Kevin McHale Says Rockets Can Win a Championship with Harden

Getty Images via: Bleacher Report

Former Rockets head coach, Kevin McHale, joined the Usual Suspects and gave his takeaways from the Rockets loss to the Spurs in game six of the playoffs. McHale said he was very impressed with the way the Spurs pounded the Rockets inside with LaMarcus Aldridge. One thing that really shocked McHale was the fact that the Rockets only scored 9 total 2 point shots last night. Finally, the guys discussed Harden’s frustration with being sat down by Mike D’Antoni and asked McHale if he experienced the same problem when he was coaching James. Kevin responded jokingly by saying, “After I sat him down, I think I coached another fifteen games total.”

The Rockets need to make some changes this off-season

McHale thinks that the Rockets really need to find a low post player that James can pass the ball to underneath. He also went on to say that Harden really needs to improve his skill and effort on the defensive end of the court. Kevin said that making a big play of the defensive side of the ball can pay huge dividends on the offensive end as well. Finally, Coach McHale believes that James really needs to develop his game when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. He referenced Steph Curry’s ability to pass the ball and get himself open later in the possession to take some quality open shots. If James is able to add this to his skill set, he will make the overall offense much harder to defend, and ultimately have more success in the playoffs.

You can listen to the entire interview below. Make sure you check out the Usual Suspects with Joel Blank and Barry Laminack, weekdays from 1-4pm CT on ESPN 97.5 radio. Listen live or on demand with the ESPN 97.5 app