Lawson isn't holding up his end of the bargain. This team would be purring along with a healthy Kirk Hinrich in his place.
It's silly to think we would have to wait til the end of the season to find a new coach. It doesn't matter who we suggest there will still be idiots asking who we get as if there are no choices, lol.
McHale has to go now that's clear but there is a glaring whole at pf that Josh Smith would have filled.
Yeah, people keep saying the problem is McHale - but then how did we win 56 games last year? How is this team different? What's the real issue? Despite all those injuries last year, we had a guy name DMO or Josh Smith filling in pretty well. That's what is different.
You can't rule out Mchale on the basis of last yr's performance. It's a what have you done for me lately league. He has to be consistent and win or you are gone no matter what. The players were all super jacked last yr coming off the bitter first round loss vs to the Blazers. after the lucky WCF run, they got a big heads now like teams are gunna just lay down for them.
McHale coaching is atrocious. But having a player who was playing Jordan like last year made up for that. Our offense was Harden iso. We would lose leads and have to bring harden back in the game, Josh Smith would then hit big shots. This made up for McHale. Now we don't have Josh Smith and harden is playing human ball. We need to rely on a coach but we don't have the type of coach you rely on for this situation so we are screwed. McHale has his qualities but this team needs more. Unless harden starts dropping thirty per game and playing like he did last year. Nevertheless it shouldn't be on harden to play Jordan like every night we have enough talent that that shouldn't have to happen.
He was able to get the best out of his players and Harden was playing out of his mind. Toss in DMo was playing his best basketball to Sweet Lou.
Oh ok, so D-Mo and Josh smith are the sole reasons why we cannot beat the Nuggets, Nets, and Mavericks? Listen, I get it. Those are some significant losses, but we added some talent in Lawson. And as it stands, we are still significantly more talented and enough so with injuries to be without Dwight and beat a Dirk-Less Mavs, let alone four games against the Nuggets, Nets, and Heat. There's honestly no excuses for five of our losses besides piss poor effort, preparation, and coaching. The Warriors one is understandable, but I believe with the right coach we can stop them. But if not, this loss is understandable. The other four, heck no. And what you forget to mention in our four wins, is how did those come? Was it McHale's excellence? You do realize in the Rockets four wins, these are Harden's stats right: 46 pts, 4 rebounds, 2 assists 43 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists 28 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists 37 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists Except for that game against Orlando, he's had to go above and beyond to squeak out a win over the Clippers, Kings, and Magic. It's smply bailing McHale's sorry ass out. We shouldn't have beaten the Magic or the Kings.
If he isn't gone after dropping 3 games to 3 of the worst teams in the league he isn't going anyplace.
Idiots? Come on man. I've asked several times for success stories of early season coaching changes that have led to a deep playoff run that year and I've heard nothing. And if it makes me an idiot to ask the question "who" than paint me an idiot if it makes you feel better. In my experience following the NBA and playing basketball no coaches will WANT to come into a tumultuous situation such as this. They all will prefer to have a summer and training camp to put in what they want to run and build up THEIR staff. Now will a Thibs or JVG take the job anyways.... Maybe, but I doubt it. They know there will be Better gigs waiting this Summer. Minnesota will likely offer a SVG type of deal and look at the future that team has. Coaching to win now is preferable but the personalities and the toxic environment can turn off coaches. For the record unless the Rockets shake the funk off very soon I do think Morey and Les will pull the plug but it's likely going to be Bicketstaff or Finch taking over IMO based on past history with the major coaching overhaul happening this next Summer. What I've tried to explain is that for whatever reason McHale and co got a winner out of this team in the past and there is a greater percentage chance that the team starts simply playing better and regains form then there is of success with a painful organizational overhaul. But I said that starting a week ago. The more the losses come at a rapid rate, the closer that breaking point comes of the when Morey is able to say that the season is in risk of being a total loss, now we can make the change and start building for next season. I assume that will be coupled with several trades as well to open up time for guys like KJ, etc. So where is that breaking point in the season? Do the stats already show that the likelihood is zilch that we can still contend? I dunno. Wasn't Cleveland 8 - 8 around thanksgiving last year? I'll have to do more research to follow up on this, but you can go ahead and label me an idiot if you want for offering up too many questions... I mean heaven forbid we make educated decisions and don't just fly off the cuff.
