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

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Batman Jones again.

 

Oh man. I hate when people think they know what I'm talking about but they don't.

Read my post, I know perfectly there is no cap space to sign FA. What I was talking about is there are two ways:

1. use cap space to sign FAs. Rockets never had the chance.

2. Taking bad contracts to trade for good talent. Les could do that but never did.

Now you tell me: Why was Cuban able to get the FAs they wanted year after year? But Les couldn't? Dion't tell me Cuban has more cap space than Les.

Think about it. Think outside the box, man. If Les is willing to go over Lux Tax consistently, he can have Scola, Lowry, Haywood etc... on the team. Not by signing exclusively, but by trade.

It can't be done in one year, but it can be done within several years due to salary match rules. Bad contracts can become trade chips when it gets expire etc. And good talents normally require more money than just cap space.

 

I agree that its frustrating that fans just dont understand how the NBA works as far as salary cap management and spending goes.

Its important to realize that managing the cap of your team isnt really about overspending or underspending in regards to your owners checkbook, but more about the value of your contracts, the liquidity of your roster, and the demand for those players on the NBA market.

For a GM who managed the rockets salary cap and has managed to flip an organization from two injured-player max salary contracts to zero bad market contracts with no negative impact on the cap... is amazing, and instead of being applauded for putting the organization in a position to actually sign a franchise player they are chastized by fans for not signing players like Brendan Haywood who IMO would not have made this team a contender.

The fact that this team is liquid, with young/high demand talent, high value contracts, and only one or two players away from competing at a high level not even one season removed from the TMac/Yao era is pretty amazing.

Now it will be interesting to see how they handle this coaching dilemma. Im sure either way us fans will be scratching our heads when they make the change, but in a season or two it will all make sense.

 

I can't blame them. At least they are willing to try something, it's better than standing around and doing the same thing year after year.

 

If Alexander lets Adelman go, he's a moron.

 

Im pretty sure the Heat over the next few years should have a better record than the Rockets if I was coaching the Heat... and even still its ridiculous to say that the right coach for a team with 2.5 superstars and a ton of vets is also the best coach for a team of young guys devoid of a given SUPER star.

 

Wrong. The salary cap is created to reduce unfairness between big market owners and small market owners. Not every GM operates under it.

Lakers, Dallas, Boston, Orlando etc are all well above slary cap. That gives them an edge over most of the teams. Miami can't go over the cap this year because they basiclly starting from nothing, but when they keep adding MLE players next couple years they will. It's not a coincidence that most dominant teams are over the luxuy tax, because talented players make more money.

Rockets haven't been really over the lux tax for years, I'd guess there must have some behind door deals that would upgrade the talent but over lux tax and turned down either by Les or Moery because he can't go over the limit. You see the point here?

No matter how much you are over cap space, you always can sign your own FAs with bird rights. It's all depends on owner's strategy.

A guy like Haywood would help Rockets much more than Hill at center position. And that was the weakest position Rockets had.

Do you think Morey would be supid enough to badmoth Les in public? Even JVG didn't do that. Action speaks for itself. So far, Les has shown nothing more than an average owner in terms of spending. He is overrated here.

 

While never a Adelman fan, I wholeheartedly agree with your overall assessment. Les inherited a championship team and essentially ran it into the ground. Under his leadership the team has gone nowhere. The CD era was a nightmare of bad contracts, bad drafts, and bad players. The Stevie era was a disaster. The Yao/TMac era was a disaster. And so far, Morey MoneyBall hasn't yielded much. Les is obviously rich for a reason, but as an NBA owner he is clearly subpar. I would love the Rockets to have a new majority owner. Maybe one of the other owners could buy him out.

 

Well, if the goal is to get a really high lottery pick, I can't blame them.

 

You are confusing Isiah with Morey. If Morey had Dolan's moeny to operate, NY would be in way better shape. It's on GM, not owner.

Dolan as an owner is better than Les, he gave all the money needed to GM and let them work. Even if it failed, you can say he tried. Samething can't be said about Les.

 

Why was it that this past two trade deadlines the Mavs were not able to net a second superstar like Melo?

Because they have nothing to offer the other teams in a trade that they would want. The players they have signed in free agency or traded for are almost all on overpaid contract making them difficult to move.

