Houston Rockets Daily Rocket Science: Van Gundy Next?

In the Daily Rocket Science SCS takes a look at the Houston Rockets news and notes from around the web

In the midst of preparing for game 2, the Houston Rockets found themselves in the rumor mill again Monday afternoon. Surprisingly, the news did not involve Dwight Howard, but speculations regarding Houston’s next head coach.

Following the news regarding Tom Thibodeau and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors reported that the Rockets have made former coach Jeff Van Gundy their top candidate.

"Jeff Van Gundy tops the list of potential candidates for the Rockets head coaching job, league sources told . Still, it’s not entirely clear whether Houston will have an opening, since interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff remains in place as the Rockets compete in the first round of the playoffs against the Warriors. The team won’t begin its search until it’s finished with the playoffs, according to Wojnarowski and Mannix. Bickerstaff reportedly significantly when he guided the Rockets to the playoffs. The team is also reportedly interested in Scoot Brooks and Tom Thibodeau, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported previously. Adrian Wojnarowski and Chris Mannix of The Vertical enhanced his chances of keeping the job"

Are the Rockets really on the verge of reuniting with Van Gundy? He coached the Rockets for four seasons and finished 182-146 in the regular season. Unfortunately, Van Gundy’s postseasons failures were the primary cause for his departure in 2007.

If the Rockets do reunite with Van Gundy Houston’s defense would improve automatically. As well as the Rockets offense. With Van Gundy running the show, Houston will see their offense evolve beyond James Harden. Which according to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports, Houston’s one man show isn’t enough to upset the deep Warriors.

"No NBA star carries a heavier load on a nightly basis than the Rockets’ bearded baller who finished second to the Warriors’ Stephen Curry in scoring this season (29 points per game) and first in free throw attempts (10.2 per game). But the one-man-wrecking-crew approach that helped Houston reach the Western Conference Finals last season is no longer effective, the Rockets having devolved into a dysfunctional group that consistently plays below its ceiling. And that means the Warriors could sweep this series so long as they keep holding Harden down."

Regardless of the changes, the Rockets need to figure something out before their season comes to an embarrassing end. However, this late in the season, there isn’t much that could be done. After using excess after excess, Ethan Rothstein of The Dream Shake illustrated that Houston is learning that there’s no such thing as an ‘on’ switch.

"haterific We’ve heard those platitudes over and over again this year, from the coaches to the executives to the players to the media to the fans, trying to explain to the more pessimistic and folks out there that this rockets team can turn it around. It’s the same group as last year, after all. Why couldn’t they? As we  into the Rockets giving the Warriors a fight in the first round, we used the same flawed logic the Rockets have all year: just wait. We have talent. We’ll figure it out eventually. tried to talk ourselves"

With the Rockets down 0-2 following their game 2 loss, Houston’s season is near a dreadful end.

Next: Season End SCS Round Table Part 1

Next: Season End SCS Round Table Part 2

Next: Season End SCS Round Table Part 3

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