“We felt we want to win all the time, every year, try for a championship at all times,” Alexander said. “We wanted somebody who really was a master of the craft. Who really knew what to do, how to win. Mike has won 60 games twice in his career. There are only three NBA coaches who have done that, Doc (Rivers), (Gregg) Popovich and (Steve) Kerr.
“If you hire a young guy, you’re going to have a learning experience. He is going to have to make mistakes learning his craft, learning what to do. We with the Rockets, with James Harden, who is a great, great player, didn’t want to go through that experience. The NBA today is ball movement and speed. Mike is one of the real experts at that. He will be able to put guys in position to win and better their game.”
I shared my full thoughts on the introductory press conference yesterday evening via my Twitter account. A lot stood out, but above all, if there was even any doubt, all reports that this hire was a Les Alexander move were completely confirmed.
I thought the above cited quotation was particularly noteworthy. I do think that given the timeline on Harden, not just solely that he is already in his physical prime, but also due to the fact that he can walk in two years, I think the aversion towards a process which could include growing pains is justified. But is there really any empirical evidence that young coaches struggle any more than retreads? I can definitely see the fear in handing the keys to someone who has never held a clipboard at all, but an experienced assistant would have been in the exact same trenches and would have been privy to the exact same experiences as someone who had been the head man before. Perhaps anxiety sets in during late game situations when quick decisions must be made, but in theory, that is where one would be able to lean on their assistants – its not analogous to the situation where a young player must shoot a critical free throw or take a late-game shot and do those things all on his own. So in summary, while I understand the logic behind the underlying premise of wanting a smooth transition, I’m not sure I agree with the thinking that there would necessarily be growing pains if hiring anyone but a former head coach.
Alexander and D’Antoni were surprisingly transparent regarding the hiring of Jeff Bzdelik which was encouraging. But as I’ve been stating all along, I’m skeptical as to whether such a hierarchy can work. The ‘success story’ example often cited has been Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau in the Boston years, but while Thibodeau was a defensive genius, there wasn’t and hasn’t been any indication that Rivers holds a pro-offense bias. Here, we affirmatively know that D’Antoni’s interests are primarily (exclusively?) offense. And its the head coach who sets agenda. This isn’t football where each side of the ball is an exclusively independent entity unto itself. Each decision bears an impact in the team’s overall scheme, like whether or not to crash the boards or get back on defense.
The Rockets will be better next season. I would be floored if that is not the case. Barring resistance from Harden (which is certainly possible, as there was from Melo), they will certainly feature a more free-flowing attack and be more entertaining to watch. And in theory, Harden could be even better offensively. But as I’ve been saying, none of these outcomes address the team’s core concerns. With Harden, the offense is almost always going to be good (7th overall last season). And individually, Harden can’t really get much better; any marginal improvement he might make isn’t going to make a significant difference in team output. Where ownership could have really pushed the team’s ceiling would have been in hiring someone who would bring accountability and address the decaying culture in the lockerroom. To bring out the very best in Harden, and in the team, the Rockets didn’t need someone who would make him better on offense, but rather someone who would demand effort from him on the other end. An assistant coach can’t do that. It’s the head coach who sets the tone and agenda.
Les confidently bellowed that the three top teams in the West played the fast brand of basketball that he’s been craving. Even setting aside the inaccuracy of that statement (the Spurs were 24th in pace), the Spurs, Warriors, and Thunder had something else in common: they were great defensively, with the Thunder raising their level of play at that end to even get as far as they did.
