Daryl Morey - this is your mess - get to work fixing it!

Lamb was a nobody when we made the trade. As a rookie at 13th pick, his stock was not near as high Beal at #3. Thompson had played one year and started close to 30 games - shooting better than 40% from three. I don't think Lamb was the centerpiece of our deal though. It was a quantity-for-quality type of deal. Martin was the most accomplished player, but OKC let him go after one year.

When all of the average Joe's here know enough to pull the trigger, I don't see why our GM gets credit for being SUPER SMART for pulling the trigger.

Somebody even almost predicted this possibility a little while before. That had been the strategy for a while - stockpile assets & then cash them in for a disgruntled star with leverage. Somebody started a thread in NBA Dish that this scenario could occur with Harden in OKC. The board's members are part-timers not getting paid anything, so start calling them SUPER SMART over that moreso than somebody who's full-time job is to do nothing but this.

 

They are clearly playing bad. Shooting poorly, playing bad D. It's happened all year, but the team is 7-5 under JB Bickerstaff. Figuring out a way to get a victory when you're playing like garbage is on coaching. I wouldn't give up on JB, he's doing some smart things. He's breaking slumps by running plays, he's getting the defense to put in an effort for spurts. He's going to be a good coach, I hope we don't run him off because we'll regret it.

 

Why do you keep saying this as if it's something everyone (especially Morey) doesn't already know?

It's like making a post saying that when our players shoot the ball they should aim for the basket. And when people say, "Um, DUH" you say "I REALLY mean it! They need to try to score points!"

A thousand times: DUH.

 

this is a very interesting point. over the summer i was a bit surprised hearing DM laud the team's WCF berth, and how the team was now of a certain high stature with what we had done. because in light of how we got there (as referenced by your post), it sort of reminded me of the old wall street adage about stockbrokers going broke themselves if they start to actually believe their own bullshht.

perhaps DM was just speaking to pump season ticket sales or to make the players feel good. but one thing that does concern me in the other direction is cyberx having told us it was in fact DM who convinced les to hold off on firing mchale for awhile. that does concern me indeed.

 

But that team had a ton of injuries.

Then we added Lawson.

There was every reason to expect that we'd be at least as good

 

Yeah that's true, chemistry is completely off both offensively and defensively

 

the talent was and is still here, but (imo) the system and coaching has always been suspect. i mean the offensive system in particular. yes, i know it's working great for GS, but they also have lights out shooters, great ball and player movement, and a free pass from the league to run moving screens both in the paint and on the perimeter.

but for us, i think there were clear signs in both the DAL and LAC series that things were a bit shaky. we also did benefit from injuries to both those teams as well. admittedly, with all the good DM has brought to this franchise, it hurts to question whether he has a full handle on the team's direction or not. but the problems we all see on the court have been coming up and recurring for years now. poor effort, disjointed offense, defensive lapses, blunders of unforced turnovers, etc we have seen all these going back to both the OKC and POR series, and certainly against both LAC and GS. and adding a lawson, or even a KD next summer -- still wouldn't be a fix-all remedy for all this.

again, DM is in a much better position than we as fans are to have all the answers for what ails us, with regards to system/coaches/players. i just hope he 'gets it' like a jerry west or pop or pat riley does and will identify and change whatever is necessary.

 

Other teams had injuries too. And Josh Smith was very important to the Rockets' success last year.

That said, I disagree that the problems with this team could be easily corrected by coaching. There seems to be a large contingent that thinks benching Harden when he has a bad night would solve everything. A) This isn't high school, and B) Who actually does that? Adelman didn't even do that crap with McGrady when he was single-handedly sabotaging a season. Pissing off your best player is a sure-fire ticket out of town for any coach. McHale put his ass on the line by doing it against LAC, was proven right, and still got the axe.

 

Van Gundy and Thibodeau hadn't done any more than JB when they became coaches either. The problem is that you think Harden needs someone to motivate him. That is a player issue, not a coach issue. What legendary player ever needed a coach to motivate him?

 

Clean this **** up, Moaree!

 

You actually think that coaches don't motivate star players? You've got to be kidding here. The right coach for the right star happens again and again and it often ends with a championship(s).

 

larry brown got iverson to play hard in practice

 

I agree that for this team, leadership has to come from the coach. Harden can be a #1 guy, but only if he has the right coach pushing his buttons.

That being said, I don't blame Morey for his decisions last summer. I never liked McHale, but it looked like he had gotten to be a competent coach last year, and we were coming off a great season. But after a terrible camp run by the coaching staff and players coming in out of shape, we were exposed.

Lawson's situation baffles me the most, sure we can get back to where we were last season, but it will never be good enough if Lawson isn't playing at a high level. I imagine that we'll cut/trade him, but then we need another creator next to Harden or our offense is still one-dimensional.

The window may have already closed, but Harden will be in his prime for four or five more seasons, so Morey has someone to build around. It's a tough job.

 

There's no way to prove that. At all.

 

Now you're being obtuse so there's no sense having this conversation. Peace, I'm out. Have a good day.

Go Rockets!

 

For ****s sakes.. please everyone stay healthy!!!