Roddy B is not good enough to entice a team like Denver to move Melo, and the contracts of other productive players had too much salary left on their deals.

The Mavs have no young talent other than Roddy, and no quality draft picks, and therefore are not players on the trade market. That is why they are a second tier team and will not going to win a title anytime soon.

 

How many teams under lux tax have a chance to land a 2nd superstar? Melo basiclly hand picked NY because of his wife.

Mavs already did way better than most of the teams out there, getting Kidd, Marion, Chandler etc, all without cap space. And their record year after year speaks for themselves.

Most teams that stayed under lux tax are 10 x worse than Mavs. Rocket is not 10 x worse, but definitely way behind.

 

Uhh I hate the Mavs as much as the next guy but adding Chandler is a far bigger upgrade for that team than adding Melo or someone like that, especially since they couldn't have known that Butler would go down. And they are still a legit contender. Second tier teams are like OKC, Denver, Atlanta, etc...

 

I think it comes down to two perspectives.

Do you want to spend everything possible and end up maxed out but not good enough: IE the Hawks, Magic and Dallas ? Are you happy with prolonged success but never ultimate success?

Do you want to be not quite as good but have the flexibility to snag the right piece when it becomes available? Like we are now.

I never faulted Alexander for his spending habits, I think he is a willing spender. My gripe is him trying to put his mark on the team. Morey should be making all basketball operations decisions as GM and Adelman should be making all on the court decisions.

Mavs got Chandler because they had the "dust chip" not because they wanted to spend money. OKC is far more of a contender than Dallas.

 

Please never say Im confusing Isiah Thomas with Morey again. That is blasphamy.

Your point to the above is that in a one year sample size observation Isiah Thomas overspending for players like Eddie Curry and Jared Jefferies was better than the philosophy Morey/Les Alexander have established when making moves with market value and flexibility to move those contracts for ROLE PLAYERS???

Wow, I truely didnt know what I was dealing with getting into this argument, it was bad when you were applauding the work that Mark Cuban has done with spending like a drunken sailor.

I should have just let it go and moved on when you said the Rockets should have signed Haywood. With all that being said, I actually have to get back to work. Someone else please take over the Les Alexander hate thread. I

 

No, that's now what I meant. What I meant is as an owner Dolan is better than Alexander.
Trade fot bad players isn't owners fault, it's GM's fault.
But if GMs can't pass the lux limite to trade for better players, it's owner's falut.

 

True.
Magic and Dallas both went to finals, so they are not really failuer. Dallas was just a few terrible calls away from Championship.

Rockets never tried.

Dampier was a terrible contract, and turned out to be a dust chip. That more or less proves cap space is nothing if you really don't mind pay lux tax.

 

wtf!

well, then *** you Les

 

I never said better than Miami, I was referring to a better record meaning the future Rockets having a better record that our current ones (and ability to make the playoffs) with the new coach, not better than the Heat.

Really, it's ridiculous to automatically assume that a coaching change is better for this young team without a star. The players want to keep him, and it sounds like Rick wanted talks of an extension. If we still don't have a star or a Center/SF does coaching really matter or is it about talent? Are we not a top tier team because of the coach, or because we lack top tier talent?

I think it's a talent issue and not coaching.

A proven track record means a lot, and the idea the Rick is somehow bad with younger players seems silly to me. There is a long list of young players who have developed under Rick (Lowry, Brooks, Patterson, Landry, Lee, Bud is playing better, etc) Even Hall of Fame coaches have made mistakes in their careers and Rick is no different, but I think he has done a great job with the trades/injuries and lack of a star cards he's been given.

My point was that hypothetically if he wins in Miami (or any place with greater talent than us), the problem was never coaching but talent level. And that removing the coach due to our lack of talent is not a great move in itself.

I was predicting the emotional response the fans might feel watching our former coach win while we still suck (for a long enough time to deem the change a failed one) with a new coach. In other words witnessing a badly failed gamble.


Don't misunderstand me, I'm not against the move if it bring improvement and better results long term. If we get a Center and SF along with a comparable coach I think the gamble will pay off. If not, then the organization with be accountable to the fan base (or rewarded by them) either way.


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Maybe he'll bring Howard with him . At least the van Gundy brother's will be back in the same city again.