Who wants some fallout from the earlier press conference? Because we’ve got a ton of it now. Rockets.com’s Jason Friedman had a sitdown with McHale, bringing up the coaches demeanor as a key reason the Rockets hired him:
He carries himself with the self assurance of someone whose resume includes three world championships, a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the designation as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. But his is not a swagger bordering on arrogance; instead, it simply strikes you as the sort of belief borne of someone supremely at ease within the comfort of his skin.
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Rockets management spoke to dozens of men who had either played for him or worked alongside him. Again and again the raves came crashing in. Two separate players even said the same thing: “He made me feel like Superman.”
McHale certainly has come off very well to the press today. Well, except for Jerome Solomon, but we all know why that is. McHale seems to have a good balance between confidence and willingness to listen, two traits that aren’t really mutually exclusive. Given the Rockets desire to put for the “evolution” of coaching, per Les Alexander’s words, it’s pretty easy to see why McHale was appealing to them.