Coaching not important? Think again!

Based on reports/twits/rumors/sauces the reason why McHale still has a coaching job in Houston is because current NBA players seems to love the guy, which I guess matters a lot when you're trying to attract free agents.

 

I remember Doc Rivers won Coach of the year with the Magic in 02, then had the worst start in NBA history, got fried, then went to Boston, sucked a few more years, then got KG/Allen with Pierce and won a ring and now he's an elite coach. Never won again after.

Coaching does matter, but the talent matters more.

 

A coach will only go as far as his teams can take him. That said, a coach can hold a team back at times, like ours. Players are rumored to respect the hell outta him though so there is that going for him.

 

Players cannot agree on whom is a good coach.

Shaq and Wade did not think that Stan VanGundy was a good coach... yet he is widely perceived as a good coach.

Some players like Steve Nash think Mike DeAntoni is a good coach...... lots of other players like Kobe Bryant do not.

Players like Karl Malone and John Stockton thought Jerry Sloan was great... but others like Deron Williams and even Jeff Malone didn't think he was anything special.

So much of it comes down to circumstance unless you are Popovich or Thibs. Hell, even Carlisle was disliked in Detroit by his own players.

 

While I understand the fact that players respect him. Do they repect the basketball player or the coach? I hope its the coach, but believe its the player. Evidence of this could be as simple as watching our end of game mistakes from last season. Wheter its the Lakers early in the season or its Portland in the play-offs our end of game execution never really improved.

 

As my sig says

 

yeah yeah but great coaches have a mind of their own and an ego. you can't mind control those people.

 

some coaches just couched their way to the hall-of-fame because of players they had

 

.09 seconds is all I got to say. SMFH

 

Phil Jackson is the perfect example of this. This guy has had MJ for 6 of his rings. The 1.5 years Mike was gone, what did Chicago do? They were still good mind you but still with good talent (Pip, Kukoc).

Then in LA he gets Kobe and Shaq.

Let me see him do something without the talent.

 

Read my sig, that's all

 

At least Phil knew what to do once he had the talent. McHale can't even get us past the first round with all this talent at his disposal.

I'm not comparing MJ or Shaq to Harden or Dwight but in today's league Harden and Dwight are top top talents just like MJ and Shaq were. The last thing you expect is a one and done first round embarassment.

It's one thing to have the talent and it is another to have a coach who can put it together.

 

McHale has his shortcomings but its been reported how players like playing for him. A lot of people complain about his "ISO" play calling but if you look at Phil Jackson (because you mentioned Jordan), a lot of his play calls at the end of games were ISOs. Of course it looks good when you have a Jordan or Kobe, but you cant blame McHale for trusting Harden to take the last shot on a play that many coaches would call if they had a Harden. This team's problem has not been offense and they were in every game against the Blazers. This team needs defense and is why I want Bosh over Love. If we can land Bosh and a "defensive coordinator" this team should take off.

 

That is not true. The only reason is both McHale and Morey have tie with Boston.

 

Uhh... Just stop it people. You are driving yourselves and everyone else crazy dwelling on something YOU cannot control.

I dont know the exact reasons, but I can guarantee you that there are VERY GOOD REASONS why Houston kept McHale for next year to finish out his contract.

Some of those reasons might have more to do with off the court stuff, but they are reasons non-the-less.

I also guarantee you that Morey knows that McHale isn't the greatest X's and O's coach that's ever graced an NBA bench, but believes they can still win DESPITE his short comings. If Morey's data & logic proves that is the case, than he has my full support to do what they feel like is necessary to take the next steps forward (whether that be for roster moves, player development, or system/chemistry development, etc).

So just leave it be, and stop driving yourselves crazy. In May if the Rockets haven't hit their targets (probably 55 to 60 wins & HC) and in June they haven't hit their target (at least 2nd round) than you have my full support to revisit such threads.

 

two things

first, thanks for the video, I had a good laugh. the best part was the retirement piece.

second, when they talk about all of isiah's and jordan's coaches being in the hall of fame. What is the common denominator? The hall of fame players! They made their coaches look good. You can turn that argument around for arguments sake.

 

Morey makes 1 statement about coaching impacting the win column by about 5 games and everyone assumes he doesn't care about coaching...

And now Les? The same Les that brought in JVG & Adelman, 2 highly acclaimed coaches? He's also paying Hakeem Olajuwon to work with Dwight Howard. And Carroll Dawson. He paid Ewing to work with Yao. And Sikma.

Anyone that thinks management doesn't care about coaching is blind. It was Morey who was irate with McHale for letting the defense go to crap. It's Morey that helped Battier pickup on tendencies that could be applied on the court. A form of coaching in itself... it is Morey that brought in a defensive minded staff member and continues to search for a replacement.

Meanwhile, Red Auerbach wins a ton of games with the best talent in the league. Leaves the team. And the Celtics win again. With no traditional head coach on staff. No coach. They still win. Because talent trumps all.

McHale is here because he can recruit and/or management believes in the guy. To say Morey & Les Alexander don't care about coaching? Get out of here with that crap. History clearly shows that has never been the case. Despite the fact that talent is the most important quality in championship teams.

 

in his only season as a head coach without Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich had a win pct of .266....

 

To be fair Phil did a fairly decent job with the 2005-2006 Lakers which had Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown and Smush Parker in their starting lineup. They were the 7th seed but pushed the Suns team which was in their prime with Nash to 7 games. They were actually up 3-1 at one point in the series too.