Kind of weird how we're back where we were 2-3 seasons ago...

Sometimes all it takes is a mere sentence or two when you post something silly.

 

Have an actual take bro. You don't have to like what I say, but if you are going to respond at least come with a substantive take other than "you're stupid" or "you're silly".

 

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What is there to say if you actually think morey overlooks the draft? That seems to not describe morey's way of thinking at all and he has been here for like 10 years.

Honestly, isn't you're silly better then you're stupider?

 

It's more amusing that a summer ago we were discussing how we were going to be able to afford DMo and the whole DMo vs TJones debate.

 

Rockets fans: Just lost in our little heads contemplating life..

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inexplicably, the roster is even worse than when Harden was signed

what do you even call this?

The best that can be said about that is very little dead money.

But we are completely wasting Harden's prime years.

OTOH, you don't want to pull an Otis Smith and overpay for trash FAs out of panic.

 

The problem is we're constantly retooling or rebuilding. We wound up getting only two decent years out of the Harden/Howard tandem(2014 and 2015) and one of those resulted in yet another first round knockout thanks in large part to the lousy coaching hire of McHale by Morey and Les.

Now here we are back at square one, probably worse off than we were when Harden first arrived. And unless we get very lucky in free agency, this is likely to be a wasted year followed by even worse seasons to follow once Harden is either traded or bolts for nothing if Les is too stubborn to deal him.

Teams go through down years. I get that. But what I'm sick and tired of during the Les Alexander era(post-Dream, anyway) is how we're seemingly always suffering through these down years. Sometimes it's due to injuries like after the 2009 postseason when Yao hurt his foot and T-Mac was recovering from microfracture. But for the most part, it's due to Les' stubborn refusal to do a proper rebuild using the draft.

Notice how the Thunder have made it to the Western Conference Finals 4 out of the last 6 years? Why is that? Because they stunk for several years and built a solid core of Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka through the draft. The roleplayers are constantly changing, but that trio was there for that entire run. The Warriors are now on the verge of a similarly lengthy run of even greater dominance. They've been to the Finals 2 straight years thanks to the core they drafted of Curry, Thompson, Barnes, and Green, and they're likely to make it that far many more times barring injuries.

This is what I want as a Rockets fan. I don't want a team that's constantly relying on hitting a home run in free agency every couple years in order to maintain contender status. Because it's been proven more often than not that doesn't work. If you build through the draft, you get a potential star player at a very young age and a much cheaper contract for several years which means you could be contending for a title for up to a decade and possibly even longer. Wouldn't it better to head into free agency every summer only having to worry about signing role players to surround your superstar(s) with rather than being totally reliant on luring a superstar(or two) here?

 

Pretty much every team is retooling itself every few years. OKC gave a mad to Kanter last year and just traded Ibaka. The Spurs added LMA and West after Leonard became a star. Boston acquired Isaiah Thomas and like 17 draft picks.

Pretty much every team suffers through down years. Just looks at the TWolves history since KG. Or Suns post Nash. Or Magic post Howard. Look at the Blazers, how many times have they retooled since Brandon Roy?

You don't seem to be saying anything that specifically pertains to the rockets. For every OKC, there's a King, Twolves, Suns, Magic, and Bucks team that is spinning it wheels. What OKC did is clearly not replicable easily. Or SAS or GSW.

 

Do you actually remember that lineup in Harden's first year? Maybe wait until after free agency to make exclamations about our lineup.

 

I don't disagree that there are plenty of teams that are constantly in rebuild mode. But I thought we were supposed to be this great franchise that everyone wants to play for. When you're forced to compare us to the Kings, Magic, and Bucks, that explains why we can't even get a sitdown with Durant.

As to your specific examples, the Blazers actually did a remarkable job rebuilding quickly after losing Aldridge. They've been to the second round twice in the last 3 years. The Rockets haven't managed that feat in nearly 20 years.

Regarding the Spurs, they've had a core of Duncan, Parker, and Manu since 2002. The role players and stars around them have changed during that timeframe, but they've always been at least a playoff team with those three on the roster.

Same with OKC. Aside from seasons where there were injuries to their stars, they've been a fixture in the Western Conference Finals(or Finals in 2012) since drafting Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka. I realize Ibaka is now gone, but they got some solid players in return and have cap space to sign another 4.

I'll keep saying it til I'm blue in the face. Until Les(or another owner who buys the team off of him) is willing to build patiently through the draft, we're gonna suffer through these constant rebuilds with almost no postseason success to show for it.

 

Well what do you expect Morey to say? Are we some great franchise? Not on the level of the LAL or Celtics. We aren't a big market or destination city except for retired athletes. However, we aren't Salt Lake City or Portland or Milwaukee or Phoenix.

