[Chron] Justice: Alexander willing to roll dice on coach

The point is: Rockets could get better than that if the payroll went up instead of went down, and more assets could be used to get somebody even better later on.

When the trade exceptions are not used, it's definitely not nothing: You have less chance to go over lux tax and you have less assets to make a trade later on. And that seems to be the goal for Les every year.

 

What players are out there that will help this team in the long run?

Who? I'm 100% sure that if Morey wants a player Les will allow him to get him.

If Morey doesn't think it's worth the risk why is it Les' fault?

 

well said. signed.

 

chris webb is still available. :grin:

 

agreed, i actually made the same points in a prior post but not as obviously...

also agreed that just because we haven't been able to secure a star, doesn't mean les wasn't willing to pay for it.

 

Yes, this is how I remember too. Rudy was forced to retire. He wouldn't have taken the Lakers job if he truly quit on health reasons.

Alexander is a good owner in that he really wants to win. But his penchant of disposing coaches after a few years of perceived unproductive period is getting on my nerve.

 

By signing Who???... Did you ever think that Morey/Les have wanted to remain flexibly just in case a say.... Tracy McGrady circa 2003 became available???

Les will spend, but it has to be for the right players. I have no problem with them being picky about who they give large contracts to and what teams they go over the lux tax for. Sure they could have signed free agents like Hedo Turkalo... Role players get value contracts because you can get the same production for less if you do your homework... the big stars get the star contract...

I have no problem whatsoever with this philosophy.

You could give me a certain scenario like Tyson Chandler this past season, and I will give you another scenario like Brenden Haywood and the bullet the Rockets dodged with that one... Dont bother wasting your time.

Les makes more money than me or you could ever dream of but that doesn't mean he has to spend like Isiah Thomas and KILL FLEXIBILITY to sign the big fish.

 

There are more players who can help Rockets than you think. This year for example, Perkins, Gerald Wallace etc.

There is a pattern here: Every mid season payroll shrieked, It's not 50-50.

You think Morey cares about going over Lux if he has the power to do that like Isiah? No GM would.The more reasonable assumption is: Les gave Morey a spending limit: don't go over Lux unless it's a sure contender.

Alexander seemed to make a gamble at the beginning this year, hoping for Yao's last chance to be healthy, so he went "all in". once Yao went down again, it's time to shrink payroll again.

Alexander had the chance to go "all in" when both Yao/Tmac were healthy. But he didn't. He though he could wait. But God didn't think so. And now it's too late.

I predict you won't see Rockets over Lux Tax again in the near future. That "willing to spend" thing is a smoke.

 

Age is the only point I agree with you. But unless Adelman has shown signs of wanting to retire or his coaching skills is "declining." I, for one, don't see that. Coaches, unlike players, can do their jobs well into their 70s.

And if that "next great coach" fail? Throw him out and get another one? That seems to defeat the very thesis of yours: Get a coach who can "grow" with the team. The fact is, you get a good coach whenever you can and build a team for that coach because different coaches are good at coaching different kinds of teams. Every time you change a coach, you need to "grow" again with the new philosophy, and probably a new retooling of the roster.

When you already have a good coach, why do you not let the team grow with him, rather than the other way around?

 

What flexibility are yo talking about? If the owner wouldn't care about going over lux tax, there is more flexibility for the team and GM than over salary cap but not lux tax when there is a limit to spend. Ask Cuban, they basically has flexibility to get anybody they want every year, because money is not an issue. But obviously Les is not that "willing to spend".

Brenden Haywood would be a much better choice than Hill this year and Rockets might be in playoffs because of that. It's not really a bullet dodged.

Thomas didn't kill the flexibility, he just didn't get the right players and right coaches. He is no Morey.

 

Thanks for being about the only person in this thread actually thinking with his head instead of his heart.

I love how so many posters on here pretend to know exactly what is going on behind the scenes in the past as well as the present. The Les hatred is getting ridiculous. The guy does spend money, is willing to spend money to win (taking on Artest's contract for instance to try and create our own "Big 3") but he does an excellent job not spending his money unwisely. He also does not interfere much with the day-to-day operations of his team. He hires competent guys to do that for him and lets them make the calls. Those qualities don't sound like a bad owner to me.

All those crying about Adelman need to get over it. NO ONE, except Morey, Alexander, and a few others, know what has gone on behind the scenes. How can all the Les haters be so certain it isn't Adelman that wants out and Les is just allowing him to save face and ride off gracefully with all Rockets fans still loving him?

