Big picture dictates fresh blood, not retread, as coach
I know what you’re thinking: What in the heck are the Rockets thinking? Mike Antoni? Seriously??? And don’t worry, dear readers: I didn’t misspell the last name of the potential full-time replacement to Kevin “11 games” McHale. There’s just not enough “D” to go around for the (nonfan favorite) front-runner to be Toyota Center’s new guy.
I wish Leslie Alexander would end his fascination with super-expensive toys and go young here. Find the next, new name and take a shot at really being great. Pry a broken team away from shoot-first, defensive-challenged James Harden and put the franchise in the hands of a man with offensive vision and full-court drive.
But rather than do the easy, lazy thing — rip and roar at even the thought of Antoni coaching Harden how to try a little harder when he isn’t holding the ball — I spent my rainy Thursday making phone calls. And after listening to all the different voices, here was the takeaway on the day that Orlando report-
edly locked up Frank Vogel, a still-frustrated Dwight Howard said general manager Daryl Morey didn’t want him involved in the team’s offense last season and Harden was accused of breaking an aspiring photographer’s finger: The Rockets’ lingering sideline vacancy is more complicated than we already thought.
I can’t tell you Toyota Center employees proudly painted over discarded “Hire The Jet!” signs with “No Antoni!” slogans. But I can say that even while the name of a 65-year-old whose best NBA days came a decade ago continued to ring out, the Rockets continued to consider the virtues of exploring lesser-known routes.
Why? Because as Alexander, Morey and other intelligent people narrowed a long list down to a final name, the Rockets’ shortand long-term futures changed before their eyes.
Remember when Kevin Durant was going to be Christmas in July? With KD and best pal Russell Westbrook popping past San Antonio and stuck at 1-1 with unbeatable Golden State in the Western Conference finals, the Rockets are closer than ever to believing there’s no way Durant leaves Oklahoma City very soon.
They also believe Howard — currently embarking upon a cross-country media tour as he tries to repair his shattered selfimage — is as close as he can be to opting out without officially saying it.
Those two big things altered everything.
Who the Rockets are going to finally give their front-door key to.
Which direction this franchise will be pointed toward, not just next season but into the next decade.
All-in with The Weird Beard versus build, develop and create around a matured, evolved Harden.
This team knows it has a slim mathematical probability of winning the gold ball next season. The Rockets’ best bet to leap back into the league’s upper class might be 2017-18 free agency, not this year’s crop. And the last thing a franchise with ample salary-cap space should do is overreact to one bad season, while still having one of the game’s greatest scorers in uniform for at least two more.
Avoid status quo
That’s why Charlotte assistant Stephen Silas, a relatively young and rising name in a nasty fishbowl of a profession, received his second interview Thursday — this time he met with the man who cuts the checks.
This is why the Rockets know that if they try to sell Antoni to the ticket-buying public — one forced to stomach last season’s nightly defensive insults — a man who already has coached four franchises must be paired with the NBA’s equivalent of a military assistant for No. 5.
And this is why a couple little-known candidates remained in the search, yet ex-Rocket Jeff Van Gundy never even got cab fare to the airport.
Win-now is out the window.
Which is why I keep struggling to contain my rage whenever Antoni’s name bounces around.
I loved how the sun rose in Phoenix, with Steve Nash at his peak and a young Amare Stoudemire glowing in full health. But ball-needing Harden running a seven-second show with a bunch of boring dudes backing him? The Rockets’ version of Nash nowhere to be found, the season after Howard’s jumped ship and KD’s re-upped with OKC? It all feels so average a month removed from 41-41.
Golden State, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Cleveland all took risks at the top. Three are still alive in late May. The other has Gregg Popovich cemented on its marquee.
Just say no to D’Antoni
Everyone who plays pick-up ball knows the Rockets require a major overhaul. They’re not the Titanic. They don’t know how to swim, either.
The new crew must buy in and commit like last season’s never did. Youth also hasn’t been fleshed out in years, which means 2016-17 could be a little uncomfortable unless the new guy can balance full-court fundamentals, innovation and player development all at once.
Does that sound like an opera to Antoni?
This is bigger than surrounding love-him/ hate-him Harden with complementary pieces. This is more important than chalking Howard’s tenure up as a loss and throwing around Alexander’s dough in July. That’s why the Rockets are still figuring all this out and taking their sweet time doing so.
If the owner obsessed with stars and his GM get it right, we can let last year go. The future is back.
But if Antoni’s the man and the Rockets are issuing apologies again in a few years, you heard it here first: D’Antoni was still looking for a job Thursday because he has never believed in D.