@MJ4Sports: Rockets GM @dmorey joins us at 830 this morning to preview Rockets/Lakers and breakdown the blockbuster trade...well part of this is true
recap......joined in progress..... DM: Ankle Rolls are one of those injuries that are hard to figure out, other injuries there are some advances, but ankle injuries are harder to predict, maybe that you had one in the past you are more likely to get one in the future, but if you are a big, you are going to get more of them. H: What is wrong with Chase, why are his shots off? DM: The main thing you learn on slumps like this, lots of great shooters go through this, Ray Allen missed 17 straight in the playoffs one year, we are really watching and working with Chase on how he responds, still attacks the basket, make the right passes, and compete on D, he has been fading a bit on his shot, and we are working on it, being a little off, he is working hard and we expect him to get out of it. H: Hill, what do you think of him and Courtney? DM: Courtney, very solid on D, on O, still trying to find his way, he has been in a lot of systems, he is still finding his way, we like it when he attacks, we like his spot shooting, his shots of the dribble are lower percentage than in the pass, and we are working with him on PnR offense as the ball is swung to him. H: You are hoping to get Yao back on Friday, what do you expect going forward you are 3 games out of the playoffs, what do you expect going forward? DM: Tough start, very dissappointing, we looked at it, after the OKC game figured we need to win about half of the tough 5, then we have about 10 games where we will be favored or close, so far, then we need to go on a tear. We can not focus on injuries, dissappointed we have not fought like in the past, we have to perform extrodinairly well, not 2 out of 3, but like 4 out of 5. Hard to talk about this when we have one of the worst records in the league but that is our focus, win some tough games then take off against some of the more winnable opponents. H: Defense, you said top 10, does getting Yao back make us better? DM: To get to the top 10 you need a presence in the middle, it is why we looked at Dampier, but even factoring that in, our defense has been unacceptable, we should be average when Yao is out, so that we can turn it round when he gets back. Not only do we not have much in the middle with Hayes, but our biggest issue right now is rebounding, when Scola or Chuck play the 4 with Yao we are top 5 rebounding, when one has to play the 5, we give up too many shots and we are not a good rebounding team. H: Do you still feel you have enough good defensive players...not at guard, and Battier has fallen off, and Scola is not good..... DM: Without Yao Ming, we are not going to be top 10 given our personel given our players and coaching staff, that said we have very good offensive players which we do, we should be strongly in the top 10 and that is not happening. I agree we will not be top 10 with Yao out, but on offense we have to be and should be to turn it around, and D should be average with Yao out. H: lakers tonight do you have a pre and post game tweet figured out? DM: Chuckle....no, it has been tough we have players that live and die with the fans, and I feel it is important to communicate with the fans, smart fans in Houston, like to keep the communcation high, think it is a cope out to communicate only when times are good. Can't tell what he will say...just take it as it goes. H: Do you turn off your phone when things are tough? DM: I have to talk with our owner, etc, maybe it could be like the Nyets owner who doesn't own a phone,....lol...no Mr. Alexander is a great owner, we have to communicate more when things are tough, obviously we are all talking a lot lately. H: Has the word rebuild been uttered? DM: No, we are constantly trying to turn it into a championship team being 5-12 we know it can turn around quickly, beeing in Boston we know it can turn quickly, we need to be ready if that happens. Every path has a tough way to win, we are taking the best strategy to win, does any strategy give you a great chance? No, only one team wins every year. H: Any humorous tweets...? DM: No, I don't want to be compared to Derek Andersen, lol....I am not going to shy away from communicate with the fans, I may start to retreat to the back during the games, because I have not been as presidential in these tough games, and I don't want to end up on Youtube etc....we are all living and dying with the team just like the fans...none of our decisions can be emotional, they need to be what is best for the team.... H: We can only win one tonight, so go beat the Lakers DM: OBviously they are going to be hungry, we usually play them tough hope to pull it out. ------------------------------ Sorry for any spelling errors.... DD
He said they could still be a championship team instead of a rebuilding one. He said thats how it was in boston when the kg opportunity presented itself. Bloody likely that happens ever again.
To be fair, Morey can't go on the radio and say "yes, rebuilding is a direction we are considering". Yao and Brooks being injuried are their crutch right now and until they see what happens with them both in the lineup, they probably won't do anything major. Saying that, come Decemeber 15th business will pick up.
Of course, absolutely, but the "let's build a championship team on the fly" strategy has not worked, and probably won't work given the current conditions in the NBA. Stars want to play together, and Stern has warned teams about one sided trades. That ship has sailed. Save the pick, and use it, or trade it for a franchise player, but don't try to patch things up with a borderline star, who'll cost us valuable assets, hurt our draft position, and not get us one inch closer to being a championship caliber team.
Can't disagree, I believe the exact same thing. Morey did say that they need to turn this around NOW and not wait for Yao/AB to return. Reading between the lines, they don't exepct Yao back for a while so by the time he gets back they should be buried and that might give him the excuse he needs to blow this bad boy up.
i hate these types of interviews.........A whole lot of nothing.I could have done that interview myself if that was the response Morey was going to give! He didnt specifically answer anything that would give anybody a idea of what is really going on (or anything we as fans want to know). Yao seemed to be brung up alot in this interview, and I dont think he will be as great of a factor on defense as he thinks. He will have a impact but with injuries and a decline in mobility i dont see yao being as dominant as he was in the past. He then referenced Boston??WTF does that have to do with our current situation. They attained 2 superstars and paired them with a current star on that team...unless he intends on pulling a similar move (which im all for) i didnt see the point in comparing us to them....Other than that is was as in forming as a PSA commercial..........IT IS WRITTEN.
I think that's an easy position for them to take considering how many ping pong balls we'll have in the draft. He'll say we're not rebuilding until he drafts a player worth rebuilding around. And thanks for the recap, DD.
Everyone use to think Morey was a GM sent from Heaven. Same thing about Obama. Now everyone thinks he sucks, include me.
If the Rockets are going to lose, they should lose big. If the NBA season ended today, we would not be favored to get a top three pick.
