New Coach

Kevin McHale. I participated in an online poll by the Houston Chronicle asking whether or not Kevin McHale was a good choice as the new Rockets coach. By an overwhelming majority of 70% to 30%, the response was negative. I was stunned by both the percentage and the consensus.

When McHale was playing for Boston, I considered him the best power forward in basketball. Even today, he would be on my all-century team. He played smart basketball and made everyone else around him better. He is without question among the five best power forwards of all time.

In Minnesota, he acquitted himself well as a novice coach, certainly well enough to warrant a chance to succeed in Houston. As GM, he failed miserably. But we have to remember that a GM is only as good as the owner lets him be. Yes, he made some bad trades, but losing Kevin Garnett was not his choice. So I say, fine. Refuse to hire him as a GM. But applaud his hiring as a coach.

Is McHale as good as Adelman? No. But Adelman is not available. Les and Daryl made sure of that. McHale is available. And I'm glad they're giving him a shot. Good luck Kevin.

Outlook for next year

Frankly, next year looks a little bleak. The reason the Rockets had a winning season last year was Rick Adelman and his coaching staff. They got the most out of a few very good players and a few marginal ones that played well together. Losing Adelman et al is a huge mistake. I’ll still be there and I’ll still root for them, but I have less hope than I have in recent years. If they win 35 games next year, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Player reviews: The guys that left

Aaron Brooks moped his way out of Houston. He had the city in love with him at the beginning of last season, then was injured and was slow to come back. But that wasn’t the problem. Kyle Lowry stepped up and held the fort at the point while Brooks rehabbed. But when Aaron tried to come back to soon, he underperformed. That would have been forgivable, except that he seemed to whine about not having his job handed back to him when he felt he was ready. It stuck in his craw until the team got fed up and decided that Goran Dragic was better for the Rockets than a petulant (and still injured) Brooks. It was the right decision. A case of the red-ass will tear a team apart.

Shane Battier is a consummate basketball player. I love the guy. He gives everything he has every night. Shane cannot carry a team, but every championship team needs a stalwart like him to do the dirty work and play smart basketball. He has proven me right in Memphis, helping them to within a game of the Conference finals. OK, I’ll say it. Come back, Shane!

Jared Jeffries has been a journeyman for his entire 10 year career, averaging only 5 points and 4 rebounds per game, mostly as a starter. The Rockets got little for him from the Knicks, but they did unload his way overpriced contract. Good move.

Ish Smith is as quick as a wink and great fun to watch, but his decision-making skills are raw, at best. He has the potential to make it in the league as a back-up, but the Rockets had that covered. He went with Shane to Memphis, so he has a chance there.

Player Reviews: The rest

Terrance Williams needs to get over himself. He has talent and ability, but his swelled head believes that if he just does his own thing, he will show everyone how great he is. The problem with that is that there are four other guys on the court whose cooperation he needs if he is to excel. Even Michael Jordan needed Pippen to set picks and rebound. Driving to the basket playing one-on-five every time down the court will get you what you deserve: traded or released.

Mike Harris is a journeyman that has made the rounds in the NBADL and several 10-day contracts around the NBA, but has yet to catch on. He works hard, but is a bit undersized at forward. Harris marginal big-league skills, but may eventually find a team with whom he blends perfectly. I wish him luck.

Demarre Carroll has not shown enough in his two NBA seasons to make me believe that he will be around longer than his rookie contract. To date, he has not yet achieved journeyman status, and there is little patience in the league for third-year apprentices.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Yao Ming

When healthy, Yao is the second best center in the NBA. That means he has been really good for about half of his career, because he has ridden the rehab table more than the hardwoods. You can’t blame him for that. He’s a sweet guy that gives everything he has when playing, but that doesn’t pay the rent. It’s time for the Rockets to admit his genetic predisposition to injury and let him go.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Hasheem Thabeet

Potential means you haven’t done squat yet. Frankly, we haven’t even seen any potential, at least since Thabeet was acquired in mid-season. The new coaching staff will have to evaluate him because we fans have nothing to go on. Grade: Incomplete

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Luis Scola

Luis had a Luis-style season. I.e., he was solid, dependable and durable. He has developed so many inside spin and scoop moves that defenders simply cannot stop him one on one when he gets down low. He carried the Rockets’ post scoring entirely on his shoulders last season and there is no sweeter 16’ – 18’ jump shot in the NBA than Scola’s. I cannot name more than a half-dozen power forwards as good as Luis Scola. If the team includes him in a trade for a superstar, there will be a massive hole in the middle. Don’t do it.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Patrick Patterson

Patrick Patterson was the first non-lottery player taken in the 2010 draft at #14. He showed competence and promise in his rookie season, earning important minutes in Adelman’s rotation. Though he made his share of rookie mistakes, Patterson generally played smart basketball. Showing good shot selection, he hit 56% from the floor, mostly on dead-eye mid-range jumpers. Patrick will be in the NBA for a long time, I hope with the Rockets.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Brad Miller

When the Houston Rockets acquired Brad Miller, I thought he was the perfect backup for Yao Ming, tough, smart and experienced. Unfortunately, Yao was injured early and Brad has simply aged beyond his ability to carry a team at center. Chuck Hayes, at 6’6” was a better center than Miller at any point in the season. Occasionally, miller showed flashes of why the Rockets felt as I did in the off-season, but never enough to justify bringing him back next year. Sorry Brad, good luck to you elsewhere.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Kevin Martin

