Daryl Morey on 790

He should not step down, he needs to step UP and grow some balls!

 

aka - He needs to get PP in the off season!!

 

Morey is the No. 1 BOF.

Many people will cry nonstop seeing Bev staying as a Rockets next season.

 

Adam's questions are smart, and funny. Adam was also joking about Kato on the radio this morning, concerning on the fact that the rockets overpaid him. It was fun.

 

Missed Morey's talk today. Recap please?

 

Nothing worthwhile.

http://www.sports790.com/media/podc...ts-beat-the-pelicans-dwights-return-25919047/

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On USA soil?

I'm back. I know everyone's excited.

Win is great but thoughts on Dwight's first game back?

To get back, you gotta have your first game back. Immediately, the defense is what we missed the most and attention he gets in the paint on offense but defensively, right away, was affecting things. It'll take him a couple of games to get him back to where he was (minutes wise). The doctors are having us bring him back slowly. We're excited. To make a deep run, we need him back and as close to 100%.

(3rd Q/Dwight)...There were opportunities to post up and work hard in the post but it was like he was avoiding that for now. Any sense of "Hey, let's get him acclimated and let him get his wind back?"

We want him to seal guys. Pablo had a nice pass for a dunk. He sealed a couple guys and our guys missed him. There's no plan of "Let's get him the ball, let's not get him the ball." We want him to be in the flow of the offense and get back to 100%. No intentionality to any sort of how many times he'll get the ball or anything like that.

Almost like a cruel joke: Howard back, Jones with a collapsed lung and Beverley out. Is it up to Beverley to play through it?

Still gathering info. Will see another opinion tomorrow. We'll sit down once we have all that info and decide what the plan is from there. Not to dodge the question but we don't feel like we have all the info.

You have (veteran) depth back there with Terry and Prigioni, with a healthy Dwight and James, it's not as big of a concern as it could have been.

Anytime you lose a starter it's a big deal. Opponents in the playoffs have athletic guards. We'll be asking a lot of Terry and Prigioni and whatever other lineups coach throws out there to handle some of these guards. It's a blow if we don't get good news from the doctors but there is still a chance he can go. We're doing what we've done all year. We've missed the most games of injury of anybody in the West. ...

(Harden's passing) We've seen exactly who he is with the ball in his hands not only as a scorer but getting others involved.

Some of it is practice, practice, practice. He's getting so many defensive looks thrown at him that he knows the pattern of where the help is coming all the time now. Dwight was only able to play 16 minutes, so we had Joey in there who did a solid job of anchoring things but he's not the best offensive player but James was able to make passes to him near the hoop in stride where he can go up and finish. Those passes are extraordinarily difficult. It's a great point you make.

 

Repped for the effort. Thanks.

 

Morey on ESPN Radio:

Quite a comeback from your team, quite a move up the ladder. What do you see from this group, to what do you attribute the resilience?

Thanks for having me on. A murderer's row of hosts. This is impressive. In terms of how we managed through this, we have a next man up mentality. We've had the most injuries to starters of any playoff team. James Harden, his MVP campaign has kept us afloat. Key guys, acquisition wise, have stepped up. One area not talked about is Coach McHale. He has these guys prepared every night, weathered these injuries, mixing and matching, so many different lineups and rotations. It was disappointing to see him ranked so low in the ESPN rankings this week.

Stein: I only do power rankings, so you can't complain to me. ... On the Patrick Beverley front, what kind of hope are you clinging to? Where do things stand?

Still evaluating. We'll come to a decision tomorrow on whether he'll have surgery now or later. It looks like the injury will require surgery at some point. There are different factors and second opinions we're still gathering. We'll see how that comes down tomorrow.

If he's not able to return, what does that do for the ceiling of your team?

We think we can win the title with or without Beverley. Obviously gets more challenging without Beverley. He's the key to guarding these good point guards in the West but with a full strength Dwight Howard and James Harden...we'll get Terrence & Donatas back in time for the playoffs, with hopefully a few games to get them tuned up. We feel good. We won't go in the as the favorite, Golden State gets to be called the favorite. The Golden State training staff has not talked about enough. They've been healthy and that showcased everyone in Golden State. We won't go in as the favorite but feel we can beat anyone in a 7 game series. We're excited to get going with the playoffs.

Windhorst: You did give McHale a contract extension so I'm sure he feels appreciated where it really matters. You've been very outspoken about James' candidacy for MVP. You don't have to sell me but what have you seen, the overall maturation of his game?

Every year he adds something new. Every year we go "What else can he add?" This year was no different. He said "I want to become more of a leader of the team." He said 3 things: become a leader of the team, improve on the defensive end and improve on ability to attack the basket with his right hand. He has aced all three, which is surprising. On ceilings, sometimes guys find a ceiling. We're still finding James Harden's ceiling, which is pretty exciting. On USA basketball, he was the leader of that team. Coach K put it on him early. He has really stepped up the whole year. He had a key block today to put us in 2nd position here with us and Memphis fighting it out for that spot.

Amin: The defensive improvement is the big story, team defense as a whole. Other than the personnel moves, what can you point to?

