Mad Radio: Daryl Morey On Rockets Pursuit Of Warriors, Current Concerns And More

Stormy1234 · Mar 28, 2018

https://sportsradio610.radio.com/me...-pursuit-warriors-current-concerns-and-more-0

Stormy1234 · Mar 28, 2018

justtxyank · Mar 28, 2018

Stormy1234 said: ↑

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He’s absolutely right

J.R. · Mar 28, 2018

Should have known StormyBot would have a thread up.

J.R. said: ↑

https://sportsradio610.radio.com/me...-pursuit-warriors-current-concerns-and-more-0

What keeps you up at night about your basketball team, if anything?

Quite a few things. We want to stay healthy going into the playoffs so we're working hard making sure we keep guys to a manageable level down the stretch here while at the same time keeping guys sharp. We're also very much studying potential playoff opponents & looking at the things they can do to counter what we're doing & making sure we're practicing those things.

Mike asked Matt Moore what's wrong with the Warriors this year. Something off about them. Matt Moore's response was they're just bored. Are they bored?

Every team goes through ups & downs. Biggest thing has been injuries. They had an incredible run of health the last few years. They've been playing without their 4 best players. Take the 4 best players off any team, you're probably not gonna be good.

Before that. It didn't look like the same team.

They're still the favorite. They're the ones we still gotta knock off likely. We gotta take care of business in round 1 & 2 and hopefully face them in the Conference Finals.

Do you view or not view yourself as the favorite to win the championship?

Don't view. We're a confident group but that team has 4 of the better players in the league, 4 of the top 20, maybe top 15. We have to do our job to get there to face them.

Is D'Antoni getting enough credit for the job he has done this season?

No. All the awards, and I get in trouble when I talk about awards, have strange biases. Taking a team like ours from 55 to 60-whatever this year is more difficult than taking a team from 30 to 40 or 50 wins. Nature of the award is take Vegas O/U for a team, compare it to the final number, subtract & whatever the biggest number is, that's who win the awards. It's pretty much that simple.

Team, particularly in the 2nd half, it's a different style than some would have anticipated with iso ball, slower pace, still bombing a bunch of a threes. Did you anticpate that when you signed Chris Paul?

We've ended up in isolation plays because that's what teams have chosen. We have a bunch of great offensive players & take what teams give us. If you're gonna double James, we're gonna get a lot more basket attacks as we rotate the ball. If you're switching everything as most teams are, we're gonna create mismatches & go at you one-on-one. As I said in the past, Harden is having the greatest isolation season of all time. He's scoring at a rate no one has. ... It's hard to get ball movement when teams are switching every screen against us.

We all see the stats about how great you are in isolation yet there is a part of me at the end of games, especially end of playoff games, that feels like if you're just dribbling & take a long jump shot, it feels like you're settling. When you're in games that are close in the playoffs, what might the offense look like?

Again, if we're gonna get guarded the way teams are guarding us, you're gonna see similar. ... We are working on switch counters that would allow us to do some different things against heavy switching defenses we're likely to face. There are certain teams we may face in the playoffs that can't play that defense against us. When we play them, it looks a lot different. Like against Minnesota, you'll see us not have a ton of isolation play & we take what they give us. It an offense that gets to the first good shot & takes it and it's been so far the best offense in NBA history. We're not tweaking a whole lot. I do agree in the playoffs things can change up but generally the way things change up in the playoffs actually plays into how we're playing. It's harder to get easy offense & you do have to be good at scoring in difficult situations.

Fair to say there was a much rumored trade the entire offseason that you might be very happy it didn't end up happening?

People say that but the big thing to think about, with every trade there's a price each side is willing to give up & those prices are set such that you take the upside & risk into account. For any trade that might've been happening over the offseason or trade deadline, it's not just what the team is trying to acquire, it's also what they're willing to give up. I think I know what you're referencing but our price wasn't what the other team was interested in. There's always more factors than people realize.

...

Charles Barkley has said the difference between you & Golden State is Harden cannot have a bad game & the Rockets win. Thoughts?

Against the Warriors, we will need a high level game from both James & Chris. They do have more firepower at the top. They can survive an off game from Klay & have in the past. They can probably survive an off game from Steph or Durant. To beat us, they'll probably need a good game from 3 of the 4. We'll have trouble winning if James or Chris have an off night. It's simple but reasonable analysis. [Plug for Rockets tickets] We used to criticize Warriors fans for jumping on the bandwagon but we'd be happy for some folks to jump on ours.

[...Musical talk...]
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daywalker02 · Mar 28, 2018

The obsession!

xiki · Mar 28, 2018

J.R. said: ↑

Should have known StormyBot would have a thread up.
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JR, a boy howdy thanks!

Will · Mar 28, 2018

Terrific interview. Set aside the part about the musical (sorry, Daryl), and the rest is Morey concisely dismantling BS. Best part is the refutation of iso as the Rockets’ chosen style. Spoiler: It’s not their chosen style.

Deuce · Mar 28, 2018

Will said: ↑

Best part is the refutation of iso as the Rockets’ chosen style. Spoiler: It’s not their chosen style.
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Yeah, I thought that was very interesting. And I bet MDA has a number of tricks up his sleeve saved for the playoffs.

chenjy9 · Mar 28, 2018

Our offense is a complex game of rock paper scissors. Good news though, we have the personnel to counter whatever defenders choose.

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Mad Radio: Daryl Morey On Rockets Pursuit Of Warriors, Current Concerns And More

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Mad Radio: Daryl Morey On Rockets Pursuit Of Warriors, Current Concerns And More

Stormy1234 Member

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daywalker02 Member

xiki Contributing Member

Will Clutch Crew Supporting Member

Deuce Context & Nuance

chenjy9 Numbers Don't Lie Supporting Member

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