Tensions are now rising up in the NBA as the season continues to move forward. Teams are now starting to make some trade deals hoping to strengthen their team before the trade deadline would be over. However, for the Houston Rockets who has been considered as top contender this season, instead of making more significant changes on their roster, they opted to change their head Coach.
Verified information surfaced recently that head coach Kevin McHale was fired by the franchise. McHale, who was considered as the winningest coach by percentage in Rockets' franchise history, would be replaced by his former assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
It has been observed that the Rockets, despite their star players James Harden and Dwight Howard on the team, are still having some difficulties keeping up. With their current record of five wins and seven losses, the team opted to have a closed door meeting last Tuesday. Ty Lawson via ESPN stated that, "We brought everything up in the meeting, everything turned out well. We got open feelings and communication. I feel like we're on the same page now."
It seems like the players and the management is on the same page. However, their former head coach McHale was left behind. This move of the management, sanctioned by team owner Leslie Alexander and executives Daryl Morey and Gersson Rosas, clearly showed how desperate the Rockets is on bringing home the NBA title this season.
In relevance to the changes made by the Rockets, speculations are now on the air about a possible comeback of former Chicago Bulls head coach on the NBA coaching scene. According to Sports World Report, the Rockets are scouting for a potential replacement, and on top of the list are Tom Thibodeau and Jeff Van Gundy.
With McHale being fired, the burden now lies on the interim coach and the upcoming head coach. It is up to them to prove that the recent move of the team was the correct thing to do. And of course the players are now expected to do better after their closed door meeting which was then followed by the firing of Kevin McHale.
