MDA Q&A: Doing away with 7-man rotations, mulligans, and more [The Athletic]

1 CP3 Hamstring or even 1 out of 27 three's made would have meant 1 NBA title also. So close!!!

 

All he did was talk in circles and is basically going to go back to his 7 man rotation. I don’t understand how you have all this time off to look at film and all you see is that they need to play faster and I’m basically sticking to the same guys.

The Rockets have been playing like trash down the stretch. Was on a bad losing steak and struggled in their last game before the shut down against an injured Timberwolves team at home. Their defense and rebounding has been bad yet MDA continues to sit guys like Demarre Carrol and Bruno on the bench who can help in that regard while playing too much of House and McLemore.

This is do or die for him. If the ship catches on fire he better not just watch it go down in flames. If something is not working then make adjustments. He has to deliver, plain and simple.

 

LOL him and Daryl just realized this now???

"But with Daryl and data, with how we think gives us the best chance to win, it probably comes down to nine guys. Now, who those nine are they could change, and maybe early we experiment, practice and watch. And obviously you’re also biased about their previous play. So I go in with the notion of how I think it’s going to be. I can change my mind. I don’t want to watch practice or games and think “Wait a minute, this guy’s better than this other guy.” But realistically when you start playing James (Harden) and Russell (Westbrook), P.J. (Tucker), Robert (Covington), and Eric (Gordon), those five you’re going to give a bunch of minutes to. You don’t want to wear them out, but at the same time, you don’t want to be fresh for October. They’re going to be tired and it’s going to be a grind."

If only Daryl and MDA started their tenure on the rockets with a mindset of 9 man rotation...

 

if only we had an extra guard that year

 

Vegas gives Rockets 3rd best odds in West. And 4th best for entire NBA.

Does not matter what other team's think about their odds, the professionals are the better gauge.

 

Only season Rockets did not use 9 man rotation under MDA was last season when half the team was injured and Harden carried Rockets from out of playoffs to almost the 2nd seed.

Otherwise, MDA has used a 9 man rotation. This was the case in CP3's first season with Rockets when he busted his hammy in game 5 of WCF.

This season began with similar injury riddled problems (Russ back 2 backs, Capela, EGo, PJ, Harden) and/or roster issues (Nene - retired, Gerald Green - broken foot). But with addition of RoCo, Jeff Green, Demarre Carrol and Bruno the Rockets roster has options.

In fact, Rockets have had a 9+ rotation in the last 14 games since those moves were made to remove non-players (Capela, Nene, Gerald Green).

 

Limited minds.

 

Vegas is ‘bettor’ than...moi???

 

that 9 man rotation becomes 7 on the playoffs then 6 if someone's injured

injury or not, playoffs or not 9 man rotation every game is key

 

The fact that it’s being talked about publicly is a start. This is a sign that some trouble shooting is going on. More importantly is the fact that both are more than willing to change up for the betterment of an already successful team. Signs of better things to come.

 

9 guys in the play-offs, yeah there's way around that by just giving a guy like Thabo or Carroll 5 minutes and say: see, I used 9 guys...he has to show and prove.

 

well harden is only the best player in the game in the regular season. he's like 4th or 5th in the playoffs. it means you're going to have to outdo all the other teams whose stars are better in the playoffs like lebron, kawhi, and KD. and most of those guys just go around picking their teammates so you probably also have to let harden leave if he wants to win while being 4th or 5th best in the playoffs.

 

Just because MDA is a NBA Head coach, doesn't mean he's right! Popovich played his young players when they had a Championship Roster, so did Steve Kerr and they both won Championships!!! Common sense should tell you that when you play players heavy minutes during a 82 Game Schedule, then shorten that rotation further during the playoffs......your players will wear down. It's not Rocket Science, It's Common Sense!

How do you think they lost Game 7 against GS? When you miss 27 straight 3's, that's because you have tired legs! Go back and look at the game, when GS made their run in the 3rd Qtr., THEY PUSHED THE PACE OF THE GAME AND THE ROCKETS RAN OUT OF GAS!

 

Maybe with the rest this time, our 6 man rotations won't just die halfway through the playoffs.

 

You are correct. He certainly won’t win it here with a 6’5” center.