I also wonder what Daryl means with "a lot of stars are available", is he talking about free agents which would be kinda obvious, or is he talking about trade possibility? Cause that's what it appears to me, but not sure who should be available via trade other than Beal...Towns? I don't see Gersson pulling a similar move...Love, Drummond, Griffin, Derozan...? Meh...
I heard some interview with Morey this morning at about 8:15. I'm assuming this is it. (It was on a radio in a public place.) They asked him about GS losing and how it changes his outlook, and he said his big takeaway was now the Rockets are the team to beat which made me chuckle a bit. If I believed he actually believed it, I'd be a little concerned.
Morey on Golic & Wingo: Reaction when the news is out there that AD will be headed to the Lakers? Another contender forms. Somehow we've been lost in the shuffle. We were the best team from the all-star break on. We're gonna either add a third star or top mid level player to our core & be better next year. For me, the story is how wide open the West is, we're right there in the mix & probably the favorite going into next year. You've talked about this obsession with Golden State. Has any of that changed? The past couple of years, we knew we had to beat Golden State. That's more of a question mark now. Teams that want to win in the West next year will probably have to beat us. Looking at your team & any kind of moves, how much of that changes with the Davis trade & injuries to Golden State? Doesn't change much. We're all in. There's a lot of stars available, one in particular we're hoping will choose the Rockets. If they do, we're hoping to add them to James & Chris. If not, we'll spend whatever it takes(mid level). Most teams are struggling to keep their starting five. We're bringing back the starting five that was 29-4 or something down the stretch & add a sixth rotation player. We're excited about where we're at right now. Friction between James & Chris? We have two high level competitors whose only goal in life at this point is to win the title. They've accomplished everything else. They'll both be first ballot Hall of Famers. Two competitive superstars at that level, they'll be extremely competitive & how do we get to that next level and when we don't, there will be frustration. I'm frustrated, our top players are frustrated, Mike D'Antoni is frustrated. We want to take the last step & be a champion. I think it's good there's tension. We all want to win. Has Chris Paul asked to move on? No, he has not. Is everyone available? We're pretty aggressive. We have a history of that. It creates tension because we are aggressive in trades. If we see a trade that'll upgrade the team, we'll do it. We feel like we should be the favorite in the West. That'll create tension when we do that. End of the day, we'll have at least our starting five back, which most teams are scrambling to keep. We'll spend MLE, into the tax, be one of the most expensive rosters like we were last year & this year and we'll be right there. Where are you, Tilman & Thaddeus on making sure he's locked up going forward? Mike & I are amazed about all the noise. We were on the phone yesterday, two days ago laughing about it. Mike will be in the office today. He'll be our coach next year. We're hoping to work things out for the future right now. If we don't, we'll work it out after next season. We love Mike. He's the favorite of our players. Our top players love playing for him. We'll work it out. We're in a normal negotiation. Doesn't mean it'll create any issues. A little odd how public it's gotten. Timetable to it? At some point do you table it? Probably at some point we'll say we'll work it out after next year. For sure that's not in June. Tilman someone you've had to adjust for? Is he all in on Mike since he didn't hire him? He didn't hire anybody. He recognized he has a great thing here. He's worked to lock us all up into the future. Sometimes they've not gone as quickly. Tilman wants to win. He's spending whatever it takes. He's authorized me to go into the tax for multiple years going forward. We'll spend whatever it takes going forward. We have a new plane, new practice facility. Notion we're not spending is a weird one too. It's been frustrating the narratives around the team. It should & will shift soon to 'Look at what the Rockets did, they added this player, they're now the favorites in the West.' Tilman has 2 helicopters. If it'll help us win, he'll spend it. He's willing to do whatever it takes. It's been more of us adjusting to him. His aggressive style, his willingness to spend, his questioning & challenging everything. Some of the turmoil is that. We've added one more high level competitor. When you have a lot of high level competitors together, it'll not always be smooth sailing but always pulling toward the same goal. You said you were obsessed with beating the Warriors. Did you learn anything about beating the Warriors from what the Raptors did or was that because of the players not there for Golden State? Hat tip to Toronto. Told Masai an amazing job. They've created a great team. It takes having a top team & a little luck. We'll be a top team & then need a little luck. Toronto only advanced on a bouncing ball from Kawhi. You need a little of both. We'll be right there every season while we have our core & then need the ball bouncing our way. Maybe next season the title goes through us instead of the Warriors in the West. Do you think the style with the currently constructed roster -- high usage from Harden, all these things that were maybe the source of tension -- can be a winning formula? It can absolutely win. People didn't think the style we played or Golden State played could win until they did it. We have a different style so people focus on it. What matters is how much you win. If you win 60 games, then you can win the title. Everyone who doesn't play our style, there's probably 15-20 teams that lose that way. We're right there.
