I want Finch. He has paid his dues. Let's get someone who understands Morey's philosophy. Keep him on a short leash but give him a shot. It just make sense if Morey is going to do all of this analysis to not find a coach who wants to implement it. I vote for Finch.
i'm not a huge jvg fan but i could get behind a tough scrappy defensive minded team more than a soft finesse b**** made flopping gimmicky offensive team
It's partly his fault. Did the Rockets ever run any play to get Harden a good look? All I saw them do all night long was either dump it into Dwight or give Harden the ball at the top of the key and have everyone else stand around. They didn't even try to set picks. For all the crap we give this team for their lackluster defense, we tend to overlook how utterly inept they are in the halfcourt offense. They don't run plays. It's all ISO ball. The reason they got away with it in the regular season is that it's harder for teams to prepare for you, plus you have one of the most gifted scorers on the planet in James Harden(well, at least before this series).
if we get swept does this thread then become a sticky? from the shunned to the embraced? started from the bottom now our whole forum here?
Two things really bothered me about tonights game. 1. Despite Dwight's monster start, I thought it was very strange how much we went to him in the first half. Sure, he was hot and we got him going, but the rest of the team sort of stood there watching. We are at our best when we play team ball with the ball moving from side to side, Lin, Harden and Parson's slashing, pick and roll and alley oops to kick outs for 3's. What I saw tonight went COMPLETELY against our identity. 2. Defending Aldridge. Not ONCE did I see a double team. I saw some half hearted attempts...but it seems to me after what this guy has done to us this year we would have practiced the SH_T outta this the last two days. Also, why not try something different...like a Zone? Deny Aldridge the ball by doubling early, SOMETHING. Both of these are complete coaching fails in my opinion.
I say Les needs to restrict Morey to his true talent which is player acquisition. He then needs ban Morey forever from helping to select another head coach.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>It's called a double team, Coach McHale. Google it. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LaMarcusOlajuwon&src=hash">#LaMarcusOlajuwon</a></p>— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) <a href="https://twitter.com/LanceZierlein/statuses/459161544073289729">April 24, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The thing that gets me is he says we don't move the ball around and then he puts Asik and Howard out there. No one has to guard them. And they don't handle the ball. So when Harden tries to push it down the middle it collapses on him because they don't have to guard Asik. That's the biggest problem on offense. That and you don't change to a game plan to try to match some other team. You go with your strength. Mchale has one plan to start the game and then changes it in the middle. You've had a week to prepare for this team. And you have a certain style of play and then McHale throws that out. The twin towers has never worked. Why do you think it will work now. Going into Dwight every play changes the flow and we never got that flow back. I know there's a lot more to it than what I am posting. And it's easier to be couch coach but he gets paid the big bucks to coach under this pressure. His never had to coach in these circumstances. he is learning and I want someone who has playoff experience on some level.
Finch would get my vote...And he would actually coach. But what we really need is a head coach that holds people accountable regardless of star power. 1. George Karl 2. Chris Finch 3. Larry Brown 4. Lionel Hollins 5. JVG(if he gets off retirement) 6. SVG(that would be funny)
Les wanted McHale. He said he was very impressed. I think Morey was on the fence but thought it was not important as we were in rebuild mode.
Let me start this off by agreeing with popular sentiment that McHale's time has run its course here in Houston. He has not held his star players (Harden, Howard, Parsons) for poor effort on both ends of the court due to a lack of mental fortitude. That is what the coach is there for. Lack of ability (Harden's defense) is bearable; lack of effort is not. However the message of this post is for these idiots on the board to use some GD common sense before they come in here and bash McHale's strategies. Aldridge was spitting hot fire tonight, and Clutchfans was ablaze with anger. You guys make it seem like there is an obvious remedy for this. Aldridge is 7 ft tall. He can still shoot/pass right over top of our wing players, and if we send another big (on top of the one already guarding him) 17 ft from the basket, do you feel confident in Harden and Parsons to contain dribble penetration and prevent wide open 3 lane highways to the basket? I don't. This is the same dilemma with having Howard guard Aldridge 1v1. Terrence Jones was getting manhandled by Lopez on the boards and was incapable of protecting the paint from penetration. So that leaves us with the twin tower lineup. Defensively I thought this worked well. Asik played Aldridge about as well as you can play him one on one. It didn't matter in the 3rd Q as LMA still lit him up, but the law of averages came to roost in the 4th as Asik put multiple stops together. You aren't going to stop him altogether but Asik at least shows the ability to make his life tough. The trade off here comes on offense as Portland refuses to guard him, leaving one of their bigs to roam the paint ande detract Harden from getting in the paint. Do I agree with how McHale is playing it? No. He should be changing up the looks on Aldridge constantly. Make him think a little bit. Double more often than not when Jones is in the game (especially with Parsons), and keep rotating Asik and Howard to present different looks. There is no easy answer here folks. EVERYTHING is a trade-off. In my opinion these two losses have been almost solely on Harden's shoulders. His lack of effort when things aren't going his way is unwatchable. And ultimately, it is McHale's fault for enabling him the entire season.
Kevin Mchale's coaching decisions: Rockets tie game, allows for LMA still to be single teamed in the 4th. On offense, Asik and Howard in the floor...zero spacing and results in an out of sync offense...with no cutters and no motion in the offense. Decides to continue with small ball having Garcia(one of the coldest shooters for the season) and have Harden on Robin Lopez(who scored twice). The Rockets needed size on defense and spacing on offense. There is really only one player on this team big enough to guard LMA. He will not be strong enough, but on offense, he allows for spacing for the guards and parsons to attack the rim. Instead of contracting the lineup, the Rockets will only manage to win a game if they decide to open up the rotation, and put Garcia deep on the bench. He has shown to be totally ineffective on offense. Look up the stats, the Rockets started playing out of sync when Mchale decided to start going back to Caspi and Garcia down the stretch at the end of the season.
I doubt we will see McHale come October, but I hope we see Clutch City and come back and win this series. Either way, i don't expect to see this coach back next season.
it's not that morey doesn't want the team shooting the midrange shot, it's the fact that we don't have the PLAYERS to do it. When you have a pick & pop PF it opens up soooooooo many more plays. See my sig, I've been saying this since last year, every finals team must have a pick & pop PF option, we are the only team in west without one. Mchale does a bad job with plays but other coaches have these guys who set picks and open up so much without even have to run plays. Just old school p&r basketball !!!!!! These teams aren't doing anything special clippers - griffen Spurs - duncan/diaw warriors - lee Mavs - dirk okc - ibaka trailblazers - LMA grizzlies - zbo/gasol Suns - frye/Morris Pacers - west/scola Heat - bosh nets - kg Rockets - ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
There's no easy answer, but McHale isn't trying anything different. Why not at least attempt to double team Aldridge just once? See what happens. Why is he not giving any other players off the bench a shot when it's clear you're struggling on offense? Where were the adjustments? BTW, it's pretty obvious why McHale is so stubborn about sending a double team at Aldridge. Because he knows his team is so bad at rotating to the outside shooters that he's terrified to even risk giving them the 3-point shot. And that's on him as well for never getting his guys to commit to defense all season long.