Pat Riley. My point is, why does history need to be significant in this case? I mean it's not relevant at all. History's purpose is not to serve as a record indicator for championships won after early or mid season hires. Kerr proved history wrong, for example. History has no bearing on what we can create in this context. That's agreed. But I doubt a coach, except for the best of the best, would run away from this opportunity. I mean, we're a loaded team, with pretty deep pockets, excellent market, etc. Agreed.
I was actually quite suprised that Finch's name hasn't been mentioned as frequently as Thib's or JVG's in the recent discussion of a possible coach change. From RGV's head coach to Houston's assistant coach, and with him sharing the same philosophy with Morey, isn't he supposed to be in a position to take over the team sooner or later? I wonder what everyone's opinion on his prospect is. Do you guys think he's ready soon?
My thoughts are if he's that great of a coach why isn't he a good enough of an assistant to at least make McHale's staff look better than they are? Sometimes we've probably seen great head coaches come from coaching trees that are mediocre but I figure it's rare. I think it's a legit concern but I liked what I saw from when he coached RGV and team Britain. And it's also unsure how much he's really doing now and how much better the team would be if he's given a larger role. My understanding now is his role is pretty damn big now. From a fans point of view it seems Bickstaff is more of the right hand man. So logic would say he's probably next in line but we shall see.
Haven't allowed myself to watch my Rockets this year until he's gone. After looking at the last couple box scores...PLEASE tell me he's finally out of here!
Also...I challenge anyone to find a thread calling for the firing of ANY other NBA head coach in history that has over 13,000 posts. Usually...when there's smoke, there's fire. If McHale is not a BAD head coach, then bad coaching does not exist.
Hmm... thats one I didn't think about, but I'd probably like to see more scenarios to feel better about this. Riley was already in a leadership position and the assistants & staff he at least had a MAJOR hand in picking to coach alongside SVG. Rudy T & Popovich are the other two examples used, but their success was shown the next season. For this years Rockets team, I'm assuming that most here want think there is hope to salvage the season. So unless Morey is secretly a great coach, I don't see a Pat Riley type of solution. I think JVG, and Thibs will absolutely want to at least interview for the job, but for those guys its obvious that its not a slam dunk to say the least. They will not want all the baggage that comes with the 2015/16 Rockets, and there are going to be questions about longevity of the Rockets being a contender as well with Dwight being a free agent, etc. Then you get into the whole wanting their own staff to take over, and it just raises alot of red flags for those guys. I'm not saying the Rockets can't get Thibs, or whoever, but what I want people to realize is that its no slam dunk that you can get those guys mid-season, and its likely that Morey sticks with someone currently in the org for an interim coach. The Rockets have had a very lengthly decision process the past couple hires since Rudy T was brought up. I think they want an off-season of adjustment just as much as the coach would. We, if we are to be considered a knowledgeable fan base, need to acknowledge this better. I think this is how it will be viewed mostly, and a message to the team that Les is serious about not accepting losing. I also wouldn't be shocked if trades are made as well to unlikely players. Not saying Harden & Howard, but wouldn't be surprised if Lawson, Ariza, and especially Brewer are shopped. Sometimes the best coaches (and managers in normal work environments) just know when to get out of the way. If that's what led to the team's success last year then its something to think about being a better short term solution to getting the team back on track again.. in the short term. Not saying that's the right mindframe to have in this situation, but its just a way to explain how McHale could have had success in the past with this team, and how every team is wired differently depending on their talent. From what I see, this team (2015/16 version) needs coaching, and needs it desperately. They are horribly un-disciplined on the defensive end, and offensively, its not even controlled chaos. Its just chaos. So yeah, I'd say that McHale either way got too much credit for last year's success, but we still need to look at what happened to assess whether whatever happened is able to be duplicated this year... as that would be the quickest way to recover and win again in the short. Long term questions though are something to start considering. Long term this team needs coaching, and a coach that can ... actually coach the team. Rick Carlisle said last night in the postgame that actually right now the East actually looks stronger which actually might be true. I mean two of the best teams (Clippers & OKC) lost to the Rockets for crying out loud. East... West.... I think we just need to look at teams in the past that had a very rough start, stuck together and they started clicking. And the most important thing for Morey to know is when can you quantify when a team is likely to start clicking. Are there things to show in their data that says winning is coming with a smaller changes & better play, or when does it say "major change is needed". My guess is we are getting closer and closer to that period where the data shows that this team just simply is not that good and needs change.
