D’Antoni accepts Harden-McHale feud as part of job in 2017
As much as Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni would rather not have the potential distraction that could come with former Rockets coach Kevin McHale’s criticism of James Harden’s leadership and Harden’s strong rebuttal, he said dealing with those sorts of public issues has become part of the job.
“It’s hard in modern society with … social media. It’s tough,” D’Antoni said. “It’s the new way of doing things and players have to deal with it. Coaches got to deal with it.
“We try to stay locked as much as we can, knowing it’s not always going to be that way. And we just move on.
“We’re using the same motto we used last year; ‘So what, what’s next?’ We were successful with that last year, and we’ll try to do that again.”
McHale had said in an NBA TV panel discussion that Harden “is not a leader.”
Harden shot back that McHale “is a clown” who did not teach him anything about leadership and that his criticism “shows his character.”
But D’Antoni said he did not expect the exchange to bring Harden extra motivation given the drive he had shown.
“I don’t know how he can be more motivated for what we need,” D’Antoni said. “The guy has been … terrific.
“I haven’t seen any other side other than really, really positive. I don’t think he needs any more motivation.
“He goes on all cylinders as much as he can go. A lot of times, an individual will use that to spur him on.
“Whatever it takes. But whatever it takes, he has been doing it. He’s been great.”
D’Antoni mulls center rotation
Rockets forward Ryan Anderson returned to practice Sunday and is cleared to play against the Knicks on Monday after sitting out several days with a bruised hip.
Center Tarik Black will skip the road trip to New York and Memphis. Black had missed last week’s games and practices with a sore knee. With the soreness lingering, Black was excused from the road trip to be with his family after the birth of his son Friday.
Black is expected to serve as Rockets backup center on nights Nene sits out as part of the Rockets’ plan to limit the veteran center’s workload.
But coach Mike D’Antoni said he believed Black had shown enough in the initial week of training camp to be ready in time for the season.
“We do have the other two guys (Clint Capela and Nene) ready for the first of the year and he’ll be ready,” D’Antoni said. “Tarik, he’s smart and he knows how to play.
“We’re not playing real complicated — pick-androll and give energy — and that’s kind of what he needs to do. His habits and the way he plays, he’ll be fine. I don’t worry too much.
“I worry about his game shape, but because of the limited minutes, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Gordon stresses defensive boards
As much as the Rockets believe they will improve defensively with several defensive-minded roster additions, guard Eric Gordon said that heading into the final week of preseason games, the key could be on the boards after shots are taken.
The Rockets ranked 21st in defensive rebounding percentage last season, forcing them to have to defend extra possessions.
“This year, we want to be a better rebounding team,” Gordon said. “As long as we’re a better rebounding team, that helps us defensively and gets us out offensively. If we can be a really good defensively rebounding team, we’ll be good.
“That’s what we try to get to at the beginning of the year, that first game, the ball is moving, everyone is shooting the ball with no hesitation, and defensively, to really get aggressive. We have really good defenders this year.”