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McHale - You Can Coach Them Hard - Can You Really?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Old Man Rock, Mar 20, 2013.

  1. Old Man Rock

    Old Man Rock Contributing Member

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    Someone in another post posed the question is Eric Spoelstra a good coach. Sure he is. But not exactly why you would think. It's a players league. Coaches don't win games. Players win games. Coaches only lose games. Remember that Phi Slama Jama championship game against NC State. The Cougars where superior on every level and if they played that team 20 more times in a less stressful situation, they would have probably won all 20. But I have never seen a poorer coaching exhibition in my days of watching basketball.

    I love Coach Guy V but poor substitions, eating his towel, keeping Drexler in the game when he had 3 fouls. Slowing down the tempo when the Cougars had never slowed down before. Almost every critical move he made was the wrong one. In the end he lost it for the more talented Cougars and it is probably the single reason he is not in the Hall of Fame. How can you give him that honor after you watched Valvano pull off one of the most biggest upsets in college basketball history.

    The point is coaches lose games. Coaches must maintain calm and confidence in the most stressful parts of a game, of a series, of a season. They are the anchor that keeps the team stable. Eric Spoelstra deserves a lot credit in this 23 game win streak because he hasn't lost any games. Yes he has a talented team. The best in the league. But he still has to coach them.

    Larry Bird's Celts had a powerful team and they never came close to that. McHale said as much as he admired Miami’s feat, “we would inevitably lose to a lousy team", to end the streak because it's so hard to keep focus. Ironically he b****es at his own team not keeping focus and how they should kiss the ground every morning and be thankful for the job they have. "Recharge Batteries, we don't need to recharge no stinking Batteries!. “ Yes there is truth in that but he himself admits it’s difficult to stay focused. And it’s the truth and that is the coaches job to help his team do that. Not to b**** to the media that they aren’t and it’s not there fault because they are young. There is always an excuse but what’s the solution.

    That's why what Adelman did was so amazing. He kept his Rockets batteries charged throughout all of the injuries in that 22 game win streak. He did it with a team that was not much better and maybe not as good as the current Rocket team. He did it without hard coaching and berating his team but instead by trying to instill confidence in them.

    Similarly with Spoelstra, he has not damage the possibility of a streak by mismanaging his players and harping on you need to keep your batteries charged. If he had done it without talent that would make him a great coach. But he has managed his talent well and kept up for the challenge. He does deserve credit for that.

    Can you say the same for McHale and this Rocket’s squad. Not so sure. He has seemed to suck the confidence out of a positive group. The Rockets need to recharge their batteries because he has sucked their batteries dry. Yes they are younger and sometimes younger players need a kick in the butt to get focused. But it's a tough love kick in the butt followed by confidence building. The Rockets beat some great teams and played some others close to the best. And when they were playing like that you could see their swagger. Where is it now. I believe McHale has sucked it out of them. Harden is injured but he has been injured for a while and still managed to show more confidence. What about Parsons, he has looked pathetic these last 2 games and DMo is so afraid out there he touches the ball like it’s covered with acid and he needs to toss it to someone else before his hands melt off.

    All I see from McHale on the sidelines is disgust and almost moments of fear. He does cranky sinical interview after interview where e looks like he could use an intervention to kick a bad habit. He talks of weak mentally and agonizes over there pathetic inability to follow direction. His methods may work with high school kids and some Bobby Knight Indiana teams but for the most part it is a poor way to coach in the NBA.

    For the most part these are the best of the best and got their because they have the talent and dedication to play the game right. They mostly take direction very well. But so do the players on the other team and everything you are trying to get your players to do the other coach is trying to stop.
    And that brings up another point. Does hard Coaching Really Work? McHale said something like the team is young and you can coach them hard and you can jump their ass, they take it. Yeah maybe they take it but does it help. It appears after all his jumping their a s s es they are not responding.

