Next Rockets Coach

Harden could appreciate a well rehearsed pouting from his head coach.

Joerger puts on the best pout face, and joerger can help get harden more foul calls!

 

Our man is John Lucas. He is everything we need and we will stay in house and on budget.

 

I dont trust Tilman any further than I could throw him...
and theres already been talk of him wanting to fill positions with his kids..
yeh... theres some sliminess afoot...
what is it? Say its on DM - and then give him insufficient funds to close the deal?
Is he trying to distance himself bc he knows a deals not gonna happen?
We all know Tilly likes to be front and center when anything good and newsworthy happens... he likes to make sure everyone knows that hes the guy in charge... so something aint lining up...

 

I'm with you here. I don't see a big name big salary head coach coming up after MDA. forget the likes of JVG, thibs, Jackson. they proved they'd rather stay retired than work for $1 less than they want. Also I don't want the drama with Jackson, or the old fashioned coaching of thibs. JVG probably stays in the booth, he's done. Forget the big names on the market this summer like Atkinson, and possibly bret brown. They're better at development than winning and they'll get paid by a rebuilding team.

Here's my list of not too expensive options:

1. Ty Lue - championship experience, former player, that earns the superstars respect. known for game management, preparation, and mid-game adjustments. just what we need. However, if JVG, thibs, and Jackson stay home, he could be due for a big payday by Brooklyn (Kyrie connection and KD said he wants a former player HC), or by phily. Unlikely to land in our laps for cheap this summer, but we should be ready to pounce if he does.
2. Joerger - defense, game management, preparation, adjustment, he's got what we need. However, he's worn out his welcome after 2-3 years at his first two stops. Our window is only 2-3 years so why not shoot for the moon. Maybe he's learned from his mistakes, and maybe, as this article says, the dysfunctional organizations were to blame. He may also be in for a big payday by another contending team so, like Lue, he's not likely to fall cheaply into our laps, but we should think pretty hard about him if he does.
3. Stephen Silas - known for game and player management. morey was interested in him last time round. can he push the superstars though?
4. Jerry Stackhouse - fits Morey's want for a defensive coach. proved he can coach defense in the G league and NCAA. former star player will have the respect of current stars.
5. Rex Kalamian - harden and rus love him from OKC days. has the relationship, trust, and love to motivate and hold them accountable.
6. Becky Hammon- pop likens her bball iq to Steve Kerr, Mike Budenholzer, and Avery Johnson. that's good enough for me. known for out of the box thinking and attention to detail, makes her a good fit here. and think the positive media attention for hiring the first female HC. we wouldn't be the villains for once. maybe the NBA starts to rig playoff games for us, as a change.

I change my mind on this order daily, but these top 6 stand out above all others for their fit with us.

 

Ty Lue was insulted by Lakers offer of reportedly $18M over 3 years. So Ty would be more expensive than D’Antoni
if neither come down in asking price considering the circumstances.

The circumstances of possibly backing out of restarting
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2895977-whats-at-stake-if-nba-players-back-out-of-orlando-return

Ty Lue supposedly insulted Lakers offer
https://www.silverscreenandroll.com...ach-lebron-james-five-year-money-championship

 

The league rigging games in the Rockets favor ? Count me in ....

Would she buy into microball or require a quality big ?

Cap gonna shrink .... might be hard to get talent at any position.

 

But what did he sign for as a clippers assistant? different market now. no coach will get 18/3 this summer. assume he either stays as a clippers assistant at his current price or takes a HC job for the same price or slightly more. if that number is out of our range then so be it. there are 5 other quality options on my list.

 

who knows? but we know they say she is an out of the box thinker, so maybe she's open to swimming against the stream if the data supports it. that's one thing only a couple rounds of interviews can uncover.

the cap shrinking means we go after a rookie HC who should come cheaper, like Hammon, stackhouse, Silas, or kalamian. as far as player salaries, all free agents will feel the pinch, but they all have to sign somewhere. the MLE will be lowered, but MLE type guys will still sign for the MLE whatever price that is. my only concern is the giant contracts we are locked into forcing us closer to the LT, and leaving no room for semi-high priced guys like ego. the rockets may have to decide between ego or, say, signing an MLE guy and resigning rivers and McLemore.

 

Yes of course we are not talking about offering Ty the assistant coach position. Head coach brings on greater stress
and more responsibilities.

What will Ty accept is the same question I asked about, what would D’Antoni now accept.

