The Houston Rockets are sending first-round pick Marcus Morris to the team’s D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Morris will play with the Vipers when they take the floor this weekend. Per the Houston Chronicle: “With Marcus Morris sliding out of Kevin McHale’s rotation and the Rockets not scheduled for another practice until next week, the team will send the rookie to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Tuesday. ‘Fortunately, we’re a team it’s very hard to come in as a rookie and play,’ Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. ‘We like all our young players to go through a process before they get on the floor. Marcus is someone with very high level of talent and someone we feel will benefit greatly from playing and working on his game.’ With Patrick Patterson hurt, Morris had been working at power forward. Morey said that at RGV Morris will be able to play at small forward. ‘Our focus for Marcus is to work on his defense and his offense at the three,’ Morey said. ‘We feel he has ability to play both positions.’”

Last season: 43-39, which is not bad but in the deep West sends you to the lottery.

Head Coach: Kevin McHale, last seen on the bench in Minnesota where he was forced, in a fit of poetic justice, to coach the team he had built as GM. A team that wasn’t very good. He replaces Rick Adelman, who ironically ends up in Minnesota.

If nothing else McHale will tell great stories, he has amazing ones from the 80s Celtics.

Key Departures: Yao Ming is officially gone, although he wasn’t really there much. (Bitter Lakers fans would like you to know they think Kevin Martin and Luis Scola should be here.)

Key Additions: Jonny Flynn

Best case scenario: The back court of Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin make this a fun team to watch and a tough one to defend, they get enough dirty work out of Luis Scola and Chase Budinger can make some high flying plays and they can get one of the last seeds in the West.

For that to happen: To be honest, the best case scenario in Houston would be GM Daryl Morey finding someone who wants to send him a center. He went hard after Nene, Tyson Chandler and every other big he could think of to fill that void — that void is named Jordan Hill and Hasheem Thabeet.

In a West loaded with big men of substance the Rockets cannot go far without a real big man in the middle.

More likely the Rockets will: If they don’t make a big move, the Rockets this season will be a lot like the Rockets last season — good but in a deep West not good enough.

What Rockets fans should hope for is a bold move — something that brings them the true star they need to go with the quality role players they have. Or a move that jump starts them on a total rebuild. They need a star, a franchise anchor. Right now they are living in the league’s middle ground, not bad enough to totally rebuild and not good enough to really be a threat.

Prediction: 32-34, missing the playoffs again.

Read More: nba rumors, Nene Hilario (C – DEN), Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets

Nene, the Denver Nuggets’ free agent center, will meet with Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale and general manager Daryl Morey in the Mile High City on Monday, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The Rockets need a center to replace the retired Yao Ming; Chuck Hayes, at 6’6 a power forward who has nonetheless answered the bell for Houston at center in the past, is an unrestricted free agent.

Nene isn’t expected to remain with the Nuggets; the two sides failed to reach a contract extension agreement in June before the NBA lockout hit. While Denver can offer Nene a five-year deal worth more than anything another team can offer, the Brazilian has said team success will play a large role in his decision.

Denver made the playoffs last season in spite of the midseason Carmelo Anthony trade. Houston finished with a 43-39 record, but missed the postseason.

For more on the Rockets, visit The Dream Shake.

Chandler Parsons, the Houston Rockets’ second-round pick this summer, has agreed to a two-month deal with Cholet in France. It sounds like a great deal for Parsons to get some solid experience, and the contract will end in time for the start of Houston’s training camp if the lockout is over. If the lockout continues, Parsons could still play for Cholet if he chooses to.

“It’s great for the team and it’s great for Chandler,” Parson’s agent, Mark Bartelstein said. “He can play two months for a really good team and we’ll see what happens in the world. We’re very excited for him.”

Even though Parsons’ skill set and size matches several other Rockets on the roster, it looks like Daryl Morey and Coach McHale have lots of confidence in him. They initially included this draft pick in the Jonny Flynn deal with Minnesota, but they liked Parsons so much that they bought the pick back to select the small forward out of Florida.

Parsons averaged 11.3 points a game last year with the Gators, but he could go down as one of the most clutch college basketball players of recent memory. If he can improve on defense, I think he could be a nice bench staple for the Rockets down the road.

HOUSTON – Los Angeles Lakers assistant Chuck Person interviewed with Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale and General Manager Daryl Morey Monday in Houston.

Person becomes the third known candidate to interview with the Rockets as the team builds McHale’s staff.

When reached by FOX 26 Sports in Houston, Person declined comment.

The Rockets have also met with Denver Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt and Memphis Grizzlies assistant David Joerger.

Person, who just completed his first season with Lakers, has also worked as an assistant for the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Person played 13 years in the NBA and was named Rookie of the Year in 1987.

Read More: Rick Adelman (H – HOU), Houston Rockets

Yesterday afternoon the Houston Rockets officially sent out a press release revealing what we all knew a week ago: Kevin McHale will be the next coach of the team. More importantly, The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen finally got a chance to talk to McHale, and he delivered the sort of impressive answers you’d expect out of a man who beat out other qualified candidates for a good job:

“It would be silly for me to go out there and not do a lot of stuff that Rick Adelman does on the offensive end,” McHale said. “Chris used to play for coach Adelman. He knows what a good coach he is. Chris and I talk all the time in the studio about how much we love that offense and how much we like the different things coach Adelman brought to the game. I’d be silly not to incorporate a lot of that into my offense.”

…

“We need to get better defensively,” McHale said. “Look at the Finals. It’s really about defense and defensive accountability. Trying to outscore people in this league doesn’t work. You have to maintain defensive integrity.”

Keeping the Adelman offense around, eh? That should be music to the ears of some of the detractors the Rockets had picked up for letting their long time coach take off. With the players that are currently on the roster, it absolutely makes sense as well. 

Look for Daryl Morey to make a strong bid at some assistants who could conceivably help build that defensive mentality, such as Memphis’ David Joerger, as the offseason continues. Defensive passion starts with the coaching staff, and if McHale and company can spark a turn around out there, they’ll already be worth the money.

Kevin McHale offered job as Houston Rockets coach

Tom Halliburton

The Port Arthur News
The Port Arthur News

Fri May 27, 2011, 02:08 PM CDT

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2011
PAnews.com, Port Arthur, Texas. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.

NBA sources told FOX 26 Sports Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander met with former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Kevin McHale Wednesday in Miami.

McHale had already interviewed with Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and this was his first meeting with the Rockets owner.

The Rockets are in the process of trying to find their new coach to replace Rick Adelman, who parted ways with the team last month.

McHale is in Miami where he is working as part of TNT’s coverage of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls.

McHale was with the Timberwolves from 1995 through the 2008-09 season, mostly as vice-president of basketball operations. He had two brief stints as head coach in Minnesota, compiling a 39-55 record.

McHale is one of three finalists to become the next head coach of the Rockets. The other two are Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey and Boston Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank