Hard to remember sometimes that McHale is still an incredibly "young" head coach. This is the first time he's coached in the playoffs, right? It was really incredible to see him smiling in the timeout huddles on TNT. I was pretty worried after the apparent disconnect over the "hero-ball" stuff last game, but he's got his team believing after this win while Brooks' team has got to be doubting him after the failed hacking strategy. Just a really great job of the whole team coming together for a huge win. Everybody is growing up together fast during this series, which is exactly what we all wanted to see, win or lose.
As i said before, it's all about Harden. If he play well, we have a big chance every time. By playing well, i mean stop turning over the ball and not shooting well....like he did in other games. So if he play well, we will be in control.
Two things I'd like to see improved: A) I want to see our assists come up from tonight (15). We are not hitting shots where we are passed to and the number of quality passes are down. B) We need to stop letting them dump the ball to Ibaka when other players are driving to the hole. We stopped it once at the end and took the wind out of their sails, but it hurt us all game before that. Okay, now stepping back and looking at my complaints. Yeah, McHale and his staff did an amazing job tonight.
In my opinion McHale has outcoached Brooks the past four games.... especially tonight. I do like his demeanor, though I don't know if it's too soft long term. For now it is working with this young group, and it shows.
I so wish you would go away- we lost Yao and took the Lakers to 7 games- no excuse for the Thunder losing by 10 (last 3 was nothing) at home- and WE DIDN'T HAVE LIN NOR CARLOS DELFINO!!! Just please change your moniker too- you disgrace the name of Carl Herrera with your erection for Patrick Patterson and all the other stupid things you say- just please, GTFOYFPOS.
Props to McAwesome for realizing he made a mistake with Smith in the 3rd and pulling him out quickly to insert Asik back in. Had he left Smith just a bit longer, that could have made all the difference with the momentum switching for OKC. You know their crowd was just waiting for it. We could have never recovered had we lost the lead.
Sure, it was important that he figured out floor spacing was key vs. OKC-- kept 4 3-point shooters on the floor and dared OKC to match up or try to take advantage with their bigs. Good adjustment-- OKC had trouble with Miami's small ball in the Finals, too. I have always liked McHale as a coach-- never was one of them "Fire McFail" guys. Not being negative about McHale now. He is a good coach. But it is also an objective fact that losing Russell Westbrook is the biggest factor in the series right now. Sure the Rockets have had injuries of their own, but not to a max player.
I don't see how people can criticize Mchale's defensive rotations. It's up to the players to be aware of where they need to be. What's questionable are the lineups he puts out there, but in this series he's been so great.
Literally the only complaint I have of McHale this series is the fact that he keeps attempting to shove Greg Smith into the lineup. Every time he gets on the court, the momentum the Rockets have at the time ceases to exist. Like tonight the Rockets had a 16 point lead and all the momentum, and then Greg Smith gets in there, drops a pass, misses some free throws, and fails to get a rebound that Ibaka ends up with and dunks it back home... next thing you know, it's a 6 point lead. Greg Smith goes off the floor and it's right back up to a 16 point lead. This has happened EVERY SINGLE GAME this series. Other than that, though, he's done a fantastic job this series.
The Thunder without Westbrook is still slightly more talented, or at worst equal in talent compared to the Rockets. They also still have the better star in Durant. You and I certainly agree that talent is by far the most important factor in winning games. But once that talent is similar, then coaching begins to matter. And the Rockets look like the better coached team so far this series. Obviously, if we lay an egg at home in game 6, this all changes. But if we can take this to game 7, I can honestly say that McHale has been a great coach in this series.
I'd argue that the Rockets have a better team than the Thunder sans Westbrook. While Durant is clearly the best player on either team, I'll take the team surrounding Harden over the one surrounding Durant. Asik and Ibaka play very differen't brands of defense, but I'll take the methodical "shoot it over me" approach over the shot blocking flash in any playoff series. Parsons is clearly a better player than Thabo or whats left of Martin. Throw in Beverly, and Lin for good measure. OKC is clearly superior with Westbrook on the floor, but the case for "Once piece shy of contending" is a strong one.
Please do those of us with the sense to have blocked him a favor and don't quote him. His posts have gone from stupid and a occasionally funny to stupid and bitter.
It's more a matter of match ups in my opinion. We can go small ball and not suffer too much because Asik is one of the best rebounders in the game, and Beverley and Harden are great rebounders at their positions. Harden is strong enough to guard Ibaka in the post when he needs to, and our pgs are too quick for Derek Fisher and Reggie Jackson.
