So McHale thinks our bench can overcome a 17 point deficit against Memphis' starters?

See, that's the thing. We are fighting for a playoff race and they came out like we have clinched first seed (whether that is due to being ill prepared, lack of motivation or just plain tired!)

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>McHale on goin bench all 4Q: "I thot they playd realy hard. I thot they came out there &amp;gave good energy, so I thought I'd just go with em"</p>&mdash; Howard Chen (@ho_chenCSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/ho_chenCSN/status/317831009037070338">March 30, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

position*

 

Let's say he sticks them back in and they continue to stink it up. Same for the next game and this keeps trending, Rockets would miss the playoffs regardless. All in all, this was definitely a desperation move by Mchale. Certainly will be some mixed feelings by different people about what he just did.

 

Yeah I just left the game and wondered what was going on. I figured McHale was trying to send a message, but we can't take games for granted this late in the season. Oh well, on to these ribs.

 

OP or someone else that knows how to add polls.....can someone add a poll to this thread? I don't know how to add a poll and didn't want to start a new thread.

a) Yes McHale should have benched the starters to send them a message about their level of effort
b) No a win is too important for a playoff push to be sending messages like that
c) Yes McHale should have benched the starters to rest them for the Clippers game

 

I agree there will be mixed feelings and there is no right answer.

I just think you have to try and win every game in this stretch. We were down by less than double digits with plenty of time left.

Not playing your starters in that scenario is not trying to win the game.

 

For once, I backed his decision today.
It was correct to play second unit rather than gassed starters.
The game itself pretty much ended on 3rd qtr, so yes he played a smart move tonite

 

The only problem I had with McHale going the who 4th with bench is that they might not be as effective on the second half of back to back. Parsons was playing well overall too and could have been brought back in. As far as the rest of starters, they deserve to sit. Harden really disappointed with the effort he gave tonight. Harden has a lot of growing to do as far as being "the" man. I still feel he is capable of leading but he can't give half-assed efforts like he did tonight.

 

McHale should stop thinking.

 

LOFs no, but just as dumb, yes.

 

It is really a dumb excuse I see ppl keep repeating.

Teams usually bench their starters when they either have a huge game lead or they are completely out of the playoff.

I never see coach pull that move during the thick of playoff chase.

If your starters look unprepared when playoff is on the line, well, it is your job to prepare them.

I say it is dumb because eventually you have rely on your starters to win the game for you. Go hard on them and piss them all off does't look like winning formulas.

 

"Sending a message"?"Not playing hard enough"? I call that BS. There are two parts of the game, basically coaching and execution. Which part went wrong? Needless to say, lack of efforts impacts execution but it's different story when your starters standing in the corner watching Harden ISO and don't know what fk to do. Offense didn't flow and team defense is basically non-existent! Sure Mchale could look for more "Sparks" from the bench but that exactly shows how clueless he is because he couldn't figure it out how to handle tough matchups! Instead he had to consistently look for random substitution/"Sparks" to bail him out! Up until now, Rockets still haven't develop another offensive set as an alternate when our back court penetration didn't work. Pathetic Coaching. Rocket are for sure not going far even when we make playoff

 

Never seen a coach? Once again, Popovich. Your move.

 

Clutchfans wanted those guys fired also.

 

Eerily similar yahoo answers post

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070109194452AAF13mh

"Why did Phil Jackson bench Kobe for the whole 4th quarter tonight?
This just fuels my arguement that Phil is a garbadge coach who's fortunate enough to get a bunch of talent. He benched Kobe the whole 4th quarter when they were down by 20 and still didn't bring him back when they cut it to 11 with 5+ minutes. Jackson makes me sick from his exploitation book to failing to bring a 4th ring when they still had Shaq to his unproductive/confidence hurting criticism of Kobe. He should have won 50+ last season and let Kobe score in the playoffs. The Suns weren't even that good and Jackson's game plan was r****ded. And why doesn't he run a different offense? How many turn around jumpers has Kobe shot this season? None! The Lakers blow and so does Jackson!"

 

:grin:

 

I like Mchale, but sometimes he is too caught up in the moment makes questionable decisions.

 

McHale didn't just sit Harden, he sat the entire starting Unit.

There's a big difference between sitting a single player and sitting your 5 best players.

 

"Cause he is a racist!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"lakers have a game and well if they werent going to win tonight why not preserve the pro for tomorrow? i didnt like that decision though"

lol at how similar it is