I like Morey's new look. He should keep it even if the streak ends. It was a good interview. Cowherd took a break from the gas lighting to conduct himself as a normal human being.
Fantastic interview. Big immediate takeaway isCapela def playing tonight. Also that they’re still looking to sign someone, hopefully that means House but I think that’s a pipe dream now. Morey has too much success finding decent players and isn’t going to set a precedent of being strong armed by just decent players. So find us another decent player!
Loved the interview...but I gotta admit, what players was he talking about that wanna come play here? And what people could we possibly be talking to in the buy out. I believe in you Daryl and hope you arent just posturing.
I’m not gonna lie, when he said that player mobility favors the Rockets because guys want to come play here, my immediate reaction was
Morey is getting better at deflecting questions that could get him in trouble with the league office or give away trade secrets. Ever since Les he’s always been good at fluffing the ownership.
He did the same thing with Le$. Morey knows how to play them game. You don't do anything for over 10 years and not know how to play the game.
(Worry Harden could be gassed by the 2nd round?) He had to do it. We've had so many injuries. First healthy night for our starters in months. We'll full strength against Playoff LeBron. We were in bad shape. We needed him to step up. He put us on his shoulders. He's playing both ends well. Reality is it's what we needed. (Why has the West been better than the East?) Owners are better in the West. Ownership is the #1 factor. They set the tone. West owners have consistently been very good. (Player mobility) It's very good for the league. It keeps us at the top of your show & other shows. Players should go play where they want to play. Shorter contracts have increased player mobility. I'm a big fan of player empowerment. ... I like when players get to choose because it favors the Rockets. Players want to play with us & the best teams. We're a big fan of player mobility. (What do you say to the smaller markets?) I'm not in one. My job is to help the Houston Rockets. I get the league office has to worry. For me, I'm trying to win the championship somehow. (G-League a viable transition league?) It's underrated. Adam Silver has done a fantastic job growing that. People don't realize the worst G-League team would beat Duke by 20-30 points. Level of play is super high. Level of talent is super high. I think it'll be a viable option for these players. G-League is an up & coming model. (Is there any value to college basketball?) For me to evaluate them as draft picks. (You said Harden could be in the conversation for best offensive player of all time. Why?) I don't want to compare too much to Kobe. If you look at offensively,...the best offenses of all-time are currently playing in the NBA - our team & Golden State. When we cross half court, we score more points than any team has in history. How does it happen? Because of the great players on our teams. Golden State has multiple stars. We have James Harden & Chris Paul. We didn't have Chris Paul a lot of the season. When you look at when Harden drives to the basket & what happens, he generates more points than any player in history. That's my argument. Until we get a ring, people won't recognize that but offensively, his talents are undeniable. (Who's a player in the NBA that has shocked you -- better than you thought?) Quite a few. Hard for me to talk specifically but the guys who are picked later the NBA missed on them. We like to think it's a science. It's still 70-80% not science. It's luck or art, whatever you want to call it. (What matters to you?) I would say the biggest thing we look for is a guy who elevates his team's ability to win. We haven't picked high in a long time. Our highest pick has been 14th since I've been with the Rockets. We're picking among the grinders & winning players. We look for those who love the game, will continue to work on their game & already are doing it in college. We've had a very good track record with that. (Rondo-CP3, are you concerned?) Chris is one of the most intense guys I've been around. Spit on or not, he's bringing it 100% always. He doesn't have a mode - playoff mode & non-playoff mode. He's bringing it tonight. (How did you know Harden/CP3 would work?) We thought it would work but didn't know for sure. A lot of things made us feel good. Coach D'Antoni coached both together with USA Basketball. If you get smart, good basketball players, they'll like making winning players together. It's only when you get talented players who don't think the game well. Chris is extremely smart, same for James. We thought it could work & worked better than we thought frankly. (New owner; you're a dice roller. What is the trigger moment that says I'm doing it?) We're looking at signings now so this is relevant. Tilman Fertitta, what I love about him, has brought in, he's been successful at everything else by being a risk seeker, a smart risk seeker & has empowered us to take that mode and that's a mode we like. We're still chasing the Warriors. We need to take risks. We're not as good as them. We hope to be as good as them by April 15th. We'll continue to take swings at this. We took swings at the start of the year. Everyone criticized us for what we did, what we didn't do. Our goal is to be the best team on April 15th. That's always been our goal. That means trying things.
