Ex-Rockets coach Kevin McHale: 'It wasn't working'
Houston coach Kevin McHale could see the writing on the wall, it seems.
Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale was fired Wednesday, and it seems like he saw the writing on the wall. McHale said that the Rockets lacked "juice" and continually had to hold meetings to try to come up with answers, via the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen:
“We were starting to address some of the issues that were the reason I was let go,” McHale said. “We just weren’t playing with any juice, with any rhythm. We haven’t been able to get the problems solved.
“We probably had more meetings in last six weeks than in my previous four years here.
“It wasn’t working.”
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey explained the move by saying that the players were "not responding" to McHale, pointing out that it wasn't just about the 4-7 record. It was about the way those seven losses happened.
Houston started the season with a 20-point blowout loss at home to the Denver Nuggets, and then suffered two-more 20-point defeats before a four-game winning streak seemed to indicate things had turned around. Then came another four losses, including a disastrous one against the Boston Celtics -- the Rockets had a 15-point lead in the first quarter, gave up two separate 15-0 runs and trailed by as many as 29 points. McHale told reporters that the players didn't give full effort and hung their heads when things were going badly.
"We played Boston, and I was 100 percent sure we'd lose," Houston owner Leslie Alexander said, via ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins. "Even when we were up, I knew we were going to lose. So, I'm watching the games, I know we're not playing hard or good defense, not moving the ball well, it doesn't look like a good team, we look very ragged and then when they got up on us in the fourth quarter when we were up by 15 or so -- I didn't watch the fourth quarter. First time I never watched a quarter of my team's play, I knew we were going to lose. I don't like to watch losing. It's no fun losing. At that point, a decision needs to be made here."
No one is saying that it's McHale's fault. The players should probably blame themselves. It was obvious, though, that they needed to play differently. Perhaps this will motivate them, and perhaps a new voice was needed. Scarcely has a team as talented as Houston played as poorly as this to start a season.
