BY DAVID THORPE

One of the safest predictions, going into this NBA season, was that Rockets head coach, Mike D’Antoni, would not last long in his job. There was a significant brouhaha over D’Antoni’s employment last summer. He went into this season a contract lame duck, after a team-mandated overhaul of his coaching staff. There have been many signals he would not last long. So, now that the Rockets are sixth in the West, with an estimated one percent chance of winning the title (despite a much-needed win over the Nuggets on Wednesday), there’s every chance D’Antoni will be the scapegoat.

But no coaching change can fix the problems that ail this Rockets team.