Rox v. Blazers was a 4/5 match up tha was one second from being tied at 3 all. Not a shocker when a 5 'upsets' a 4. If I recall Rox got 4th seed by one game. So pretty even teams and there should be no sense of entitlemet to win the series. Not saying I wasn't dissapointed with the outcome, but I see that series exposing our of a lack of maturity. I think there is a progression from bad team to great that includes lottery, playoff contender, first round fodder, play off winner, deep run, legit championship contender. Last year we moved from 2 to 3, I'm optimistic for play off winner this year. Shortcomings? Rocks are a young team that is matuing right before our eyes. General inconsistancy on display in the Protland series.
The TNT broadcast made it abundantly clear that Dwight was mindful of McHale's coaching and giving him feedback during the game. He would come back to the bench telling McHale "I know: I messed up. I gotta. . . ." And Dwight is looking pretty darn good, by the way. Everyone was complaining about "assets" last season. . . . It's this thread that treats personnel like avatars in a video game: just pop out one guy and fill his slot with another body. This is a thread created by video game ballers.
Isn't it pathetic that on this board you get flamed for LIKING the coach of the Rockets? For a lot of posters, winning is more important than team. They cannot understand how bad teams can have loyal fans. They blame the team. They don't call themselves fair-weather fans, which is exactly what they are. If it's the team's problem, find a different team, morons! Favorite team looking great, 6-0, and people are unhappy. The unhappiness is you.
McHale has been doing a solid job this year. He is doing what he should have done last season aka make sure one of Dwight or Harden is on the floors at all times. It was so frustrating to watch both of them take a seat last season and watch our leads disappear. Especially since we had the depth to do it more last season with Lin with Howard and Asik with Harden. But I also think some of the improvement has to do with the overall growth in maturity of our team especially Harden and the added veteran presence from Terry and Ariza.
Lin missed practice with the flu and Beverley sprained his knee. http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/201...en-jeremy-lin-houston-rockets-call-game-2-win Then Beverley had serious flu for several days, and was even in the hospital before game 5. http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterocke...y-back-at-practice-looking-better/#22624101=0 Considering how close that series was, I swear we would have won if Beverley simply had not got the flu. But that's one explanation, not an excuse. Anyway, don't just blame "McHale mistakes" without giving any examples. What do you mean? Further, I think you're taking the glass-half-empty view. You could say that the Rockets lost due to shortcomings; you could also say Portland won because of some positive reasons. Like LMA totally went off. Lillard made one great shot. They had several guys play well. It's not as if Portland sucked.
I actually like what Mchale is doing this year. On defense they are clearly trying to disrupt passing lanes and on offense, there does seem to be some actual plays run instead of iso or pick and roll all day long. Still looks like they are going to suck at inbounding the ball at times though
Out of the 1billion inbounds we have done during Mchale's term, what percentage was bad. Taking a few examples and using it as though this is the norm is a little bit deceiving. These players have been playing since they were kids and should not be taught how to inbound the ball. Failing to inbound the ball is more on focus than anything rather than coaching.
It it really McHale making the adjustments on the Defensive end, Do any of you guys think TR Dunn the new assistant manager is actually the one behind that? Or is it just growth on McHales part.
Coaches just like players grow, evolve and learn. The roster and McHale got more experienced and bringing in a fresh defensive minded assistant I'm sure didn't hurt either. Assigning all the credit to just one I think would be wrong. We were a really young team last year, I think for that reason McHale got caught more heat than deserved.
While no one here has the knowledge and the expertise to judge any NBA coach, there are some outward signs that can give a clue to the fans as to the quality of a head coaches job performance. Are the players happy? Or are they airing their dirty laundry for all the world to see? There are some exceptions to this rule, like Asik complaining bitterly last season about PT. That was unfortunately unavoidable. Does a team, with a stable young roster, improve from year to year? Or are they mired in bad habits, making the same strategic mistakes all the time? Is there actually real growth of the team on the court? And perhaps in the locker room as well? Does the coach integrate new players appropriately given their abilities? Or are promising rookies rooted deep on the bench, without the PT to improve? This is an area McHale shines in. McHale looks at the players abilities and consistently plays the ones that give his team the best chance of success. No matter what their salaries are. Cases in point - Parsons and Bev. If a modern NBA coach has a brilliant capable front office, does that coach work with them to improve the team. This is another area of McHale brilliance. He has Morey and his staff to work with, and he seems to utilize their knowledge well. I could go on, and on. I do not mean to belittle statistical analysis of team performance. It certainly has its place. What I intended to belittle is fans using YouTube video clips and unsupported opinion and at times rage to attack a coaching staff. Nothing good ever comes of that effort. It just shows immaturity and lack of understanding.
The Rockets under McHale have always run plays. They are just never called from the bench unless there has been a timeout. The Rockets run the R&R offense. Read and React. Plays develop seamlessly without being explicitly called most of the time because the players are on the same page. Ideally the ball moves quickly, you have great spot up shooters and ideally a player who can penetrate and create mismatches. That is who the Rockets are this season. An interesting thing about defense in today's NBA is that it can almost always take away the offenses first option. There are basically three different offenses being run in the NBA. R&R, motion (which looks an awful lot like R&R to most fans) and hero ball. If an offense is repeatedly probing a defense and swing the ball well, you can be assured it is not hero ball. If an offense passes the ball more than six times in a possession, attacks on multiple fronts, and has a deadly penetrator you have the Rockets offense. A great offense this season.
That's why its so distressing when they can't seem to do it. I believe it happened in the playoffs last year as well.
Is that the coaches fault? When Harden misses a point blank layup, should he pull him aside in practice and have him do 1000 layup drills? You, me and all players makes mistakes in our jobs. Constantly missing defensive assignments can be defined as a trend and not being able to inbound the ball .00001 % percent of the time is not.
One of the major reasons McHale was hired is that he is a company man. He will take input from every one of his players, staff and the front office. I have no doubt that McHale has incorporated some of Dunn's philosophy into the coaching staff. That is who McHale is, and why he was hired. Do not mistake that for weakness.
