The NBA season has been filled with tons of parity already. Who cares if we haven’t even made it to Thanksgiving or not.
It’s just great to see basketball on my television screen every night.
However, for the Houston Rockers, the very young season hasn’t been so joyful to say the least. Only the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers have worse records in the west, as Houston sits uncomfortably at 4-7.
After making it all the way to the conference finals a season ago, expectations skyrocketed (no pun intended) to new heights.
Now former head coach, Kevin McHale, was the man in charge the past four seasons, leading the Rockets to 50 plus win seasons the last two years.
Nonetheless, even while Houston was winning all of those regular season games, the media and fans alike were wondering if McHale was the right guy.
The only opinion that truly matters is general manager’s, Daryl Morey, and he’s simply had enough.
“The team was not responding to Kevin,” Morey stated. “There is no time in the West.”
Houston is currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak, which triggered newly acquired, Ty Lawson, to call a players only meeting.
“We brought everything up in the meeting. Everything turned out well. We got open feelings and communication. I feel like we’re on the same page now.”
Following the meeting, McHale felt the team from a mental standpoint at least were trying to move forward.
“We were starting to address some of the issues that were the reason I was let go,” McHale told the Houston Chronicle after news broke of his firing.
Going ahead, JB Bickerstaff will serve as the interim head coach.
While folks on social media are throwing out names like Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau and Mark Jackson to potentially become the next head coach, it appears Houston is giving Bickerstaff a chance to prove himself.
Word is JB Bickerstaff will get a legitimate chance to keep the Rockets job beyond this season, but results will power the decision.
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) November 18, 2015
In order for Houston turn things around, it starts and ends on the defensive side of the ball. As of right now, only the Pelicans have a worse defense statistically.
Houston is allowing 108.5 points per game, while opponents are shooting 52 percent.
Offensively, Houston is averaging slightly over 100 points per game, but that number is a bit misleading because as a team, they’re only shooting 42 percent from the field, which ranks 25th.
James Harden is only shooting 37 percent himself.
With all of that being said, former all-star, Dwight Howard, wants everyone in H-town to calm down and take a deep breathe.
“What happens in the room, stays in the room. It was good for us to sit down and talk, but it’s a long season, and you can’t get caught up in losing a couple games and getting upset and so frustrated and feel like it’s the end of the world.
“It is embarrassing. We hate to lose, but at the same time, we have a long season, and we can’t think negative when we lose. We have to try to find the positive in any situation. You keep thinking negative, then negative things will continue to happen to you.
“You got to stay positive and fight though it. All this stuff builds character.”
Maybe all of this could be solved by one simple solution, Harden apologizing to Lil B.
Only time will tell.
