McHale played a big role in recruiting Dwight. I suspect the forward-thinking Morey had that in mind when hiring McHale. Now that McHale got his guy, it's time to find a real coach. Plus with McHale's knee issues and family he may resign anyway.
He's probably realizing deep down that this may be the beginning of the end of his employment with the Rockets.
lol not trying to sound condescending but we say this about every previous coach we've had. Fuhrer y u no blitzkrieg Lamarcus? Van grumpy, y u no double D-will. It's catch 22. but what cannot be tolerated is missing freebies and getting out worked on the boards. Bev and Lin were getting more tips on the offensive boards. does anyone know how many times hack a dwight has worked in his career?
Well, coaches feel pressure too. He knows his job is on the line. And if Bev is hurt or done for the series, then the Rockets chances of making a comeback just went down significantly. And I don't think Morey is gonna give him another shot based on the "what if Bev never got hurt?" excuse. This is it for McHale. They lose this series and it's a wasted season.
I never thought about it, but it's clear that having a great coach is all but required in the NBA in order to win a title. Look at this list of coaches who've led their teams to championships in the last 30 years: 1984, 1986 Celtics - K.C. Jones 1985, 1987-88 Lakers - Pat Riley 1989-90 Pistons - Chuck Daly 1991-93 Bulls - Phil Jackson 1994-95 Rockets - Rudy T. 1996-98 Bulls - Phil Jackson 1999 Spurs - Gregg Popovich 2000-02 Lakers - Phil Jackson 2003, 2005, 2007 Spurs - Gregg Popovich 2004 Pistons - Larry Brown 2006 Heat - Pat Riley 2008 Celtics - Doc Rivers 2009-10 Lakers - Phil Jackson 2011 Mavericks - Rick Carlisle 2012-13 Heat - Erik Spoelstra That's a pretty impressive list of coaches there. The only ones you could argue maybe weren't all-time greats are Spoelstra(the jury's still out and having the best player on the planet sure helps) and Rudy T(he was arguably a great coach....until zone defenses were allowed and he was a terrible GM). Regardless, it does beg the question, can you win an NBA title with a head coach who's as mediocre as Kevin McHale? Based on the results of the last 30 years, I would argue that's a definitive no.
Is morey the owner now? is les alexander just a subordinate in aw of Daryl Morey? I'm not in love with Mchale as a coach but he is far from the biggest problem of the Houston Rockets.
He's a problem, but certainly not the only problem. I do think some of the heat will fall on Morey if the Rockets lose this series. I know he's obsessed with landing a third superstar, but he has got to go out there and get these guys some help. Their bench tonight was pretty much Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and Francisco Garcia. Well guess what? All three of those guys will be gone by the end of next season at the very latest. And they're not that great to begin with(at least based on what they earn).
Signed. I hate being supportive of a man losing his job, but i think his time here is done and he will be fine.
Kevin Mchale played in the celtics system for over a decade. He knows a winning system. There's a bigger problem with Mchale with the Houston Rockets.
It will be interesting to see if McHale has that survival instinct that effective coaches seem to have...that willingness to throw out all previously held assumptions and think outside the box. Jeff Van Gundy is a good example of this. The year the Knicks made the NBA finals in 1999, he was about to get fired because he would not play Latrell Sprewell alongside Allan Houston despite the clamor from just about everyone in NY. He was very adamant and at some point, when the Knicks looked like they were not going to make the playoffs, he surprised everyone and played Sprewell and Houston together (even had them starting when Ewing went down to injury) and that team took off, got the #8 seed and made it all the way to the NBA finals before losing to San Antonio. Van Gundy was willing to abandon all pretense and back away from prior statements or 'lines in the sand' and was willing to do what was necessary to find a winning combination. McHale is at that point now because Stotts has a game plan that works, and it is up to him to respond.
What's confusing is that, Mchale, a hall of fame PF can't think of ways to slow down the other team's PF
