Rockets highlights from the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

A couple points. If I remember correctly it was Alexander that felt that JVG didn't communicate with the owner enough, and went so far as to ask that the owner stay out of the locker room and that later JVG admitted he should have communicated better with Alexander. With Adelman, Alexander said the same thing, that he did not return calls, etc.

As far as JVG saying Morey nagging JVG to play certain players, you have to look at the nature of their relationship, they were and are close, and he never forced JVG to play particular players, so I doubt he did with Adelman or McHale.

I don't think Alexander, Adelman, JVG or Morey are perfect, but all their comments and actions need to be put in perspective.

 

Nah. It means that Daryl is cool enough to be ragged on in public by his friend.

I'm sure DM gets a lot worse from emails and randoms.

 

Meanwhile, Phil Jackson is polishing his 11th championship ring.

 

Some time ago, Adelman pointedly told reporters "I'm still waiting for that call" from Alexander, basically calling BS on Alexander's claims.

Don't know about JVG though.

 

from today's Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basket...4/innovative_gm_morey_applies_rocket_science/


Innovative GM Morey applies Rocket science
By Gary Washburn
Globe Staff / March 4, 2012
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Daryl Morey is spending his weekend in Boston as one of the organizers of the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which spends two days discussing sports analytics. It may sound confusing, but the intensive study of basketball statistics beyond points, rebounds, and assists has made Morey one of the NBA’s most innovative general managers.

Morey, whose side job is running the Houston Rockets, has used his background and fascination with statistics to become sort of the Billy Beane of basketball. His Rockets are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite lacking a definitive star or franchise player.

The previous regime attempted to build around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, but injuries derailed that plan, so Morey has built a deep and talented roster filled with players who were little-known or secondary in other places.

“Yao Ming and McGrady were really the foundational pieces we were building around,’’ Morey said. “And we’re trying to get back to that. I feel like the guys are emerging into those roles, but we’re going to continue to upgrade until we have that sort of foundation that is championship-caliber, which we’re a little short of being now.’’

Because of the Yao and McGrady injuries, Morey had to make contingency plans. He acquired Kevin Martin from Sacramento and put more faith in forward Luis Scola and unheralded point guard Kyle Lowry. The three have emerged as the Rockets’ leading scorers, and Lowry has become one of the league’s most explosive point guards.

“He’s been on a great track, getting better every year,’’ Morey said. “He’s still only in his early 20s and somebody we’re really excited to have on this team and build around.’’

The Rockets lack big names, but balance is what makes them a formidable opponent. Like the 76ers in the Eastern Conference, the Rockets are difficult to defend because they have so many players who can break out.

Houston has nine players who average 7 or more points and three who average at least 15.

The issue at times has been defense. The Rockets rank 24th in the league in opposing field goal percentage and 17th in points allowed.

“You look up and down the roster, and we have different guys do things every night,’’ Morey said. “Lowry has probably carried us most this year. But the good thing about us is that we have a lot of guys who can score, even guys who come off the bench.

On Tuesday, new coach Kevin McHale will make his first appearance at TD Garden in his second stint as an NBA coach. After being forced into the coaching seat while serving as general manager in Minnesota, McHale pursued coaching jobs after being removed in 2010.

The Celtic great spent one season at NBA TV before the Rockets took a chance on his defense-first philosophy, something that wasn’t the case in Minnesota.

“Obviously, he has really tough shoes to fill with coach [Rick] Adelman being one of the best in the league and one of the most experienced,’’ Morey said. “He’s really been everything we’ve hoped for in terms of bringing his philosophy and imprint on this team.

“The first couple of times, he was out there replacing coaches, but this time, to have a full year with the guys, the coach and the players are going to grow together. Too bad he wasn’t able to have a training camp this year with the guys.’’

Morey gives input through statistical analysis, something that offers different options in terms of lineups and player evaluations. Basketball analysis has grown far beyond plus/minus differentials and assist-to-turnover ratios. There are statistics that are designed to determine optimal lineups and rate how valuable each player is to his team.

“I think it’s a valuable tool for a whole lot of reasons,’’ Morey said. “It allows you to take a step back and use something objective to evaluate your team’s performance or your player’s performance and figure out the best plan of attack.

“If you integrate that with the instincts and the acumen of coach McHale and the players we have, I think it leads to a great scheme together.’’

Has the analysis helped the Rockets become contenders in the Western Conference? In his matter-of-fact way, Morey says his methods have worked. But they won’t be considered completely effective until one of his teams wins a championship.

Morey believes the Rockets are moving steadily toward that pinnacle.

“We’re trying to put a continuous winner on the floor,’’ he said. “We’d like to get into the next tier of a winner in terms of being a championship contender. The only way is to skew young and skew towards players with upside.

“This is more heart than science. We try to bring some science into it. We don’t know who’s going to pan out, but we try to [use science] to shift the odds in our favor.’’

 

We see that in the other sports more and more as players get locked up early, or moved early. And the new CBA rewards being extended by your team not as an FA.

It seems to me that cap space = room to maneuver when trading over the summer (unless you're in the DWill/DH12 sweeps).

 

TrueHoop interview with Jeff Van Gundy:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/38244/truehoop-tv-jeff-van-gundy

In particular, his comments on what Morey has done:

[rquoter]He's done a remarkable job. Making small, smart decisions may not have put them where they want to be, but it certainly has put them into position to try to get where they want to be given their ownership's thought that they don't want to get bad to get good which is the easiest way to do it. [/rquoter]

He sort of hesitated on that last part, almost like mid-sentence he was thinking of whether he should explicitly single out ownership as being behind the current strategy.

 

More than enough has been said, and from credible sources, to put to rest the idea that Morey is advising Les to not tank. Hopefully, it will no longer be a popular argument in the future...

 

I think this settles that Les is the one who makes the decision not to tank. Folks can stop blaming Daryl for it.

 

Yup. It sucks, but we are in "win now" mode, without a franchise player.

We are all hoping, ownership included, that Daryl can pull a miracle out of his ass...

 

How on earth can a team be in win now mode without a supertar ? I've never heard of this approach in my life from any team ever in the history of the NBA.

 

If the Rockets managed to get the Gasol deal done and bring in Nene, they would have looked very much like a team that could contend.

It didn't plan out, and the question is how long do we have to wait until another opportunity like that arises? If its one of those "once in several years" type things, then we are most definitely on the wrong track.

 

Not saying that's who we are, but just pointing it out..

 

Found an interesting post on reddit that linked directly like to a Starcraft 2 forum.

Apparently there is quite a link between e-sport, sports and Daryl Morey. For those who are about to read, there is a combination of the game Starcraft 2 and sports analytic.

http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=317967

For those who need context, day 9 is a prominent figure in E-Sports.

Daryl Morey's release the Gracken shirt is a reference to a popular SC2 player "Idra" who is known for his bad manners and constant rage quits.

 

Not exactly Rockets related, but I thought this was pretty cool
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat...where_to_shoot.html?wpisrc=twitter_socialflow