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[Mythbuster] The front office telling the coach how to coach

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by CXbby, Jun 6, 2011.

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  1. CXbby

    CXbby Member

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    I think a lot of the complaints about Morey, Les, the front office, and the Rockets in general right now from old and new heads alike stems from the notion that the front office will be directing the coach on how to coach. That is what drove Adelman out, who valiantly stood up to such oppression. After all, what does the front office know about coaching?

    This of course is mostly a myth. The coach will still do the vast majority of the coaching, preparation, gameplanning, strategizing etc.

    That is not the point of this post though. The point, is taking a look at the truth behind the myth. The truth is, the front office will have some input. Not so different from a few other franchises, but far more than many others. That is the crux of what some are complaining about, their involvement at all. So why would it make sense for Morey and co, who not one has played much beyond high school basketball, and certainly none have even attempted to actually coach, want to tamper at all?

    If David Kahn, who has shown little ability to do his own job of GMing, and shown even littler understanding of basketball, decided that he wanted to take a stab at telling the coach what to do, I would agree with you. It would be insanity.

    The Rockets front office on the other hand have a specialty. A specialty that Morey/Hinkie/Rosas are experts in the field of. A specialty that Les Alexander clearly believes in, betting his entire franchise on it when bringing in his young hotshot GM. That specialty is analytics.

    Analytics is used to track players' situational strengths and weaknesses, teams' wants and needs, and generally anything of use that is quantifiable- which is just about everything. This is then used in their own player/team evaluations in trades, drafts, and any decisions that they make. That doesn't mean they totally rely on it, but it is a major part of the decision-making process. After all, looking at facts to make a decision is pretty 'DUH!' Over the last few years, looking at all the maneuvers the front office has made, I can conclude that 1. they have a good grasp of how to use analytics 2. how ever they are using analytics, it works. But what does this have to do with anything?

    Well, as it turns out, analytics isn't just good for picking who to trade for. After all, if we are looking at what a player likes to do on the court, what a team's strengths and weaknesses are, what % of the time a player goes right, what % does a player shoot from the left box, how efficient is a team against a zone etc, etc, etc, wouldn't that kind of information be beneficial to a coach? Ya think? Indeed, the reason why the Rockets want a closer collaborative effort between the front office and the coaching staff, beyond just personnel decisions, is because the front office's specialty could be a very useful tool for a coach that is open minded and "willing to learn". Where have we heard that one before?

    So yes, Morey and his minions might have zero coaching experience. But the dude is a rocket scientist from MIT who can crunch numbers like a muther****. While he is smart enough to look at every aspect and not rely on analytics, it would also be wise for the coach to step outside his coaching bubble and take a look at analytics.

    So while I wouldn't necessarily like this model for every team, having their front offices hand down "suggestions" to the coaching staff, it would only make sense for the Rockets to since their field is so closely tied, mutually beneficial, and they already spend so much resources on it.
     
    #1 CXbby, Jun 6, 2011
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2011
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  2. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    People get it wrong, given McHale's charisma, the coach is going to be telling the front office how to front office.


    [​IMG]
     
    #2 Carl Herrera, Jun 6, 2011
  3. Nook

    Nook Member

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    All excellent points... I would also point out that the Rockets, including Morey, do not entirely rely on math when evaluating players. They usually use numbers to verify what they see with their own eyes, and to augment their scouting reports.
    The Rockets have scouts (some of the best in the NBA, especially their scouting director) that rely on their own observations first and numbers second.

    Excellent post.
     
    #3 Nook, Jun 6, 2011
  4. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    [​IMG]

    Rocket River
    . . . just needling you now . . .
     
    #4 Rocket River, Jun 6, 2011
  5. CXbby

    CXbby Member

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    Thanks, and excellent points yourself. The notion that Morey and co. are JUST a legion of $ball number crunchers is a myth for another mythbuster. However, I do believe analytics is something that they uniquely bring to the table that could be beneficial to the coaching staff. That is not to say they are not equally as proficient in other aspects of GMing, most notably their opportunistic negotiating tactics and p-p-p-poker face. And of course their excellent scouting and first hand observations, as you've mentioned.
     
    #5 CXbby, Jun 6, 2011
  6. AggNRox

    AggNRox Member

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    i neither agree nor disagree with you.

    one thing that is clear to me is les and FO don't like our defense under ra lead. it is not an accident that kevin put defense improvement on the top of his list in the conference.
     
    #6 AggNRox, Jun 6, 2011
  7. HillBoy

    HillBoy Member

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    So if I understand you correctly, our "genius" from MIT crunched massive amounts of numbers and they told him to hire an inexperienced (and failed former GM) head coach and to adopt the working organizational structure of the Houston Texans. Just what computer did Morey use to come up with this strategy? A Commodre 64?
     
    #7 HillBoy, Jun 6, 2011
  8. CXbby

    CXbby Member

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    Just so you understand correctly, this thread has nothing to do with the qualifications or worthiness of our next head coach. Just addressing the concerns and misconceptions of the front office meddling with coaching decisions. If you want your question answered there are plenty of other places addressing it.
     
    #8 CXbby, Jun 6, 2011
  9. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    we get it, you believe in the ability of statistical analysis to assess anything.

    i was thinking about this over the weekend and i had to ask myself if morey isn't making the decision, should it be less. I never understood what tal smith's role was with the astros until then. he helped drayton make those decisions, he was just a basketball guy in general. that's what is needed, because who is going to evaluate morey, if les isn't in the position to evaluate the coach, he isn't in the position to evaluate morey either
     
    #9 pgabriel, Jun 6, 2011
  10. Geaux Rockets

    Geaux Rockets Member

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    Great post. We hired Morey for his ability to use analytics, so it would be foolish not to make full use of them. If you're using analytics to determine who you bring in, it figures to reason that you also let those analytics help guide you in your use of players. And the biggest thing is GUIDE. Morey and the front office aren't going to grab numbers out of a computer and let them dictate how the team plays, but it can be a helpful tool. At best, the numbers can find a couple weaknesses we can exploit and help show us what opponents' strengths are so we can attempt to take that away. But as an undertalented team as currently constructed as compared to the top teams in the league, we need to make full use of every advantage we may have. Hopefully the front office's statistical analysis will provide us with some areas we can take advantage of, and McHale and his staff can find ways to best put that analysis to use on the basketball court.
     
    #10 Geaux Rockets, Jun 6, 2011
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  11. HillBoy

    HillBoy Member

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    Well I was reacting to your statement at the top where you praised our resident genius GM. Now as for the "misconceptions" you are referring to, it should be plainly obvious that the FO will be in the mix on coaching decisions. If that wasn't the case, Adelman would still be coaching here. McHale's hiring guarantees it which I believe is why more qualified coaches were passed over during the so-called search process. RA is gone because he wasn't down with the front office's theory that this game can be reduced to a set of numbers. Silly man: he actually believed that basketball talent and experience counted for something...
     
    #11 HillBoy, Jun 6, 2011
  12. conquistador#11

    conquistador#11 Member

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    I posted this a while back. I guess I read the writing on the hard drive..
    <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoy_en_la_revolucion/5652921425/" title="Blue by The son of krypton, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5063/5652921425_bd2054a384.jpg" width="500" height="361" alt="Blue"></a>

    To the Op,
    it is not that the FO is telling the coach how to coach but rather that the F.O is dictating, sorry, nicely giving input to which players should play.

    The year could be 2089 and there is something that will never change..and that is the coach's ability to find the perfect rotation. It's the coach that sees these guys in practice. If williams cannot fit in a system, that's not RA's fault. That would be like buying a blue ray disc and trying to play it on a standard dvd player.
     
    #12 conquistador#11, Jun 6, 2011
  13. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    My biggest thing is .. .. .
    The Front Office doesn't say PLAY TWILL

    They simply will mutually agree to let you go.
    Same results *grin*

    After seeing what happened to Adelman and JVG
    I think the message is on the wall
    DO WHAT WE SAY . . . or you will be Mutually agreed to leave
    LOL

    Rocket River
     
    #13 Rocket River, Jun 6, 2011
  14. Chris Jent MVP

    Chris Jent MVP Member

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    rick adelman = zero championship experience.

    kevin mchale = 3 championships experience.
     
    #14 Chris Jent MVP, Jun 6, 2011
  15. Rashmon

    Rashmon Member

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    Somewhere between your position and cxbby lies the reality of the situation.

    It would have been ideal if Adelman were more open and responsive to the analytical data available to him. He'd possibly still be here, and quite possibly, with his HOF coaching ability, become even more successful.
     
    #15 Rashmon, Jun 6, 2011
  16. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    Doesn't that work pretty much every owner? Most of these guys are real estate guys, venture capitalists, investment bankers, etc., and not basketball players or coaches. The only exception that comes to mind immediately is Michael Jordan (and see where his basketball experience is getting that franchise nowaday).

    So, how is any owner supposed to evaluate the performance of their GM, coaches, players, etc?
     
    #16 Carl Herrera, Jun 6, 2011
  17. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    the hiearchy needs to be defined. and if morey is in place to evaluate coaching performance, that needs to be clearly stated. however, morey's tenure now includes part of jvg's and rick's total, so if he is in charge of the total ship, if the ship doesn't perform overall, that's how he should be evaluated.
     
    #17 pgabriel, Jun 6, 2011
  18. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    And you don't think Morey is being evaluated by his employer?
     
    #18 Carl Herrera, Jun 6, 2011
  19. dobro1229

    dobro1229 Member

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    I agree with this statement as well, and have to side with Les and the FO. I was not a fan of Adelman's approach to defense. I believe that they think this current unit and McHale can still use alot of Adelman's corner offense and also get them to improve on the defensive side of the ball.

    I see no reason why they shouldn't try and go for the best of both worlds. Or strive to be much better at least. I also think people are underestimating his track record of being a terrific leader at all levels in the NBA and his track record working and developing bigs. Most of the truely great coaches in the NBA that had the most success were known as great communicators and leaders, we know for a fact that McHale is at least that.

    As far at the Rockets analytics are concerned, I believe that Morey uses the most cutting edge computer statistic models, but your obviously not viewing the entire spectrum if you think that their decision making is based purely off of computer stats. Morey has stated countless times in interviews that they evaluate talent in alot of different ways, and analytics are just one tool they use to help.

    I just dont understand how all the doom and gloom fans on this board can be so incredibly spiteful because the Rockets just so happen to have the most cutting edge information in helping evaluate talent. How in the world can this be a bad thing?
     
    #19 dobro1229, Jun 6, 2011
  20. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    i'm sure he is, but does he now have mchale's entire tenure to work with?
     
    #20 pgabriel, Jun 6, 2011
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