This. McHale does this a lot though. Let's forget about this game. I can go back to about 5 games or so where McHale (or Sampson) made the same mistake. Made a poor substitution decision & instead of correcting it they doubled down on there choice. It is just stubbornness & not wanting to openly show that they are aware they made a mistake. McHale has done this with multiple players. He doesn't play Asik down the stretch & has ample opportunity to sub him back in but refuses. Then he sneaks Omer back in on the court with like less than a minute when it is clear that we have lost the game. He did the exact same thing with Patterson. Wins & losses are irrelevant for me, I have been saying that all season. I honestly just want to see growth amongst players & the coaching staff. I have seen substantial player growth, I haven't seen enough coaching growth. Does this mean that I want McHale fired? No. But doesn't mean that I am going to pretend like everything is Ok because we won.
Is it growing pains or growing enjoyment? Either way, we want to grow so who cares how it happens as long as it is happening. I give props to McHale tonight for trusting in the bench to pull it off. I'm sure it was some lesson he was teaching or going with his gut. Again, either way, he was right.
Its easy to look back and say: oh it was a smart, courageous move by McHale. Oh yes, it doesn't matter, we pulled off the win anyway. Hindsight's 20/20.
He chose that strategy expecting they would carry it home. They carried it home. Hindsight is 20/20, but when it's exactly what you thought would happen when you did it, it's not just hindsight that was 20/20
You know why? Because McHale did a poor job. Coaches do a good job but sometimes the team doesn't win, and coaches do a bad job but sometimes the team wins. Yes, the world is part results-driven, and part process-driven. You get good results with a poor process, and poor results with a bad process, sometimes. I prefer to think like Morey. People judged him for results, but the reality is his process has been great just the results haven't delivered (getting superstar in Harden and young supporting cast), but his process was always there. When things click, the results deliver.
Its Just amazing that Mchale chose this time, the last 9 and most important games of our season, to start developing guys... while in almost the entire season we would play harden and parsons extended minutes regardless if hurting or not because we are trying to win games....
It's not just taking the starters out, the bench wasnt playing defense and was jacking up 3s, with no time out from McHale In the Spurs game early in the season when Lin scored 38, weren't they also up going into the 4th and Lin was benched for too long? As far as I'm concerned, the proof is in the playoffs, seeing how McHale runs the team in the playoffs will answer all questions.
agreed. not as a fan of lin or the rockets, but as a fan of good coaching in the NBA, this is pretty poor coaching on McHale's part. There are a lot of people who say a win is a win, but that's being extremely shortsighted. You are correct, it's the process by which you play night in and night out that matters most. Winning is just a product of the process. Sometimes you get lucky, most of the time you don't rely on it. There's a reason why Vinny Del Negro was fired by the Bulls and replaced by Tom Thibodeau even though Del Negro led the Bulls to playoff appearances in his only 2 seasons as coach. There's a reason why you'll see Del Negro fired by the Clippers soon enough (there are already grumblings). The Clippers like the Bulls like this year's Rockets win in spite of it's coach.
1. You say this as if Harden and Parsons aren't young and still developing themselves... 2. Early in the season every win matters, while in the last 9 games (with a 3 game lead over the 8 seed) resting our players becomes more important for our inevitable matchup against the Spurs/Thunder/Nuggets/Clippers
'Winning is just a product of the process' Rockets are 41-33. Process works. Don't compare this to Vinny Del Negro's Bulls- we have a winning record while his Bulls never finished better than .500 with first round exits as the 7th and 8th seed IN THE EAST.
"Any idea that I was experimenting and developing players is untrue. Jeremy, we're trying to win the game." - False McHale quote. LOL. Just a joke, just a joke.
Please define 'solve the problem'. I think it's simply because the bench had enough dime to spend and it is Orlando.
When you do something you shouldn't and it turns out okay, it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. In fact, it emboldens a person to do it again with percentages eventually catching up to you.
If anything, McHale should put the starters back in much earlier, like 5-6 minute mark. But you're complaining about the last 2 minutes? Really? Lin and Asik have been cooled down for too long. What if they were back in the game but made critical mistakes that cost us the game? Judging from the response after the win, I shudder to think what people would have to say to McFail if we actually lost the game. Like you said, you've never been a McHale fan. I think in your subconscious you've been trying to find an excuse to go off on him, and this was it. But if not this game, sooner or later you'll find that excuse. It's not really about this game. Last 2 minutes? Remember the game when people were saying putting Lin back in with 5 minutes and down by 10 points was an insult to Lin? Now you're talking about 2 minutes? Might as well stick with the bench.
Maybe while watching the game some of us were freaking out to put Lin and Asik in... but im 100% supportive of what mchale chose to do. Chose to stick with his bench, didn't call timeout, kept his cool, and his young line up learned to close out a close game with success. Major props to mchale for not taking the easy way out.
