In another/related news: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Howard's frustration with D'Antoni is no secret. He was also frustrated when Kupchak said MDA was safe. That put potential firing on Dwight.</p>— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/336692596250402816">May 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Exactly what I was thinking. Only a fraction of what Morey knows gets implemented by McHale. Bad move letting all of these guys walk. Not my choice I guess but our edge is quickly getting diluted.
Really don't think Finch is ready to be a head coach - would be very surprised if this is true. Also, surprised that there wasn't a "gentleman's agreement" in place between Morey and Hinkie around poaching former colleagues. I guess that goes out of the window to an extent when you are talking about a promotion, but still.
W.. T.. F Hinkie?!!!! That son of a B is on my S#IT list! Morey must be furious. I know I would be! Dude is gonna steal as much from Morey as possible and as another posted earlier, our competitive advantage will eventually be moot. Not good Rockets fans. Not good at all.
It's not stealing when you offer someone a better job. He's becoming a head coach instead of an assistant. He wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't go after the guy he thinks is the best for the job.
Can someone tell Mario Elie and Sam Cassell to go take some math classes? They should be Rockets coaches, not coaches for whatever scrub team they're coaching right now
And this would be based on what exactly? The fact that he has been a a professional basketball head coach for European teams since 1997? The fact that his teams have won 8 championships and been to the finals 10 times. He has had only one losing season as a head coach. His teams (including his two seasons with the Vipers ) have a winning percentage of .659. He has 15 years of a head coaching experience. Not to mention he was the head coach of the Great Britain basketball team from 2006-2012 and helped them qualify for the European Championships in 2009 after not having done it since 1981. In the NBA we have guys like Lawrence Frank who was a student manager at Indiana, Mark Jackson who was a broadcaster, and Eric Spolestra who was Pat Riley's video guy who are given NBA Head Coaching jobs... Oh how about the fact that Finch runs most of McHale's practices and is their offensive leader in coaches meetings... I don't see how he "isn't ready".
People are making too big a deal out of this. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Finch and Hinke getting promotions market the idea that the Rockets are successful and a great place for your talent to be known. Every coach wants to assistant on a staff that might get poached. Every bright young mind wants to be considered a key component to building a successful team. The Rockets will be fine as long as they find new smart minds with innovative ideas. The concept of moneyball has always been about being ahead of the curve. The Rockets can remain ahead of the curve as long as they hire people with new ideas.
Finch should show his loyalty/gratitude to the Rockets for plucking him from his GB team. Unless Hinkie was the one who really recruited him to the Rockets in the first place. I'd hate for him to go just when we are going to get our 2nd star. Then to go to a rebuilding team like the Sixers, no way they get our luck landing Harden. He would be slaving for years on a middling team like we did before Harden--too good to tank, too bad to get in the playoffs. That said, we do have Coach Nick Nurse down on the Vipers. The genius of Morey's method is flexibility. Next man up!
Hinkie was the one who put Finch's name in the hat for RGV and made the push for him when Finch was an Asst. on Dallas' Summer League team several years ago. Finch (whose dream is to be an NBA Head Coach) took a huge pay cut to come join the Rockets and turned down BIG money to be a D-League head coach as he liked the experiment the Rockets were trying with the Vipers as a "hybrid team" He has been loyal... he's been with the Rockets organization since the summer of 2009. His goal is to be a head coach.. if a team wants to hire him, shouldn't he have the right to take the job....?
How do you he turned big money. Generally d-league coaches make squat, and assistant nba coaches make more.
I don't think Finch will leave. Gut feel, we'll see Meanwhile ... it's not the end of the world. There are many up-and-coming coaches out there.