Heard this interview too. SAS says Jimmy and Harden have been "talking" so take that for what it is worth. IMO they should run more plays for Harden and CP3 and have more movement. Similar at times to the way Harden played in OKC. Also, having Jimmy, Paul and Harden all capable of scoring from anywhere on the court and all have good handles and passing ability would be a pretty special lineup. Would definitely need to change up the offense if we acquire a player like Jimmy B or else Harden will be eventually ISOing with a bunch of role players and we know how that turns out already.
He came off as extremely optimistic and a tad arrogant as always. Said we would be the favorites to win it all with the injuries to KD and Klay. Also the podcasters called Tad Brown their fellow NBC tour guide back in the days, they worked together.
Hey when Morey speaks who really listens because i dontast few years he been doing way too much talking and ruining our chances to work with other GMs because of his big mouth
Because the Lakers had the cap space and the tradable pieces for "a big" (really, for "THE big"). Houston does not. You can't just wish for it. However, yes, Morey and D'Antoni have some kind of thing against traditional frontcourt players.
Man Harden needs to take a look in the ****ing mirror. This is becoming a huge problem. Will anyone want to play with him star level wise if all this turns out to be true? I mean us fans see yis body language on the court when he doesn't have the ball. It sucks.
WWE gifs are also perfect for talking Trump voters, but lest I read "take it to the D&D", I'll stop there.
Morey is all fluffer. Talks a big game and then fails to deliver. Probably laughing his way all the way to whataburger for breakfast after the interview for foloing so many Rockets fans. I've heard all this blowing wind before. I ain't falling for it.
While I'm certain there is a bit of truth to the talk about tension between everyone, I'm not convinced it's necessarily a bad thing or that it means the impending doom of the entire franchise like I see some hoping for. Harden has improved every single season that he's been on the Rockets, and I hope that this offseason is where his improvements can lead to a more flowing style of offense.
There won't be a 3rd star. He says that **** every year. "I'm going after 3rd star, oh I missed out on great role players while doing so". Is just an excuse to not negotiate with current valued role players because I can always dig those out of a trash can.
The Rockets took a step back last offseason. That's inexcusable for a team contending for a title. If the Rockets miss out again on the elusive third star, they better have a backup plan. Waiting for buyouts in late winter and spring is not going to cut it. They can't play catch up in the West with all the loaded opponents.
Before the injury, Capela was soft. After the injury, he also was soft. The dude just has zero offense skills.
This past offseason and regular season moves were such a joke. To not even use our MLE was a travesty. Yes, Morey did well by getting Rivers and Faried mid season but we not get anyone as a rotation player in the offseason after losing Ariza, Luc, and Anderson to an extent. We have to hit the ground running this year from opening game till the playoffs. Need at least 12 players that are versatile on offense and defense and hopefully a "3rd star". This is all easier said than done but I have seen Morey work his magic before which is why it is baffling that he had such a poor lack of urgency offseason this past year. I think the lack of urgency is what pissed me off the most looking back on it.
