Looking back in history - June 1st, 2011 and a huge coaching change

Quick fun fact about me, I was born and raised in Massachusetts, so when it comes to fans of the Houston Rockets expressing their disdain for Ime Udoka, trust me when I say it is not my first rodeo. Continuing the “on this day” subject, I find myself locking onto another story. June 1st, 2011, the Rockets hired head coach Kevin McHale to replace Rick Adelman (look at that, another guy with Boston ties). Looking back on McHale and his tenure is interesting; his firing didn’t feel popular at the time, so what was McHale as a coach in Houston?

McHale's tenure in Houston was a mixed bag

The biggest thing of note here is the James Harden trade to the Rockets. As a player, Harden started to come into his own in Houston. Can that be attributed to McHale as a coach, though? Harden in a system on his own was always theorized to dominate; he started to shape himself into an MVP-level player, but when Mike D’Antoni later took over, that is when it truly looked like more of a coach benefiting his player.

It is hard not to acknowledge how Harden gets inserted into this puzzle. By 2014-15, the Rockets became a team that struggled with some first-round losing seasons to making the jump into the Western Conference Finals. The Golden State Warriors team that beat them was legit, so a loss like that is either measured by loss or gain. However, by the season's end of 2015-16, McHale was let go early, and the Rockets found themselves losing in the first round again.

D'Antoni was a better fit for the Rockets than McHale

Hindsight is 20/20. When McHale, who was at the helm of the genuine improvement of the Rockets, was let go, it had mixed reactions. D’Antoni never led Houston to a championship, let alone the Finals, but he did provide an offense that guided Harden to an MVP and multiple MVP-type seasons. It was always a system that had Chris Paul flourishing in his role as well.

Overall, those teams did find themselves with bad injury timing, but a lot can be said about how their focus on small ball and shot chucking came at a cost as well. I think it is interesting to wonder what the D’Antoni years would have looked like with McHale, or who he would have been replaced with instead if they didn’t make the move sooner. The same can be said for Udoka, but who knows what's next.

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