A few responses: Mchale cannot make Terrence Jones shoot better FT% Motiejunas improved dramatically, like you mentioned; however, you are assuming that was only him and and increase in minutes as opposed to Mchale helping him in whichever way he did to become a better post up shooter The eye test suggests Ariza is missing point blank threes, nothing mchale can do about that tbh Mchale can't prevent Kostas' injury and thus, higher learning curve in the playoffs Josh Smith played great against the mavs and like you said, poorly against the Clippers... dont you think its weird that his % dropped off so bad? i think its josh smith and a combination of good Clip defense as opposed to simply poor coaching... overall a coach can only put you in a good position to make a shot... not ACTUALLY MAKE IT FOR YOU... granted, doc rivers i think has outcoached mchale based on his ability to hide weaknesses effecively... at the same time the margin isnt as great as you think... another key point here: popovich lost this playoffs and he's a top 2 if not the best coach of all time... sometimes its on the players and besides a decent (albeit not MVP like performance) showing by Harden and befuddled Howard Brew and Smith have made our supposed strong bench into a weaker one and our pg position has looked like its being run by 37 year olds.. simple as that, injuries hurt and a lack of good shooting which has regressed in ways mchale cannot control has killed this team so far... hope we win game 5 GO ROCKETS!
He's rolled out the same damn starting lineup both games 3 and 4. I don't think he made changes until game 4 last year against the Blazers. You'd think when you get blown out after a game you would make some adjustments to the lineup. Smith should definitely be starting in place of Jones.
hahahahahaha! I can make good coaching twists on each of those players. You are so close minded it's stupid.
im not a fan of mchale but jones isnt supposed to be a good ft shooting. he's 66% in the playoffs thats what you want form your bigs. you'd take 60% from dwight like last playoffs. you should be ragging on dwight's bad ft shooting these playoffs, 36% vs the clippers, 40% playoffs overall. but still, the coaching needs a lotta work. it doesnt take a genius to fix the lazy ass switch defense. thats killing the rockets. clippers should do absolutely nothing but p&r with blake or jordan so mchale will finally tell his team to play seom real defense
Some players have shown improvement during McHale's tenure. D-Mo made huge strides this season. Yes, I agree that he wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much playing time if not for the injuries to Dwight and T-Jones, but bottom line is he did get an opportunity and has turned into a terrific scorer in the post and respectable outside threat. Capela went from D-Leaguer to a reliable playoff contributor in seemingly a matter of weeks. Backup center was a major concern for this team all season, but it looks like we've got that position covered heading into next year. And remember, the dude is only 20 years old. Imagine how good he'll be 2-3 seasons from now. T-Jones is inconsistent to say the least(especially in the playoffs). But he actually was having a decent season that kept getting derailed by injuries. I think it's clear at this point that the dude is not a starting caliber 4, particularly in the West which is loaded with great players at that position. But he's a solid NBA player and could be a good backup similar to the role Carl Landry played when he was here. Pat Beverley's gone from a NBA reject playing in the Ukraine to the Rockets' starting PG. He's developed an ok 3-point shot, a respectable floater in the lane, and is a solid defensive player(or was til this season at least). He's clearly not the long-term solution for the team as a starter, but this is still a good example of the Rockets turning nothing into something. Shoot, you could even throw James Harden into that category. Remember, when he arrived here, he had just turned 23 and had only been a sixth man for the Thunder. There were some who questioned whether he had what it takes to carry a team as its starting SG. 2 1/2 years later, he's the runner-up in the MVP vote. I have major problems with McHale as a coach, but his supposed inability to develop young guys is not one of them(assuming it's even an issue to begin with). Some players just don't have what it takes to hack it in the NBA. Jeremy Lin is a crappy PG. Troy Daniels is a one-dimensional player. Thomas Robinson was a bust. Same with Jordan Hamilton. Marcus Morris was a headcase. Royce White....don't get me started.
Alston and Lowry were still poor shooters and liabilities on defense years after joining, Aaron Brooks became erratic just before being shipped out, Scola was a poor rebounder, Landry was awful on defense and not a rim protector, Von Wafer was a volume shooter and very inconsistent, and Chuck Hayes was a poor free throw shooter. You take Ariza's elite defense out and bench him because of his offense, then what? You take Jones out and then what? Put Dorsey in?
The only person for whom this is actually true is Hayes. Rafer Alston - got rid of him for Lowry, huge upgrade Aaron Brooks - got passed up by Lowry, sulked, shipped off for Dragic and 1st rounder, huge upgrade Luis Scola - amnestied, should have never resigned him Carl Landry- part of the Tmac deal. Netted a first rounder. Sadly, that first rounder became Royce White. Chuck Hayes - yay, this definition actually applies Von Wafer - lol, exiled to Europe after he walked out of a playoff game, then making stops in China, Russia, D-League with a brief stint on the bench in Boston. Last seen in Shanxi province. Great list of examples though.
There is evidence of poor coaching, but player development is not it. In fact, we've actually groomed our players quite well.
And you didn't even mention Troy Daniels and Isaiah Canaan. Canaan specifically was supposed to be the next big thing, but instead McHale forced Morey to ship him out of town since he refused to play him.
The Rockets defense is evidence of poor coaching. It's a bit better than last year ("night and day" - Lillard comparing rox d vs spurs in the playoffs) but still not elite and not enough to go farther in the playoffs.
KG never played in the postseason for the Celtics that year. And remember, Boston was the defending champs. Had he been healthy, they probably would've beaten the Magic and returned to the Finals. As they did the following season when KG was healthy again.
