McHale will meet with general manager Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander in Florida on Wednesday

Looks that way. Pretty sure the only substantive change that came out of that meeting was one assistant coach getting let go.

 

To be honest, it's not McHale's fault he's a bad coach, some people just are not meant to be coaches. Taking a chance to be coach for an NBA team is not an opportunity you easily pass up so i don't blame McHale for staying. Morey and Leslie are at fault, by not realising a coach is important and the ship needs a captain to navigate the waters, not just keep his sailors happy to be working.

 

I guess it's official. Mchale aint gonna get got any time soon. we just have to sit back and enjoy it. Just makes me sick to my stomach. coaching does matter.
that's like saying, a captain 0f a company is overrated. You can push back a nazi counter attack by just winging it and eye tests. no need for strategy.

 

Hire a real coach, McHale is the type you bring in as an assistant to be the players friends and a go between for the players and the coach. Morey is a smart man so this should be easy for him. He has done a superb job of assembling this team from the ashes of Yao and Mac but McHale has been as big a failure on his tenure as GM as anything before it. McHale is a great man I'm sure, but he isn't NBA head coach material and players primes should not be wasted with a less than coach at the helm.


And Jeremy Lin sucks, end of the bench material.

 

lol at the rockets.

Anyone who thinks we are going to the finals anytime soon with McHale & the current team..is truly a fan.

 

McHale sux.
Harden sux.
Lin still sux.
Beverley now sux.
Morey sux.
Asik's contract sux.
Parsons sux.
The uniforms sux.
Clutch the mascot sux.
Our summer league team sux.
Our draft position sux.
All the guys we are reported to be interested in sux.

Everybody and everything associated with the Rockets sux.





.....Except for.................................

TERRENCE _ONES!! And he's TERRIFIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Yeppers.



We have arrived at the........................................................

OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFSEASON!

 

You suck.

 

Well damn.

 

Agreed.

We should all take a step back and reflect on the circumstances surrounding McHale's initial hire after Adelman was shown the door. It's no secret that Rick the Ruler clashed with Morey (as evidenced by Adelman's stubborn loyalty to his pet players, and Morey's subsequent trading of said players in order to create rotation spots for his own additions... Brad Miller comes to mind.)

But looking back, we may also deduce that Adelman was never going to attach his X's and O's reputation to the Moreyball style of play.

Enter Kevin McHale.

Ahhhh, but there is a strategy and it comes from the front office. The failure, they would tell us, is not in the design but rather in the execution (i.e. coaching). After all, regular season metrics backs it up. This roster/system only requires top flight assistant coaches to implement the Moreyball design. These assistants could mean the difference -- especially in close playoff games where coin flips determine the probability of outcomes.

And here's the rub.

Favorable coaching conditions must be present in order for real, championship caliber head coaches to sit at the negotiating table.

On paper, the Rockets offer a tantalizing roster (2 stars, 1 emerging pseudo star), cap flexibility, and future 1st/2nd rd picks. However, the roster also has its share of liabilities, including poison-pilled contracts that are now making life difficult for the GM.

But these factors, in themselves, are still quite favorable for respected head coaches. On paper, they should seriously consider Houston as a viable destination.

But there is a problem.

And this problem comes down to control, authority and of course, philosophy.

The current trend/system (i.e. style of play) in Houston is the actualization of Morey's numbers driven philosophy. As long as Morey insists on experimenting with his RGV model in the NBA, highly respected head coaches will continue to scoff at the Rockets as a legitimate destination. I cannot think of one championship caliber head coach that would stake his reputation on Moreyball -- not SVG, Thibs, Doc, Carlisle, and obviously not Coach Pop.

Neither Morey, nor Les Alexander, expect to lure superstar quality free agent head coaches given these conditions. And so they don't. They merely 'stay the course' (to use a Kubiak expression) and operate within areas where they believe incremental improvements can be made (i.e. player transactions, NBA draft, player development, new lead assistants, new strength & conditioning coaches, new technologies, etc.).

As fans, we should temper our expectations of McHale while calling into question the direction of the front office -- specifically, Les Alexander.

 

OKC went to the finals with Scottie Brooks so there's that.

(yes... I think despite this teams weaknesses, things could break right, and they are capable of making it to the finals with a little luck).

McHale himself is a bottom 10 coach in the NBA as a prepared & in-game strategist. There is no denying that.

However I dont think its too much to ask folks here to judge the coaching staff as a whole as the most important factor. Lets see who they bring in and what kind of background those guys bring to the staff. Obviously losing Sampson hurt last year, and the front office is obviously shaking up the supporting staff quite a bit.