Me personally, I wouldn’t go near Ty. After a LeBron refused to run the Blatt last second out of bounds play....
LeBron ran Blatt out of the league shortly after. Ty took over and later had to take a few weeks off because
LeBron was stressing him out and almost forced a nervous breakdown. I would stay away from Kevin Love
because of psychological issues and Ty for an episode that year.

Westbrook and Harden will definitely challenge the next head coach mental state. Even if they request Ty, it
can turn ugly. LeBron was requesting Ty be promoted after Blatt.....look how that ended up in Cleveland.

Again in my opinion the next coach will need to be passive and allow Harden/Westbrook to freelance.

Hammons would be history and thus force her agenda/ game plan to show she can succeed in a mans league
without being manipulated by men (Harden/Westbrook). Probably not a good fit in Houston; plus we would
probably turn to Pop’s share the ball offensive style. Lately not doing as well as Harden/Westbrook 5-man out
system.

I pushed for Smart (Texas Longhorns) before pushing for Silas.....then D’Antoni was hired. Since then I have
not been too impressed with Silas.

This past Dec I had a discussion with @saleem, naming college coaches I was eyeing. Since then I feel they would
want too much money and like Hammons, feel a need to shine and enforce their new offensive system or will.
Again, one would have to think there is a problem with our offense.....I do not. It can get better with better shooters
opening up things for Harden/Westbrook. Even more efficient than their 2nd place ranking. Don’t fix what is not broken.

Rex K would be the only one from your list I would like for the Rockets. Not that you are wrong, just my
preference.

 

I don't disagree with your points about Ty or Hammon. Although I think they can work from a basketball standpoint, I can acknowledge that we don't know their personalities and how they will mesh with morey, harden, and rus. Same for Joerger who also comes with red flags.

I think we're on the same page as far as the following points: Morey will run Morey's system no matter the coach. Harden and rus will iso no matter the coach. so we need someone who can run the defense, motivate and hold the stars accountable (meaning earn their respect and trust), and manage the game (timeouts, subs, adjustments, preparation, etc..)

I too like rex kalamian. think he comes with the respect, trust, and love from harden and rus. we can try to find a defensive coach / tactician as an assistant. stackhouse brings the defense and as a former star should have harden and rus' respect. he also only makes 1.3M in the NCAA. we can offer more. I'm interested what isn't to like about Silas? he had Morey's eye last time around and since then he has added experience under Carlisle. that should make him even more attractive.

 

I believe Rex would bring in Jeramy Grant. Grant recently complimented Westbrook as having Jordan like
leadership.

Not that D’Antoni wouldn’t interest Grant, though.

 

I'd like grant, but rex was never his coach. He was with the thunder only until 2015, then went to the raptors where he met up with ibaka. being with ibaka at 2 stops might help lure him to Houston but we can only offer MLE so that's very doubtful. rex left the raptors for the clippers with kawhi last summer which only proves how loyal stars are to this guy.

 

No, I meant Harden/Westbrook speaking on behalf of Rex goes a long way.

Personally, I believe Grant has been observing the Harden-Westbrook re-connection over the season and would like
to join the two as they have weathered the storm/transition and can see himself filling in flawlessly in the 5-out
system the Rockets run. His 40% from 3 this season is outstanding over (I believe) 3.4 attempts a game.

D’Antoni not being a deterrent; but Rex putting him over the top as he hears of his work ethics and player
rapport from Westbrook/Harden....NBA channels. I believe Grant is still close to Westbrook.

Or stay n Denver as he is having a good season with the Nuggets.

 

I agree here. grant would be perfect backing up roco and tucker. he and rus are close. up to tilman to pay up.

the cap and tax lines are supposed to shrink by about $10M next year. That leaves the rockets right at the projected tax with with 130M committed. we'll be over the tax if we intend to keep Harty, mclemore and rivers. I think using the MLE on grant would come at the cost of ego's contract.

 

Translation:

These players have been doing this for years. I am not concerned about the offense. The defense gets better or there will be a coach brought in that will stress defense.

 

Not necessarily a HC.

Morey has not been subtle about wanting D'Antoni back.

 

Morey isn't going to say anything to the contrary while the Rockets season is ongoing.... he has nothing to gain taking that tact.

If the Rockets lose in the first round the Rockets will move on from MDA (not a source just my opinion).

Otherwise I could see a coach in waiting scenario where MDA does it another year and grooms his successor from outside the organization.

 

Maybe he's a relic of the past, but I would love to see Jeff Van Gundy coach Harden/Russ with some hard nosed defensive types around them.

 

If a new head coach were to be coming in, I wouldn't mind Juwan Howard. Chris Finch would be up there too.