Former Gopher J.B. Bickerstaff to be Head Coach of Rockets

[Iceland12]

Houston firing Kevin McHale.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...-fire-head-coach-kevin-mchale-after-4-7-start

After appearing in the conference finals last year, the Houston Rockets were expected to be one of the top teams heading into this season. After a 4-7 start, the Rockets have decided enough is enough and opted to fire head coach Kevin McHale, according to Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski and CBS Sports' Ken Berger. Per Wojnarowski, assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff will take over as head coach on an interim basis.

McHale has been the Rockets head coach since the start of the 2011-2012 season and actually has the highest win percentage in Hoston's coaching history with a record of 323-193. However, the Rockets are losers of four-straight and just lost to the Boston Celtics on Monday night by 16 points. Houston has been inconsistent all year, starting the season with three-straight 20-point losses.

 

[2nd Degree Gopher]

Wow, big opportunity for JB. I would think McHale might be done for good. He's been through a lot personally and professionally. I don't think he'd get back into coaching. Maybe back to broadcasting.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Would J.B. be a leader for the Gopher job if things ever change with Pitino either leaving or not producing? Is J.B. set on being an NBA guy? Just wondering, I'm not calling for a change.

 

[60's Guy]

Wow, big opportunity for JB. I would think McHale might be done for good. He's been through a lot personally and professionally. I don't think he'd get back into coaching. Maybe back to broadcasting.

Well, firing McHale 11 games in, is really short sighted stupid. Harden has played poorly. The team has shot poorly. Howard has been out. They have missing pieces and pieces that don't fit together but fire the coach 11 games in.

Flip came home to the Timberwolves again...I wouldn't dismiss the possibility for McHale.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

Flip came home to the Timberwolves again...I wouldn't dismiss the possibility for McHale.

I don't want McHale back with the Timberwolves ever again... Would Flip have agreed? I'd guess yes.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Well, firing McHale 11 games in, is really short sighted stupid. Harden has played poorly. The team has shot poorly. Howard has been out. They have missing pieces and pieces that don't fit together but fire the coach 11 games in.

Flip came home to the Timberwolves again...I wouldn't dismiss the possibility for McHale.

Yes, quick hook for McHale! Nothing against J.B., but this is a very questionable decision to put it mildly. He's a pretty darn good coach...but so is Sam Mitchell by all accounts.

 

[Iceland12]

Yes, quick hook for McHale! Nothing against J.B., but this is a very questionable decision to put it mildly. He's a pretty darn good coach...but so is Sam Mitchell by all accounts.

That's what Magic Johnson said too:

Earvin Magic Johnson ✔@MagicJohnson 9:49 AM - 18 Nov 2015
If it's true the Houston Rockets fired Coach McHale they made a big mistake.

The Rockets have great individual players but they don't have great team players.

 

[Iceland12]

McHale seems to understand the reasons for the firing. Of course he's got $12 million to make the understanding a little easier.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14160559/houston-rockets-fire-coach-kevin-mchale

The Houston Rockets have fired Kevin McHale, the team confirmed Wednesday. Assistant J.B. Bickerstaff will serve as interim coach.

"The team was not responding to Kevin," general manager Daryl Morey said. "There is no time in the West."

The Rockets are 4-7 this season, including a current four-game losing streak that prompted a players-only meeting at the Toyota Center on Tuesday morning. The Rockets have failed to reach 100 points during their losing streak -- the team's longest since 2013 -- and are averaging 20 fewer points in their losses overall this season.

"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. "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."

McHale, in his fifth season with the team, was in the first year of a three-year extension worth more than $12 million that he signed last December. He was coming off an 56-26 season where the Rockets reached the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1997. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last returning NBA head coach to lead his team to the conference finals and then not make it through the following season was Stan Van Gundy of the Heat. Van Gundy resigned 21 games into the 2005-06 season, and then Pat Riley took over and led that team to a championship.

McHale was hired by the Rockets before the 2011-12 season. He was 193-130 overall with the team, including three straight trips to the playoffs. The Rockets had improved every season under his tenure going into this season.