we wont get Howard on Hassan Whiteside every night. I have little confidence any of these changes will turn things around. Sorry for being pessimistic.
Maybe the contract extension was good? He has the security and doesn't have to be as much of a "yes" man. Probably told Morey to keep his hands off the damn team and let him coach.
Agree I agree with the credit here. But also want to add it was a good idea of Mchale to leave Josh Smith in at the end of the game to let him rack up points and confidence instead of benching him because the game was out of hand. This will help in the long run. I wish Mchale would play cannon more, and Harden less. Was there any need for Harden to play 40 minutes tonight?
Those aren't emotions btw, and why are you being such a dick. Some old posters have beef with DD , but it makes no sense for the youngins.
But it was more than just DMo... It was the spacing and the team actually playing as a team... They were not taking the 3's like they were before.. I will give you the Dmo aspect, but it was more of an attitude change from the players themselves. T_Man
i think the opposite. he was retained because of how much he is a yes man. however, the stability of knowing he will be here for 3 more years means the players have to listen to him. no lame duck coach here, that players can complain about/quit on and think that they will outlast the coach. the extension was a clear message to the players that they must buy into the system or they will lose their PT.
Big props to Mchale for the line up change. If Josh does start to consistently play better we may have a issue though. You can tell from interview after the game that D12 prefers Josh to start over DMO. That tells me it's more about ego and freindships for Dwight, when it should be about the team and chamionships. Mchale did what was right for the team tonight and I hope the Rockets organization will continue to do so going forward.
The change in rotation, starting with Smith not starting was like an icebreaker in a conversation gone cold. The Smith entry, as it happened, caused uneasiness throughout the team (IMO). McHale's choices for minutes and players in this game shows he has good coaching instincts, despite some criticism here. Everybody makes mistakes. The team concept extends beyond the players. Owner, GM, coach, players... that's the whole team. Give and take happens. Smith starting, happened on that larger level. McHale went a long way tonight in correcting it. And his last comment in answer to the question of whether this meant a permanent starting role for D-Mo was, "Nothing lasts forever." (At least that's what I remember him saying.. something to that effect.) Along with tweaking Howard's role, that should be in players minds... for a while, at least. No passes for anyone.
It was DMo that facilitated the ball movement and spacing, which created a better atmosphere. I think DMo is now the third best player on the team, easily.
DMo on the starting line-up also started the pressure defense on the wings, which led to several steals in the 1st quarter. In fairness to Morey and McHale, we had to see what Josh Smith could give us coming in. He had a good debut vs MEM. Who knew he would mess up the starting unit that bad (well, coincided with cold-shooting from Bev and Ariza)? Now that the starting unit has been re-established, we have at least a month to see what we really have with Smith before TJones gets back and needs to be integrated. Then the trade deadline.
Someone please send this to McHale or Morey <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jNDDedgbxxI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Minutes distributions this game I thought were ideal, but of course you'll have little problem doing that in a 36pt blowout. Adding Papanikoulaou back infused ball movement into the lineup that was sorely needed. Dude was making positive plays everywhere be it offensive rebounds, steals, or just the extra pass. I also do hope that Terry's minutes continue to go down in favor of Canaan, just so we to can continue to develop the latter while keeping the former fresh for the playoffs. And then it's not like Dorsey did anything wrong, but in him we have a known quantity. He'll always be a useful piece when we need to ramp up the defense, at the admitted cost of worse offense.
Heat are pretty bad right now, but I'll take this W gladly and hope McHale and the team build on it. As Dwight said (and I kind of hate that he said this. Take one game at a time...) lets get a streak going.
Dwight refuses to run the pick and roll with the best shooting guard in the game what makes you think he'll start running it with his best friend?
Not specifically. I don't have a link but I remember him saying in one of his interviews as a Laker that he wanted to be remembered as a complete Center not just the physical defensive specimen that he was in Orlando. He wanted to be a HOF worthy Center who can play both sides of the court. He wanted to be a good post player thus his workout sessions with Hakeem. Well it is too late. He should have started in high school or earlier with the post game.
