Let me start by saying this isn't a bash McHale thread. But I would just like to share a few lines from the book "When The Game Was Ours" which I think can give us a window into McHale's personality and his coaching philosophy. 1. After being swept by the Bucks during the 1983 ECSF: "McHale caused a stir when he declared he could "hold his head high" following the playoff debalce. A somber Bird contradicted McHale's assessment by saying all Celtics should be embarrassed, and he promised things would be different next season-or else." 2. During the 1984 Finals, before "The Clothesline": While practicing in the Forum, McHale turned to Ainge and said "Weve got to foul someone hard." Ainge rolled his eyes and replied "Kevin, when have you ever hit anybody?" McHale chuckled but Ainge was not amused. 3. March 3 1985 against Detroit Pistons: McHale set a Celtic scoring record of 56 pts. He was so exhausted by his milestone that he waved to Coach Jones to remove him in the final minutes of play, even as his teammates urged him to remain on the floor and add to his total. The whole team, including Bird, abandoned their offense and kept feeding McHale the ball to pad his stats. Bird gushed about McHale's feat but couldn't resist chiding him. "You should have stayed out there," he said. "You should have tried for 60." Kevin was the kind of person who would say, "Aw, he's already down. No need to hurt the guy." Nine days later Bird scored 60. After the game, he went over to McHale and said "See, Kevin? I told you to go for 60." McHale shrugged. "Honest to God, Birdie, I really don't care." He obviously doesn't have Bird or Magic's killer instinct during his playing days and I think you can say the same with the way he coaches. I do think he has a genuine passion for playing the game win or lose. The question management needs to ask themselves, is this the mentality they want from their coach. It seems like he just goes through the motions when he is coaching, an example was when Parsons inbounded the ball to Dwight during the Lakers game. That was a set play that they always run when inbounding under the basket, inbounding to the five and have the wings run multiple back screens/cuts, unfortunately it worked against them and hence lost the game.
Since you posted this. Let me add that his nickname was the "blackhole" b/c he held onto the ball even with three guys on him.
It's ironic that the reasons you listed for hating McHale are all actually reasons to like him. (1) McHale could hold his head high because he played well. (2) Fouling players hard was a part of the game before the NBA became so foul-centric. (3) Why is this a criticism at all? The guy scored 56 points and said it was time to take it easy on them, probably in part due to fatigue. "Killer Instinct" is not being sad when your team loses, fouling players as soft as you can, or not scoring 4 extra points in a meaningless game. Horrible, just horrible.
When you are an NBA legend for your post moves, that kind of a nickname is more teasing than anything: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wdtgUOiWHJg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
You just missed my points bro, where did I say anything about hating McHale? I'm not criticizing the man, just pointing out what was mentioned in the book.
I love McHale as a persons. For all the ornery grumpy persona he puts out there, he seems to be a sweetheart and a genuinely good guy. As a player, I hate him.. as I do all Celtics that contributed to Celtics wins. As a coach, I'm starting to root for him to pull it together but I do think that he needs to have more assertive coaches (not Sampson) that can make calls if he can't. In game adjustments are clearly not his forte.
Although your intentions weren't really meant to give a history lesson, I found the info entertaining.
