just questions i guess. have the rockets turned the corner? is bickerstaff credited for turning the team around or is it the team just giving a darn now? would this have eventually happened under mchale? can you see bickerstaff lasting past this season or too early to tell? do you still think mchale needed to be fired? did we need to wait until dwight played every game and have dmo back before making that decision? do personnel changes still need to be made? i dunno. haven't seen the rockets that focused and jovial against a team all season up until the clipper game. still skeptical.
DMo is back and helping solve a lot of the ills, one guy that moves his body and the ball makes a world of difference. DD
I wouldn't say they've turned the corner yet. They beat up on LAL and they beat the Clippers on the second half of a back to back against the Spurs. Not that those wins are nothing, but they're not enough to get me pumped. I can't yet say whether JBB has been helpful or if the guys are even playing much harder. Yes, I do believe we could have a similar record right now under McHale. That's not saying much though, and it still could have warranted a firing. Too early to tell but I doubt JBB will be given the reigns long-term. McHale needed to be fired? I don't know. Maybe. The team gave up on him for sure, so I guess so. We didn't need to wait for Dwight to get healthy and for DMo to return before firing McHale, but maybe we should have. I wasn't and still am not passionately for or against the firing.
At this point it's clear that McHale is no better than Bickerstaff. That's telling that a supposed veteran coach with tons of experience isn't tangibly better than an interim head coach who is 35. McHale is dead weight it's good we got rid of him.
If "turn the corner" means return to nearly 70% winning like last year, I'll believe it when I see it. In other words, this team is widely inconsistent on defensive effort vs last year, and defense is what drove much of our transition and secondary transition scores last year. Full team defensive effort gets everyone focused. And we are very fragile this year when it comes to fockass. But to answer your question, yes, obviously we have shown flashes of more fockass and energy versus the McHale start which was just plain horrible. So, it was easy for us to get better from that. Team chemistry, energy, fockass and 48-minute defense is what I'm looking for. The intangibles. They should play out as easier buckets and better unity/movement on offense and defense. Those intangibles will drive the system. No system will fix those intangibles. So, I'm not on the side of the argument where fans say that the coach needs to make such and such adjustment. The Coach will fail without the intangibles improving first.
Beverley starting made a difference. Also Harden sometimes gets benched for terrible defense. Other than that, nothing
i feel like,,, if this team, as is, fully realizes its potential, should beat the weaker teams on a regular basis and also go about .500 against the real good teams. still not a title-contender, but they should be sitting at #3, 4 or 5 spot. middle of the pack, kinda. but we're not there, yet. so i am not convinced they've turned the corner.
have the rockets turned the corner? Not really until we go on a run, but they do look better and giving more effort is bickerstaff credited for turning the team around or is it the team just giving a darn now? A bit of both. McFail lost the players with his pathetic coaching would this have eventually happened under mchale? Not a chance in hell. "play harder" "juice" "sticky" "throwing darts" 'clap clap" can only take you so far can you see bickerstaff lasting past this season or too early to tell? He could possibly last but I hope not. Need a real experienced coach to straighten this team and recover from the 4 years of bad basketball habits developed under Milk Hair do you still think mchale needed to be fired? Absolutely. He should have never been hired to begin with. Never been extended and should have been fired right after the Portland humiliation. did we need to wait until dwight played every game and have dmo back before making that decision? Nope. do personnel changes still need to be made? Yes
DMo is making a big impact. McHale firing didn't make much of difference though. I think we'd still be where we are now with McHale as the head coach.
I said it when it happened, but regardless of what happens here with Bickerstaff this year, McHale getting fired needed to happen if this team wanted a chance at competing for a championship in the future anytime soon.
Sure does! Donatas Motiejunas 2016: Offensive Box Plus Minus: -4.8 Offensive Win Shares -0.2 Offensive On-Off rating: -5.9
I dont know about yall, but I have seen a more concerted effort on defense...And those that arent playing it, JBB has been quick to plaster them on the bench. Secondly, Ive seen some clever out of timeout plays than before. Next, I have seen better player rotations than before...it seems players are letting JBB know when they are tired (and if he senses they are lethargic, he pulls them out). JBB has also called well timed TO's and doesnt wait for things to rapidly collapse... Finally I think JBB has finally gotten a healthier bunch of players. Everyone is quietly fitting into their roles, and he has gotten more productivity. Beverley in the starting lineup tremendously helped. A combo of Dwight and Capela has worked out nicely. Yes I do feel bad for Mchale as a person, but He was NEVER going to be the answer for a team that desperately needs coaching. Whether it was correct to fire him or not will be debated for a while...but we all know that at some point coaching will aid players in making better decisions in crucial junctures of the game. Dont think Mchale did that for this team, and relied on James Harden's creative ability for a long time...until everyone started to stink up the joint; at which point the magnifying lens was firmly directed on Mchale as a head coach. For whatever reason, his boys were getting blown out by everyone...and losing to teams they had zero reason to lose. This is a player's league and good players must deliver during the course of a season. But a good coach is the difference btwn team excellence and team failure. (ie. Marc Jackson vs Steve Kerr). This is most evident in the playoffs.
Yup. Thibs is an elite coach and has the ability to get everyone one the same page. It is rare to be in a position to get a coach of that ability.