    I know this sounds like a bash McHale post and maybe it is some of that but really I actually like McHale. I just don’t think he is the right coach for this team. Very few teams would even accept over the long haul and he knows it. Which is why he commends them on their ability to accept jumping on their a s s. But it hs got to get old. I mean he looks like a deranged man after most practices, always pissed and annoyed. I am not saying this Rockets team hasn’t done things to piss off any coach. But that’s one of the jobs of coaching is to not allow does lows to stop you from losing focus of your job, to coach to instill confidence in his players.

    As a player when McHale had an off game he would figure out a way to correct it. He didn’t need his coach to come screaming at him telling how terrible he played. He accepted coaching where needed and rectified the problem and moved forward. He is right this is a great bunch of guys who want to win. Who are open to good coaching even if it comes in the form of screaming. But is jumping on their ass the best form for this team.

    It seems like he is trying to incorporate Bobby Knight and Popovich with a mixture of Hannibal Lechter. But it doesn’t even seem to fit him. You can see the misery on McHale’s face after every loss and while that is not unusual. Their needs to be a plan moving forward and not such a loss for words and bitter demeanor everytime they don’t perform to his expectations. His style just isn’t working for him and the results are in the pudding.

    There are a lot of things about coaching that are hard to measure but one thing that I always thought was something a coach owned was how they started. If you saw teams start of well and then finish off poorly that always came to me as a team that was well coached in the beginning but lacked the talent to finish. Rudy T’s teams were like that. He started most seasons with great records and then the other teams caught up. Adelman’s team seemed to fall short at the end of games when they were finally exposed by more talented teams.

    One of the things that reflect how coaching works is how the team starts. How they start games, how they start a season, how they start a playoff series. If a coach has prepared his team properly they should start off well. If they just don’t have the talent to carry the load throughout a game a series a season, so be it but how they start should reflect a little of how they are coached.

    Even Sampson has shown more skill in that area. During his stretch the team played better. Yeah they lost but they mostly started better and only loss to teams that deserved to beat them… not to Phoenix or Sac or blowouts to the Warriors. Yes any team can beat any team on any given night but consistently losing to teams after you have had more coaching is not a good sign. It seems the Rockets lay better with less coaching. Certainly there is the possibility I have this wrong and there is more to it than meets the eye. But from my view McHale may be hurting more than he is helping at this point. I am hoping he figures a better way but I have my doubts.
     
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  2. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
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    McHale isn't a great coach, but I think he's the right coach for this current team. In a year or so when the Rockets have finished rebuilding and have the team they plan to win with I think McHale is gone, but he's a great rebuilding coach.

    One thing is for certain, he's a hell of a lot better for this team than Adelman would have been. It's been a few years so I guess we all forget the strict 7 man rotations and the hatred for young players, but it doesn't change anything.
     
  3. Old Man Rock

    Old Man Rock Contributing Member

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    Wow that is the one thing that is not for certain in my book. Adelman got the most out of his players. Adelman played rookies that performed. He didn't play TWill because he was pathetic for us. He didn't play Thabeet because he was pathetic. He played Bud because he helped.
     
  4. smr6

    smr6 Member

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    McHale isn't a great coach. I like the guy, I think he does an alright job with this team, but he will never take us that final step.

    Anyway, as to your statement that it's players that win games and coaches only lose them. You only need to look no further than the Spurs to prove that a great coach will win games.
     
  5. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    My attention span needs to get better.
     
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  6. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
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    No, he played rookies when he had no other choice. If there wasn't an injury or he wasn't forced to play rookies by Morey trading away the vets, he wouldn't have ever given them minutes.
     
  7. nickg

    nickg Member

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    Exactly. People see what they want to see though. And to say coaches don't matter is ridiculous. Otherwise the Lakers wouldn't be the 8th seed.
     
  8. Old Man Rock

    Old Man Rock Contributing Member

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    How many games would he have won without Duncan? The reason they got Duncan was because they were the worst tem in the league the year before. I do think Pop is a good coach and he has coached his team mostly to win the games they should but make no mistake about it. had it not got lucky and got the pick to Duncan we wouldn't be talking about him in the same light.
     
