Houston Rockets Daily Rocket Science: Poor Kevin McHale

Kevin McHale is gone… and the Houston Rockets snap their four game losing streak. Coincidence? I think not!

The coach was clearly the problem. The players showed their resilience last night in a big comeback win over the Portland Trailblazers and it was a direct result of a coaching change. Everything is now fine.

That.. of course is what the narrative looks like now. If Corey Brewer doesn’t hit an insane, running three-pointer with less than a second left on Wednesday night, the story completely turns.

It turns into “McHale was never the problem! It’s James Harden! He needs to drop that dumb Kardashian and start being clutch! Wait, does that even make sense?”

The truth is, we still don’t know if the team is fixed. It’s one game, granted a really exciting game, but a very small sample none the less. It makes us feel good as fans to see a win, but watching last night there are still glaring problems with the Rockets.

Anyway, it’ll do your mind some good to read up on the McHale firing and everything else going on within the organization. Why McHale got fired, who exactly J.B. Bickerstaff is and even some Sam Dekker news. Take it all in:

Houston Rockets news and notes from around the web

By now this is ancient news, but McHale is no longer the coach. The run wasn’t long, and there always seemed questions about his real in-game coaching abilities. The move to keep Harden benched during game six comeback in the Los Angeles Clippers series is, in my opinion, one of the best coaching moves of the past 10 years – but that doesn’t excuse what’s happened this year. Is this necessarily all McHale’s fault? No, but during these dire times something has to fall – and in a player-driven league it’s normally the coach (just ask DeMarcus Cousins).

Rockets fire Kevin McHale; panic move for Houston? 5 things to know [CBS NBA – Matt Moore]

"McHale had been the Rockets’ coach since the start of the 2011-12 season and actually has the highest win percentage in Hoston’s coaching history with a regular-season record of 193-130. In five postseason appearances, McHale’s playoff record with Houston was 13-16. However, the Rockets are losers of four straight and just lost to the Boston Celtics on Monday night by 16 points. This has been a theme, as they started with three straight 20-point losses before winning their first game."

Now on to who’ll be replacing McHale, the man known as J.B. Bickerstaff. His father, Bernie, was a coach in the NBA for nearly 45 years with 15 seasons as a head coach. J.B. was always held in high regard by McHale and the team certainly responded to him for at least one game. As for the rest of the season, there’s much more to be told.

Houston Rockets: J.B. Bickerstaff to Coach the Rest of the Season [Space City Scoop – Joshua Van Horn]

"Les Alexander made it clear that there was no other choice. Alexander told Calvin Watkins of ESPN that he felt the players weren’t responding to coach McHale, and that he knew they were going to lose their last three games before they even played them."

Not to keep piling on the somber news, but Sam Dekker is now out along with the rest of the Rockets graveyard. Sure, the first round pick has only played six minutes this season and has for the most part been a disappointment – but losing him doesn’t help the injury issue.

Rockets’ Dekker to miss 3 months after back surgery [Houston Chronicle – Jonathan Feigen]

"Rockets rookie forward will undergo back surgery Friday and will miss roughly three months in recovery, a person with knowledge of the surgery said. The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Rockets have not commented or issued any update on Dekker’s status or timetable other than he is out because of a “sore back.” Sam Dekker"

Finally, I can’t get enough of that Brewer three from last night. So let’s watch it again to get ourselves fired up for the day!

James Harden to Corey Brewer for a cold-blooded 3! https://t.co/HY1LESvtbm

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 19, 2015

Next: Houston Rockets Win in OT vs Blazers in Bickerstaff Debut

Are things getting better? Friday against the Memphis Grizzles will give us a better idea of what exactly is going on, but for now proceed with caution. It’s a long season. Happy Thursday y’all.