JB hasn't cured it, but is it really from a lack of trying? Or is it because this group doesn't buy in to much of what JB says, just like they didn't buy into any damn thing Mr. Clap Clap said? Again, it's a vicious cycle of JB taking a position that was flawed in itself, and trying to ride things out. With the way Morey looked at the McHale firing presser, you could almost sense that JB was "promoted" to just ride this thing out. Les doesn't want to lose, nor does he want to be embarrassed. The risks of starting with a clean slate were too significant, so I guess mediocrity was accepted, even if JB was working towards success. That's how it appears,unfortunately. I'd imagine that JB is frustrated as hell, but the chance to FINALLY become a head coach was something too good to pass up. I get it, and again, with all of his flaws, this is still not all on him. It's a horrible year, from the office down to the players. This is a tired subject of all of us being frustrated with the season. I guess I'm one of the few that thinks JB is a decent coach, not because of our record, but because of what he's attempting to do, and envisioning it on a DIFFERENT team. He has the experience to be a HC. Easily. The problem is, again, he was placed into a broken situation, which you can blame on McHale, Morey, the players or everyone. I choose to believe it's a combination of everyone. I'm confident that JB won't be here next year. Some posters are thrilled with that. I get it, but he'll do well with a full season on a different team. Even though I support him, I know that his chapter with James/Dwight is closing. This team, especially James, will not grow until another coach, with a solid reputation of XsOs, team development and post-season success is hired. I don't know who that is, but JB isn't the fit. It's not really an issue anymore. This is the group we have fighting into the postseason. Like JVG always mentioned, you go to war with the guys you have. This is it. TL;DR--This season bites. Goodnight
You are either a guy who makes an impact or you aren't. He took the easy way out, instead of implementing what he KNOWS they should do, he kept on keeping on - that is not a leader, and the rest of the league will take note - he should have embraced the challenge and COACHED EM UP - regardless of whom they are.... JBB is not an impact guy at this point in time. DD
Your entire viewpoint is skewed because Morey supports your business and you guys are friends - I understand that, but this discussion is about what is good for the Rockets, not the theater. I like Morey too, but to ignore the fact that this is his mess and blindly support his decisions is silly. We need a BASKETBALL guy at the top of our org..ASAP, or we will never win squat. You guys can still be friends if we have a BBall guy as President of Basketball ops and Morey is the GM/contract guy. DD
Sorry, I can't buy all that. I gave JB a chance, he's had 50 games to make a difference to this team. I'm not talking about transforming this team or re-inventing the strategy. I'm talking about motivating the players to execute the existing system better, I'm talking about minor tweaks to improve the defense. It has not happened. 1) If we are saying JB is in a situation where he was told not to change too much, then that's even more damning. You decline that coaching role if you understand coaching and you understand what it means to have a head coaching career. Sure, there's more money involved, but he will lose money and opportunities down the road for an opportunity right now. Clearly, he believed he could change the direction of this team. There is no chance he took this job knowing he'd be handcuffed and knowing it would tarnish his first 15 minutes of fame. That means he is either not smart or failed. 2) Coaches cannot force players to do things, ever. Well, they can jolt them into doing things for a short period of time like Thibodeau does, but no highly succesful coach has ever worked that way for a long period of time. A coach motivates the entire roster and coaching staff to execute the plan. Our recent strategy - as flawed as it may be - is being executed poorly. If JB can't get his players to execute a strategy he's been a part of creating better than this, that's strike two. 3) James Harden is not a prime Lebron James. Teams don't win championships with Hardens or Howards or even Currys calling the shots. You might win championships with Lebrons or Jordans calling the shots. This is JB's biggest mistake. If he had a pair, he would have benched Harden multiple times. This isn't about friendship. The team is in a situation where they can't fire a 2nd head coach this season. He needs to take that risk and transform that friend-friend relationship with Harden. Stand up to management if they challenge you. If it doesn't work out and he gets canned for it, other teams will appreciate that he is not afraid to follow principles. The role players will be ultra energized to see that everyone is being held accountable. If he can bench Harden, he will put them in the dog house easy. He will get a job later, for sure. If it works out, he gets to continue coaching. However, if you choose this lukewarm approach to changing the culture, you're creating a deathbed for your own career. Couldn't do what he expected, weak in the face of egos, unable to motivate guys, totally inconsequential to a recent WCF team who looked like a varsity team for the first 11 games after a training camp where he was lead assistant. What ended up happen is: not only did he b**ch out with Harden, he did it with Brewer too. To me it shows a gigantic weakness. If I were a role player on that team, I would be looking for a coach who respects professionalism more than that. He will not get another head coaching job IMO unless miracles take place this season - and yes, I do understand that he bleeds coaching and he comes from a long coaching culture. I think he blew a huge opportunity and it will take a long time to recover from it. I can't think of a single positive thing he brought to the table EVEN within the scope of being told not to change things around. We need someone who understands this generation of players AND THAT DOESN'T MEAN BEING THEIR FRIEND. I don't want someone to come here and bark all day because I know these guys will tune that person out if he doesn't win it all within 1 year. I know that's frustrating to our more old school posters, but we are not going to change a generational trait and we are not going to collect 15 old school players. Our franchise player is not an old school guy. The pool of players available today need a guy who they respect for sticking to his principles and bringing creativity. These are the cards we've been dealt. The perfect strategy on paper will not work if the coach can't convince them to execute it.
I think JBB will eventually get a head coaching job down the line as he was thrust into a very tough situation and don't forget this is his first rodeo as head coach. JBB is very young and probably not the guy for this current team but he'll learn like most coaches do.
J.B. has certainly tried to change things, but like McHale, has not been very demanding of the players and has not taken any risks. Any coach could've tried Capela as a starter, Ariza at the 4, Josh and now D-Mo. He could've at least tried to give KJ a shot, Harrell all of TJ's minutes, bench Harden, Brewer, Beverley, Dwight or whoever was not giving effort or hurting the team. I agree he's a bit too much of the player's friend, but also understand that Leslie and Morey are doing J.B. wrong here. He was never going to be successful and was just here to ride this season out.
Curious what Harden's stats are since JBB benched the entire starting 5 after 4 minutes. I know Ws is the main stat and indicator, but nonetheless curious
BS. Go search on my posts about Morey during the five or seven years before we met and you'll see that I, like pretty much all Rockets fans with a brain, have ALWAYS been a major Morey booster. Keep stating your silly armchair GM posts (the rest of us find them entertaining in their absurdity) but don't question my take on Morey (you've done this twice and been corrected each time). I didn't meet Daryl until just before he signed Howard. There was a lot of Morey to like or dislike in years before that and I have always said he was as valuable to the Rockets organization as any other person and that it would be just (sorry) DUMB to drop him. How many more times will you repeat this misinformation? How many more times will I have to correct you? I expect the answer is infinity since you, more than anyone else on the BBS, repeat the same things over and over and over. You're worse than a LOF. At least Lin could play a little. The same can't be said of the various (usually white) European players you always think will save the day before they instead never manage to get picked up by ANY NBA team. And have you ever seen a white player you didn't like? Langhi, Boki, the list goes on and on and on. Guys you swore it was a mistake to lose and that were out of the league about a hot minute later.
