the front office is obviously not going to fire mchale now at this point in the season, so this thread (or the title of it at least) is indeed a moot point. that being said, i had been under the impression that admins preferred to steer & consolidate criticism of the coaching staff to this particular thread in order to clear up the GARM of multiple similar/new threads. so unless you believe mchale and sampson are coaching flawless games night in and night out, this thread should be a legitimate place to discuss their mistakes.
I'm not advocating McHale being fired because he lost. That's going to happen. The problem is HOW he lost. You can coach badly in a win OR in a loss. McHale blew it with the way he managed the flow of the game. Terrible use of time outs, and terrible management of bench and starter minutes. And this isn't the first time he's done this and similar coaching errors. And this is what's going to cost us the most in the play offs.
He may have realized early in the third quarter that timeouts were futile. His starters collectively didn't bother to show up. Aside from taking all of them out and subbing in the bench immediately, what was he supposed to do at that point?
Let's see... the opposing team is on a 10 point run, carving up your defense and you can't score... Here's some options.... Asik for Dwight (for more mobility and better PnR defense) Casspi/Garcia for Tjones and/or Parsons (for more outside shooting, stretch the floor) Go to Lin/Bev line up (for more offensive firepower and the ability to move Harden to the 3 as he can't defend guards well) Bring in the whole bench (since the Starters weren't in the game) Garcia/Casspi for Harden (for more length to slow down Dunleavy) Any/all of those options were available. And then there's the calling of a time out just to call a play to spark the offense, break the Bulls offensive rhythm and give the Rockets a moment to calm down and get their heads back in the game. Instead, McHale sat on his butt and just watched the Bulls push the game out of reach. THAT is a problem.
That's pretty much what I said only in a lot fewer words. His only option based on the starters' horrific play was to sub in the entire bench(or most of it). It's obvious McHale didn't want to do that at the time. Not saying I agree with that choice, but he decided to stick with the starters to see if they could turn it around. That being said, McHale better have some of these guys on a much shorter leash come Sunday. If Parsons is gonna put up bricks, he needs to get pulled quickly. If Harden is gonna sit back and wait for the 2nd half before trying, take him out and put in Lin who at least is constantly pushing the ball down the court on every possession. If Jones is gonna just stand around, take him out for D-Mo or go small with Hamilton. And if Dwight is gonna play like a pansy out there and keep turning the ball over, sub in Asik. At least he'll set hard picks and get the perimeter guys open looks.
Yes I said before the game if we run & gun it will be a win, but if we play the Half court HOWARD offense we will play right into tibbs hands. This is what bothers me with bev starting and going to Howard all the time against good half court defensive teams. I understand what they're trying to do with Howard but he just is not consistent and not reliable from the line when he fouled. These are so many missed opportunities when we could be getting quicker and better looks. This team needs this that solid PF if they want to run half court offense or Lin playing 30mins so we can attack different ways. I've said this since summer tho and will continue to ride with it until Howard/half court offense proves me wrong in playoffs
So let's say McHale does all that. And the bench gets blown out by the (much more talented) Bulls' starting lineup. Would you bump this thread saying "wtf McHale should have kept the starters in!" How many games has Harden made 1-2 buckets and then exploded in the third quarter after he gets going a bit? You have to trust in your best players to play themselves out of any in-game slumps. It didn't happen tonight. Those nights will happen, and there really isn't much the coach can do if the players don't show up.
I didn't have a problem with leaving Harden in the game. I wouldn't have a problem with bringing Harden in during the 4th quarter either. I DID have a problem with leaving Dwight, TJones and Beverley ALL on the floor. Dwight is limited. We know that and he was getting pounded. Tjones was shooting terribly and wasn't defending well. Beverley was shooting terribly and wasn't defending particularly well. Harden is your offensive superstar. He deserves some leeway. Tjones and PBev, not so much. And Dwight... that's less about being a superstar than recognizing that Asik is better or as good at some things. The biggest issue is that McHale did NOTHING. Any decision in terms of subs is debatable. Doing Nothing? I don't think that's debatable at all.
So you are criticizing him for doing nothing and losing. Have you been praising him when he lets the starters sort themselves out and we win?
How many games have you seen them play as poorly as tonight and he did nothing? I can't remember any... In previous games he changes the line up, or calls a time out. Even if it's only to chew them out. In Portland he called time outs and went small. Last night he didn't even call time outs. And previous games weren't NEARLY as important. We're late in the season fighting for play off seeding. You have to be more aggressive as a coach as the season gets tighter. You just can't sit and always let them work it out.
So you're saying it's a one-time issue? Cool, not a big deal then. A blip and not the norm. Consider it a cold shooting night for McHale.
