It's official: Rockets hire Vipers' Finch as assistant

The worst kept secret in the NBA Development League became official on Friday when the Houston Rockets announced Rio Grande Valley Vipers coach Chris Finch has joined the NBA team as an assistant to coach Kevin McHale.

“Obviously, I’m excited and grateful for this opportunity from Kevin and the Rockets,” Finch said. “I’ve always strived to focus on the job I’ve had and maximize the things that I need to do. I’m looking forward to working with a quality staff and a quality organization.”

The news of Finch’s departure is not new. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told the Houston Chronicle last month that Finch had been hired as and an assistant to McHale. However, Friday was the first day Finch had spoken about his new job.

The Rockets announced the hiring of Finch, Kelvin Sampson, J.B. Bickerstaff and Brett Gunning as McHale’s assistants on Friday. Sampson will be the Rockets’ lead assistant coach.

Finch coached the Vipers the past two seasons, leading them to the NBA Development League Finals each time. The Vipers won the 2009-10 league title in his first season. Finch believes those accomplishments had an impact on the Rockets’ decision to give him a chance to coach in the NBA.

“Our success was certainly the catalyst for this opportunity,” Finch said.

Finch said he’ll fondly look back at his time in the Valley and not only because of the team’s success.

“I’ll remember the people, without a doubt,” Finch said. “It was one of the most warm and welcoming places where we’ve ever lived. It’s always a thrill when you have a team that wins and produces excitement and creates something that the community could be proud of.”

After controlling his own roster moves in previous years in Europe, Finch said coaching the Vipers allowed him to transition out of that routine because the Rockets dictated most of the personnel transactions.  He said that was one of the most difficult things he had to do.

“I had to embrace it,” Finch said. “This is what I signed up for and I had to manage it. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was done with a higher purpose. … If you want to coach at the highest level, you are not going to have control of the team.”

The Rockets have long considered Finch an NBA coaching candidate since his arrival to the Valley. Houston hired Finch, who also coaches the British national team, from Europe where he had a successful coaching career and brought him to the Valley shortly after the Rockets obtained the basketball operating rights for the Vipers two summers ago.

“It’s very rewarding to see his growth in terms of coming back to the states and the level of success that he had,” said Gersson Rosas, who serves as both the Vipers general manager and Rockets vice president for player personnel.  “He helped our team become one of the top D-League teams. … His body of work speaks for itself. The D-League is a hard platform to be successful with the travel, injuries, roster turnover. I felt like we had a highly-qualified candidate.”

McHale said that Finch impressed him during the Rockets’ draft preparation.

“I had an opportunity to work with Chris Finch a few weeks leading up to the draft, and I am very impressed with his success in the D-League and internationally,” McHale said in a news release.

Rosas said the search for Finch’s replacement would begin soon. The Rockets plan to take a similar approach to filling the spot that they did when the hired Finch — find someone they could develop into an NBA coach. Finch’s assistants with the Vipers, Paul Mokeski and Jai Steadman, don’t appear to be top candidates, however they could be retained as assistants.

“It’s going to be a very thorough process,” Rosas said. “We’ll talk to our current coaches. We value the continuity. They have been a part of it. It will ultimately come down to the next head coach. As of now, those situations haven’t been decided.”

 David Hinojosa covers the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442.