Raven, assuming there is some validity to your recommended approach of tanking, do you really think that THIS team is capable of winning fewer than 28 games? If not, then what's the point? The Rockets would have only a small percentage chance of winning the lottery and would get no "better" than a mid-lottery pick. Morey can get a comparable talent in the middle of the first round. They've already won 14 games, which was Sacramento's season total a couple of years ago. Even if they trade Scola and Martin (for whom they would not get fair value, since they'd obviously be tanking), they won't manage to only win 14 more games all season. So why not just WIN GAMES this season and try to improve via trade?
There is no one trade that can do it. We are multiple moves away, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give the team a chance to improve with multiple moves over the next few years.
This. Although if the RIGHT trade comes along, the team could just be one move away. But more likely, trugoy is right, and the team will need to continue to search of opportunities as they've done so well over the past year and a half. And considering that Morey has publicly stated that (1) he doesn't really understand what it means to "rebuild" and (2) the team has no intention of becoming LESS competitive as a means to a championship, it seems like all those talking about tanking are just blowing hot air. It ain't happening. So just root for your team to win games, and see where that takes this franchise over the next 2-3 seasons.
So I just re-read this thread I created yeas ago. Obviously the Rockets chose to rebuild without blowing it up and obviously they succeeded in acquiring not one superstar but two! It's clear I was wrong. I'll own that. Morey did it! (though he did start trading all of our productive players for picks and even amnestied Scola the offseason before we acquired Harden) Interestingly, though, Morey's chief disciple, Sam Hinkie, is opting to take the approach I advocated here. The Celtics are doing the same. It will be fun to see how that turns out in the future.
This current squad is the best Rockets team with a chance to win the championship since the Hakeem era. Factor all the teams since and you know I'm right.
I agree. Besides the undeniable talent, this squad is one of the tallest and most athletic Rockets team I can remember. Other than Harden, Terry and Bev, everybody else is taller than 6'7". I think Chris Weber mentioned it yesterday.
It's big on the wing. It's not very big in the paint. The only shot blocking threat in the paint is Dwight, perhaps Smith from behind. While D'mo is good at taking charges, he isn't a very good rebounder for his size. When Howard goes to the bench, and D'mo slides over to center, we're not very intimidating inside. Not that that was really affected by any of our trades. We haven't had size depth since the days of Dmo Camby and Yao. In the end, I am happy we did what we did. I personally find it disgraceful when teams tank. We always at least attempted to exceed expectations. The cliched phrase, "we gave it our best shot" fit us well for several years prior to Howard/Dwight's arrival. I am grateful that Les and Morey had the guts to go this route. I remember that 05-06 injury plagued season all to well. I couldn't take anything worse than that.
Howard/Harden I always do that with their names, same thing for Billy Joel and Elton John, I always call them Billy John and Elton Joel when I say it fast...
Is this a rumor or proven? I seem to remember reading somewhere from an insider. Can anyone confirm? If this is true, I wonder what Morey would have done had Les given him the green light to tank.
Morey has said it himself, more than once, that Les did not want to tank. You remember, right? Morey never actually said he wanted to and was held back, rather just said it's the most proven method, and ppl read between the lines. I actually don't really buy it, because Morey seems to get a lot of satisfaction out of the challenge to retool via trades and mid, first rounds and second rounders. Actually, we should assume that Les made it clear at the hiring. And Morey chose the job with that condition. Easy (not you but the word): You just don't make the Scola trade and don't seek out Kevin Martin in the McGrady dump.
I don't exactly remember Morey said that Les did not want to tank. (Doesn't mean it did not happen. My memory is deteriorating.) I do remember he said that tanking had the best chances for rebuilding. I also remember him defending the no-tank strategy. I wouldn't be surprised that Morey wanted the challenge of rebuilding on the fly. I also wouldn't be surprised that Morey would go the "highest probability" route.
