Rockets "lost" the last two games to Sun so I don't expect the coaches can bring up any surprise against OKC with the same rotations. But at least they can try staggering the two play makers for 8 minutes.
Next season is McHale's make or break season. Hopefully he and his staff will implement more plays into the offense when we (hopefully) add another star...
I can't put this shellacking from OKC on McHale--we're clearly not in their league. What I fault McHale for however were our last two losses to end the regular season. We held the 7th spot for so long only to lose it on the last day of the regular season? We lose 2x to the Western Conf last-placers?
LOL what was the alternative? Just try rookie PFs until what exactly? I'm not sure whats so hard to understand about this team having severe weakness in the front court? If you want to think it's due to McHale not running plays or isn't coaching the young bigs then by all means be an idiot.
The game got out of hand just like the Lakers game did, when McHale went for his SF dominate lineup with Garcia, Delfino and Parsons in the second half. Frankly, Delfino getting as many minutes he does when he does nothing but jack up 3s still bothers me. For all the trust he gives Delfino, I question on some nights if he deserves it. Even Garcia, who while less active seems to be much wiser not as foolish or in love with taking the 3 point shot.
What do we have to lose if Mchale is fired? We lose a coach who had a 39-55 win-loss record before he was hired, a coach who had no playoff experience whatsoever before he was hired. We lose small ball, iso plays, we lose watching delfino on bigger pfs. Not much to lose.
We could get a replacement that turns out to be an even worse coach. Not every coach out there is Phil Jackson. We'd still have small ball. Our offensive system is predicated on spreading the floor with shooters as Lin/Harden run PNR's. In any case, small ball seems to be more a Morey/Finch supported offense rather than Mchale's. Daryl Morey looks stupid for firing a coach who's team surpassed all expectations this season. He also looks indecisive and incompetent for firing a coach before his contract expires. Les gets to pay Mchale millions of dollars for doing nothing.
I don't think he's getting fired because we made the playoffs. I expected more than the 8th seed but it seems as though I was in the minority. With this said I think McHale is in the bottom tier of coaches in the NBA. He's basically our Mike Brown. I'm not sure what McHale is particularly good at and has never had a winning season until this year but being a HOF player has kept him around as a coach. With our talent I honestly think most coaches in the NBA could get as much if not more from our personnel. I haven't seen anything McHale is good at yet.
How about the Rick Adelman's Rockets vs. the Lakers in 2008. The Lakers had Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum all in their prime. Rick only had Aaron Brooks, Von Wafter, Shane Battier, Luis Scola , Chuck Hayes and Gimpy Yao. Complete mismatch but the scores never reflected it . The series even went to Seven (7) games.
First of all I would put the Thunder over those Lakers. Second of all you left out Scolandry. We were a better team and had a better frontcourt then in my opinion. Lastly, try going back and looking at the scores. When the Lakers wanted to they completely destroyed us, game 7 was a joke, as they destroyed us in everygame we won. It was a great story, but they completely dismantled us when they tried. Now, with all that said.... No one is trying to say coaching doesn't matter. And obviously Adelman was/is a better coach than McHale. Stop trying to create that strawman.
Not in the same ballpark. This Thunder team is 2X as athletic. That Lakers team was just big. They out rebounded us. This Thunder team is just attacking at will and defending with speed and athleticism.
You shouldn't. His defense was as bad as McHale's and he hasn't even made the playoffs since he was fired. McHale sucks but Adelman is not the answer. We need a young coach with fire like Frank Vogel.
I am with pacmania, this isn't like the Bucks vs the Heat, this team has talent to compete but the way it is being used doesn't lend to them being competitive. Ibaka is probably the only player the Rockets don't have a legit answer to besides maybe putting Asik on him because we know Perkins isn't a scoring threat. Westbrook and Durant, you can't stop but with TEAM DEFENSE they can be contained. The issue is that they aren't being put into positions to succeed or their strengths (outside of maybe Harden, sometimes Parsons and Delfino) maximized. The idea that it is based all on talent of a named superstar or anything is one that has become overblown in the NBA. Who in Denver's starting lineup could you say has "superstar" potential besides Kenneth Faried? Iguodala was budding superstar years back but like many very good players he never reached the level of being a consistent elite player. Same goes for Memphis their biggest star player is either Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph with Gasol only this year reaching elite status in any category for his position. People marvel at Houston but Denver has had done the roster revamp before when they traded many of their previous core pieces and still maintain integrity to be one of the top teams in the west. It isn't just about talent, coaching plays a major role in the success a team can reach.