And for those crying about JVG, just stop it! You are sounding like whiny children. Do you honestly believe JVG was going to be the guy to get us over the top?!?! "But but but, Les was so mean to him!! Wwwwwwaaaaaaaaa!!!!" JVG and his horrible offense and disdain for young players was NEVER going to get him anywhere. And since he was so awesome and Les made a mistake with how he treated him, where exactly are all of his job offers to be a head coach again?

Alright, well I'm out. I've had about all I can take of this thread.

 

Have you ever heard of the salary cap? I think you and many others are in need of a lesson from BimaThug. With so much of the Rockets assets tied up in Yao and Tracy (until last season) we didn't have the cap space to sign any free agents. Had we gotten Chris Bosh like Morey wanted (thank God we didn't succeed), we would be way in the luxury tax just like you are dying for us to be and would have ZERO flexibility to build around Bosh right now BECAUSE of that little thing they call the salary cap.

 

I'm not arguing with your larger point...but I'll pick nits with this one.

Les has tons of interests now in China. Those all began AFTER Yao was drafted...all of them. He is currently involved in public/private partnerships with the Chinese government. I don't think that's happy coincidence.

So while I agree entirely that the Rockets split those revenues...the value of non-basketball related investments in China for Les might cause one to argue that they were extra patient with Yao for reasons other than his worth on a basketball court.

 

Says who... DD. I can remember him bringing this up on more than one occasion, and not being able to find one single business venture in China that is directly related to Yao Ming, and him being his owner.

He is involved in some Real Estate that I know of but in most cases the buyers rarely would care that the owner of the property owns Yao's NBA team or not in their purchasing decision.

Or maybe his interest is in him returning to form as the best Center in the NBA, competing for a title, and putting butts in the seats at the Toyota Center. Yes he does make money off of Yao Ming WHEN HE PLAYS.

They have stuck with Yao this far because A. They signed a contract to do so up until this offseason, and B. Because they have been willing to role the dice on a top 10 player in the league they believe will be healthy again. If they sign him to a max contract THIS OFFSEASON than you can judge them. A less than or mid level contract is a gamble alot of NBA organizations will make for the 2nd best center in basketball when healthy.

 

LOL. Your thinking are limited by "salary cap", that's why you think Les is "willing to spend."

Under salary cap, every owner is similar, they all "willing to spend", just like Les. So that doesn't make Les any more "willing to spend" than other owners.

But the true "willing to spend" owners are willing to go over lux tax at any time as long as it helps the team. No just slary cap.

There are two ways to get FAs, under the cap you can sign them, over the can you can trade for them. As long as you don't mind taking "bad contracts" to go over lux tax and have a good eye on talent, you can get better talent year after year.

True, Rockets didn't have salary cap to get FAs just by signing them. Most of the teams don't unless they are in a complete rebuilding mode. However, Rockets can trade expiring contract to get larger contracts with bigger talent instead of trading for smaller contracts and less talent.

For example, Rockets could use Tmac's contract to get Iggy and Dalembert last season instead of Hill + 2 1st rounders +Jeffries, but they didn't. Because it will go over lux tax. Yet, Smaller contracts didn't give Rockets "flexibility" at all, they are still over the cap.

A team with Hayes/Scola/Iggy/Martin/Lowry backing up by Battier/Dalembert/PP/Lee/Bud will be fighting for homecourt advantage instead of missing playoffs.

When you are already over the salary cap, the best way to get FT is try to go over lux tax.

BTW, even if Rockets has cap space, Bosh wouldn't come here.

 

Thats not true.

Philly turned us down.

And making that trade would of made it impossible to get Martin.

 

I told you to not play this game.

6 Years, 55 Million for a Center whose career average is 7.7 PPG, and 6.0 RPG.... however he has two inches on Jordan Hill so thereforth he would fix every problem the Rockets have on defense.

However your missing the point that Chuck Hayes is the starting center and Chuck would have beat him out for the starting job on a Rick Adelman coached team any day of the week.

Would you really want to give 11 Million a year for a Center who would have been second, and maybe third string????....

YES MOREY DODGED A BULLET BY NOT SIGNING A CRAPPY CENTER JUST BECAUSE HE IS 7 FT. TALL.

 

I like all of these "Because _______ didn't happen, the Rockets didn't try and Les is cheap..."

Really??

There is a reason why not everything leaks to the public.

 

I think changing coaches is Morey's idea. He stated that changing a coach does not really affect your win/loss record by more than +-3 games. I believe the ice breaker was Adelman not playing T-Will, which pushed Alexander off the edge (with a nudge from Morey).

 

I didn't know Philly turned us down. Not convinced with Marin deal though. It was essentially Landry for Martin with a bunch fillers. They might find another way.