I might be knee-jerking here but he has helped lead this squad to a top 4 record in the West (yes, as of right now the Rockets own homecourt in the first round. Hard to believe) including three HUGE wins on the road this past week and has this team playing hard-nosed basketball most particularly the bench. McHale isn't a rookie coach but this is his time coaching a team for a full year (don't forget that he has no experience as an assistant), he had virtually no training camp, had a few injuries to his team (Lee, Lowry), and despite struggles from Lowry/Martin/Scola this team is still 16-11. Don't get me wrong, this award is Doug Collins to lose and its still early but should Kevin McHale AT LEAST be in the conversation?
If we're somehow top 3 in the conference at the end of the season, he'll be a serious contender. Of course, Pacers coach is the frontrunner right now.
If we holdon to #4, he deserves to be in the discussion... considering the lack of a 'superstar.' where's the guy who's sig was something about McHale being 'the worst coach in franchise history and that he should donate his salary to the homeless?' lol
Too early to tell. A small losing streak puts you out of the playoffs anyways, so don't get too excited about 4th seed.
Only way I see McHale winning it is if this team finishes top 4, and somehow makes it to the Western Conference Finals. With the teams in the west evenly matched as they are, I'd say with some favorable matchups in the first two rounds, we can get there before ultimately losing in 5 or 6 to the Thunder.
To me he deserves to be in the discussion because his decision making actually affects the outcome of quite a few games so far. Of course coaches always do that, but honestly: how many coaches put effort at #1 priority and sit their starting center and top scorer in Martin for a whole quarter and play them less than 20 minutes a game ? Not many.
His situation gives him a great chance at winning it. Typically the award goes to new coaches who take a non-playoff team to the playoffs, or a low-seeded playoff team to near the top of the conference.
Why? I have yet to see a single season when our team widely surpassed any and all expectations under either JVG or Adelman. I guess you can say Adelman coached well the past two years from a record standpoint. But we still missed the playoffs.
If the season ended today, he'd be top 3 candidates, the other would be the Frank Vogel and Doug Collins. McHale inherited a team that didn't make the playoffs while Pacers and Sixers did last year. We have a better record than Mavs and Grizzlies which no one could of predicted. I'd be surprised if we don't make the playoffs given the Rocks all seem to be 1 happy family.
I am loving his coaching style. I really hope that he is strongly considered...because that means it worked.
we have a better record the nuggets, jazz, and the wolves. if they can be considered, than how is mchale not in the discussion so far?
Knee-jerk indeed. Let's see how we look towards the end of the season before we start hailing McHale.