So far, his approach has paid off as it has won us more games than lost us. By his approach I mean: benching players based on effort and whether they are playing well. I remember myself and a lot of people in here baffled when the 2nd unit brought us back and Adelman sticking with the starters / veterans. McHale does not seem to be worried about hurting players' ego or feelings. I love it! I think with Budinger back in the rotation it has worked particularly well. The missed three last night and going for the rebound and putting it back in was evidence of that. He has come in with more effort, more movement and better decision making. I hope this can rub off on more players because Dalembert & Martin tend to take nights off effort wise. I like the message: bring your E-game or sit with me on the bench. Gotta love it
McHale comes from an era where things were earnt. Where rookies carried bags, cleaned up after practice and worked for their minutes. An era where The best player on his team, Bird, would be the first to practice and last to leave. An era where if you were to whine you rode the pine. An era when men acted like men not two bit hustlers. I don't always agree with everything he does, but so far it is working. I had the feeling that in his mind he doesn't see our Rockets as a 'mediocre' group, but rather a team that once in the playoffs can take anyone down if they bring their A game. We all would love a star, but sometimes you play the cards you're dealt hoping the other guys will fold under the pressure.
At first, we thought his short-rotation approach would stymie the development of the 2nd unit, as he gave long minutes to the starters. But when the starters' play dipped as it inevitably would, the bench was so stoked to play they made good on their play. I also like it that he gives them room to make a few mistakes. He stayed with the 2nd unit vs. POR and gave them valuable learning experience. Of course, I hope McHale would know how to wake up Dal and Martin.
I do like the earn it approach he takes, he is stll a little slow in adjustments but he is growing on me. DD
Great coach to teach young players the fundamentals, especially our bigs. I'm not sure he'd be very valuable in a playoff series, where every team brings its e-game. More than anything, I'm glad we have extremely competent assistants and a coach who apparently is willing to make real use of their technical expertise.
I have a positive impression overall of McHale. Though to be honest, I was a little frustrated with how long he chose to stick with a 2-bigs lineup yesterday after the Blazers went small in the 3rd quarter. We had our center guarding Aldridge and (I think) Scola guarding Gerald Wallace. Parsons is more than capable of guarding Wallace effectively at the 4, and he could have brought in Budinger or Lee to replace Scola who basically couldn't guard anyone on the floor.
lol this has been the case with Jeff and Rick. that's why one didn't play VSPANATTACK and the other didn't cave in to playing t will or hasheem the awesome. For me, i was just missing my fuhrer. Mchale is winning me over. I just needed time to get over Rick.
I am also starting to warm up to McHale but am not ready to change my sig. just yet. After seeing firsthand him practically destroy his home state's team I am still skeptical. Just throwing this out here but I haven't heard a single person here in MN say they would take McHale back in any capacity especially coaching in place of Adelman.
McHale was a good Coach in Minny. He had a winning record but it was his front office moves that left Minny fans pissed beyond belief and I don't blame them. McHale was a really horrible GM.
i think the fact that hes a top 50 player of all time allows him to get through to his players. for example, hearing that you suck from dwayne casey is one thing and hearing that you suck from mchale would really make a player feel bad
McHale has been good so far. The team doesn't have the stars to be a real contender at this point, and many predicted a huge drop off with Adelman leaving. So far the team has been roughly at the same level, and that is with no training camp and very few practices. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of letting Adelman go if you were still going to be forced down the win now path by Alexander, but I do think McHale is more willing to give young players a chance when the regulars are not producing. Parsons might have eventually gotten playing time under Adelman, but probably not until after several trips to the D League and some time after the all star break. I am surprised that Morris hasn't seen any time for the team yet though. I know he has been injured, but that was still on D League time.
Definitely agree. Some coaches are very rigid with their rotations and substitution patterns. Happy to see McHale adjusting lineups and not just playing guys because they're 'starters'.
I've always missed that about Rudy. I appreciate McHales approach. I like his style. Always have. But I still question his ability to... well... coach. He can definitely lead and motivate.
Lovin the accountability! You can look at the boxscores, see who was 1-7 with 1 board and see that's why they only played 8 minutes.... Minutes based on effort and results, not contract and entitlement - KUDOS to McHale!
Truthfully, is this ever not the case? This is why I was baffled by McHale's insertion of Scola back into the lineup for Patterson at the end of the game.
