5 NBA coaches on the hot seat
By Seth Partnow
KEVIN MCHALE
A common theme on this list is a coach taking the fall for poor personnel moves. If the Rockets do struggle to the point for Kevin McHale to get fired, that will certainly have been an element. Houston’s uninspiring off-season saw them whiff on GM Daryl Morey’s “3rd superstar” plan, while seeing the Rockets deal away much of their depth and trade assets. The roster in worse shape than it was at the end of the 2000 1314 season. Still expectations are high, and any faltering will surely be blamed on McHale rather than media-darling Morey. On the heels of last season’s disappointing first round loss to Portland, McHale might not survive an early wobble in the Rockets’ performance.
The seeds of a struggle are clear to see. Though Houston has two top players in James Harden and Dwight Howard, they are both players with severe limitations. Harden’s defensive issues shouldn’t need to be detailed at this point, while Howard’s demands for the ball in the post (rather than in the pick-and-roll where he is a massively more effective presence) and at time questionable attitude towards teammates don’t help at all. These failings are easy to blame on the coach rather than the players. Though especially with Jeremy Lin gone, McHale has little choice but to ride Harden on offense, there will be an undercurrent questioning why McHale allows such lackadaisical defense from his star guard. If McHale can’t bench Harden, how he’s supposed to “disallow” these failings are often left unsaid.