Woj - Rockets fire Kevin McHale

[California Gold]

So many clueless people in this thread. At least the Rockets fans in this thread understand since they actually watch them daily.

This is 90% on McHale. Have the players given up on him? Sure, it seems like it. But when you grow tired of someone that cannot help you on offense or defense, what are you going to do when shots are no longer falling? You cannot win making contested shots in this league. To get good shots you need a good system, and some plays in a playbook. The Rockets don't have either of that. On defense, you need schemes and adjustments. The Rockets don't have any of that. We switch every pick and roll no matter how much it hurts the team, that's on McHale.

There's plenty of examples over the last 3-4 years of why McHale has been an abysmal head coach. Maybe some day he'll get it right, but right now I wouldn't wish it on anyone to have him as their favorite team's head coach.

Yeah, you're probably the biggest one

I have some news for you, there are no schemes or defensive adjustments for this :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SDiQQRa6OE[/youtube]

You can have Tom Thibodeau or Greg freaking Popovich and they won't fix that crap.

Who created this? Who made it acceptable? McHale is a softie. Since the day we acquired James Harden, we've played defense poorly. It's on the coach to make sure your star player plays defense. People forget Harden was 23 when he was traded to the Rockets. This is essentially a time of when he's still absorbing knowledge about the game. When you don't push him enough to play defense, that's on you. Should Harden be trying harder? Without a doubt. Who should be holding him responsible if he doesn't? The coach.

McHale saying now that "they wont listen to me" is too late. No **** they won't listen to you. You can't create a culture one way and then change it drastically the next when things aren't going your way.

Keep staying clueless. I actually watch this team on a daily basis. Most Rockets fans here do too. We're all echoing the same thing.

[gmoney411]

So many clueless people in this thread. At least the Rockets fans in this thread understand since they actually watch them daily.

This is 90% on McHale. Have the players given up on him? Sure, it seems like it. But when you grow tired of someone that cannot help you on offense or defense, what are you going to do when shots are no longer falling? You cannot win making contested shots in this league. To get good shots you need a good system, and some plays in a playbook. The Rockets don't have either of that. On defense, you need schemes and adjustments. The Rockets don't have any of that. We switch every pick and roll no matter how much it hurts the team, that's on McHale.

There's plenty of examples over the last 3-4 years of why McHale has been an abysmal head coach. Maybe some day he'll get it right, but right now I wouldn't wish it on anyone to have him as their favorite team's head coach.

Yeah, you're probably the biggest one

I have some news for you, there are no schemes or defensive adjustments for this :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SDiQQRa6OE[/youtube]

You can have Tom Thibodeau or Greg freaking Popovich and they won't fix that crap.

Sure they would fix it. Pop would sit Harden so fast for mistakes like that. Harden is fully capable of playing good defense and Pop would get it out of him.

[Little Digger]

McHale's coaching has nothing to do with Harden's poor play on both ends of the floor..I don't see how this move solves anything.

[California Gold]

McHale's coaching has nothing to do with Harden's poor play on both ends of the floor..I don't see how this move solves anything.

Yes it does. It has almost everything to do with Harden's play on offense. And you know the culture he created, when we suck on offense, it's OK to slack on defense.

This has been the case SINCE Harden arrived. This is what McHale created. Nobody else.

[bondom34]

McHale's coaching has nothing to do with Harden's poor play on both ends of the floor..I don't see how this move solves anything.

Yes it does. It has almost everything to do with Harden's play on offense. And you know the culture he created, when we suck on offense, it's OK to slack on defense.

This has been the case SINCE Harden arrived. This is what McHale created. Nobody else.

Didn't Harden kind of too. I mean he could have just played hard.

[burgerplex]

Probably excitement. By all accounts Harden loved playing for him and Coach K. Plus the Rockets organization is very familiar with Thibs from his assistant days. If Thibs is brought in it means Harden signed off on the decision.

I don't think you understand the point of the post you quoted.

Harden's worst nightmare is a coach like Thibs. He'd try to run Thibs out of town after 3 months.

I completely understand it but I disagree with that being his worst nightmare. The idea that Harden doesn't care and doesn't want to work isn't true. He put in effort and greatly improved his defense last year. Up until this year he had gotten better as a player every year. The team as a whole just quit on McHale this year and that is not the first or the last time that a team has done that. Somebody like Thibs is exactly what the Rockets need and I'd bet that Harden realizes that.

Harden is a petulant child who only cares about his ppg. He quit on his team after McHale, rightly, benched his selfish ass in the playoffs. Couple that with another toxic personality in the locker room like Howard, and it really doesn't matter who is coaching.

I feel bad for Rockets fans. They're doomed to be a high-class version of the Knicks with Melo. A team centered around two losers who will never really "get it".

[CablexDeadpool]

It's seems "poorly constructed" because the players aren't being used in the right way. The roster is just fine. We have two play makers, a finisher, a bunch of shooters, and a post option (who isn't healthy yet).

