It’s really not a potshot, it’s just a fact. Russell Westbrook, the highest paid player on the team, publicly said he had no idea what he was doing out there. No championship level head coach or staff would ever allow their highest paid player to feel that way. Could you imagine that happening on a team coached by Pop, Spo or Nurse?!? MDA isn’t a bad coach, he’s a damn good one in the regular season but in those big moments, he always seems overmatched. You could argue that if Donovan didn’t out coach him, it was a draw. No way that series should have went 7. I’m really disappointed Morey was willing to bring him back. If that’s true then he doesn’t get it. There isn’t a team in the NBA who feels they are a “MDA away” from a title. *And yes, I think Bud is overrated
Fair enough but Westbrook was maximized by MDA system. And Westbrook played poorly his first few games back vs. OKC. And the running around comment was vs. Lakers, not Thunder.
Not sure how Westbrook making the comment against the Lakers makes it any better? If anything it’s worse lol
Dude, we have evidence of Russel breaking plays on his own many times. He tanked game 6 breaking those plays. Why do you try to scapegoat Dantoni when its clear that Russ was just garbage on his own. Yea Dantoni could have made other adjustments but Russ was bad all on his own. Again, Im not a fan of the use of "regular season" coaching. We've only been overwhelmed when the team in front of us has overwhelming talent. Donovan didnt outcoach him. Well also he was stupid for not calling a timeout in game 3, that I will admit. If we lost that series, he should have been fired for that alone. James also just cant do it by himself. Do you also not remember how bad Gordon played in that series. Like whenever James was off the floor these guys tanked. And Daryl wanted him back because Daryl is smart and sees what goes on with the team. The man is gone. Yea he got out coached but the nonsense that he cant be a championship one is not true.
Sure MDA COULD potentially be a championship level coach but the fact that he’s still unemployed shows that other franchises don’t view him as a “slam dunk”. Doc was without a job for something like 72 hours lol. It will be interesting to see if MDA gets another shot, I think he would have gotten the Philly job if not for Doc. Now I think he will have to go to a rebuilding team or retire.
I think people overvalue Morey publicly saying he wanted MDA back. If I remember correctly he said he wanted van gundy back before ultimately firing him and going with adelman.
Or maybe Westbrook is actually just that dumb! Doesn't know what to do as a pg on a D'Antoni team? Come on? Paul figured it out! Harden figured it out! So did Lin? That is why guys like Melo and Westbrook aren't winning rings and fade out once their athleticism runs out.
You are either misremembering or revising history. Even if JVG wasn't being vague about returning to Rockets, Morey/Les were going to explore all available HC options that offseason. https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2874873 And while you may want to convince yourself that Morey (and Tilman) sincerely did not want or expect MDA back, that is simply not fact.
I’m sorry but if a coach can’t get his highest paid player to understand what the team is trying to accomplish then that coach needs to go. It’s obvious MDA isn’t the right coach to take the Rockets to the promise land.
the very next paragraph after the one you selectively quoted, Morey said the rockets tried to have extension negotiations with JVG at the allstar break. I like how you think that negotiators with MDA were going to unfold better than they did during the extension negotiations despite how poorly MDA performed in the playoffs. What happened in 19-20 that would have changed their minds?
Look I'm not saying losing MDA is the end of the Rockets title window but blaming MDA for the fact that Westbrook had no idea what to do is ridiculous. It's just another reason why you don't trade a high iq player for one who is always lost on the court. Also another reason why Harden should have the ball in his hands and not him.
what is it about MDA that Fertitta dont like? Or just simply rumor or speculation Tillman dont want him back?
Never did that. I'm simply saying that a coach that can't get his highest paid player to understand his role in a crucial series is a coach that needs to find another job. Is it fair? No, but life isn't fair. It's the head coach's job to ensure his players understand their roles and the game plan. Mike D'Antoni failed to do this with Westbrook.
If you believed MDA performed poorly in playoffs then why are you touting JVG when his playoff performance was abominably much worse. In what world is 0-3 better than 6-4 in same number of seasons?
Didn't Rockets fire all of DMA's assistants last year? now Rockets claimed to want him back? This type of controversial act is very unprofessional by Rockets.
You know looking at how this man is received on twitter. It makes me realize how dumb people really are. Like fans dont know anything about coaching or what it entails and so many idiots are so quick to slander Mike, it really is sad.
Lol Rockets wanted him back and now he's gonna be without a job this upcoming season. Life comes at you fast. I think him quitting was a blessing in disguise
Then the Rockets need to hire a special ed private tutor for Westbrook or they need to start drawing plays in cartoons rather than X's and O's. Every PG including Beverly and Lin figured what to do in a D'Antoni system from the minute they stepped on that floor. Harden got it the first game. Paul understood the first game. Heck even Lin played his best short tenure under him. My knock on D'Antoni wasn't that Westbrook, who is dumber than bricks and should be traded ,didn't know what to do out there but was the fact that D'Antoni didn't make the proper adjustments and just sit Westbrook's butt down. Heck even Austin Rivers knew what to do as soon as he got signed. We need a coach that is not afraid of getting fired for doing what is right and what will win in the playoffs. Even Mchale who we all knew was terrible at coaching knew when to tell James he wasn't getting on the court because the rotation on the floor was actually winning the game.