I think a lot of the players deserve credit for improvement on themselves. Lin has been steadily developing himself since his days from the Warriors. He had been tossed in from several different play styles and had to adjust to each while playing under immense scrutiny and expectations from fans and critics both. McHale deserves credit where credit is due (wherever that is) but to give him complete credit is not being fair to the players.
Remember he gave Parsons the starting job as a rookie. McHale deserves a lot of credit for being open to playing young guys
This is the youngest team in the league. McHale really has no choice w/ the team he has. You pretty much pick offense over defense & try to out gun the other team & its worked pretty darn good so far. Down side is, guys play poorer defense and concentrate more on the offensive side of the ball. Its really not a negative if you are winning games.
I think "WE," the "FANS" have something to do with the development of the players. If something not going right, we voice our own opinion and the coaches heard about it from the media such as not using Lin's properly on the court in the beginning of the season. Or if Harden ballhogging too much...he's going to hear about it. So in effect, the fans help the development of the players too.
When it comes to McHale I think everyone is being too results-oriented. Obviously results are important and I don't mind McHale now, but a million factors goes into the things that people are crediting to McHale. Les, Morey, the coaching staff, the training staff, the players themselves, plus a million other factors, are ALL responsible for our current situation and player development. We have NO idea what happens during practice or in the locker room. Crediting it all to McHale would be like blaming him for everything if we were bad. No 1 person can claim responsibility either way. McHale is a young coach and this is a young team, so we need to cut him some slack. But the 2 criteria I always judge coaches by is 1) Substitution patterns 2) Play calling out of a timeout I don't want to crucify McHale for these, because I don't think anyone would say McHale has done a great job in either department, but I would just prefer if fans toned it down on both sides of the argument. The 2 things that he has done that have really bothered me all season though 1) leaving in the starters (especially Harden) too long 2) not staggering Lin and Harden's minutes more. I thought that his substitutions during the 7 game losing streak were terrible, but that was an isolated incident. Either way, everyone knows the regular season is just a rehearsal. We can see what McHale and the team are really about in the playoffs.
Exactly Patpat gave his twitter fans credit. I'm sure LOHs are a big reason why Lin is playing better now.
Really? The only guy you think has legitimately improved since last year is Greg Smith? Harden, Parsons, Asik, and Lin are all the same or worse than they were last year? I don't agree at all.
Let me rephrase. I think McHale deserves SOME of the credit. With that being said I feel a lot of our wins were resulted from our players effort and talent and McHale's rotation has been pretty random to me. However I saw some players' improvement that might have been because of coaches' emphasis in practice.
"I'm fed up with the team being 10 games over .500 and Lin playing his best stretch of basketball as a Rocket."
I do agree with the general sentiment, but if you feel the coaching staff as a whole has done a great job, then McHale absolutely should get credit for it. He's the leader/manager/boss of the staff, so he's the one responsible for making them work on the players the right way. On the flip side, if one were to believe that players develop themselves(argument I disagree with as I watch teams like the Kings and the Raptors), then McHale shouldn't even be talked about on here. Because if a player fails, then it's on him that he didn't develop himself properly. Either way, the head coach should get fair treatment. If he's responsible for losses, then he should also be responsible for wins. If he's responsible for bad defense, then he should also be responsible for good offense. If he's responsible for player A not living up to potential, he should get credit if player B does live up to potential. As long as it's fair, I have no problem with critique nor adulation.
If we're really looking at player development, I think Kevin McHale has tried to help Greg Smith. I'm not giving him credit for simply putting Greg into the starting lineup though. It is an expectation for a coach to make lineup changes based on mismatches and offensive and defensive plans. I don't understand how so many are praising McHale for this small adjustment. I guess it's because it's one of the few changes he's made, though it was an obvious one. McHale was a big, so I doubt he's had any influence on our guards and forwards, in terms of development. He may have suggestions on the screens being set to free those guys up or how he wants each of them to come off of the screen, but that's pushing it. Look, McHale was an amazing player. He made up for a lack of athleticism with intelligence in his post moves. I'd bet anything that he's a nice person and a great friend. But as a coach, I have my doubts about him having a significant imprint on player development. The best players rarely make good coaches. Our record is much better than expected and I am proud of what the players have accomplished. McHale has his chance for some redemption during this last stretch. Lord knows I want him to fix what he royally jacked up last season during this time.
Some people will never give him credit for anything, regardless- just because they dislike him. Real mature, people. :/
Chris Finch is the one who works with Jeremy Lin and Dean Cooper works with Greg Smith/Omer Asik. Sampson works with Harden and one or two others. Those are their player assignments for who warms them up. If you get to a game early enough, you can see this. You don't even know what the **** you're talking about yet again, but you're bashing our coach again.... Can't say I'm surprised any more Old Man. It's getting ****ing old.... and you called me an idiot...
Seeing players like Asik and Lin grow before your eyes. Aswell as Harden shine in the league as an upcoming superstar is awesome. This IS the guy who played Parsons ahead of C-BUD. He may not be the best coach but he is learning. He is coaching the youngest team with a huge roster overhaul into the playoffs.. give him some kind of credit at least..
Fair points all around. In the middle of the season, I was hoping we were talking to Jerry Sloan or Stan Van Gundy. But I wouldn't be upset if we kept McHale, he's earned it. As for player development, you made an interesting point. I guess I'd have to chalk that up to a combination of things again. You got guys like Cousins who don't give a $hit, and probably even harm other players' development then you got guys like Jeremy and Harden who bust their asses every day. Given McHale's small experience, it's too rash to condemn him or praise him too quickly. Some coaches are just in the right place at the right time and some coaches' records speak for themselves. But as I said originally, it's all about the playoffs. I'll hold off on my final grade until then, but for now I got to say, McHale's won me over, especially since he started staggering Lin and Harden.
In the beginning of the season, I did not like how Mchale played Lin, by forcing Lin to be a spot up shooter. Looking at the situation now, at the end of the season, I agree with the OP 100%. Lin looks a lot more polished and in control vs. what he was last year. I think this will actually extend Lin's career in the NBA. Last year, Lin was all about driving into the paint, but getting hammered. Lin had a mid-range game, but didn't have a 3 point game. Now, he's developing a much better 3 point shot. That will keep him in the league a lot longer.
