Official Fire McHale Thread

Our team looks very simple on the court, nothing to get us easy buckets. The offense looks haphazard and players buy in reluctantly. All Memphis did was pack the paint and let us fire away, we didn't put one of their weak defenders (Zack) in PnR at all. Our strategy is definitely flawed to say the least.

 

OK, this is a good point. And the post made me nod my head.

But the problem I have with McHale isn't that he is a bad coach, so much as he seems a bad fit given the need the Rockets have right now to put together a team out of some superstar personalities who need some controlling and direction. Looking back at it now, the read and react system worked well last year because all the players naturally fit into their roles in that system.. this year, the players need a coach who will help them find their way to a new identity. McHale just doesn't seem the best suited for that job.

 

We're not going to win the championship anyway, even if Phil Jackson was coaching.. We just trying to improve in our half court sets and establishing a shut down mentality... We actually need Lionel Hollins to coach this team.. We would at least play D at a higher level and keep us in games when our shots aren't following.

 

I actually see the opposite. I dont think he's the most skilled coach in the world(mostly on the defensive side of the ball), but I think he's doing a good job of the relationship side of handling the players.

They all seem to really respond to him, and trust him... which goes a long way in an 82 game season. The way they come out of timeouts, and after a lackluster first half shows this. They do seem to respond to him.

The problem with this team is its hard to pinpoint exactly if its coaching or its player execution in alot of situations where they just arent getting back in transition, aren't moving the ball enough, etc. etc. Where does bad coaching end and poor execution from the players begin?

The good news for all the McHale haters out there is that THIS SUMMER I can almost guarantee that McHale will most likely have to re interview and be re-evaluated to continue as coach for the Rockets, but the bad news is CF will still not like alot of things about that coach they bring in one way or another, and YES he or she will get 99% of the blame 99% of the time good bad or indifferent... that's just the way it is in modern professional sports. Its always the coaches fault because they are easy fixes to replace overnight.

 

I'd love to know the coaching vs. player experience issue. Anybody who's good with looking back at history.. How many teams with a weighted playing average of 25 (what we are now) has a winning percentage over .630 (what we have now). I would guess not many and it just proves our youth and inexperience.

 

Kinda disingenuous to leave off George Karl, if even to argue against him (and despite a-whole-nother thread dedicated to him):

Karl - Would play no one more than 35-36 mpg, would actually attempt to make in-game adjustments; knock against him? lack of playoff success for awhile (but that was usually with Melo jacking up shots or with Gallinari sidelined)

 

Based on the following website:

http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=571

NOBODY has had a .630 winning percentage with a weighted age of 25. Maybe I'm reading the chart wrong, but it looks like we're in some pretty rare company. I think this will show once we get more experience, we'll be a force.

 

Oh trust me... as soon as Karl suffered loss #1 of the season.. the CF peanut gallery would find a reason.

Also crazy to think that so many people hated the idea of hiring a Celtic as HC, when George Karl accounted for just as much if not more troubles to the Rockets in the playoffs in the 90's with the Sonics than McHale did to the Rockets. Talk about joining forces with a past enemy. What's next... Jerry Sloan, and the Rockets hire Karl Malone to mentor Dwight??

Seriously though... of all the coaches everyone has been clamoring around about, I do think Karl seems like one of the top guys to take a look at this Summer, but even if he did get hired, and was an upgrade... CF would find a way to call for his head after loss #1.

 

I'm slow so I don't follow. What's the reason?

 

Of course the forums will erupt if Karl were hired as head coach and the team suffers its first loss. Here's the key with Karl or Van Gundy(either one) or Hollins. The mistakes that lead to the Rockets' early season losses won't be occurring by the time we reach midseason. Because those coaches are competent and know what the hell they're doing. They'll correct the screwups so that they don't keep happening and cost the team additional wins.

Look at the Rockets' early losses this season. The game at the Clippers where we never showed up and played zero defense. The game at home against the Lakers where we never showed up and played zero defense. The game in Philly where the Rockets failed to execute late and intentionally foul which allowed the Sixers to tie the game and win in OT. The game in Dallas where the Rockets played poorly in the 4th quarter and failed to make any adjustments resulting in a blown 18-point lead. And the game in Utah where the Rockets never showed up and played zero defense.

Now let's look at recent losses. The game at Atlanta where the Rockets failed to execute late which allowed the Hawks to steal the win. The game in Sacramento where the Rockets never showed up and played zero defense. The game at home against Sacramento where the Rockets failed to execute late allowing the Kings to steal the win. The game at home against OKC where the Rockets played poorly in the 4th quarter and failed to make any adjustments resulting in a blown double-digit lead(and a pathetic 19-point 2nd half).