When's the last time the entire starting lineup played this badly? The Portland game followed a similar trajectory as Chicago in that they were down only a few points after one and 8 points(just like against the Bulls) at the half after that technical free throw. But the Rockets didn't come out in the 2nd half against the Blazers and immediately let them build the lead up to 25 points. They got down by 16(or was it 18?) points, but they closed the gap a little heading into the 4th and at least gave themselves a shot at a comeback which they eventually pulled off. When all 5 starters come out in both the 1st and 2nd half and allow the Bulls to do pretty much anything they want offensively and no one even attempts to run a coherent offensive set, McHale's options are limited. He can call timeouts, he can b-tch at the players, he can sub in bench guys(BTW, he did do all of this in the 1st half), but after that horrific start to the 3rd quarter, he probably figured(and correctly so I might add) that his starters simply didn't bring it that night and his two options were to pull them from the game or leave them in and let them either work their way through it or suffer the embarrassment of being blown out on national TV. I will say this though. If this happens again in Miami, then McHale will need to start answering for his own ineptitude. At some point if your starters keep coming out unprepared for games, it's on the coach for not doing his job to get them ready.
Not the first time McHale sat on his butt and did nothing when it was obvious that changes needed to be made. Remember Wizards game in DC where we blew that enormous lead and all he did was clap? Ironically, I also remember Dwight turning the ball over like 8 times in that game..
To add to this - at one point, all the starters started to settle for 3 pt chucks when there was so much time on the shot clock. I clearly remember, Tjones and Chandler guilty of this. "Well we are down by 15, let's chuck to see if our 3 falls instead of running some plays to chip" If I was the coach and saw my team selfishly shooting like that, I would have benched them. Coach has to do better management of the starters.
So.... we are firing McHale today because he played Dwight Howard over Omer Asik essentially..... You folks sure do make a ton of sense and seem completely rational. Greg Popovich went with Boris Diaw for a very important stretch in the finals that ultimately cost them the series because of the lack of rim protection, and that guy is heralded on here as some sort of god. The guy played his BETTER player through a tough stretch to see if he could break out of his funk. Omer Asik wasn't going to win this team sh#$ last night in that game. McHale isn't the greatest coach ever to grace a basketball bench, but he doesn't need to get fired because he played Dwight Howard over Omer Asik any day of the week... thats about the dumbest argument I've ever heard on the GARM.
Phil Jackson was notorious for not calling immediate time outs and letting his players play through their poor play. Sometimes it worked and others it didn't. Obviously Mchale isn't as good a coach as Phil but this strategy isn't anything new. The players just didn't bring it last night sans Jeremy. I'm afraid nothing the coach could have done last night would have changed the outcome. When your top 3 options (Harden, Howard, Parsons) all play poorly along with all of your role players (other than Jeremy) also playing poorly you just need to call it a night. So an earlier time out would have changed the outcome? Subbing Asik for Howard would have overcame a 25pt lead? lol at all the knee-jerk posters. Even some of the more rational posters seem to have fallen prey to it as well. Is Mchale the best coach in the league, no. Every loss isn't on Mchale, for the most part its on the players. Mchale isn't coaching the players to not give defensive effort, or constantly turn the ball over. I'm not sure what you people expect.
Scouts Takes: Can Rockets go all the way? Eastern Conference scout on the Houston Rockets' 23-8 surge since Jan. 1: "The team that's made the big jump in the West is the Clippers. They've taken a major step forward defensively. Really, really impressive last time I saw them. "All the top teams [in the West] have certain flaws and the Rockets are no exception. But I like that they stay true to themselves. They don't hesitate about who they are. So as a result the players' minds are free to just go play. "They run, they shoot a lot of 3s, they want to get to the rim ... and anything else is post-ups for Dwight [Howard]. And they're not going to make a lot of adjustments. "Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think Kevin McHale should be getting more credit than he does. People want to see a coach calling a lot of plays, because they make so much money, so [McHale] opens himself up to criticism with the approach he takes. But it takes a pretty strong person to sit through some of the low points without trying to change things because he wants to stay true to what they do. "They're like that NCAA team, that seventh seed that can knock off a No. 1 seed but doesn't have enough juice to go all the way to the Final Four. The Rockets are going to be a pain in the ass for somebody in the playoffs and can definitely knock somebody out if the matchup is right. Especially if Dwight continues to bounce back; he's moving so much better than he was a year ago. "The problem in the playoffs is that, eventually, execution matters. [The Rockets] play at one speed -- and they play great at that speed -- but at some point they're going to run into somebody who makes that a problem for them. "The one team that nobody wants to mess with in the playoffs is Memphis. They're the one team that can make every series a street fight and really play a nasty, physical game. Who else in the West can really say that? "But Memphis and Houston aren't all that different in this one sense: Can they run the table and go all the way? Like Houston, you have to say probably not."
I agree. I was thinking about Bulls today and our loss to them. They are doing great because they are playing playoff intensity basketball throughout regular season. In the playoffs everyone else steps up a level or two, while Bulls remain at same level. They can win as many games against Miami during reg. season as they want. It still doesn't change the fact they are always underdogs against them come playoff time, Rose or no Rose. Same with Rockets - I guess they are coasting from time to time, but... I'm sure every Rocket will play their absolute best come playoff time.
