The Rockets are not the most talented team in the NBA this season, which was kind of the plan. Well, the first plan was to get Dwight Howard, but when that fell apart the plan was to be pretty bad and get a high draft pick next year and rebuild that way.
That’s not fun if you are coach Kevin McHale.
What he’s got is a roster with Jeremy Lin at the point, Kevin Martin at the two and a lot of interesting pieces after that he needs to put together. One of those pieces is Royce White, the multi-talented rookie who is kind of a point forward.
In talking about what style he would like to play to Rockets.com (hat tip to Kevin Pelton), McHale talks about fit, about positions, and in a round about why how the old definitions of position don’t work anymore.So we’re just going to have to do whatever fits our team the best. If our best playmaker is our two-man then we’ll run a ton of stuff that will allow him to make plays. If our best playmaker is our four-man, then we’ll run a ton of stuff for him to make plays. The object is not to run your offense, the object is to run an offense that fits your team. I’m not playing, so it doesn’t matter what I like; it matters what these guys can and can’t do.
I’ve never believed in a one-size-fits-all offense. I always believed that was a copout. I always thought whenever I heard that: ‘You’ve got Kareem and you’re a high-post offensive coach so you’re going to put Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the high-post? That doesn’t make much sense.’ So I think you have to adapt to your players.
McHale goes into more detail focusing on White and others. You have to like what he is saying — forget the standard roles, just put guys in a position where they can succeed, mold the offense to the talents at hand. Give these guys a chance but play to their strengths, don’t bend them into your system.
At the same time, he asks about defense and that is where the positional revolution can be the most challenging. Not every team has a LeBron James they can just stick on a point guard. The Rockets are going to struggle some on defense this season.
And on offense. But at least the Rockets are going into this willing to see what works and go with it. That’s the kind of team that gets better as the season wears on.