There are other losses too, but you get the idea. The problems that plagued this team early in the season still persist to this day. And you can't chalk it all up to injuries. Players being out does not explain taking inferior teams lightly(if anything, it should PREVENT that!). It doesn't justify the inconsistent effort on D. And it doesn't explain why we seem incapable of executive offensive plays, especially late in games and ESPECIALLY out of timeouts. If I saw McFail making improvements in any of these areas, I'd feel better about him as the Rockets' head coach. Instead it looks like he's just sitting back and hoping that eventually these guys just figure it out on their own.

 

its not the players fault. we got the talent which compares or is better than most of the teams in the nba. we just dont have a leader in a coach or leader in a player that demands a high level of play. Usually its the coach's job to create a leader in a player that brings it every night and make the others follow his lead. (Ex. Paul George, Kobe, Lebron, Durant, Rose) Even if they are not shoting well they still demand high level of play from the other and command it. But if the coach fails to create one the team will never be a championship caliber team. It all starts and ends with coaching. Starts with empowering a captain and ends in close games by out smarting the opposite coach. In both fronts McFail is a failure

 

Of course CF fans would jump on him after his first loss.

Thing is, at least we'd see some actual coaching. I feel almost as sorry for McHale as I do for us fans. Nice guy, but he honestly looks completely befuddled out there. The bags under his eyes get more pronounced with each "the ball gets sticky, we just didn't hit shots" loss. He can't coach, he can't discipline.

And it almost feels like Morey and McHale are in tandem with, "Let's get more three point firepower". Never once do we hear rumblings, let alone whisperings, of bolstering the perimeter D. "D" being the only letter of the word "defense" that either of them can recall.

And hell, I could care less about George Karl's illegal-D years in Seattle. Over and done with. I just want someone who'll actually coach. I don't want the noun coach. I want the verb:

Someone who can coach. Borrowed from merriam-webster:

coach

one who instructs or trains <an acting coach>; especially: one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy

My amendment:

one who instructs or trains <an acting coach>; especially: one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy unless that strategy involves chucking threes, utilizing talented but young players only when forced to do so, running the three best players until their wheels fall off, and hoping the team's best player saves your a$$ every game; see also, McHale, Kevin

 

LOL. I feel your sentiment about the D. That's been my biggest criticism of McHale up to this point. I expected more from him and Sampson when they were first brought in.

Look, I'm not saying McHale is a good coach, and Karl is a bad one (actually think he should get some consideration for HOF even though I'm on the fence with him).

All I'm saying is 99% of the folks on here will hate whoever the coach is next year (assuming they go in another direction this summer), and be careful what you wish for with some of these coaches people THINK they want.

But yes, even though everyone will still despise that new coach, I do agree that Karl or many other available coaches out there would be a huge upgrade from what McHale has brought so far. However I DO NOT recommend letting him go mid season. Lets let this season play out first, and go from there. Too much risk in making the change mid-season.

 

McFail ain't going anywhere this season. Hell, I think he's a horrible coach and even I've said repeatedly he has earned the right to complete the season based on what we did last year and the fact that we're playoff-bound this year and in the middle of the pack in a brutal Western Conference.

My concern is going forward. If the goal is to merely make the playoffs and maybe sniff the 2nd round once in a while, McFail is an adequate hire. If the goal on the other hand is to catch and eventually surpass the top teams in the West like OKC, San Antonio, and soon Portland and the Clippers, he ain't gonna cut it.

 

I feels ya.

McHale should stay until the end of the season and then let go. It's the, "See? I tried it with this guy and it didn't work, great guy but we had to let Coach Kubi---er, McHale go" approach.

P.S. Although I wouldn't mind some sort of trade that cleansed the team of inadequate point guards and netted us Lowry (if Rondo seems a pipe dream or a bad match with Harden), but we all remember how well Lowry meshed with McHale:

McHale: "Golly jeepers, why won't you just read and react? It's simple. Read and react."

Lowry: "I don't like to read. This ain't no Amazon Kindle. It's basketball."

McHale: "Gosh, boy howdy, I can't have you running Adelman's plays, it undermines me as coach."

Lowry: "Well, try to be a coach and come up with some actual plays and I'll run'em."

ring ring

Lowry: (sipping water) "Yo, whaddup Andy."

Andy Miller (Lowry's agent): "Toronto."

splooooot! (spit take)

Lowry: "What??!!!"

 

McHale suck.. Math is CLEAR

 

Do we have to repeat the 3 to 5 things McHale tells the team to do again???

"Play Harder" ETC.. Sometimes I think McHale draws stick figures and a rim like a 1st grader would in timeouts and if Sampson doesnt at least sneak a play in some players ears while watching this or try to do something he is just as much to blame imo. We need a new Coach and staff like what the Texans coach or gm did. Good people but no remorse just like Wade got is what we need

 

F McHale F Sampson F the whole coaching staff, assistants and they mf'n crew
"Hit Em Up Morey!"

 

The texans ones that just got ****canned after losing 14 in a row?

Set that bar high.