I'll reserve my judgement when I see what the staff looks like in a few weeks. Offensively, I feel good about Finch's system at least for the regular season. Practices & development... Bickerstaff has a great reputation of being a great guy to design and run practices. McHale... obviously the players respect and look up to him. Now lets see if they can fill in the blanks with quality basketball minds who can make up for the areas which are lacking in defense, and rapid in game-adjustment making.

The good news for everyone here is that the roster, the players, and apparently the coaching staff will improve from this past year. Its completely obvious IMO from what is already happening that Morey & co. recognize that and are working to improve. I'm not sure what people are so damn upset about.

 

Daryl Morey: You can't start Aaron at PG tonight, you'll have to start Lowry.

Rick Adelman: Yeah, I don't wanna go through team rounds, Daryl. The roster card is mine. And that's all, okay?

Daryl Morey: The roster decisions are definitely yours, I'm just saying you can't start Aaron at point guard.

Rick Adelman: Well, I am starting him at point guard.

Daryl Morey: I don't think so, he plays for Phoenix now.

[Rick looks at him in shock]

Rick Adelman: You traded Aaron Brooks?

Daryl Morey: Yep. For Goran Dragic.

Rick Adelman: You are outside your mind!

Daryl Morey: Yep. Cookoo.

Shane Battier: [knocking on door] You wanted to see me?

Daryl Morey: Yeah, Shane, grab a seat.

[Shane sits down]

Daryl Morey: Shane, you've been traded to the Grizzlies. This is Chris Wallace's number. He's a good guy, he's the GM. He's expecting your call. Gersson will help you with the plane flight. You're a good ballplayer, Shane, and we wish you the best.

Shane Battier: But I told you. My wife and I....the new baby. I said I didn't want to be traded. After all I've done for this ballclub...

Daryl Morey: "Tough titty", said the kitty.

[Shane sighs, and exits]

Daryl Morey: Shane's gone too.

Rick Adelman: You're killing this team.

Daryl Morey: Rick, I can do this all day long. [Daryl walks out of Rick's office and Gersson goes to follow him when Rick stops him]

Rick Adelman: Hey, you agreed with this?

Gersson Rosas: Hundred percent.

 

I am with you on this. I been voicing my opinion on this for a very long time and as a fan of this team I am sick of this mentality. We finally have two very good players again and yet we are dicking around with trying to have flexibility and space for another star. I am definitely not of the mentality that we to blow our cap making stupid signings, however, I am tired of trying to go for all these low-risk moves hoping some pan out.

After these last two seasons, we know what is sorely lacking on our team, yet our front office will probably not address these issues. It's frustrating.

 

Spoiler

 

Nice post!

Looking at the teams that get to the finals, and looking at there component strengths and weaknesses, I see two formulas.

1) Star power (Lebron, Durant)
2) Team concept - Coaching, system, court discipline, experience (SAS)

I agree our brass has overly focused on 1). But in this outlook, what star(s) you have make all the difference. Insert Lebron or Durant and exit Howard or Harden, and we are finals bound.

2) Depends on several areas coalescing and integrating together. Few teams ever get this right. At its root, you have anchors in Duncan, Parker and Gino that have played together forever and know their system in their sleep.

Houston has neither 1) or 2).

Achieving 1) depends on a unlikely trade or signing since there are so few of these superstar type players in the game, much less available.

Achieving 2) depends on keeping a core together long enough for the experience and system to develop. But it also depends on the right system and leaders at the helm to begin with.

Lets look at 2) more closely:

-Our core players are young enough to have the time - check
-Morey: I think he does a good enough job of getting the personal needed - check
-Coaching/System - this is where I have the most doubts. Is Mchale the guy that given a few years of the same core together can reach SAS levels of discipline, focus and chemistry?

Conclusion: Will this team keep the same guys together long enough? Can Mchale show he has a system and that when drummed into players heads over a long enough time, it will blossom? Might we get lucky and land that star that actually elevates this team? Will one of our current stars emerge as 1) type player?

 

Even Morey didn't think they were contenders as currently custructed. He said so during the season.

What's your point?

 

If you take the whole season into account, instead of just the playoff, McHale didn't do that bad of a job. Remember we battled injuries ALL SEASON LONG, even up to the final weeks. It was very difficult to establish a rhythm. It was also the first year this team was together. Compound all that with the departure of his lead assistant, and I can see why the organization brought him back. Remember the Rockets won 54 games this year! They still were a VERY young team! They didn't perform up to the expectations of the fans or media, but they still have a lot to build on!

 

Um... #2 should be "team concept AND star power" -- did you forget about Duncan/Parker/Ginobili?

 

relax guy
rome wasn't built in a day
the western conference is tougher than morey anticipate
he been talking adding the 3 stars since last year
now he is looking to add the 3rd piece
most likely candidate is melo but with pjax in charge not so sure he will trade him to us for asik+lin+parsons
anyone think melo will play for mle?