It seems you can't tell the difference between marketing and reality.

I was using those teams as an example for those who get boners of building through the draft. How many years of abysmal tanking did it take for Philly to acquire a player who maybe elite without being injured?

Well if the Rockets got lucky and had their first round team loss two superstars to injuries like what happened to the Clippers in their Blazer's series then you'd have a point. From my perspective, the Blazers over achieved and the Rocket's underachieved.

However, context is tricky thing. I don't see the Blazers having a brighter future unless they acquire a very impactful free agent.

So they constantly retool around the best players, two of their core who will retire much sooner than later.

So they are constantly retooling around their two best players as well. We tried to build around Harden and Howard but that didn't work so we are re-tooling around Harden.

The draft is no guarantee against that, you do realize that?

Are fans going to be patient to suffer through half a decade of prospects who don't amount to postseason success?

I see pitfalls and no guarantees for anyway you build a team.

 

Well ask yourself just how crucial has Howard been to the Rockets the last two seasons?
And the only guy rumored to not grant the Rockets a meeting is a guy who was a long shot anyway.

In case you were unaware, Les has always been "involved" so to me that's nothing more than another manufactured gripe for the constant bellyachers around here.
As for Harden, I don't get into the rumors and such. I leave that for the TMZ set. My only concern is that he continues to grow as a player and perform at an elite level.

Look, I know that those who want to complain will do so regardless so I'm not trying to dissuade you from having your gripe-fest.
I just find it amusing how quickly some "fans" turn tail.

 

Turning tail would be not watching anymore. I re upped on my half season tickets.

Dwight was crucial in our WCF run. He was our second best player. Flawed yes but still won't be easy to replace.

I don't like meddling owners. When they get involved it sucks, this has been proven many times. Maybe Les isn't meddling more than usual, but the concern is legit. I trust Morey on basketball decisions but not Les.

Then again we could be like Texans fans. Rarely complain, always drink the kool aid, always sell out the stadium, ans always watch a mediocre team. (I am a Texans fan, it's worse).

 

The results are on your side. We said this would happen if Morey kept going down this path 2-3 years ago and it happened.

Instead of understanding it, many posters like the one you are quoting are fighting reality instead of trying to understand it.

 

Spare me your hindsight. It would great if he could find your post from 2-3 years

What are you talking about? We got the biggest free agency of that year in Dwight Howard, a player that was sought after by nearly everyone with the ability to add him. What is there to understand aside from it didn't work?

What's so special about building through the draft? Seems like you are just as likely to end up being mediocre that way as well. You folks completely overlook how much luck is required in the draft.

I don't expect you to actually respond as you tend to not stick around when opinions upset you.

 

I'm glad McHale is gone but let's not pin this on him. It's not his fault we had players still recovering from injuries and wasn't able to practice when camp started. It wasn't his fault that one of our Superstars showed up to camp out of shape. It's not his fault we keep retooling instead of drafting our core team like those two teams you mentioned above.

The problem is and has always been Morey.

 

Yes we may be where we were 2-3 years ago but that doesn't negate the fact that we did the right thing 2-3 years ago by signing Howard. This is what you do you take calculated risks and sometimes they pay off and other times they don't. In the end, Howard made us a much better team and you can prove that by the regular season record the first two seasons as well as the western conference finals appearance.

 

You're not a Texans fan anymore Mr. Clutch. Bwhahaha

 

I'm sorry that I won't address your entire post (but you were on ignore in the first place---so not that sorry). This argument has been had more times than you can imagine. count_ knows this as well. The whole Morey swinging for the fences when he could have added legitimate 3pt threats to surround Harden and Howard has been beaten to death. The argument given by the rest of the board was "if we don't have 3 stars like the prophecy we won't have a chance." And just like it did play out, surrounding our then core with a better cast would have been the best option out there. We clung on to Asik when many of us were pleading to trade him for Lee/Bass + pick and the Morey crowd scoffed at such a bargain. In the end we were left with Decker--since Morey loves those bad backs. Of course, that was just one of many examples of his blunders.

Now the same crowd that was rubbing Morey's knob and attacking me for my stance is all angry that they were wrong? There is something you need to understand, every core (excluding youngins drafted together like Durant/WB) has about 3 good years, and if you have those 3 years to contend injury free you should count your blessings in the NBA and do w.e you can to surround them with the best players possible. Holding out year after year and keeping flexibility for a mythical fish is not going to happen. It is r****d logic, as the results now prove.

I don't need to waste any of my time digging up old posts, most of the posters here knew my stance then and know it now. Find any thread relating to the matter and you will see count, myself, Freak, cheke and others stating just that.