Kevin McHale is a combination of Rudy Tomjanovich and Greg Popovich, two of his fellow Croatian American coaches. Like Rudy T, Kevin McHale was an NBA Allstar as a player. Like Greg Popovich, Kevin McHale served as a GM before becoming the head coach and started his coaching career with a losing record because of weak talent.
Why are my eyes lying? It is my opinion that he is a average to below average coach. Just like it is your opinion that he is above average. Why is your opinion factual and mine a lie? Last season was above expectations because expectations were made when we only had Lin & Asik. After Harden came to the team expectations were much different. Last season we shouldn't have fallen into the 8th seed at all imo. So yes last season was slightly below expectations. Yes we are 10-5 but there have been several mistakes that McHale has made repeatedly this season. Not fouling, not improving our defense (Parsons gotten worse), Harden staying the same defensively, not knowing how to handle our backcourt or the TT lineup. Getting consistently outcoached by Carlisle, outcoached by Dantoni, outcoached by a rookie NBA coach etc.
Not trying to win an argument here - but if you look at analysts, they basically all had us very low last season (30-35 wins) and most said that adding Harden won`r give us more than 4 more wins. So for most analysts we overachieved last season. This season? Fouling or not fouling, if you trust a statistic both will win you the game 90% of the time - maybe even Morey told him not to foul because of advanced statistics. As for his mistakes, yes he did several, most of all he still has trouble by the things you pointed out. But adding Howard to the mix is no small task - ask LA. He is such a complicated player in what he can and can`t do, you basically have to redesign your entire offense. That takes time and experience. Still going 10-5 although we had plenty of growing pains, injuries and the whole Asik problem is pretty good. Just look at other teams with major changes in their lineup. The Nets? The Warriors (pretty much the same problems as we do with a pretty similar record). It is hard to get major rotational players and still don`t do many mistakes. So overall - call him below average, average or above average, since the beginning of last season he has a pretty good record. And last season we had the prettiest and most efficient offense and great chemistry. So why don`t we give him the benefit of the doubt here?
Because the difference between the best coach ever in the NBA (Phil) and the worst coaches of his era was never more than 4-5 games in any season? And that study included complete roster meltdowns. You seem to believe that NBA head coaches are like a sixth player on the floor. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you had bothered to read the previous comments I explained the reason that the TT experiment, while doomed to failure, was an absolute necessity from a FO standpoint. The same with your other comments. Please be up to date on the current conversation before you start interjecting your "oh so valuable unsupported opinion".
Out of the 30 starting PGs in the NBA I find it hard to think of 1 that is worst than Bev. 12-13 41 games, 5.6 ppg, .418 FG%, 2.9 APG 13-14 12 games, 9.9 ppg, .426 FG%, 2.3 APG Starting PG with a 12.2 Per I have seen so few comments against Beverly while a solid player like Rafer Alston was the whipping boy here for years. I don't see anything Bev does better than Skip to my Lou. The PG I remember for the Rockets were all vastly superior to Bev Kenny Smith, Sam I am, SF3, Bobby Sura, Rafer, Brooks (MIP), Lowry, Dragic, Lin... I can think of any since the 1990s who were as bad as Bev. Now he isn't worthless but poor coaching is exposing him as such. Bev should be coming off the bench as a Defensive specialist to get a stop here and there.
Coaches "develop" just like players. Was it a mistake to not foul up 3? Probably. Did he learn from his mistake? Yes and we fouled in the NY game. And we won. 1.) Defense HAS improved, quite a bit actually. 2.) Not knowing how to handle the backcourt? LOLWHAT. Lin to the bench was the right move. 3.) TT lineup was necessary and a GM type move not a coaching move. 4.) Consistently outcoached by Carlisle, Dantoni, rookie coach? just because we lose a game doesn't mean we were outcoached. How about we give him some credit for what he HAS done? 1.) Developed Jones, Dmo, Smith, Beverley very nicely. 2.) Runs one of the best offenses in the league. 3.) Recruited Dwight Howard 4.) Is currently 10-5 You people have unrealistic expectations.
And I truly would love to hear a concise and coherent explanation as to who Lin's shots as a starter would be coming from. 1.64 shots per minute. NBA average. Rockets pace? 1.78 shots per minute. There are no more shots available. Is he supposed to dribble the ball aimlessly and give Harden, Parsons and Howard (and on occasion Jones) shots? Or should he cannibalize the other player's shots?
McHale publicly stated that he instructed his team to foul. Did they? No. Would SAS have made the same mistake? No. But it is a young team and learning.
Stats do not take in account of Personality, which affects Chemistry, which affects teamplay. That is the weakness of statistics, and that is what makes sports exciting because you don't know what will happen.
Winning % as Rockets Coaches McHale 55% Adelman 59% Van Gundy 58% Tomjanovich 56% Big whoop. Aw, OP wants more criticism of McHale. Is your 1st Amendment sore?
He started 82 games last year and 7 this year. This is not an issue. Do some basic research for yourself.
I agree. I think McHale is a hell of a coach. Him and Howard obviously have chemistry--there is no way Howard would have been happy on the bench in LA in the 4th quarter. It is no coincidence that the main posters criticizing McHale also use words like "Haren" in the majority of their posts.
LOL. Nice! And I would imagine that McHale will be leading that pack in another 30 or so games. By a bunch.
Name the starting NBA PGs Bev is better than. Name a starting Rockets PG in the recent past that Bev as the starter is better than. Kenny Smith during the championship years SF3 when he won ROY and was named to all stars Bobby Sura Rafer Alston the whipping boy here every day even though he was a solid ball handler and good defender. Who could run an offense and had some offense although his tear drop often made me want to cry. Lowry Dragic Lin
