if the players are not giving effort on defense then it's on mchale. give tom thibodeau this roster and they would play better defense. this run and gun disregard defense is mchale's philosophy. the fact that they give up easy baskets, say "fukk it", and just try to run up the court to get a layup tells me that that is something that they practice. they still play like a lottery team in terms of philosophy, it's just that they don't have lottery players. defense and a half court offense is what wins in the playoffs not this playground bull**** they're doing.
Mchale was never hired for his coaching acumen. He was hired for his persona. If you want better coaching, hire better assistants.
But that's wasting a season. This team has enough talent to win a title right now. Especially if they trade Asik for more than just draft picks. I agree that McFail doesn't deserve to be fired right now. The team is 8-5. They're not the Nets. But they should be better than this. I just hate the mentality of settling for mediocrity from their head coach when there are guys out there who would easily get more out of this roster.
While Ive been really excited about their clicking offense the last 3 games, this is the burning truth. What's worrying is the coaches don't take any responsibility for the defense, which in part explains the lack of improvement I guess. In Coach Sampson's own recent words: "The most overrated thing is that you're a good defensive team because of your coaching," Sampson says. "No. You're a good defensive team because you care and because it's important to you."
Not championship caliber yet? We are near the top in scoring. With some better coaching we should be 10-3
that doesn't mean much. this team has enough to win mid 50's games on talent alone. especially over mediocre teams. in the playoffs this team's flaws will be exposed. lack of efficient half-court offense, excesses turnovers, and sub-par defense will be the achilles heel for them.
i just don't understand how rockets fans can keep saying to give mchale more time. the previous 2 seasons ended in epic collapses that either bumped us out of the playoffs or down to the 8 seed. and with completely different rosters. so blaming players or manufacturing other excuses simply doesn't cut it. now in the 3rd season we are seeing the same exact mental lapses to end games and choke away what should be sure wins. the only constant here is the coach staff. and people say give mchale time to grow and he'll get better, but this roster is built to win now. howard will be an "old" 28 next month. this team's core needs to go through playoff series together in order to develop chemistry and have a chance at perhaps getting to the finals the following year. right now i'm not so sure mchale can even coach this team out of the first round.
I'm really not that concerned. We are barely into the season and: We are a .615 win team despite our panicking We've had a busier schedule than most teams in the league Most of our losses have been really close, heartbreaking losses that statistically could have easily gone our way The potential for this team is there. Just relax, stay calm, and wait for our team to get more comfortable. The chemistry between Parsons and Dwight tonight was leagues above what we had in the first game.
This, plus his inability to draw up any meaningful plays. This instant offense is a mirage and will not work in the long run. I have a strong dislike with the style of offense we play.
Don't let the winning percentage fool you. Prorate that over the course of an 82-game season and we're on pace for 50-51 wins. In the Western Conference this season, that'll likely net us at best the 6th seed. Remember, a few years ago every single team that qualified for the playoffs in the West won 50 games or more. No argument on the busier schedule to start the year. But even that highlighted a coaching deficiency on McHale's part. He did a horrible job monitoring his players' minutes which in part led to guys like Harden and Parsons being so banged up. For every game the Rockets pulled out of their asses(surviving 2OT against the Raptors, coming back from 19 down in Utah, hanging on against the Knicks), there are games they squandered(losing in OT against the Sixers, coming ahead from 18 up to lose in Dallas, failing to hang on against the Lakers). Over the course of an 82-game season, those losses could come back to haunt them. I'm not panicking right now. But I think this team talentwise is as good if not better than anyone else in the league. Especially once they get something for Asik. The problem is I also think they have a ceiling as long as McHale is their coach. I don't buy into this whole idea of giving him time to figure things out. He sucked as a coach in Minnesota. And since joining the Rockets, the team collapsed down the stretch in 2012 missing the playoffs and nearly did the same last season(let's be honest, if Dirk doesn't get hurt, the Mavs get in instead of us). Right now we're looking like a lower seeded playoff team that's destined to get knocked out in 6 games in the first round.
He may be a good man, but not a good coach at all. Fire him, that's the answer. I just made an ID to sign in this thread.
You need to worry. 1) Rockets didn't has a win against any playoff contender team, unless you count Portland as one. 2) Rockets cannot close an close game.
