[Excerpt] - Michael Lewis Chapter on Morey/Rockets

I have been asking this questions a lot on CF and nobody seems to want to answer.

Why was McHale extended? Les almost never did that at the beginning of a season. And that was before the surprisingly successful season of 14-15. We did well in the regular season despite lots of injuries to key players. And we got to the WCF despite Harden being sat through the whole time when we achieved one of the most historic comebacks in an elimination game. That kind of season normally credits the head coach. But McHale got his ludicrous extension BEFORE all this happened.

I know every head coach move had to go through Les. What I am interested in is whether the idea was initiated by Morey or was it totally Les's idea.

 

Yeah, Morey is a good trader also because he's a great asset manager, probably the best in the business.

But in relation to analytics, he is good at getting good players from other NBA teams, more so than grabbing good college or foreign players because his models depend on the reliability of the data he collects.

 

Okay. You win with Nash Bridges.

 

Can't argue with that logic. EVERYONE with a first name for a last name is a star!

 

LOL!!

 

McHale was extended as a reward for his past performance. If you look at coaching salaries, McHale was at the bottom of the coaching barrell while he was coaching. The extension simply made him whole for coaching for half price all those previous years.