I think so. I thought he was awesome in the playoffs this year, albeit a small sample size. He had that team fighting hard against a much superior squad, and understood that he needed to increase variance (shoot more threes, which I didn't think was possible with that team) if they had any shot.
Well my issues with McHale are mostly based on his player rotations. I also don't think he did a great job with in-game adjustments, something that I think SVG has been fantastic with in the playoffs over the years.
Our season ended when Lowry and Martin got hurt. We would have been a better team than the year past if they hadn't.
When it comes to Van Gundy...to be able to keep his team competitive against a really strong Pacers team...that is giving the Heat all they can handle...I have to respect Van Gundy for doing his best...He is a very good coach... definitely better than McHale...
To expand both the SG and PG positions got BETTER once Kmart went out with his Faux injury and Lowry with that bacterial infection. DD
If we had to have a Van Gundy as coach, I would prefer his brother. Perhaps Stan could be his assistant. Subject to Alexander and Morey approving, of course. ;-)-
This is pretty unfortunate for SVG. SVG is a really good X's and O's coach, but his reputation for his time in Orlando definitely took a hit. His reputation and the perception that other player's have of SVG for his on and off the court drama involving Dwight Howard is going to hurt his chances at landing another job elsewhere. While he did have a successful tenure as head coach of the Magic, leading them to the playoffs each year, it's still going to be tough for him to land another gig in the league. While he is more than qualified to hold a head coaching job, his reputation and likability amongst players is probably in the dumpster. If a team were to hire SVG, it could be extremely challenging luring key FAs to play under him, especially the whole entire Howard fiasco. However, fair or unfair it might be, his career path will probably take a similar trajectory to his brother, JVG.
I'll give you that the starting rotation became better. However, it became better at the expense of the bench. Without Lowery & Martin, our rotation went from 9 to 7 with whatever scrub we could find for back-up pg. A 7 man rotation isn't any good when you're playing 4 or 5 games a week. Also, don't forget that we finished the season by losing 7 out of 8. That was due to the opposition figuring out Dragic, tired legs & trying to bring Lowery back too soon. Therefore, sammy's premace that we would have been a better "team" if they hadn't gone out is correct.
Van Gundy is a great coach, but he wouldn't win any popularity contests. We need free agents to want to play for us, so we're better off with Mchale for now.
Unless you're Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich, coach hiring is all about cycles. A disciplinarian will get tuned out and you bring in a players guy. Then players stop caring about defense and you bring in a disciplinarian again. Something like that. McHale's timer is still not up yet. Give him a full offseason and revamped roster and he should do well with our young bigs. When players stop giving a damn is when you change coach again.
