If you believe that coaches have minimal impact, then you really don't care if your coach is considered good. You just want him to be nice to the players and have a big name. This has been this biggest mistake by Rockets FO.
Ok...that's a good start, but something more than words. Something actually on the court. Something that proves we are getting the most out of our talent and not just getting by on talent alone.
I really wanted to defend McHale earlier this season. I still think coaching doesn't matter that much. But it definitely matters when you are so far below average. I think the tipping points for me have been the mishandling of D-Mo and Canaan while Smith has been a complete cancer yet still gets PT and Beverley continues to suck. But what has really sealed the deal is the pathetic display McHale has shown multiple times this year (not just against the Warriors) when his players are getting mauled. Harden and Howard get hacked so ****ing much and the refs swallow their whistle. I've never seen this guy off the bench once defending his players. Every coach in the NBA does that. Even Brown (who I think is a good coach) in Philadelphia (who is tanking) gets off the bench and takes technicals for his team when the refs are punking his team. A team that has been tanking for years now has a coach that is more passionate about his team and willing to get in the refs face for them. But not McHale.
Harden & Howard has played two years together, but they can't play like 1+1>2 but 1+1<2, this was the coaches problem. McHale isn't an elite coach now and he can't become an elite coach in years
He's a guy I want to keep in my organization, to work out with players (see Dmo's improvement) , recruit, scout..etc.. but he's not the one I want leading my team. It kills me to see Harden busting his ass like this while Beverly dribbles to nowhere, ariza pretends that its 10' and he can iso , Howard throws up his stupid hook or refuses to run the PnR. So much disarray. A timeout or putting people in their roles usually requires a fraction of the stimulus. It may be orders from above (Les) so I don't know.
I've only wished a painless natural death on one other Rocket (Kelvin Cato) in order to be freed from his craptastic contract at the time....McFail is now on that list. J/K
I remember after we lost the first game to GSW and it was close until the last 6 minutes I expressed my issue with Mchale. It's still the same today, I can't go back and pull it up because the post got deleted and don't know why.. However, Mchale isn't doing anything special with this team NOTHING. I run a better offense playing pick up ball at 24hr than mchale.
Breh, I'm pretty sure you'd play much better if McHale comes there and tells you to "play harder" "clap clap"
I want these guys, especially Dwight to go through swiping drills in practice. I had to turn off the game against GS because of the amount of turnovers. Obviously, he isn't the only one that needs this but he is the biggest offender. Coaches need to key in on a team's deficiencies and work on them. Golden States didn't earn those 30 points each quarter, the Rockets gave them away. Very frustrating game to watch.
Mchale is the new yao and tmac injuries...I wish this team didn't always have to end up with what ifs.
Mchale prefers an 8 man rotation, especially in the playoffs, right? So, if the rockets are playing at a faster pace, doesn't it make sense to increase the number of players in your rotation to account for fatigue resulting from the faster pace? I mean, if the players are running longer and further than what has historically been the case, won't they get tired faster thereby reducing their effectiveness?
Saying coaching doesn't matter that much is slightly disingenuous. I know where you're coming from. In the grand scheme of things, if you don't have the players, it doesn't matter if Pop, Coach K, or the Zen Master is the head coach. But, for a team that does have talent, sporting the two premier players at their respective position and very comparable role players, coaching does matter a great deal in achieving the team's ultimate potential. Our talent has got us by the lesser teams and is enough to win 55+ games in the regular season. But, coaching matters in the playoffs when there are no gimmes especially against the West. We don't know how the Warriors will do this year when it's all said and done, but they look night and day compared to last year. What's the difference this year? The coaching staff. As much praise as Kerr is getting a similar amount should also go to Alvin Gentry who has completely revamped their offensive scheme. Golden State made a conscious decision to bench Iggie and Lee and start Barnes and Green and the effects have been wonderful. Compare that to McHale who most likely would've kept D Mo on the bench had Jones not gotten injured and Canaan who played well when Beverley went down is stashed in the D League wasting away. I'm tired of winning the paper champs label, let's go win the real thing.
Hate to say it, but I think getting off the bench / standing up is a big deal for McHale. He'll do some yelling from the bench, but those feet of his are jacked. Then again, he is up enough to glare at the refs, even if his protests amount to glaring and, "Gee whiz, gosh, we'd like to get a call, golly whillikers..."
When you have a record as good as we do over the last 2 seasons, and there is still nearly 10,000 posts about how bad the coaching is, that should REALLY tell you something.
I don't buy that he's in too much pain or discomfort to get up from his seat. He just doesn't wanna get a T. He also routinely throws his players under the bus in postgame press conferences, so it's unfortunately just his nature to act this way. BTW, you can still get a T from your seat on the sidelines. Remember Duncan getting one for sitting there and laughing?
I thought so too but i was at the Pacers game and he got up and wobbled 10 or so feet onto the court when play was on the other side of the court and picked up some type of trash that must have come from the stands. Then wobbled back to the bench. If he can get up to pick up trash surely he can get up to chew out the refs.
