Yesterday afternoon the Houston Rockets officially sent out a press release revealing what we all knew a week ago: Kevin McHale will be the next coach of the team. More importantly, The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen finally got a chance to talk to McHale, and he delivered the sort of impressive answers you'd expect out of a man who beat out other qualified candidates for a good job:
"It would be silly for me to go out there and not do a lot of stuff that Rick Adelman does on the offensive end," McHale said. "Chris used to play for coach Adelman. He knows what a good coach he is. Chris and I talk all the time in the studio about how much we love that offense and how much we like the different things coach Adelman brought to the game. I'd be silly not to incorporate a lot of that into my offense."
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"We need to get better defensively," McHale said. "Look at the Finals. It's really about defense and defensive accountability. Trying to outscore people in this league doesn't work. You have to maintain defensive integrity."
Keeping the Adelman offense around, eh? That should be music to the ears of some of the detractors the Rockets had picked up for letting their long time coach take off. With the players that are currently on the roster, it absolutely makes sense as well.
Look for Daryl Morey to make a strong bid at some assistants who could conceivably help build that defensive mentality, such as Memphis' David Joerger, as the offseason continues. Defensive passion starts with the coaching staff, and if McHale and company can spark a turn around out there, they'll already be worth the money.