This offseason, we are going to be taking a look at this offseason’s coaching vacancies, the new coach stepping in, and what they can bring to their new team.  We already spent time looking at the Los Angeles Lakers’ new staff, and today we are going to look at the Houston Rockets.

Despite not coaching a full season in the NBA (two partial season stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves for a total of 94 games), Kevin McHale was Daryl Morey’s choice for head coach after Rick Adelman left the team (or was fired, depending on who you believe).  While it seemed like a curious decision at the time (and to some it still does), McHale does bring some interesting offensive sets that can work with Houston’s roster.

Dribble Handoff Clearout

One of McHale’s biggest tasks on the offensive end is to put Kevin Martin in positions to score.  With that said, this play could turn into a favorite in Houston:

The play starts with the point guard bringing the ball down the sideline and as this happens, Mike Miller comes off of a pindown screen to the top of the key so he can receive the basketball.

Once Miller does get the basketball, a pindown takes place on the opposite side of the court and Miller quickly swings it to the man coming off of the pindown.

After making the pass, Miller cuts off of the man he passed it to as the player who set the second pindown, in this case Kevin Love, clears out.

Miller gets the handoff and comes off of it with a lot of space.  He can do a number of different things here, he can pull up for the jumper, he can attack the rim, and he could even penetrate and then kick it out to the open teammate.  Here is the play in real time:

Imagine Kevin Martin in this Mike Miller role.  When run correctly with proper spacing and with Scola playing the handoff role (where he can either hand it off to Martin or fake the handoff and attack the rim), it is going to be incredibly tough to stop.  In fact, the Rockets had success running similar (but not the exact same) actions last season.

Wing PNR

The second action that I could see Kevin McHale bring over from Minnesota is his pick and roll action from the wing.  While it isn’t anything special or intricate, the way that McHale ran it utilized good floor spacing to put the defense at a disadvantage:

What McHale likes to do with the pick and roll is bring the screener from across the court and basically run a wing pick and roll while keeping the three other players on the opposite side of the court, effectively isolating the pick and roll defenders (I mean, he is even able to do it off of BLOB sets, which is pretty impressive).  This puts a lot of pressure on the defense and really limits what you can do on that side of the basketball when trying to stop the pick and roll.  You can’t really hedge or trap because you are leaving the roll man wide open (and with no help defense due to the spacing you are putting that defender in a position where if he helps his man is open and if he doesn’t the roller is open, this leads to hesitation on defensive rotations).  If you switch, you turn it into a post up opportunity with a mismatch.  Your best bet is to try and play it straight up.

Again, the Rockets have the pieces to really make this work.  You have Scola, Patterson, and Marcus Morris who can be your screener and you have a number of different ball handlers who can be effective in the pick and roll (You not only have Kevin Martin, but you have Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, and Jonny Flynn as well).

Flex

The final set that I could see McHale bringing over to Houston is the flex.  When looking back through the Minnesota game tape during McHale’s second stint there as a head coach, I was really surprised how much flex the Timberwolves ran.  So much so, that they would run it 4 to 5 straight times down the court:

If you read this site on a regular basis, you probably know that I am a very big fan of the flex offense.  I think that if ran with the right personel it can be an highly effective play that teams can really lean on.  Once again, I think that Houston has the right mix of players to make this play work.  Outside of Hasheem Thabeet, Houston have bigs in Scola, Peterson, and now Morris who are very comfortable playing away from the basket, which is something you really need to run the flex effectively.

Now imagine Kevin Martin in the Mike Miller role in the above clips (the guy usually coming off of the cross screen).  Martin is going to have a ton of options.  He can either use the cross screen, or if the defense is cheating, he can fake using the cross screen and then use the down screen that is available and curl off of it for an open jumper.  Martin can be a real threat in the flex offense.

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Now will these be the only three plays that Kevin McHale brings over?  Probably not, but I do think that these three will be the most effective ones based on the success that he had in Minnesota with it and Houston’s roster.

I’m still not sure if McHale was the right hire for Houston, but after watching the tape, you at least understand what Morey saw in McHale and his offense.  It seems to be a natural fit.