  9. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    I have never thought McHale was any good as a coach, and nothing has changed for me in that regard.

    He does have them playing hard, but I believe this group would be doing that on their own.

    I do think McHale has lost some games, and is really poor at adjustments/rotations.

    This is Morey's guy though, so we are gonna have to live with it and hope he gets better at it.

    DD
     
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  10. Blaster_333

    Blaster_333 Member

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    If any of you have extra time, I recommend watching some post game pressers and up close interviews of two very good defensive and discipline coaches in Tom Thibodeau and Lionel Hollins. These guys take accountability for everything that happens on the court, and you can see the development as the season goes on.

    Lionel Hollins in particular also developed a young team in Memphis and his views on the game and on accountability are incredible, his team is a good example of it. Just comparing these two and McHale, you can see the world of difference between a good coach, and a coach still learning in his rookie years like McHale.

    McHale is probably a better coach for seasoned vets that don't like getting their azz chewed out (ala Doug Collins or Scott Skiles). This young team is in need of a disciplinary coach, especially when they're this young and their egos have not taken them over.
     
  11. kuku

    kuku Contributing Member

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    Great observation. After I read your post and looked up the stats by quarters. Sure enough! Rockets were outscored badly in the first quarters.

    Average Margin by Quarters
    -------------------------
    1st -0.9
    2nd +1.2
    3rd +1.8
    4th +1.5

    He is doing more harms to our future by doing:

    1. Not developing our rookies.
    2. Shortening Harden's career.

    I am sure FO isn't happy about playing Harden the whole second half against Wolves while coming back from ankle injury. If he is to be released of his contract after this season, this will be the main reason. Same can be said about playing Delfino at 4 instead of one of our stockpile of rookie PFs. Doesn't he know rookies need PT to excel? Of course he does. What does he care if one of them became a star 2-3 years from now? He will never get credit for jump start a star's career.

    I believe McHale knows he is not part of Rockets future. He avoids accountability and blame the losses on youthfulness of his players. This serves well for his next HC interview.

    A few years from now, anyone can dig up post game interviews on Youtube and conclude most of McHale losses were all due to: young players, inexperience, players w/o energy, inconsistent due to inexperience...they were never on the coach. He is padding his wins on his resume anyway he can this season (Harden's PT). Afterall, won/loss is the most crucial part on any coaching resume.
     
  12. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    I agree, I would welcome JVG back with this group.

    DD
     
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  13. kevC

    kevC Contributing Member

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    [​IMG]
     
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  14. robrhodes

    robrhodes Member

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    rebuilding coach..once a real team is assembled he's audi
     
  15. HamJam

    HamJam Contributing Member

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    Then how do you explain the success of the Spurs when their stars, including Duncan, are not playing in games -- or their continued elite level now that Duncan is older and does not play nearly as many minutes as he once did or as other star level players do?

    Popovich has demonstrated an ability to win games without his stars as well as an ability to compete for championships with stars who no longer of the quantity of minutes or production that star level players typically have.
     
  16. FTW Rockets FTW

    FTW Rockets FTW Contributing Member

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    Abysmal coach when it comes to X's and O's.

    I suppose he is a good talker and motivator but very poor tactically - running plays, in game rotations, calling timeouts etc.
     
  17. rayrocket

    rayrocket Member

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    No, JVG doesn't know how to play young fellas.......
     
  18. BamBam

    BamBam Contributing Member

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    Clever.....:grin:

    I love JVG, and I'd welcome him with open arms, but only if we didn't
    regress to that 80pt per game era ! That was hard to watch!
    ...........
    ...........
    ...........
     
  19. rayrocket

    rayrocket Member

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    Antoni and RA are best choices for this Rockets.
     
  20. MrSabotage

    MrSabotage Member

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    JVG loves Lin fwiw
     

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