I've been dippin in and outta the GARM for the last few years (partly due to my move to Chicago, and partly due to lack of quality posts) but I have yet to understand the fascination with Morey. In my outsider outsider view from Chicago, I haven't exactly seen any amazing moves that instantly made the Rockets better, or improved the team for the future. Maybe I'm missing something? I know he pulled off the Kevin Martin deal and Courney Lee, but all of these deals (once again from an outside perspective) seem to contribute to more beating around bottom end of the playoff pack (assumin that Yao would've been around) rather then making any progress. And now with the pending calls of "blow it all up and rebuild" it leads me to wonder and ask those who have been observant fans over the Morey era, why Morey? What makes him so great?
I guess cause people feel that he gets something for nothing. I have yet to see him get anyone who makes a real impact or has anyone talking about the Rockets.
He got lucky with some late draft picks turning out to be valuable contributors (brooks+landy). He also got Ron Artest for what could have been a special season. The t-mac deal looked good at the time. so basically, a good start and a lot of hype.
For what he could do when we had t-mac and yao playing. The moves that had a nice cast around those two... We still haven't seen his rebuilding moves yet, which will be how to judge him. Post yao will determine that.... His moves so far? Scola, martin, lee, pat pat, hill, lowry...
Scola doesn't count on Morey's resume. It was a gift handed to him by then Cav's GM Danny Ferry. There's a reason Ferry got fired.
You do realize that Clutchfans build Morey up so that we can tear him down later, it seems to be a pattern around here!
Just to make sure everyone sees that. He's been good so far, built a good team around Tmac and Yao. Lets see how he plans to rebuild before turning on him.
Before he was here we had a terrible team with 2 great players. He upgraded our role players brilliantly. It is not his fault that the 2 franchise players we have had with him both lost their value by injury (so he couldn't get real value in return for them). How many teams lose their 2 best players without getting something in return. So basically even though we have lost our 2 franchise players to injury he still was able to get a respectable team.
He is tall and slightly young looking as opposed to other GMs. We can post pictures of him that look cool with neat slogans. Not overly fat. He got Scola for Spanoulis. Drafted that tiny guy who we know want to trade away. Tmacs corpse was auctiond off at rock bottom price. He keeps Yao around in a glass case to show off as part of the freak show and still earn he owner some bucks. Plus his hair is cool.
Hes done pretty well, considering he inherited a team with pretty much no talent outside a injury prone Yao and Tmac and that the rockets have only been in the lottery once(twice if you count the battier trade). Dude has been able to accumulate assets without having any high draft picks or star players to trade away.
Donte Greene=Ron Artest (Take Lakers to 7) Ron Artest=Trevor Ariza (Essentially traded) Trevor Ariza's contract=Courtney Lee (Guy they wanted 4 picks above Greene) Rafer Alston=Kyle Lowry (Domination) Silly Spanoulis=Luis Scola (Domination) Second Rounder=Carl Landry (Domination) Late First Rounder=Aaron Brooks (Domination) Carl Landry=Kevin Martin (Domination) Late First Rounder=Terrence Williams (I like, but remains to be seen) You can't lose two superstars from injury and expect to keep winning 50+ every year...
First you can start by looking at his track record and see how he has played the cards that were dealt to him, most of the times he has surpassed my own expectations, part of that is because his moves seem either slick or to come out of the blue. I'll get back to you on Friday because he really is on deck right now, it wouldn't be reasonable to jump to conclusions today, he's been pumping our expectations so I hope all things line up and he pulls a "Morey move", if nothing significant happens then I'll surely disengage a little from this roster.
It wasn't luck. evaluating talent isn't an easy job. He was brought in to improve and balance the talent on the Rockets to be a championship contender http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1316/10_questions_with_daryl_morey/ I believe he's done a great job considering what he was dealt. The 22 game winning streak, contrary to what some 'other' fans believe, was definitely a team effort. During that streak we showcased the talent that surrounded Yao/Tmac. Another good case was when Tmac was out, the talent and acquisitions he made allowed us to win a playoff series and take the Lakers to 7 games. Also trading Tracy McGrady and his 25 million dollar contract was helpful for the future. I wouldn't say he's as good as Steve Patterson, the mastermind behind rebuilding the Rockets after Sampson and Lloyd/Wiggins left, but he's good.
I thought Morey did a great job with building around Yao and Tmac with cheap young role players.. I mean we went from Yao Tmac and no one else to Brooks, Landry, Scola, Artest, Lowry, and Wafer. That's pretty damn impressive if you ask me. But he did have his own blunder with the rudy gay situation, but shane battier made sense at the time. He was brought here to boost the supporting cast around Tmac and Yao, and he did just that. Though I am not sure how good he will be at getting us a superstar, because from what We've seen so far, we can only say Morey is great at getting role players and good prices.
You could blame him for choosing to take the chance on building the team around 2 known injury risks iinstead of trading them while they were still healthy. I don't, but you could. (I do think he mishandled the McGrady thing, but oh well...). Aside from that, he has been great. If not for injuries Yao/McGrady/Artest would have been a special season and no one would be asking this question.
