Truth. People on this board think that Popovich or Phil Jackson would make this team a contender. It's impossible to blame our performance on our players or talent-level.
I agree.... the Rockets are a better defensive team under McHale (5 points) and a better offensive team with Adelman (5 points), but overall when you look at all the numbers it is a wash.....
This reminds me of a party I was at some years ago. There was a retired college basketball coach with whom I had the opportunity to speak. Since he was retired I thought this would be a good opportunity to get an opinion that was not all covered in political correctness or job security issues. I asked him what he thought would was the key to a having a winning team, expecting, an answer like commitment, toughness or chemistry. He didn't hesitate a second and replied, "Players".
This isn’t the same tune the McHale backers were singing at the beginning. According to them, the team would have a better record this year because the team got increasingly better last year. Lowry took his game to a whole other level and a malcontent in AB was replaced with a good backup in Dragic. That’s why we won 65% of our games after the trade deadline last year. I actually agree with that take and think this is the best team we’ve had in the last three years. No team cancer AB, two 7 foot centers, a top 10 rookie to replace C-Bud…And McHale still couldn’t get us into the playoffs when the bottom of the West was more wide open than ever before. People that are making excuses for McHale are ironically the ones that hated RA and blamed him for everything LOL.
Mchale was supposed to make this defense tough and defensive minded, give us a push. The last 6 games every member has said we lacked energy and got out-hustled, and this is on the head coach. The head coach has got to get the team fired up, and that was the main reason he was brought in. IMO, Adelman should still be the coach. He ran the offense very well, he made good substitutions, he used his players (especially Kevin Martin) well and too their best ability.
Adelman current team lost more games than the rockets, then you have to compare the player to the player in each team, result is likely inconclusive. One thing is sure, Adelman has a better tracking record as a coach, but I do not think he will do a better job on current rocket team. McHale is not a problem, the problem is that we do not have any star on the team.
Adelman would do a lot better job with this team, he has a clear system which helps highlight the players strengths and mask their weaknesses. Watch the team now, it is one on one ball....YUCK ! DD
Maybe it would be worthwhile comparing the years by position. To me it seems like a no brainer, but who knows. Usually the health and performance of your big three are crucial to the outcome of your season; they get the bulk of the minutes, score the bulk of the points etc. Martin: Last year's leading scorer. Beginning of the season, performance was off, end of the season, injured presumably. We have lost our leading scorer, it's hard to make light of the impact that has on a team. Last year backed up by Lee. Played well in that role as well he has starting this year. Lowry: Good year last year, great start this year, but mia for a good part of the year and 0-5 since his return. Last year we had little let down with Dragic as a backup, this year......... Scola: His performance is off. Patterson is off. Hill is gone. The other two positions probably improved, but hardly enough to offset what was lost. Hayes backed up by Hill: Replaced by two seven footers. Definite upgrade, but not big three type of impact. Bud: Replaced by Chase. I really like the guy. Great for a rookie. If he was in his seventh year we wouldn't be all that excited. Bud had better offense, but still an upgrade. Some folks say winning revolves around your big three. Nice to have a star you drafted and another brought in along with a really good player. Our big three from last year never caused any shock and awe, but look at this year.
I do too, I think Parsons would have taken CBud's spot under Rick as well.... Parsons moves a lot better off the ball than Chase - and his passing is better, something Rick appreciates. DD
I'm not impressed with what Adelman has done in Minesota this year. I'm not that big of a fan of Adelman. I do have to say that I don't really understand Mchale's offense of passing between players 3 metres outside the three point line (with out even trying to penetrate) and than settle for a contested 3. overall I'm happier with Mchale than i would have been with Adelman.
Well Ricks offense is much more complex (Princeton hybrid/read react) to get in just one shortened year but the premise is player movement where everyone on the court is a scoring threat. It also produces FT's, easy baskets at the rim and in the paint by pulling the center into the high post opening up driving lanes and back door cuts. In contrast McHale tries to use ball movement off the low block post wich lends itself to becoming a jump shooting team. The paint is jammed and while it does create open shots they're manly from 15 feet out. When it breaks down it's one on one situations with a clogged lane. It's great when the shots are going and if you had dominant post play but we've all seen the results when those things aren't happening.
I am guilty of this myself but I don't think the T-wolves are absolutely comparable to the Rockets of this year. When healthy the T-Wolves have a bit more talent at the top in terms of a legitimate star in Love, an up and comer in Rubio, and a surprising breakout year by Pekovic Beyond that though the Rockets are much deeper. Also the T-Wolves are much younger than the Rockets while for the most part the Rockets players are seasoned veterans. One other very important factor is that the T-Wolves are an organization that has been down in the dumps for a long long time. It is big news here in MN that they won yesterday as this is the first win the Wolves have had in April in three years! The Rockets have been mediocre for the last two years but not godawful. The T-wolves were playing great ball up until mid March when an injury to Rubio followed by injuries to Pekovic and Love derailed them. The Rockets lost their two top players but continued to play well as a testament to their depth and to what seemed to be a toughness to the team. Its only in the last week that they have melted down. Bottom line to me it makes sense that Adelman's young, shallow and without a tradition of winning team would struggle with injuries. I was very surprised to see the Rockets though continue to play great losing Lowry and Martin and gave that credit to Mchale. What's happened since then though I don't know if this is a failure of coaching or what.
McHale is more likable, reminds a little of Rudy; Adelman is a sourpuss, but by far has the better coaching record. He hasn't set the woods on fire in Minney and he has a superstar, something he didn't have here. I think the issue is the talent, we don't have enough of it. Coaches can only do so much. I thought Adelman's substitution patterns were goofy, McHale's also. I don't think any coach could make this group into a contender.
Rick Adelman would have a better strategy against LaMarcus then the exact same strategy from the first game
Watch the portland series in 09, where we didn't have HCA. The rockets went into the Rose Garden and completely b**** slapped portland with their execution. Hell, we almost beat that ridiculously loaded Lakers team with a team led by AB and using Hayes as the starting center after Yao went out.
