Rockets players frustrated with James Harden

“There is no time in the West”, he added, referring to the highly competitive Western Conference. If the team responds to him and we win, of course he can. Hire Jeff Van Gundy, said one, calling out the successful former Knicks and Rockets coach.

“They appreciate my work and what I bring to the team”, said Crowder, who played for the Mavs from 2012 until the trade. And I’m not going to be the one that can appropriately analyze that because I’m not in there every day.

The idea of Thibodeau coaching the Rockets makes some sense because he has a relationship with Harden from their time with the US basketball team, and he is a defensive coach and that is the area where the Rockets have really struggled this season. Unfortunately, they could not string enough together and would fall back into the same team they have been to start the season.

The Rockets had high hopes for this season after advancing to the Western Conference finals last season.

“First and foremost, I think we’re in a business where expectations certainly drive decisions at times”, Stevens said. “I think you just watch our team play and it’s not that hard (to see)”, Morey explained.

When asked about whether or not the Celtics need a go-to guy in end-of-game situations, Ainge said they have plenty of them.

The 36-year-old JB Bickerstaff was named the Rockets’ interim head coach with Chris Finch taking over as associate head coach. The four-game losing streak was the team’s longest since 2013 and eventually resulted in a players’ meeting only held Tuesday at the Toyota Center.

McHale, 57, was 193-130 in four years as the coach of the Rockets. “I feel bad for him”.

According to Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today, Rockets players have grown unhappy with guard James Harden’s on-court play and “aloofness”.

Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge said Thursday he’s already reached out to his former teammate.

If McHale’s firing a year after being a Coach of the Year candidate wasn’t enough, it’s now clear: There are fissures in Houston. As we all sort of say: “It’s a volatile business, and sometimes it doesn’t make sense… like Kevin McHale getting fired”.

“I felt like I was talking to an actual player, ” Harden said in May.