Nah that roster is bad, nobody on that team can shoot. Rockets were an average 3point shooting team last year while taking an absurd amount of threes.

Roster needs a makeover.

[nomansland]

BIG WOJBOMB!

Will Thibs be tagged now?

Thibs is always in the picture. He spent 5 years here working as assistant to JVG. Maybe both of them are being approached to team up. You know JVG wanted that Pelicans job this summer. He is ready.

They couldn't make any noise before the McHale firing otherwise people would think they are back stabbing. Bad for their names.

The only concern is Thibs will want full control. That won't fly with Morey.

Practically the whole world was saying what a great trade it was to get Lawson. Can't blame McHale for that in hindsight.

BTW the 2 Denver/Houston games I saw, Lawson actually did a decent job on D. Especially in the 2nd game, he pestered Mudiay into having a bad game. Lawson tries on D usually, it's just that he's on the small side.

Crazy how he's getting blamed for the lack of D in Houston all the sudden when if you watch some of the clips, it's Harden who's the real culprit.

(can't believe I'm defending Lawson, blorf)

[G35]

So many clueless people in this thread. At least the Rockets fans in this thread understand since they actually watch them daily.

This is 90% on McHale. Have the players given up on him? Sure, it seems like it. But when you grow tired of someone that cannot help you on offense or defense, what are you going to do when shots are no longer falling? You cannot win making contested shots in this league. To get good shots you need a good system, and some plays in a playbook. The Rockets don't have either of that. On defense, you need schemes and adjustments. The Rockets don't have any of that. We switch every pick and roll no matter how much it hurts the team, that's on McHale.

There's plenty of examples over the last 3-4 years of why McHale has been an abysmal head coach. Maybe some day he'll get it right, but right now I wouldn't wish it on anyone to have him as their favorite team's head coach.

Yeah, you're probably the biggest one

I have some news for you, there are no schemes or defensive adjustments for this :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SDiQQRa6OE[/youtube]

You can have Tom Thibodeau or Greg freaking Popovich and they won't fix that crap.

Sure they would fix it. Pop would sit Harden so fast for mistakes like that. Harden is fully capable of playing good defense and Pop would get it out of him.

If Pop was in the same position McHale was in, where Harden is his best player, where the GM went out and traded for said Harden and gave him a max contract you aren't sitting *#*#. Players have the most authority, did you not see what happened between Karl and Cousins? You are really naive to think coaches can just arbitrarily sit their star player when they don't play defense.

I have been saying this for years, Pop is the luckiest coach in the world to have the privelege of coaching a player in Tim Duncan who ALLOWS him to coach him and the rest of the team. Pop would not last a minute with some of these other star players. Do you really think Pop could rein in Westbrook or Lebron or Dwight? Doubt it......

[bigben998]

We were winning last year and previously without any organization. No system to rely on when Harden was not scoring. No one knew what to do at times and looked lost. You need to have more than 1 play on offense. You can only get so far without any offensive or defensive structure. I wish him the best but happy to move on.

who are those healthy players on the Rockets that you can run more than 1 play on offense with ?

Morey assembled a bunch of specialists who are mostly only good at one thing. McHale wasn't the best coach but he had to work with what Morey gave him.

I can agree with you on the specialists and lord I know that we were not a healthy team. You cannot just have one player go down the court, dribble around and then launch up a desperation shot and expect that to keep you winning for long-term. Run some screens! Set some picks! Do something! Even if it was still Harden taking the shots, work to get him a little more open. Dish it to Ariza/Thornton/Terry for 3. Have someone set screens to get Harden easier shots sometimes. Lawson has not even gotten going yet this season and it is the coaches job to draw up plays for him if he is not involved enough. Just no more iso every play. They just all look so lost out there. The offense was way too predictable. Unfortunately, he lost this team.

[California Gold]

It's seems "poorly constructed" because the players aren't being used in the right way. The roster is just fine. We have two play makers, a finisher, a bunch of shooters, and a post option (who isn't healthy yet).

Nah that roster is bad, nobody on that team can shoot. Rockets were an average 3point shooting team last year while taking an absurd amount of threes.

Roster needs a makeover.

No. The roster needs to be used correctly. You can only make so many bad shots. The Rockets weren't even avg last year. They were inefficient last year too, but the difference was there were more open looks.

Try watching the offense for once and see what I'm talking about. There's no flow, the half court offense relies too much on one guy to break down a defense. No real ball movement. Nothing. You can't win like that in the league. Eventually teams figure you out too, and then you're stuck taking terrible shots.

[California Gold]

McHale's coaching has nothing to do with Harden's poor play on both ends of the floor..I don't see how this move solves anything.

Yes it does. It has almost everything to do with Harden's play on offense. And you know the culture he created, when we suck on offense, it's OK to slack on defense.

This has been the case SINCE Harden arrived. This is what McHale created. Nobody else.

Didn't Harden kind of too. I mean he could have just played hard.

