Not sure if you haven't read the comments in this thread...... Not sure if think my defending McHale means you are assuming I think he is a contender status coach..... But let me clarify..... As of 1/28/14. McHale is one playoff seed away from previous expectations, not accounting for the injuries that have decimated our top defensive players. At the end of the season, McHale should be evaluated and our all options should be considered and further re-evaluated.
There's no misunderstanding. We know you aren't saying "McHale is a great coach!" You are saying "it's impossible to evaluate McHale because you can only evaluate on results and there can't be results until the end of the season. Unfortunately for you, that's nonsense, as there is ample factual and circumstantial evidence that can be evaluated right now, including McHale's history, interviews, decisions, and a deep dive into local results like individual games. It all points to McHale being kind of a dunce who doesn't know what he's doing.
for one thing, windows of opportunity close pretty quickly, and evaluations in pro sports today are done in real time, people get fired all the time in-season so I do not understand why there has to be a reevaluation after the season if all signs point to the coach being a major weakness as early as now. There have been hundreds of arguments for this, even though you have tried to battle each and every one of them "as open mindedly" as you can. These arguments have been there since forever as evidenced by the longevity of this thread, and now that the Rockets seem to be a contender with the pieces they have, it (the coaching issue) only takes on even more urgency as a flaw that needs to be remedied.
Didn't you say that we ranked 9th defensively? Obviously there is a fallacy in your logic. How can we ranked so highly while missing our "top defensive" players? We ranked 2nd in offensive efficiency after Nov. Since then, we regressed to 7th. Let me guess...because Asik and Bev were injured?
Using standings or stats to argue in favor or against a coach is actually something very foolish imo. Coaching isn't something that is measured in stats. These aren't free throws we're talking about... Coaching has so many intangibles that you judge it by the amount of praise the coach gets from their players, how hard the players play for the coach (A sign of trust that the players, think, "This guy REALLY knows what he's doing. We should listen to him!") and how much both individual players and the team improves during a season. Coaching off the court (Which imo, is the most important part in DEVELOPING a great team) is about the ability to help your players grow, to instill confidence in them by putting them in consistent positions to succeed, so that in combination, the individual and the team not only becomes stronger in general, but both manners create a culture of trust and respect from all the way up to the coaches and down to the last man on the bench. All of the great teams in basketball have contained been great cultures of team work in these manners and true trust. And as such, it shouldn't be a surprise that the last teams to be in the previous three NBA Finals are the Miami Heat (3 times), Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, all four teams who have NOT JUST great coaches but great cultures of trust that have been created by LEADERSHIP off the court, before it even got a chance to be implemented ON THE COURT. There are numerous examples of the building of the foundation of great culture that then builds great teams, Pat Riley hiring Spoelstra from internally in the organization, publically backing him after the 2012 Finals when he was badly outcoached by Carlise and was on the hot seat, letting him have full reign creatively when Spoelstra implemented his spread offense with Bosh at the 5 when just the previous season, his tactics had failed miserably. That in itself was a huge aspect of trust given to the coach, and two Championship titles later, nobody thinks about it, but that was a special moment for that organization. I'm ranting now, but there are a lot of problems with this Houston Rockets organization in terms of building a championship level team. I do believe Kevin McHale is a poor coach (Not even average), not because I think this current team would be a "70 percent win team," or something like that, but because he does not empower his players. Asik is a VERY GOOD player. A quality coach would've found a place to use him, even if it meant tweeking the gameplans a bit, because this is the NBA, where ultimately, talent trumps everything. Another subtle sign with the Asik situation is that a quality coach would have built a rapport and a relationship with him from a full year of coaching him, so that even when Asik's role diminished, he would respect the coach enough (as a man, and a human being who has mentored him properly and helped him grow) to still play hard for THE COACH. Maybe not the ORGANIZATION, but the COACH. These are all things that are SOCIAL indications that a coach is great, and at the end of the day, it is these signs (and the lack of them) that prove to me undoubtedly that Kevin McHale, though a nice dude, simply doesn't have the social skill and intelligence to coach a team up to the best they can be. And I haven't even gotten started on the X's and O's stuff yet.
I agree with this. When you see interviews of McHale from his player days, you can see that he is not the most emotionally intelligent guy. He was and is a bit distant, and a bit of a klutz emotionally. Compare that to a coaches like Popovich, Doc Rivers, even Pat Riley. Each has very different styles, but each seem pretty advanced in terms of dealing with people. And I am not a McHale hater. I think he is doing the best he can, and did really well last year. This year just poses too many challenges for him. It is not going to be easy, whoever the coach is, to get this team to play at their potential.
McHale is the worst coach in the league in terms of distributing minutes. No wonder everyone on the team is always injured. Hear that Morey?!
First of all, even with Phil Jackson we don't have the pieces to be a contender. Still missing that 3rd piece, maybe it will be Parsons maybe not. McHale has not done anything this season to justify being fired mid season, before the trade deadline. Just accept it.
No one said this team couldn't win games with McHale just that when a coach needs to make his mark he's not the guy to do it. He's not going to get this team over the hump.
IMO, stats and standings give you an idea of how well the team is performing, which is a reflection. And all of those teams have or has had multiple HOF players, MVPs, and scoring champions. It's a lot easy to go on about great culture when you have great players..... Asik just needs to be healthy and he'll have a place to be used..... Not sure if you don't actually follow the Roxs this season..... So basically you are assigning your own beliefs and opinions about how coaching should be.... How do you absolutely know Asik doesn't respect coach McHale? Seems you're another armchair psychologists who has an insight into the inner workings of our coaching staff..... McHale is pretty well known for being a player's coach, like Adelman, so I'm not sure what social interactions you are talking about. Again, you're acting like an armchair psychologist assuming this and that.... That's why organizations employ an entire coaching staff..... Offensive coach is responsible for preparing and implementing an offense and I'm sure you can guess what the defensive coach is.....
You're confusing me with someone else. But, if that is true it just shows you what a job McHale and Sampson have done without some of our top defensive players. :grin: Nah, that's a r****ded guess. Mostly 3pt shooting % has been the issue.
