Yes, Kevin McHale Should Be in NBA Coach of the Year Conversation
Kevin McHale should be in the NBA Coach of the Year conversation, if for no other reason than because it’s time for the nature of it to be changed, and the Houston Rockets head coach is just the man to do it.
Traditionally, the winner has been someone who has either led his team to the best record in the NBA (e.g. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs, 2012, 2014), a new coach who takes a team to lofty heights (Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls, 2011), a coach who turned a young team around (Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder, 2010) or one who helps a team to be better than expected (George Karl, Denver Nuggets, 2013).
Now, that’s not to say that none of those winners deserved the award, but for the most part, they are the right answer to the wrong question. The only query that should determine the winner for COY is: “Who did the best job of coaching this year?” And thus far in 2014-15, it’s hard to say anyone has been better than McHale.
Other coaches might have superior records (Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors), are making waves with new teams (Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors) or are helping their teams exceed expectations (Mike Budenholzer, Atlanta Hawks). They all belong in the conversation, as well. But none of those guys are necessarily doing the best coaching job.
They’ve all had relatively stable rosters with the same returning core and marginal injury issues. McHale has had the most turmoil to deal with, yet his success is right there with the others.
It landed him a contract extension. Owner Leslie Alexander explained why the Rockets chose to keep McHale onboard.
"Players love him," Alexander said, per Jonathan Feigen of Bleacher Report. "He has that rare ability to be straight-forward and honest and tough, but at the same time, it's sort of like a brotherly love. Almost nobody can do that. He can. The players around the league love him. The whole league loves him."
Alexander added that McHale is “the sort of 'players' coach' who is equally likely to come with a kick in the pants as a hug of a neck.”
That combination of traits allows McHale to effectively reach and manage his players, and because of that, he’s helped the Rockets to the fourth-best record in the league, in spite of a plethora of hurdles to clear.
Roster Dynamics
The degree of roster turnover the Rockets have experienced this year is almost silly. Ten players are new to the team: Trevor Ariza, Jason Terry, Kostas Papanikolaou, Tarik Black, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, Corey Brewer, Josh Smith, Alexey Shved and Clint Capela. In all, they account for 3,150 of the 6,820 minutes played—46.2 percent of them.
Exacerbating the situation is the litany of injuries the Rockets were challenged with. In all, their rotation players have missed 69 games due to injuries. Three starters: Dwight Howard (12), Terrence Jones (24) and Patrick Beverley (12), have been out for a combined 48.
The Rockets have had eight different starting lineups take the court—none more than nine times.
Per NBA.com, the Rockets’ most frequent lineup is Ariza, Beverley, James Harden, Howard and Donata Motiejunas. They’ve been together for just 129 minutes—a mere 35th in the league. Only the Thunder have failed to top that mark.
The Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards all have two lineups with more minutes.
Chemistry is invaluable in basketball, and it only comes with time. Teammates learn one another’s tendencies, and that facilitates winning. Somehow McHale slapped a new roster together—with four of them (Black, Capella, Johnson and Papanikolaou) being rookies—and overcame those challenges.
And then, just when they started reaching a semblance of stability, Smith, Brewer and Shved get added to the roster. That helps in the long run, but in the short term, it throws another speed bump into continuity.
McHale deserves a tremendous amount of credit for figuring out how to make things work.
Mentality
McHale has done more than just manage lineups, though; he’s developed players. Consider what he’s done.
First, he flipped the identity of the team, knowing the limitations of the roster he was getting. Last year, the Rockets were able to score on anyone, ranking fourth in offensive rating. And while they were ranked 12th in defensive rating, they were often suspect to meltdowns in the clutch.
This season, they’ve established themselves as an elite defense, ranking second at 97.8 points per 100 possessions. That’s in large part due to the emphasis placed on it by McHale this preseason.
James Harden was the subject of a viral video last year because of his mental lapses when the other team had the ball. This season, Harden’s difference in attitude is obvious to anyone watching. He consistently shows effort, and that’s been a major factor in the Rockets’ turnaround.
McHale has had something to do with Harden’s improvement too. He started using Harden in ways that were more to Harden’s advantage. McHale told Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee:
"I think we’ve tried to change up our defense so we’re all more physical; that feeds into him more because he is a big, strong guy. I think he’s getting down in his stance, really worked at trying to keep people in front of him more. I think his physicality of trying to blow up screens and blow up actions helps him a lot.
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Dwight Howard is more serious this year. He told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo this summer:
"It's something that I've been thinking about all summer: Playing at that level every single night, not just waiting for the playoffs. This is my 11th year. There's a thought, 'The regular season is great, but when it's time for playoffs, this is when it gets real serious.' I want it to be where it's serious from Game 1 to end of season, and then take it to another level in the playoffs. That's something that me and Hakeem have talked about.
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That’s the kind of change in thinking that comes from coaching.
Now, Josh Smith, who was chased out of an unhappy relationship with the Detroit Pistons, has joined the team and is getting a second chance. In his initial game, he showed the kind of vigor and enthusiasm that he had in Atlanta.
The point is, these are strong personalities, and McHale has done a marvelous job of getting them to mature and work together.
Additionally, he’s developed younger players. He’s turned Motiejunas from an ineffective stretch 4 into a bona fide low-post scorer. Per Basketball-Reference.com, last year, he had 79 field goals within six feet of the rim on 54.1 percent shooting. This season, he already has 75 on 55.1 percent shooting.
When Isaiah Canaan needed to step in as a starter, he averaged 12.6 points and 2.3 assists. Tarik Black, who was an undrafted rookie, capably filled in as a starting center during Howard’s absence. (Although, he has since been waived to make room for Smith.)
These things don’t just happen. They come from coaching, and the job that McHale has done has gone unnoticed. He’s taken a new supporting cast and flipped the entire personality of the team. He’s gotten the veterans to buy into it and the youngsters to believe in themselves. He’s done it all through a plethora of injuries.
And still, they have the fourth-best record in the league.
That’s enough reason to include him in the conversation, at a minimum.
