Kevin McHale requires fall for Rockets' horrid start to season

The reasoning behind McHale's three-year extension last December had apparently grown stale in the eyes of the front office. Inexplicably poor effort from a team in a 4–7 start will do that.Already the Rockets had lost twice to the Nuggets (once by 20 points in their season opener), given away a game to a Mavs team missing its three best players, dropped one to the then-winless Nets, and lost just this week after trailing the Celtics by 29 in the fourth quarter. 

Their once-explosive offense now ranks No. 24 in points per possession while their once-swarming defense now ranks No. 29. A coach is, by the definition of their role, accountable for that performance. Which isn't at all to say that McHale is the primary party at fault for Houston's yawning play thus far. Some will undoubtedly see McHale's firing as an assignment of blame. 

The reality is far more pragmatic. The Rockets, for as much as they respect McHale, see his position as a point of immediate leverage under desperate circumstances. Assistant J.B. Bickerstaff will succeed McHale on an interim basis to keep the messaging relatively consistent while changing the mode of delivery. Sometimes that alone can be enough to get a talented team back on track.• Nylon Calculus: Why has James Harden struggled this season?

McHale was never an elite tactician, but he had done well by earning his team's commitment. He convinced players who might never see the ball to sprint the floor and defend hard. He pulled decent defense out NBA 2k16 coins of James Harden last season, which seems more impressive by NBA 2k16 MT the day. He plugged and played the right players in the right style to survive Dwight Howard's various injuries, Patrick Beverley's torn wrist ligament, and a constantly shifting power forward rotation. 

The moment he lost that commitment—the glue that kept the Rockets together last season—was likely the moment he lost his job. It would be difficult to go through the film of Houston's season and see anything other than a team folding on its coach. Ty Lawson confessed openly that the NBA 2K MT Rockets would hear McHale's defensive calls and ignore them. The stupor of the players on the court ran even deeper, though, infecting every stage of execution on both sides of the ball. Their apathy has been uncompromising. No team in the league so desperately needs a kick in the rear as these Rockets, who have yet to form a lasting response to their reels of embarrassing losses.