Wait last year, people say we OVERACHIEVE. We are predicted to be lower than where we ended at start of season. Now with sam coach, we underachieve. No, I am not a McHale fan, I also wanted a better coaching.
Last season, Harden and Lin fought over picks while Asik hedged on low picks. Now they switch on any low picks and Dwight never hedges. Jones still hedges. Dmo still Hedges. Asik still Hedges. Why isn't McHale telling Dwight to hedge too? Hedge will give our guards just enough time to recover from picks. No switches and no mismatches! How hard is it to understand this??? This PnR switch defense is atrocious and should be banned IMMEDIATELY!
We don't have that many seasons of them together if the team underachieves and flames out in the first round every year. Harden is locked up for a long time, but Howard can bolt after 2 more seasons if the Rockets aren't championship material. Hell, there's no guarantee Parsons sticks around the way things are going. There's nothing "mind-numbingly idiotic" about pointing out that we have a lousy head coach. There are fundamental things like fouling when up 3 points at the end of the game(especially when you have a foul to give!) or not switching your point guard on a 7-foot PF that McHale seems totally clueless about. He also seems incapable of reigning in his players who make the same mistakes every night and he has no idea how to draw up plays out of timeouts. These are basic things an NBA-level head coach should be well-versed in. I'm not asking for Phil Jackson here. But it's criminal to have this kind of talent and watch it be wasted because of subpar coaching. I understand McHale won't be fired til the offseason at the earliest for a multitude of reasons. But it drives me nutz that the Rockets are essentially gonna throw away an entire season because of that.
Sampson is sabotaging McHale with his defensive tactics, given this is the last year of his guaranteed portion of contract. And McHale can't tell the difference
He has been described as a players' coach but a lot of the time, the most successful coaches aren't exactly "player's coaches". When teams keep making the same mistakes, they need accountability, that's the only way they will get better. The Rox problems is system or lack thereof. I'm sicking of seeing the same crap and horrible losses like tonight and its harder to take this season because the Rox have greater expectations and more talent. Dwight is looking like Orlando Dwight right now. Dwight and his less talented team in Orlando during their contending stretch were right at 60 wins. I can't see this team even approaching that because they will lose to many games on being out coached by the many far better coaches in the league.
Because we suck at D and with Mchale we ain't going nowhere. We may sneak into second round but that's the best we can get out of this coach. If we are in win now mode, Mchale probably isn't the answer.
I've always hated the term "players' coach". To me, it always meant a coach that gives his team a ton of leeway to do as they please. Rudy T is a perfect example. He was often referred to as a players' coach. And when he had veteran superstars like Dream and then Clyde and even Barkley, that was fine. You didn't need some hardass disciplinarian as your coach because the players were smart and experienced enough to know what to do out there. But fast-forward to the post Big Three era and suddenly Rudy didn't look like a very good coach when his team consisted of Francis, Mobley, Mo Taylor, Kelvin Cato, Moochie Norris. and a rookie Yao Ming. Granted, those teams struggled also because Rudy was a terrible GM, but when he needed to become a tougher coach who could teach young players and demand accountability from them(not to mention adjust to the new zone defenses that were allowed), he looked lost. And as a result, we suffered through 4 straight lottery seasons. McHale is in a similar predicament. This team is young and talented, but as a result there's no veteran leader on the floor. Sure, Dwight's been in the league for a decade, but he's not wired that way. And Harden's a scorer, not a leader. So unless Morey's able to acquire someone to fill that role(which is unlikely since we missed out on Chris Paul), it falls on the coach to fill that void. And McHale doesn't have it in him to be that guy. I just hope we don't waste an opportunity to land someone who is.
Way too many mismatches caused by switch defense and was totally exposed by Carlisle when the game was on the line; AB on Dirk. Lin on Dirk. Garcia on Dirk, and he was knocking down shots after shots and not once McHale made any adjustments....just like the first loss vs Mavs. Frustrating to watch. Dirk is a mid-range shooter and almost never penetrates. Why didn't McHale put a 7-footer DMo on him is beyond me...
Exactly. Let McHale run his course this season but they don't need to renew his contract. Whatever the Rox do this year, its going to be because of talent alone.
Thanks. Looking for a few things to watch for when i go back later and stomach the nerve to watch what sounds like basketball torture p*rn. Its hard to decipher what is actually a coaching error and what is just poor execution on the players part with this team so its nice to have coaching related things to take a look at. I think McHale has shown some improvement since his first year coming in as a fairly new coach, but I do think (even though they will never publicly let it be known) that Morey and Les will definitely evaluate their options this Summer. It'll be interesting to see how they perform in the second half of the season and if there are improvement to gameplay execution. Hoping for some major improvement in the coming months. They have to get better at this or they will continue to flirt around with the 45 to 48 win mark.
Talent isn't enough. The West is brutal. OKC, San Antonio, and Portland are in a class of their own right now. And the Clippers are coming on strong. I used to think the Rockets were at best the 5th seed(with the 4th best record), but that's gonna be a tall order. Especially with teams like Phoenix and Dallas breathing down our necks. And BTW, both of those squads currently own the tiebreakers against us. Hell, if we don't get our act together, we'll maybe eek out 50 wins, finish in 6th-8th place, and be first round fodder for the likes of the Spurs or Thunder. That likely gets McHale fired, but it also continues to the futility of this franchise which is now approaching nearly 20 years(with 2009 being the lone bright spot).
I agree, if Rox, barring health, are first round fodder again this year McHale will be gone which he should be. The Rox would be a very attractive destination for a real coach. We'll see how this season pans out but I'm not confident in McHale putting the team in the best position to contend.
The elite teams that are build on athletism switch on everything from the likes of Miami and okc. I don't think our downfall on the defensive end has anything to do with switching that's for sure. Like I have been saying for a month now, our weakest defender is Tjones who is by far the worst half court player and is the most offensively challenged as well. You guys (CF's) have over hyped him from the time he started, however a combination of not getting not getting scout + hitting shots, somehow cemented himself into the long term position at PF, even morey speaks of him highly saying he does 1 or 2 things a game that amazes him, however I'm hoping that is just a cover for media and is actually trying to get an actual PF. Back to Mchale and I think he is showing quality improvement as a coach, just because your team losses or wins doesn't mean your team is out coaching the other team at all, he has improved our offence allready in the 3 months this team has been playing together.
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!! And yet our defense is horrific. Plays guys a ton of minutes even if they're hurt. No in-game adjustments. No strategy to speak of. Lets Harden do whatever he wants. Waaaay too permissive. No discipline. He was a million dollar player. He's a five-cent coach.
Hey OP...please edit your thread to: Official Fire Sampson Thread. Horrible defensive coach. Just horrible. If I saw some progress in team defense, I wouldn't be suggesting this, but there is no progress...more like a regression. Our players looked lost at times, coverages are missed. That's on Sampson. And then to cover up his faults as the defensive coach he tends to call out players for their individual D. No accountability for himself at all. It's your friggin job to iron that shiiiiiiit out ASAP!