I really point to Coach McHale and J.B. Bickerstaff. Last year, we were middle of the pack and that wasn't going to cut it if you want to be a championship contender. We wanted top 5, right now we sit top 5. We lost Coach Kelvin Sampson to UH. After interviewing candidates for that spot, he said there is no one better than J.B. Bickerstaff. I'll put this on him and we'll work together and make a better defense. Coach Bickerstaff studied teams in the league, studied what he wanted to do, studied our personnel, and we worked with McHale and Bickerstaff on the type of acquisitions we needed to make that improvement. With Dwight out more than half the season, to be top 5 is really impressive. We feel we can be the top defensive team in the playoffs once we get Dwight back to playing 30-40 minutes a night.

Amin: One big criticism of your team, Harden's game, a lot of fans don't like a lot of his scoring ability is his ability to get to the line and convert from there. When it comes to the playoffs, we've seen year in and year out, refs tend to be less giving with the whistle. How concerned are you of that, that your offense is based on him getting to the line or that threat?

I'm glad you asked. It's something brought up. James Harden has the ability to beat his man better than anyone in the league right now. You don't have anything until you can beat your man or command a double team. Everything else is switching and forcing things. He has the unique ability every team is looking for. The idea he relies on the ref is just the idea that everyone relies on the refs. If you can beat your man to the hoop, and they're gonna hammer you before you shoot it, that's gotta be called a foul. On refs tightening up in the playoffs, that's not something we're concerned about. His ability to beat his man is still unique and still better than most of our competitors in the West. At the end of the day, he's also one of the best finishers in the league. If they don't call the foul, he'll beat his man and either collapse the paint and kick it out or finish. Regardless of whether the refs are calling games correctly or not, his ability will carry us through.

Amin: Sounds like you're taking shots at the ref!

No, they've generally done a good job this year. We've had prominent counter examples but it's been pretty good this year.

Stein: Dwight has the minutes restriction. How confident are you that you can play him into the 30s and he'll be able to take something closer to a full shift?

Obviously no one knows for sure, that's why we're bringing him back slowly but so far, 3 games in, he's been solid. Back to backs might be challenging as he's initially back here but long term and through the playoffs, we feel good about it. We're a different team with him. We feel we can be a top defense with him in the playoffs anchoring it.

 

Morey on 790 right now

He basically said that TJ's Rolls Royce impersonation is very precautionary and not entirely necessary.

Also he listens to Kendrick Lamar and dropped "...don't kill my vibe" LOL

 

04/02/2015 - Daryl Morey on 790 a few minutes back . Just a recap as per what I heard. Nothing major perse.

790: Daryl, as we welcome you this week, I'd liek to know how it feels to have obtained the future MVP for guys like Lamb, 1st rounder, Martin carcass

DM: We're just happy to have him. I don't focus too much. At the tiem we ave up quite a bit. A lot of those things didn't move well for oKC

790: He is doing it so often now - 33 30 point games, 9 40 point games and 2 50 point games. You needed all of it

DM: Yeah we needed all of it. I was havign a tough time enjoying it since it was a free path to the hoop for them. It's one of those games with an up and down style and very free flowing. We like to hang our hat on D a bit more so it was frustrating at times.

790: Is TJ a bit lighter now than when he first came back? He looks leaner.

DM: When you're out that long, players don't ahve much else to do so they put lot of time in the weight room. He now has lost lot of that water weight and looks good to me. People are making a deal out of him not being available to fly. Nothing major, it's one of those precautionary things. I was going to join TJ driving up to Dallas but he said thanks but no thanks "i'm just going to sleep"

790: In that draft, you had TJ, Lamb and Royce White. SO you ended up with one guy out the league, one guy who you packaged for Harden and TJ obviously. How often does it happen you get the productivity you're getting out of TJ at that position?

DM: Yeah Lamb 12, White 16 and TJ 18. I'd say about 1 in 8 or something. We have a tough competition for our 3rd palce player right now after Dwight and James. You can definitely argue for TJ. He is a two way player who is obviously skilled offensively but has improved defensively too.

790: What happened with TJ early in his career? Was it a maturity issue?

DM: Yeah I thought TJ could have played in his first season but we have a development program as you can see with Capella. Kind of like baseball. id id have other GM's tell me "what are you doing with TJ down in the D League?"

790: With the Beverley injury, when you were signing JET and PP in the minor trade deadline deals, I don't think you thought they'd play such pivotal roles.

DM: Reality is every playoff team has some injury with GSW being an exception. You just hope that you're depth can weather it and we just hope that with JET and PP we can weather the storm and our depth can carry us. Next man up and let's do it. Both JET and PP have done well so far.

790: It worked well for you with the win yesterday and Dwight good to go tonight.

DM: Dwight and James circled this game against Dallas and with home court at stake we probably need to win 4 out of 7. Probably some former players and the I-45 rivalry.

 

Do these radio interviews take call ins? I need to tell his ****** to get off the air.

 

He is only there because he is compelled to do a 8 minute segment every week. Leave it to Morey, and he'd be stuffing his face with double cheese burgers elsewhere

 

Yall some cold dudes

 

Why do you and cheke64 even post? Just to try and get a rise out of people?

That's pretty lame. I feel sorry for you.

 

Morey can talk on the radio and eat at the same time because he got an IV that injects grease into his veins from the Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute. It's where he goes to get burger.

 

As a missionary mormon philantropist, it pains me to wee people get treated like assets

 

so you guys think DM is comfortable with our PG situation in the playoffs? the jet against either lillard, rondo, cp3, parker, wess, curry and conley?

 

He really values that position. He threw an offer at Sergio Lulz to come and play for us.

 

lmao.