without Asik, you have Howard listed at 6-10 265, Jones 6-9 252 and Smith 6-10 250. against the Knicks, you have Chandler 7-1 240, Bargani 7-0 250, and Stoudemire 6-11 245. This doesn't include playing Parsons 6-9 227 or Casspi 6-9 225 or dealing with Anthony at SF who's 6-8 235. If you add Chandler, Bargani, Stoudemire, and Anthony together, they got 34 of the 44 Knicks rebounds. If you add Jones, Howard, Smith, Casspi, and Parsons, you get 29 of the 44 Rockets rebounds with 12 from Parsons/Casspi. That means more rebounds were being garnered by the guards and SF for the Rockets so you could see that the Rockets big men were not winning the war in the paint. what's funny is the Rockets won the points in the paint 40-28, free throws made 24-17, three pointers 10-9, FG% 45.9 to 41.6, points of turnovers 19-10, fast break points 14-2, even on rebounds and the Rockets only managed to win by 2 points. turnovers where 15-8 but as you see the points off turnovers didn't hurt as much. so where we end up having issues is offensive rebounds so I could see hedging by the guards to help out. it just wasn't done so well.
Shumpert went absolute god mode for the second night in a row. Plus Chandler is a defensive beast. The Knicks could go 2-1 in their Texas swing if Shumpert puts up those kind of numbers Sunday in Dallas.
Are u implying that Morey is a hindsight type GM? I doubt it. Mchale still here is bcoz Morey want him stay for whatever reason.
If Morey wanted someone to run 'his' system, he would've hired Finch instead of McHale. There was absolutely no need to look outside for help. I will say this again with my take on McHale. All circumstantial evidents pointed to McHale was a Les' hire. The purpose was to prolong his tenure as an NBA GM. McHale becomes the scapegoat and Morey is blameless for the hire. Morey has been around NBA for more than 10 years, analyzing everything and anything about bball. He should know all the good assistants and ex-coaches and had his preference of coaches (JVG, Finch). Instead, he spent weeks preparing files on all possible candidates (mostly assistant coaches) for the previous 10 years. And after countless interviews, it came down to four finalists of Sampson, McHale, Frank, and Casey. All those candidates probably had two things in common: dying for a HC job and willing to work with Morey on his analytical approach. The only problem was that Morey didn't foresee the acquisitions of the best center and arguable the best SG in the league when McHale was hired. Morey just signed a 4-year extension. If he doesn't come close of winning a championship for the next 4+ years, Morey is probably good as gone! No one should feel this pressure more than Morey himself. His clock is ticking. Given the choice of his analytic experiment or hand over the complete rein to a championship caliber HC, which one would Morey choose?
Predictive statements can reveal people as fools in time. With all that Lin has done in his career, that's not a wise thing to say. Nobody knows what Lin will be.
So sad. CF members are caught in some alternate reality. They actually believe that head coaching makes a big difference. Every coaching staff in the NBA has a multimillion dollar budget, hiring offensive and defensive assistant coaches to handle the specific areas of of team strategy. Money is no object to Les, so why anyone would believe that the coaching staff is a detriment is totally beyond me. As Morey stated, McHale is a great at delegation. Talent matters in the NBA. The players are on the floor. The coaches are not. Coaches can talk until they are blue in the face and it may make no difference. Chemistry matters. The Heat took two years to blossom, despite having overwhelming talent. SA has had its core intact for what, most of a decade? The Rockets are in the same boat. It takes time to jell as a team. People here want to replace McHale with a dinosaur like Sloan. God, he left coaching because he admittedly could not understand today's NBA player. How would a coach like that connect to Harden, Parsons, Howard and Lin. It would not be pretty. Trust me. There are people who champion Karl. He was fired from Denver for a very specific reason. He succeeded because of the roster talent and nothing more. The guy is in serious decline, and cannot adjust to another teams strategic moves. Just look at the playoffs from last season. I will be surprised if he ever has a NBA coaching job again. All in all CF is seriously in need of critical thinkers. This place reeks of trolls, agendas, bias, favoritism, and stupidity.
of course chemistry and talent matter, but coaching also has a big impact. critical thinking involves realizing that players, no matter how talented, need a leader to respond to and to follow. whether it's for the purpose of structure, or keeping people in line and egos in check, coaches have and will continue to play an important role. put mike woodson, mike brown, or jason kidd at the helm of the miami heat and i guarantee you they will not even make the eastern finals. phil jackson was a master at managing huge egos and balancing roles. players cannot do it themselves, there will inevitably be implosions. we have not even begun discussing the Xs and Os, and these come to the fore even more in a long playoff series where adjustments are made game in and game out. do you really think harden and howard can come up with adjustments on their own against the likes of popovich and doc rivers? the idea that talent and chemistry, for that matter, players alone, win ball games is really ludicrous and reeks of subjectivity and lack of awareness and knowledge of the modern game.
You are completely wrong. If I was the head coach of the HEAT (a disaster I assure you) they would still be competing for the chip. Player talent is certainly the most important factor. 95% perhaps? I cannot even believe I am discussing this.
Don't expect it to last. The Morris twins are having a career season. Bledsoe is out. Everything returns to the mean.
yes, CF is simply not worthy of your presence here. but perhaps this other forum can serve to enrich your experience together with other high-level critical thinkers: http://www.mensa.org byeee
The king of all sugarcoaters has returned. You keep thinking this team is alright, see no harm at all. Sloan had boozer, harpring,and D-will playing like all-stars.
I easily pass Mensa standards. I am not a card carrying member because it as a shallow accomplishment. But I did retire at 52. Seven years ago.
jtr has a bad case of anosmia. He can't smell a fish that rots from its head. Wish for your speedy recovery, jtr!
Why do certain players play better under different coaches? People who say coaches have little impact DO NOT KNOW BASKETBALL. JVG was a defensive minded coach and we were a good defensive team but we played poor offense. Is that a coincidence? Tom Thibideau worked for JVG and The Chicago Bulls are always one of the top defensive teams in the league. Is that a coincidence? Coaches set the tone, They are the reason why the Spurs are able to beat GSW with just their scrubs, they are why Dwight Howard seemed to get perfect position in Orlando but somehow can't get the ball in the right position since then. A coach can make sure a future all-star gets pushed so far on the bench that his potential is never realized and a coach can take a d-leaguer give him some trust and make him an all-star. You can give a coach all the talent in the world but if he doesn't know what to do with it, it won't matter. The only exceptions are teams that are so enormously talented they don't require a coach at all (Miami). Bring in Phil Jackson and I guarantee no Harden holding the ball only to pass it at the very last second to someone who is not open, that would automatically stop. A good Coach has his team running like a well oiled machine and if they don't they better be prepared to get screamed on, on national television.
Yeah. And you wish you had half my acumen. Yes that is a word. Look it up. And what does odor have to do with the NBA?
You're right, the players are without a doubt the most important, but when you have a dumbass coach that won't play his 3rd or 4th best player, then the coaching comes into it more. Mchale is such a dumbass, the last time I was this pissed at a coach was when Don Chaney was the head coach. I really don't see him being here next year.
You picked the only team that you can say that for (A SUPERTEAM BTW), That's like saying you would win the Olympics coaching the Dream Team NOOO ****, LOL are you even watching basketball, have you not seen Portland play?
