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The Morey Single Barrel Bourbon Special

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by jtr, Nov 21, 2012.

  1. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    As many of you know I write posts. As some of you know when I drink I start threads. And before I get immersed in a knock down critique of Morey, I would like to say that I am a staunch supporter of the Rockets organization.

    Morey. Where should I start? While I sincerely respect the man he does constantly pi** me off. Let me start by saying that this is Morey's organization. Don't ever doubt it. Morey requires complete control of assistant coaches to be in the hands of the front office. What does that mean? It means that McHale is the coaching staff's face of the organization. A job he is well suited for. Post game interviews, radio shows and so on. What it does not mean is more interesting. Essentially, McHale is not the head coach. The coaching staff is not McHale's. Coaching decisions are not McHale's they are Morey's. He hired the staff and only he can fire them. McHale took a marginalized position and was good with it. But can Morey handle that many aspects of a NBA organization? I have some doubts.

    Morey is caught between two development paradigms. He cannot completely tank - the players are proud and will not play to lose. No Bobcats record for the Rockets. However Morey has put the franchise into the uncomfortable position of trying to compete for wins without really caring if they do win. On the other side of that, he has not just called up D-Mo, White and Machado to serve as the second team. He refuses to make the decision to play the rookies, but lowers the lottery odds against the Rockets. The fans are confused. There seems to be no discernible direction to the franchise. Morey needs to decide soon.

    I have many other beefs with the GM:

    What the heck is his infatuation with drafting power forwards? If I were Freud I might make assumptions ... But it is driving me crazy.

    If Morey really wanted to compete for an 8th seed he would have signed Livingston. He didn't so naturally I would expect a tanking stance for the team. But it seems like they are trying to win with TD. So there is much confusion on my part. What the heck is the point of that strategy?

    People wonder why Morey did not try to sign a big name coach. Well big name coaches tend to be dictatorial megalomaniacs. There is room for only one of those on this team. And ours is Morey. So Adelmaniac had to go. Morey's way or the highway.

    I personally wonder if the Rockets pass the bus test. For those of you who have not heard of it before, it is a tech company legend. "If a key employee steps in front of a bus, could you replace him"?

    OK. I have more to say but the post is getting to long. Best to all of you and a great Thanksgiving too!

    Added: Modified to reflect that Morey requires complete control of assistant coaches to be in the hands of the front office and not Morey required McHale to retain the coaching staff.

    PS I am a HUGE Morey fan. It is his organization and I am good with it.
     
    #1 jtr, Nov 21, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2012
    1 person likes this.
  2. durvasa

    durvasa Contributing Member

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    From where did you learn that Morey makes the coaching decisions, and not the head coach?
     
  3. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    I do not think that it is an incredible leap of logic to assume that if Morey required McHale to keep the coaching staff, he was in control of the coaching. At least on the macro level. I do not believe that Morey would ever impinge or try to dictate the pass or the shot or the spacing or the rotations. The granularity is to small. But if he comes with an "I need to see ..." I can see the entire coaching staff scurrying around trying to give him the answer. Or how about the "I want to see if TD can handle crunch time" question? That is the level of decision making I was referencing.
     
  4. durvasa

    durvasa Contributing Member

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    Not saying its a leap to think that's what is going on. Its possible. There just isn't any evidence for it that I'm aware of.
     
  5. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    It is a BIG leap of logic.
     
  6. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    I prefer a single malt Scotch, myself. As for Morey, I'm still ticked off about Adelman, especially considering who replaced him, but Alexander might be more responsible for that than some might want to believe. In my humble opinion, of course.
     
  7. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    How would we ever know? NBA organizations are incredibly secretive if they are well run. And there is only room for one dictatorial megalomaniac in an organization. I am pretty sure it is not McHale.
     
  8. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    I completely agree about the single malt scotch. But we all have to leave the reservation sometime.
     
  9. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    Indeed. I cast a wide net myself.
     
  10. kuku

    kuku Contributing Member

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    Why would Morey jeopardize his GM job by involving himself in coaching decisions? If McHale fails, it's on him. Morey will survive into next coaching tenure if he doesn't go all in on Mchale. I don't see Morey is suicidal and foolish enough with McHale!
     
  11. flamingdts

    flamingdts Member

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    Going by that logic, then who is to say that Les Alexander isn't the one who is telling Morey to make all these decisions?
     
  12. larsv8

    larsv8 Contributing Member

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    Coaching staffs are interesting.

