[Feigen] Daryl Morey sees improvement for Rockets despite criticism

Whoa...if it's even possible that something like that is true, you'd think a sports journalist might want to get it on the record. He'd have to ask a tough question and follow up, though.

 

I think McKale summed it up pretty well when he said "flexibility doesn't make shots on the floor" ... lol ... or something like that. I'm not sure the coach thinks we are a better team, at least right now, and he knows very well who we've got ...

 

Took the words out of my mouth.

I'm not going to argue with ppl who are mad at Morey. But I also don't think Lin and Asik are losses who are not easily replaced, especially since Asik was unhappy all season like you said

IMO, Morey did both Lin and Asik a solid and traded them to teams they would have fully agreed to

So he didn't treat them like assets from the perspective of helping their careers by trading them to ideal teams, respectively

 

I hate to revive old ghosts, but that statement by Mchale is exactly why Adelman was not retained. Our HC absolutely has to play Morey ball

 

I am pretty sure that is still considered better... You may have to wait for a championship longer then you expected. Morey swung for the fences and ended up being left with cap space with his remaining two stars. We are not the 2010 cavs...

 

I wish the rockets were able to
Sign better free agents. Even the dynamo are signing better players compared to the rockets

 

I don't know where you guys got that Canaan shoots better than Lin stuff.

2013-14 Regular Season:

Canaan: 35.6% FG, 32.7% 3PT, 72.4%FT vs Lin: 44.6% FG, 35.8% 3PT, 82.3% FT

Maybe numbers do lie?

 

There are a few "if" in this...

Will they actually achieve the same level with the current cast?

This depends on health of roster as well as having multiple unknown guys stepping into substantial roles.

Will Morey manage to turn the exceptions and the NOP pick (and other assets) into something to improve the team? These assets and exceptions are nice to have, but contributing players, especially really good ones, are not merchandise that you can buy off the shelf as long as you have the money.

 

I think the team will be better than we were in the regular season because of internal growth and having a wing defender now. I think the team still has a chance to be better than they were come playoff time, as Asik didn't contribute much during the season.

 

For whatever reason, hate of player's fans or something seems to have
_carried_ over to hate of player itself.

And this clouds how one sees the player itself.

Lin is not irreplaceable, but Canaan in his current form, is not one.

But like everything here, this is just all _speculation_ and hot air.

So no matter what anyone or I say, in the end, it doesnt matter.

What will actually matter is what will happen starting October (?).

Until then, we can argue over everything and it wont make any difference.

Cant wait till October.

 

Ariza has been played for us for a while, if you watch the games he played, instead of statistics, you will know why I am frustrating..Why we trade him at the end?

If you are real NBA fan, you know we can get a super star by trading Lin, Asik and Parson together, not just a 1st pick. Don't argue with me for this statement.

 

But...but...but...the Mavs are the best of everything in the NBA according to him

 

The Rockets are certainly better defensively. Ariza is a massive improvement defensively over Parsons. Jeff Adrien will get minutes at the expense of poor defenders Jones and DMO.

 

My two big concerns at the moment are the need for another playmaker (even in the summer league Canaan made a lot of bad decisions) and the need for rim protection when Howard sits.

I'm convinced that Dorsey can play pick and roll defense (an area of need), bang, and rebound, but at his height, I'm not convinced he can protect the rim. I hope he proves me wrong.

There is a certainly a path forward where the Rockets could improve with this roster, but it would take a lot of surprises to make it work.

• Could Cappella surprise and give the Rockets a few minutes of rim protection from the bench this year? Sure, but it is more likely he'll be playing in RGV all year.
  
• Could Canaan replace Lin? Sure, but he could also be horrible. The guy was very hit or miss in summer league. How is he going to do against NBA players without another playmaker on the court?
  
• Could Dorsey be Ray Lewis with a basketball? Sure, but he could also be a 6'7 guy struggling to protect the rim against bigger, more athletic players than he had to deal with in Europe.

There are too many unknowns to feel confident right now. With that said, I like the new defensive emphasis, and I don't think Morey is done. Morey had a bad 48 hours, but that doesn't take away all the good work he's done in the past three years. The team feels unfinished at the moment because...it is.

 

McHale's comments are worthless.

Give him a team of 5 all stars and he will somehow find a way to botch it up.

Never underestimate the power of McHale - this clueless, incompetent, pathetic joke of a coach possibly the worst in the NBA will find ways to lose games that should long be won.

McHale is just making excuses for when he is inevitably outcoached as always and booted. He will just blame the roster.

 

I like the fact that DM isn't afraid of looking weak or stupid.

The first time around when he was chasing Dwight in Orlando, when Dwight went to LA, DM looked like a needy dumped ex-girlfriend, chasing after Dwight when Dwight was telling him to piss off. The backlash around here, from fans who felt humiliated by DM chasing someone who didn't want to be chased was intense. The general perception was that DM was making the Rockets seem pathetic and weak.

A year later, when Dwight's perspective had changed, I would bet that DM's "unconditional love" seemed pretty appealing when DH formulated thoughts about where to go.

Fear of looking stupid would have led pretty much every other GM ever to back off. DM refused to let shame overwhelm him, and I'd argue it was a contributing factor to Dwight coming to town.

 

I'm buying it. We look more balanced. We might not drop 70+ on the Thunder anymore but they shouldn't be able to do the same on the second half either. Our offense is not going to suffer that much but our defense is massively improved.

 

How can you trade Lin and Asik together? That's $30M right away.

Regarding Chandler, we never thought of trading him ever. If we did, we would have traded him right away for Rondo or for Love. But we wanted to retain him.

 

I agree with the FO. We still need a 3rd star because of potential of injury to either Harden and Howard, or opponents can shut down one of them.

A 3rd star (or guys who are able to step up and perform in an elite way) is crucial to a good playoff run.

 

If we do improve Morey can say, see I told you we would have a better team. If we do worse then McHale will get fired and Morey will just keep the spin going.