Early in the season, I posted that if Kevin Martin didn’t get his defensive act together, Courtney Lee deserved a chance to start. I’m not going to claim that Kevin read my blog and responded, but I suspect Kevin read my blog and responded. Martin will never be a defensive giant, but he put forth enough effort in the second half of the season to not be a weak link among Rockets basketball players at that end of the court. Offensively, he was a giant, mostly in terms of efficiency. He may not have led the league in scoring, but he led the league in free throws made (tied with Kevin Durant). Martin is a genius at drawing fouls on offense. He was ninth in scoring in the league and tops among the top 10 scorers in points per shot taken tallying almost 1½ points per shot taken. Kevin Martin is an outstanding shooting guard and, combined with Courtney Lee, the position is solid.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Kyle Lowry

Lowry may have been the best player on the Rockets last season. He stepped up nicely when Brooks was injured early in the season, then never relinquished the starting role. Brooks never really fully recovered and his petulance over not being handed his starting position back got him traded to Phoenix. Kyle maintained his focus and kept the Rockets moving forward.

Lowry has become one of the 15 best point guards in the NBA. He hustles, plays defense (as well as his height allows) and inspires his teammates. His 3 pt. percentage went up to 37% last season, a 10% improvement over his previous career average. Between Lowry and Dragic, the point is in good shape for the Houston Rockets.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Courtney Lee

Courtney Lee is a multi-talented guard that acquitted himself well this year. Lee can play the point or shooting guard and blends well with Lowry, Dragic, and Martin. His points per minute increased this year over 2009-10, when he started for the New Jersey Nets. He shot the 3 with the best in the NBA. He likes to play defense, a role desperately needed when Battier was traded in mid-season. I like Courtney and I'd buy a ticket to watch him play. I believe he will help make the guard corps of the Rockets an asset next season.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Jordan Hill

Hill was a Knicks cast-off in his first pro season and his second season proved the Knicks wise. He showed the flashes of brilliance that made him a college stand-out and a good prospect on draft day, but never developed the ability to play under control in a team concept. Hill is a natural power forward, so like Hayes, he was playing out of position most of the time. That fact, and his raw talent will probably keep him around for another year just to see if a new coach and system can bring out something in him that Adelman could not. But if he can’t make the team around him better next year, he will not play long in Toyota Center.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Chuck Hayes

Is there anybody that doesn’t love Chuck Hayes? He played center last season, but at 6’6”, is shorter than most NBA guards. Chuck is a man’s man, fighting in the trenches for every rebound and refusing to give an inch on defense. He even improved his offense last season from 4.4 to 7.9 PPG, hitting 53% of his shots. Unfortunately, Hayes is not a go-to offensive player. Most of his points come from offensive rebounds or being in the right place when a guard penetrates and dishes off. While he is the hardest worker on the team, few opponents fear him blocking their shot.

Chuck Hayes is a power forward who was asked to step in and fill a void. He did so respectably, but the Rockets need a true center. If they get one (or Yao comes back healthy), a Scola/Hayes power forward combo might not get the Rockets to the NBA finals by themselves, but the pair would be imposing at best, competitive at least.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Goran Dragic

After being traded from the Suns for the petulant Aaron Brooks in February, Dragic was slow to pick up the Rockets system, mostly due to an inconvenient stretch of the Rockets schedule which offered few practices, but once he got acclimated, his play – and the Rockets’ – began to improve. By the end of the season, he was a better point guard than Brooks had been this year and appears set to play the important back-up role to Kyle Lowry next season. As was the case in 09-10, the point guard position is again a strength of this team.

Player reviews (in alphabetical order): Chase Budinger

Chase was offered an opportunity on a silver platter this season when the Rockets traded Shane Battier. He went from being a good back-up small forward to a journeyman starter. His minutes actually only increased from 20 to 22 over last season and his scoring average only increased by less than a point. In short, Budinger failed to make himself indispensible. He is a good shooter, but has yet to reach the marksman status that was expected of him. He is not a particularly good defensive player and averaged only 3.6 RPG. That won’t sell many basketball tickets. While Chase is a good backup and has value in tactical situations, the Rockets need to upgrade this position in the offseason.

Coaching Situation

It now appears that Rick Adelman chose to leave rather than have a head-coach-in-training assigned to his staff by management. Adelman decided to be loyal to his existing assistant coaches and not undermine them with an interloper not of his choosing. More power to him. I have many times praised Daryl Morey and Les Alexander, but this time they blew it. Rick Adelman is a Hall-of-Fame coach that got more out of a mediocre team this year than any other coach in the league could have. He may well be the best coach in the history of Houston Sports. He had the players’ ears and their complete confidence. Who can the Rockets get that will be better than Rick Adelman? Daryl and Les, I hope your next coaching decision is better than this one.

Obit for the Season

Before the season, I predicted that Yao Ming would stay healthy for the entire season. I also predicted that the season would end with the Rockets in the playoffs, and they would lose to the Lakers in the conference finals. Obviously, the first missed prediction caused the second. Without Yao, the Rockets had a winning season, but never showed the consistency of a true contender. Nevertheless, they were fun to watch and acquitted themselves admirably, considering the hole in the middle that they were forced to deal with all season. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing reviews of many aspects of the Rockets’ season, the players, the coaches and the organization. Check Back often!