    You can either take an established coach and bring on all of that coaches staff or hire a new one and build your own staff. We know Morey is interested in "developing" Finch into our head coach, but likely thinks he is not ready. Solution? Hire a coach in the mean time who doesn't have a staff and is willing to have his staff chosen for him, while grooming Finch to take over eventually.

    McHale was brought on because he is a name, a good personality and a company man. We put a "dream team" of assistant coaches around him and eventually Finch will take over when he is ready.

    I see nothing wrong with this. You develop a good young coaching staff, just like you do a player. It will pay off in the long run.

    I loved Adelman, but he would not put Finch on his staff and he likely was going to be too old to coach by the time we were ready to contend.

    You are thinking short term, Rockets are thinking long term.

    If fans are confused then frankly they aren't paying attention because the direction of the franchise is clear as day. Everything is about building a contender which is getting star players....everything. Making the playoffs on any given year is always a secondary objective.

    Machado, D-Mo and Royce are in the D-league so they can be developed. Everyone has this mistaken perception that a player can only be developed by playing on an NBA court. This just isn't the case. Going to the D-league allows these guys to have the offense go through them and really refine their skills. Sitting on the bench and playing garbage time in the NBA does next to nothing for them.

    They draft BPA, simple as that. If they all happen to be PFs, then so be it. There is no prize for having a balanced roster.

    You trade for and sign free agents for fit, you always draft BPA...always.

    Not sure how you can be critical of our drafting, as it has been excellent.

    Again, playoffs are a secondary objective. Livingston was a non-guaranteed contract and Douglas wasn't. This opens up cap space to absorb a significant player at the deadline and possibly pick up an asset in the process. Its pretty straight forward.

    Morey asked Adelman to put Finch on his staff, he said no. It was a reasonable request. All your added amateur psychology diagnosis lacks any real basis.

    I don't know what this means or how it is relevant.

    Bottom line is our team is very well run and is on the right path.
     
    2 people like this.
  13. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    Serious criticism but I do so enjoy it.

    How often does a team hire a head coach and insist that they retain the coaching staff? Certainly that does not work with high profile coaches. And what exactly does that say to the new head coach? Does it put them in in their place immediately?

    I do not know if Finch is being groomed for the head coach position. I have never heard a quote from Morey that that was so. But I do not agree. I think it is McHale for the long term. For many of the reasons you enumerated above.

    I do not thing that playoffs are even a tertiary consideration. Which raises many more questions.

    Do you really think that NBA teams stack rank players from 1-60 in the draft? No. They bucket players. Last year Davis was the only person in the first bucket. The next bucket had Lilliard, MKG, Robinson ... As you move down the draft the buckets get bigger. So my position is that Morey has had a big bucket to choose from. And he has always chosen the PF.
    I do not disagree at all with your statements. But my question is if you choose not to retain Livingston then why not tank for real? If you have TD as the backup PG you are heading to the Lottery. And if you are then why not play a rookie (bad) second team? Gets the rookies lots of NBA experience and increases your standing in the lottery.

    It is an inside tech start up joke. Probably not appropriate given the audience.

    I totally agree. This is a lottery season, but the future is bright.
     
  14. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    Either way if McHale fails it is on him.
     
  15. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    Demanding that a coach of Rick Adelman's stature put a particular coach on his staff, and replace someone he hand picked, most likely, was absurd. There was nothing "reasonable" about it. In my opinion. Go tell Pat Riley or Phil Jackson who to put on their staff sometime. They would just laugh.
     
  16. larsv8

    larsv8 Contributing Member

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    Yes, when you change the word "ask" with the word "demand", and also "add" with "replace" it does go from reasonable to absurd.
     
  17. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    You're making a pointless argument. Because Adelman is nowhere near Phil Jackson or Pat Riley's level, and hence don't deserve special treatment afforded to such coaching legends. Nor did the Rockets have so much talent that they must choose stability above all else.

    If we fired Adelman with healthy Yao/T-Mac? I'd be pissed. If we really fired Pat Riley? I'd also be pissed. But we were firing a coach that took a team with average talent and made them a .500 team. THAT is the coach we fired. Not some made up powerhouse Bulls/Lakers/Knicks teams you're implying.
     
  18. kuku

    kuku Contributing Member

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    Not if it was Les hire.
     
  19. jimmyv281

    jimmyv281 Member

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    During the interview process the rockets cast open a wide net of canadits for head coach and I remember Morey saying " we are looking for a Leader among men" is Mchale really a leader among men?
     
  20. LCII

    LCII Contributing Member

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    I feel like McHale is just Morey's puppet
     

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