Houston Rockets: Tom Thibodeau’s fit as head coach could be most intriguing

With the news that the Houston Rockets have interest in free agent head coach Tom Thibodeau, it’s worth taking a look at just how team and coach might mesh.

The New York teams have dominated the head coaching search news, with both the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets on the lookout for a new coach. There’s reason to believe that a team with a currently employed head coach, however, might be jumping into the mix. Tom Thibodeau is picking up momentum as a premier coaching target, and the Houston Rockets are rumored to be interested.

It’s easy to forget Thibodeau’s successes as coach of the Chicago Bulls thanks to a dreadful showing as head coach and president of basketball operations of the Minnesota Timberwolves. His young roster simply wasn’t equipped for the kind of demanding grind that comes with playing for a Tom Thibodeau team.

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Thibodeau’s T’Wolves ran an archaic offense, consistently finishing at the bottom of the NBA in 3-point shooting in spite of having the NBA’s best shooting big man in Karl-Anthony Towns. As long-range volume went up around the league, Minnesota stayed stagnant and couldn’t keep up with the presiding offensive meta.

This is a problem that could haunt him in his search for the next job, especially with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are relentless from long range, firing away from everywhere with lineups specifically constructed to shoot the 3-pointer in high volume. At this past trade deadline, they went all-in on small-ball and were rolling out heavy-minute lineups with the 6’5″ P.J. Tucker at the center spot.

Clearly, in this configuration, you’re going to need to shoot a lot of threes.

Of course, a coach can modernize, and whether it’s with the Rockets, the Knicks or the Nets, he’s going to have to bring his strategy into the 21st century. His defensive tactics remain sound, and the Rockets are a team that has some ability to defend.

Aside from the glaring and perhaps insurmountable shooting issues, Thibodeau has a workload issue that may be a problem with some of the veterans on the Rockets. Russell Westbrook was resting on the second games of back-to-backs last season and the small-ball strategy quickly exhausted their rotation.

James Harden is accustomed to a heavy workload and probably would accept nothing less, but not everybody on this team can handle a grind like that. And as his teammates break down under heavy Thibodeau-style minutes, could he handle an even heftier load?

If Tom Thibodeau can indeed bring his tactics into the modern age, and his veterans can buy in, AND they can come to something of a collective agreement as far as workload goes, the fit between Thibs and the Houston Rockets could indeed work.

In fact, of the available options, my favorite one would be Thibodeau to the Rockets. To reach their ultimate goal and finally make the NBA Finals and compete for a championship in James Harden’s competitive window, they are going to need to take some chances and get outside of their comfort zone.

The Rockets haven’t been afraid to try new things or re-invent themselves on the fly, so assurances from Thibodeau that he’s moved his thought process in the right direction and willing to embrace a Morey-ball approach could be just the development to get them over the top.