Virtually every single player in the NBA has to deal with that, and the players that feel betrayed are the ones that are told by their teams that they will not be dealt and then are dealt. Martin is adjusting to a new offense and philosophy, he is being held accountable. Scola is being used differently as well.... also, the early schedule has been brutal and they know they are not an elite team.
http://www.82games.com/1112/11HOU12.HTM#bypos HP, you have to remember people here don't like to deal with facts. According to 82games.com, Luis has played about 22% of his time at the center spot (14/(14+49)). This is a little higher than I've noticed, but I'm not doing the counting to test. In either case, it also notes that the team actual does better with this lineup. He has a net +7 at the center, versus a net -4.6 at PF.
To be clear, you think Morey and McHale are not being professional by (1) being a little too casual with whether they let their players know they might at some point in the future be traded, and (2) calling out the players for being babies and failing to at least try their hardest at their relatively amazing jobs... BUT, fail to realize its ultimately the players who are being the most unprofessional by sulking??
No way Clutch... the most obvious and easiest answer is never the right answer..... All anyone has to do is go look at the roster of the teams we have played... then look at our roster... then remember we have a new coach and system with a very compressed training camp.... not to mention lacking the post players that best fit in a McHale system...
I agree with DD, McHale doesn't have the wins as a coach to make players trust in him or his system (Whatever the hell it's supposed to be). You go from a HOF coach that has a proven record of winning and an effective offense, to a coach who continues to do thing that make no sense and then questions the teams effort to the media. Newsflash Kevin, you're no Phil Jackson or JVG.
I'm not sure Robert Horry is the best example since he was surrounded by some tough veterans who were in a win now mode and had been around each other for a while. I do understand where you're coming from though. I think a better comparison would be Shane Battier or Chuck Hayes for example. These are players who brought it night in and night out despite their limited talents and shortcomings. These 2 guys were a big part of our roster the last few years. What we lacked in talent we made up for with EFFORT. That's one thing you couldn't question when we had those guys.
Coaches coach. Players play. I'm no huge McHale supporter. I was puzzled by the hire, and remain so. That said, he's great for a tanking team!! :grin: Regardless, in my view, ESPECIALLY given the lack of training camp and relative few games played, for players to be sulking, not putting in the effort, whatever, speaks volumes about the type of players we have. Moreso than it says anything about the coach (which, if we had the right players anyway, is easily fixable).
As if the best coach in NBA history didn't talk to the media about his players BY NAME. McHale did not call anyone out by name. And none of the reporters thought he was even attempting to stir up drama enough to even quote what the OP quoted. Oh, but the reporters are just company men for the Rockets I suppose.:grin: It was a fun quote/interview...nothing dramatic...unless a fan needs to make it dramatic to prove some odd fan logic. btw: We should be quoting from Feigen's article. The one's most fans in Houston will see vs the quotes were are discussing.
I think that if the players were calling out McHale for his failed rotations, and lack of a cohesive offense I would be inclined to argue that they should keep their traps shut too. As for sulking, these are not robots, these are human beings and treating people like they are numbers on a page rather than thinking about how they might react and dealing with that in order to get them to perform better reeks of crappy management. I do not blame Morey for trying to upgrade the team, that is his job, I do blame him for always talking about it on the Radio, can you recall another GM that is always out there talking about their team and how they are always looking to improve it? Morey should go into the background or if not, say nothing about improving the team, while it may not bother him to be thought of as an asset, he is not an athlete and as such does not share the same mindset. Athletes need to feel that what they do matters, that they are needed, the illusion of loyalty - no matter how fickle - is important because once that vale is broken, it is very tough to build again. Right now, not a single player on this team feels any loyalty to the Rockets, and it shows on the floor. And now amount of barking in the media is going to matter, these guys are going to get paid anyway. DD
If it’s a coaching issue maybe that should fall on the current coach? You know, the one that under his watch the defense has fallen from 18th in the league last season to now dead last? (Meanwhile, the Wolves have jumped from 27th defense to 12th, and the Suns who now have our old defensive coach ET have jumped from 25th to 10th.)
And as stated above the players know what it was like to play for a good coach, right now, I highly doubt they think McHale is anything close to one. DD
He's right to a certain extent. You can always play harder in those times, and yet the nature of that team is to hold their heads down. What killed me in the game at OKC was that realistically if we could have brought that OKC team within let's say 9 with something like 3 minutes left on the clock it would force Scott Brooks into a hard decision. Does he play his starters to close out the win, or does he gamble and hope our scrubs don't beat his scrubs? Instead we see a team with Flynn taking questionable shots, a team that doesn't scramble for the boards, and a team that just wanted the game to be over already. Yes, having a superstar is handy. You get the good calls down the stretch. You get a reliable cornerstone of your offense. You get a lot. We still could have beaten OKC without all that. All we needed was more focus from the team. We didn't have that. Kmart should have been involved in those three final plays yet he was missing. Chandler Parsons could be playing out of his mind, KMart is still the closer. He has to be. That is effort. The ability to continue to try and take the shot even though your last 5 shots missed. We do need a star or a superstar or a megastar or whatever, but realistically with the pieces we have our record is a lot lower than it should be.
Here's is the quotes of McHale that made the press. The ones that the players will read. I copy these so we can see how McHale is handling the media...for those of you who think he's being unprofessional and should shut up. No where does he come close to mentioning a player by name. He never calls out a player. What is possibly wrong with what he said. It's exactly what Adelman and JVG would say. It's Rudy who wouldn't actually say it...imo. http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2012/01/mchale-cites-rockets-lack-of-road-intensity/
I think that the silver lining in the whole deal. If he continues to coach the same way we'll be in the lottery for sure.
You don't think the players are smart enough to figure out he is talking about them when he mentions he had never heard "We just didn't have it tonight"....and Luis had been quoted as saying exactly that? Really HP...I thought you went to Rice.....not ate it for lunch. DD
What is wrong with it is that he needs to get them on his side FIRST.....he is driving a wedge and that is 100% the wrong way to manage these guys. Whatever, you will see, watch how well they keep buying in.....I am sure the young guys trying to break the rotation will play hard, they are fighting for their NBA jobs....but the vets, especially KMart and Luis....they will do their thing, and I doubt they lose much sleep if they lose or not.... DD
Allow me to re-post Martin's quote for the drama queens in the thread. look's like Martin agrees with McHale to me.
Maybe if McHale was a good coach he could motivate his players to play hard instead of whining about it after the fact. DD
