People that are defending McHale's 4th quarter decision tonight are arguing that Beverley outplayed Lin and that was why he was kept in the game. But in reality Lin was actually playing well (in contrast to Harden) until he was taken out the game. Then as he's on the bench, Beverley plays pretty well and gives good energy (which is what a bench player is supposed to do), which gets mistaken as "keeping the Rockets in the game" even though the real reason the Rockets were in the game was because of Chandler Parsons... and because of this, Lin gets punished for no good reason...
Did you watch the game? Robinson and Beverley were the two best defenders down the stretch. I get that they aren't technically starters, but they had the hot hand. This is the NBA. Teams lose. If a couple shots go the other way, all of the headlines would be talking about Beverley and Robinson's defense. Sorry this doesn't fit in with your narrative.
hopping around and waving your arms is great energy but it's not good basketball. 5 harden isos at the end of the game is not great coaching, it's what you get when you have players out there who don't know how to get open and make plays. huge coaching fail by mchale but what else is new.
Lin has proven many times that HE IS A CRUNCH TIME PLAYER! Do you guys remember the game against OKC??? Against the Spurs? If McHales trusts Lin a little more we would win more close game in which Lin does not play any crunch time minutes.
He's not wrong per se. But you only ride your bench players for so long. That's why they are bench players... sigh...
This coach has no shame.. never takes a blame for losses. He is on top of the list of one of the worse coaches I have ever witnessed. Should get Stan Van Gundy to coach instead.
I think we are still the youngest, but it can be a moot point -- what I am saying is that young teams (especially those with a lot of roster turnover) often lose close games. I think youth, inexperience and a lack of cohesion (the latter two thing the Thunder and Nuggets have more of) has a lot more to do with losing close games than having McHale as coach. Take tonight for example. We didn't lose because McHale played Beverly and Robinson. Those two were playing great defense the entire fourth, and made some pivotal plays on defense and loose balls. Meanwhile Lin was having trouble bringing the ball up the court all night (having to ride in a players wake to do so comfortably) and Asik would have had top guard Dirk or Marion if he played late, and I think Parsons and Robinson are more able to do that. This team almost won people. You can't flame a coach for making a good situational decision and almost winning a game. It is crazy.
Well, I was afraid that Mchale was going to reduce Lin's play at the point after our blowout win against Dallas since this type of regressing is so consistent with the Rockets' coach. Again, it didn't seem to work today.
Hot hand? Beverley didn't score and Robinson just scored at point blank range. And regarding your defense. Asik is our best defender and Lin was locking down Collison all night.
I've not posted in this thread. But today I just can stand him any more. You don't shoot yourself on the foot once, twice, and then three times. No Lin, fine. Let whoever sub Lin should keep playing pg. The Rockets current offense are great not because of Harden's ISO ball. At the beginning of this season, Lin had been just submitting the ball to Harden after dribling the ball to the front court. The offense didn't work. Finally both Harden and Lin learned to play off of each other and the offense had clicked. And the Rockets head coach just cannot resist himself to get back to the start of this season, cannot resist that iso ball. How many times now? When Lin's out and Harden's playing iso, the ball movement is only in Harden's hand and TOs are move often than not. That coach just does not learn. Don't count on him to go deep in playoffs. Fire him at the end of this season, whether the Rockets get in this playoff or not.
that's their job. when they get the game back you put the starters back in to finish. that's why they are starters and that's why bench players are bench players. I could understand if the bench kept on getting the upper hand but they didnt. They plateaued and the offense started sputtering. A great coach with a cerebral mind would have realized that and put the starters back in. This is basketball 101.
Coach of the Year! Sit 3 starters for the entire and most crucial quarter in a close game. Defense is overrated anyway! And who needs offense when we can just let Harden ISO the last 5 minutes straight? Drawing plays is for sissies.
Trust is not some sort of magical elixer that grants certain players special abilities they don't typically have. Watching the game tonight, Beverly looked a lot better than Lin overall (when you include both sides of the court). And watching the lineups at the end of the game, Asik did not have a defensive assignment that made sense at the end of the game. McHale made a decision and almost won. Harden missed a couple shots late that would have won or tied the game, a few calls went the Mavs way, and the Rockets lost a close game against a decent Dallas team. You don't fire someone who has led a team to surpassing everyone's expectations to the extent that this Rockets team has. I don't like McHale as Rockets coach, but the criticism he is getting tonight is stupid.
