Clippers are no Mayweather but one game at a time. If McHale survives this, he will be a stronger coach... whatever does not kill him...
Dwight on Blake and doubling Blake were two PAINFULLY obvious adjustments needed to be made, and despite waiting far too long to execute them, he did it. Good for McHale.
Right, a triple double in game 1 and 26 points in the first half of this game and then magically Griffin held to eight points in the second half. MAGIC!
People suggesting that Mchale continue to keep Dwight on Blake...it is just not feasible... As Chris Paul returns Friday night, we have to understand that Chris Paul will destroy us if we allow Dwight to patrol out of the paint. Period. The answer as painfully as I wanna say it...might be to play zone against this team: 3-2.
Think Mchale just got lucky Jones finally started playing like a man. Rockets where getting blown out in the 3rd till Harden went out and Jones woke up
That was a good move, but I think the move to Ariza on him was HUGE as well. With that being said, this win is on the players. They decided to nut up and play hard in the second half. Their effort took the Clippers out of their rhythm big time.
You're correct. The Ariza move was great as well. The frustrating thing with McHale is the man is capable of making proper adjustments, yet it seems like he's afraid to make them. They always come far too late.
The Rockets are down two starters (DMo starts over Jones) and both of their power forwards are playing uncharacteristically poorly. Griffin destroyed the Spurs as well. Does that make Pop an idiot? Josh Smith is supposed to be a defensive stopper and he's failing miserably. When players fail that you are counting on, there isn't a recourse. The Rockets have a game plan and its the players shooting themselves in the foot, not the Clippers beating it. I am really glad a site like this wasn't around during the title years. The fire Rudy T thread would have been alive and well with his letting KJ torch us game after game. Whenever Paul returns, I hope McHale backs off of him and doesn't commit doubles. If Paul wants to score 40 or 50 let him, just get everyone else on their team out of rhythm. At the end of the day, the Rockets haven't played well enough to win either game and they got a split. If they build some confidence here, they can get a split in LA. This is a grind it out series where the team with the most mental toughness wins. If this teams needs someone hopping up and down on the sideline, then it's Moreys fault for hiring a coach whose personality doesn't fit that. Contrary to popular belief here, coaches don't win titles the players win them and they win when the team fits the coach (which remains to be seen here).
why the heck did they only decide to front once ariza was matched up on Blake...People did that to Yao all the freaking time...and especially without their PG, we shouldve done that a bit more
Do it earlier in the game do their shooters start going off from the perimeter or at least find their rhythm?
At the beginning of the 4th quarter tonight, the chief McHale hater said this: So McHale hater, what's the definition of the season?
Definition of the season is: When Harden doesn't have his head up his (own) ass, he saves the team. McHale is a great guy. He's an average coach. You can't help but like him. But don't give him too much credit. Glad he put Ariza on Blake. Took awhile, though.
Oh yeah, bad coaching exists....13 point Clipper lead blown, McHale adjusts on Blake, Doc has absolutely no answer. Yep, there was bad coaching going on tonight...unfortunately for the McHale haters, it was the other team.
So for the 2nd straight year, it took McHale way too long to adjust guarding the PF of the other team who was dominating
That's the point. You don't throw one single look at them the whole game. Mix it up. Keep them confused.