Yes, but when you make it acceptable to keep doing it, how do you think a player is going to become? I'm not trying to use age as an excuse but when you set a standard for a young player who has already gotten his max contract that he won't have to do this and that, he will continue to do it. You can't tell me coaches in the NBA don't enforce playing defense.

Harden is at fault for this, I'm not saying he isn't 100% not at fault. But the development and growth for him as a player has been terribly managed by McHale.

[Arp590]

I want to see Harden's face, when they announce the hiring of Tom Thibodeau.

Probably excitement. By all accounts Harden loved playing for him and Coach K. Plus the Rockets organization is very familiar with Thibs from his assistant days. If Thibs is brought in it means Harden signed off on the decision.

I don't think you understand the point of the post you quoted.

Harden's worst nightmare is a coach like Thibs. He'd try to run Thibs out of town after 3 months.

Harden will play 10 minutes a game with Thibs unless he starts trying on defense.

[California Gold]

Probably excitement. By all accounts Harden loved playing for him and Coach K. Plus the Rockets organization is very familiar with Thibs from his assistant days. If Thibs is brought in it means Harden signed off on the decision.

I don't think you understand the point of the post you quoted.

Harden's worst nightmare is a coach like Thibs. He'd try to run Thibs out of town after 3 months.

Harden will play 10 minutes a game with Thibs unless he starts trying on defense.

Harden said Thibs helped him A LOT during the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

[City of Trees]

Morey has little patience.

Sent from my Z970 using Tapatalk

[tiderulz]

I don't think you understand the point of the post you quoted.

Harden's worst nightmare is a coach like Thibs. He'd try to run Thibs out of town after 3 months.

Harden will play 10 minutes a game with Thibs unless he starts trying on defense.

Harden said Thibs helped him A LOT during the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

hasnt shown on his defense since then

[gmoney411]

I don't think you understand the point of the post you quoted.

Harden's worst nightmare is a coach like Thibs. He'd try to run Thibs out of town after 3 months.

I completely understand it but I disagree with that being his worst nightmare. The idea that Harden doesn't care and doesn't want to work isn't true. He put in effort and greatly improved his defense last year. Up until this year he had gotten better as a player every year. The team as a whole just quit on McHale this year and that is not the first or the last time that a team has done that. Somebody like Thibs is exactly what the Rockets need and I'd bet that Harden realizes that.

Harden is a petulant child who only cares about his ppg. He quit on his team after McHale, rightly, benched his selfish ass in the playoffs. Couple that with another toxic personality in the locker room like Howard, and it really doesn't matter who is coaching.

I feel bad for Rockets fans. They're doomed to be a high-class version of the Knicks with Melo. A team centered around two losers who will never really "get it".

He's a child that Coach K raved about after spending a summer with him. Sometimes situations just go bad and that is what happened in Houston this year. Now if they bring in another coach and the same Harden play continues I will agree with you. But I personally need to see how he can perform as the leader of a team with an actual coach that runs an actual offense.

[bondom34]

Yes it does. It has almost everything to do with Harden's play on offense. And you know the culture he created, when we suck on offense, it's OK to slack on defense.

This has been the case SINCE Harden arrived. This is what McHale created. Nobody else.

Didn't Harden kind of too. I mean he could have just played hard.

Yes, but when you make it acceptable to keep doing it, how do you think a player is going to become? I'm not trying to use age as an excuse but when you set a standard for a young player who has already gotten his max contract that he won't have to do this and that, he will continue to do it. You can't tell me coaches in the NBA don't enforce playing defense.

Harden is at fault for this, I'm not saying he isn't 100% not at fault. But the development and growth for him as a player has been terribly managed by McHale.

Harden should be plenty old enough though, which is my problem. The roster is built on a bunch of guys not known for being terribly high character/coachable, outside maybe the aging JET. I don't think there's a coach in the league outside maybe Pop and Carlisle who'd manage those egos that well.

[California Gold]

Harden will play 10 minutes a game with Thibs unless he starts trying on defense.

Harden said Thibs helped him A LOT during the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

hasnt shown on his defense since then

He was actually a little better last season. I can't imagine if Thibs was the HC how much more effort would be applied on that side of the ball. It would be a godsend for this entire team, not just Harden.

[davidfr94]

Please come on, if you watched them play you could easily see that he wasn't a great coach at all, no mouvement, no flow, they were not sharing the ball.
The system was solely relying on a Harden/Howard pick and roll with three guys standing around.

This team needs an experienced coach who will make them play like a cohesive unit and play defense. They have a realy good team and players that fit together. They have shot Creators, defensive players, shooters, shot blockers, energy guys, they can play big they can play small.... They just need a good coach, i would love JVG for them as he wouldn't be afraid to confront Harden and howard because he'll have morey's approval.

If it's someone like del negro, thibs, that is too hard on players or not getting enough respect from them to be able to coach them properly, it could break the team apart with the way they are playing and howard being in the last year of his contract.