McHale wanted to go deeper than 7-8, he spoke about it before the season started and early in the season... the problem is that the Rockets did not have the depth.
This... I fully expect Morey to improve the bench whether or not we get a third star.. He can go and get better guys this year because he has the Mid Level, Bi Annual, and Room exceptions..
I do not think the Rockets need a coaching change at all. I have been watching the NBA for more than 15 years and I have seen a lot of coaching huddles on the court and in the locker rooms. The NBA is not some bush league basketball league, the NBA is one of the toughest profession ever in the world, (together with the NFL, MLB and the NHL). Only the best players in the world can be in the NBA, so no one player needs extra motivation or push to give their all whenever they play in the NBA. As it is, the real only job of the NBA coaches is to inspire their superstars to play well, which Kevin McHale is doing a very fine job.
What about going in with Lakers on a multi team trade? We give them Asik/Lin, they give someone picks, we free up cap space and add to their picks for a 3rd star. Possible?
Disagree. In my humble opinion, Rockets biggest needs are defense, coaching, veterancy, and again defense. We could speak about better spacing since that PF spot, for sure, but please, note that this Rockets team has already been a top offensive team, and has already enough elite talent to compete for rings. Given our coaching issues and poor execution, this team would find more offensive problems at a given playoff series (againts better defensive teams than the Blazers), but you can't overcome the luxury of adding a third superstar over the absolutely biggest problem and more notorious need of the team: DEFENSE And by acquiring Melo, the Rockets not only would become instantly a worse defensive team, but also would be sacrifying a notable improvement in this regard, using their cap space to get attributes that go far away from the defensive ones they most need, and renouncing to other potential improvements via draft and MLE. Btw, it is appropiate to not confuse certain terms, because Morey has always publicly expressed his intention of acquiring a third big winning impact player, but not necessarily a third superstar. He could be considering Kyle Lowry as a player with elite winning impact in the game, not being labeled as a superstar. Biggest need is defense, not more allstar pedigree. So you cannot renounce to the biggest need by going for a different one. That would be bad management. And Morey is not a bad GM, that's why he is not going for Carmelo.
An additional need to defense, coaching and veteran depth is chemistry. Rockets are a young team, not just in age, but in how long they have played together. Trading Asik and Lin will affect both chemistry and depth of the Rockets' core. Morey needs to continuing adding pieces without subtracting so much. Keep adding role players but allow the core of the team time to gel, longer than one season would be a nice start.
This team NEEDS Diaw more than it needs Chandler. A true stretch 4, and more attainable than Dirk (who would be perfect for us)...
The longer I watch the playoffs the more I realize how far the Rockets are from a championship. What's odd is how dominant they were over the Spurs during the regular season. On the other hand, the way the Spurs demolished the Blazers indicates that they push into another gear in the post season.
The Spurs have not only a more experienced team, but a mature culture. Everyone knows what he's supposed to be doing on the court, what the other players are supposed to be doing, and how they react to situations on the floor. When the Rockets come close to matching that, and we don't need Pop to do it, we'll be far closer to a championship than we are now. Sure, the Spurs can still lose, but due to other factors, like talent, opposing strategy, the refs and luck, but it won't be because they don't know what they're supposed to do when they step on the hardwood. In my humble opinion. Give the Rockets some time. That assumes the team has a direction.
This said, if you were to put the core of our team in a time capsule, and let them play 5 years of basketball together over course of this coming summer, the team would look considerably different this fall. We need reminding sometimes that talent and/or potential alone seldom (if ever?) wins championships.
Asik would leave next summer anyway, as would Lin; and both are overpaid given the role they have on the team.
Anthony is a defensive upgrade over oblivious Jones.... Team defense takes time, I expect the Rockets to get more than marginally better defensively. If they add Anthony they will most likely use the MLE and BLE on defensive oriented players.
Match ups... Match ups... Match ups... The Rockets are not that far with more experience and an elite player added.
Rockets need leadership...on the court. Howard? Didn't you go to the Finals? Harden? Didn't you go to the Finals? Where is the Leadership? Carmelo is not a leader. Battier is. What this team truly lacks is a Battier. Period.
Watching the Spurs do this and knowing that we only have a small championship window, I hate keeping McHale even more. Most critial point of the off-season: improve coaching staff!! This will fall on Morey and Leslie, but the latter will not suffer. He has been doing this Big 3 assembling since he owned the team and we have suffered, but he has the money so he talks.
Battier was not able to get the Rockets into the 2nd round of the playoffs. It was Ron Artest who propelled us past the Blazers, by leading us to victory. Battier could help us on defense if he were younger, but that would not be enough by any means.
Game six tells the story of the sixth game, the playoff percentages tell the story of the playoffs. Artest was really bad in those playoffs.
