Houston Rockets 2015 Media Day: Coach Kevin McHale and GM Daryl Morey

Well if you are like me the Houston Rockets 2015 Media Day signals the count down to the next season and I’m already hyped for the 2015-16 NBA season to begin.

As well as the coach and GM the Rockets brought 7 players to the podium to discuss the up coming season featuring the core group as well as new acquisition Ty Lawson.

First up was General Manager: Daryl Morey and Head Coach: Kevin McHale. Here’s some main thoughts from the interviews:

Stream all the interviews from today's #RocketsMediaDay live starting at 12:00 p.m. CT at http://t.co/VBY18eSOmU pic.twitter.com/N7EDFYSXW0

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) September 28, 2015

Daryl Morey:

Very excited for season
Have big goals this year
Notes consistency and what they do daily will make a difference
Morey updated Donatas Motiejunas won’t be available for activities on day 1 and also said “I don’t think we are talking days” indicating it could be a while
On Lawson, Morey expects his ability to push the pace and tempo while not creating turnovers is huge.
Morey is encouraged by steps Lawson has taken off the court and the team will support his decisions.

Kevin McHale on James Harden: "Our goal is not to change James' game, but to let James be more efficient." #Rockets

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) September 28, 2015

Kevin McHale:

Asked where the team needs to improve McHale specifically highlighted defensive rebounding and creating additional offensive opportunities
The teams goal is to get between 7 – 10 better shot opportunities per game
On upgrade of Ty Lawson: he says he’ll know more once training camp starts tomorrow. Then he elaborated saying Lawson will help to speed up their offense.
Also noted how good Lawson is at getting into the paint and creating from within it.
Re: Dwight Howard‘s minutes: McHale expects to manage Howard’s work load so he’s healthy by seasons’ end.
One of the interesting notes was McHale said positions are open and they’ll all have to compete for them; meaning anyone can win a position.
Notably, he brought up Lawson and Harden playing together and how that would open up the game for each of them. (sure sounds like it’s Lawson’s job to lose). Later he again discussed Harden and Lawson could be on opposite sides of court creating and catching for open shots.
McHale says DeMo is really diligent off court at working on his game and has naturally gained weight with age. He also said DeMo has worked to improve his free throws, his ability to finish quickly and he expects DeMo to make incremental improvements.

Of note: clicking the Twitter link below will allow you to view their interview in it’s entirety:

Media Day 2015 – Daryl Morey http://t.co/HZmMHLYhGI via @houstonrockets

— Space City Scoop (@SpaceCity_Scoop) September 29, 2015

He called James Harden 2014-15 year “spectacular” and said he doesn’t anticipate big changes other than he had to do so much last year with all the injuries. He anticipates more freedom for Harden off the ball with some easier shots created for Harden.

McHale called Harden a grinder who works out for long 2 plus hour sessions.

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Regarding Lawson, McHale told him “just do what you do well” to help the Rockets. He says Lawson’s ability to get into the paint and orchestrate plays from there is huge.

Rockets definitely wants to increase pace which he believes Lawson will be huge in that regard.

McHale is expecting a huge year from Terrence Jones and growth from Clint Capela.

Versatility was a big talking point with the depth on the roster. McHale noted they will look at playing Beverley and Lawson together.

Stay with Space City Scoop as we bring you the highlights from the player’s at the podium today and make sure to make us a daily stop for all things Houston Rockets. As we gear up for the season watch for our Space City Scoop team Round Table or our Player Profiles.

Next: Ty Lawson Media Day

Next: SCS Round Table Off Season Part 1

Next: SCS Round Table Off Season Part 2

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