Rockets' firing of Kevin McHale brings more questions than answers
The Kevin McHale era is over in Houston. So what's next for the franchise? Many questions loom, including around the head-coach position and the future of the Rockets' roster.
By
Ken Berger
•
3 min read
There's no sugar-coating how bad the Houston Rockets are right now. After winning 56 games and advancing to the Western Conference finals last season, Houston is 4-7 and not playing any defense -- despite improving the roster during the offseason.
When those things happen, the coach usually gets fired -- which is what happened to Kevin McHale on Wednesday. But the intrigue doesn't begin or end there for the Rockets.
Hardly.
First, can a team playing as poorly as the Rockets really have improved the roster as much as we thought? On paper, yes, but in terms of fit and chemistry, not so much.
That's interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff's job now, along with fixing Houston's no-effort defense and mending what league sources describe as conflicting priorities between the front office and the coaching staff.
"Is this the first crack in the analytics revolution, where they start hanging the revolutionaries themselves?" a person in the coaching business asked Wednesday. "[The Rockets] still haven’t figured out chemistry. They keep adding and adding, but none of it fits."
From the addition of Ty Lawson to the on-again, off-again contributions of Dwight Howard, to a distracted and poor-shooting James Harden, the Rockets won't fare any better with a fresh coaching voice unless the players wake up, play better and fit better.
And not to get all trendy-buzzy-social-conversation-y on you, but there is one thing different about Harden this season that celebrity gossip conspiracy theorists will surely seize upon: his dating choices.
"The person they should fire," the coaching source said, "is Khloe Kardashian."
Hey, Khloe isn't the one shooting 37 percent from the field and 26 percent from 3-point range -- and she probably could play better defense than her boyfriend is right now.
It's certainly not too late for the Rockets to turn things around, which was the impetus for what sources described as an agonizing decision to fire McHale, who agreed to a three-year extension less than a year ago.
"I dare you to find a better person than Kevin McHale," said a coaching agent who doesn't even represent him.
With at least $12 million guaranteed still coming his way, McHale will be fine. So will the Rockets' billionaire owner, Les Alexander. As for the team, that may require firing some players.
"The most dangerous time for a team is when it has success for the first time and they don’t have a mature bunch of guys around," a league source said.
Before we get to the possible long-term solutions, it's worth noting that the assistant McHale had been grooming to replace him, at the behest of management, got passed over for the interim job. Chris Finch, the former British national team coach, was elevated to associate head coach under Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff got the nod because of his acumen on the defensive side, where the Rockets need the most help, and because he has strong relationships with the players. Let's see if those relationships endure now that he's the boss.
Sources say Bickerstaff, son of respected, long-time NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, will have an opportunity to earn the permanent job. Depending on whether the Rockets are able to right their season, there will be no shortage of other candidates.
Every coach firing has an equal and opposite reaction, and when defense is the calling card, Jeff Van Gundy's name is sure to come up -- not to mention two of his most accomplished coaching disciples who also have Houston ties, Tom Thibodeau and Steve Clifford. Both were assistants under Van Gundy with the Rockets from 2003-07. Thibodeau was fired by the Bulls in May, and Clifford is in the final year of his contract with Charlotte.
Former Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks, who for all his flaws had the second-best winning percentage in the league after Gregg Popovich over the past five seasons, also lurks on the free-agent market. But Van Gundy -- if he even wants to coach again -- Thibodeau and Brooks will not come cheap.
What may require even more work is the roster. Howard, who turns 30 next month, can opt out of his contract after the season -- and the Rockets might be better off moving on. Then it will be GM Daryl Morey's job to find the right pieces to complement Harden and ensure that last year's conference finals trip wasn't an anomaly.
The truth is, since the Rudy Tomjanovich era ended, the Rockets have been past the first round of the playoffs twice. And while this season's ominous beginning may be more Khloe Kardashian's fault than Kevin McHale's, such is life in the coaching business -- and for a team with high expectations and awful results.
