It's nice that you give Morey credit for doing the hardest thing in the NBA- obtaining All-NBA talent. Jesus, the Rockets lost a top 10 player in the league for no compensation in the middle of his career in Yao and had another top tier player in McGrady fall off the face of the planet over night. The fact that Morey was able to keep the team winning, collect assets and manage cap-space in order to obtain another top 20 wing, center combination without having a pick higher than the #12 is almost unprecedented for a market like Houston. Think about the roster the Rockets had only two years ago. I think you and lot of people around here are seriously misguided about this.
Some hierarchy in the West has to change. Spurs have to get worse and one team out of OKC, Clippers, Blazers too. It is not that easy. There is no stop to trying outbest contenders by accumulating stars. You cannot outdo their chemistry. Heat have the best talents in the world and were beat by Spurs and Mavs. Both those teams are in the West (Mavs not so much now). You get the picture.
There is no doubt that the demise of Yao and TMac were huge hits for any GM attempting to build a franchise. I understand that. I also understand that Morey has worked some magic, but the proof is in the pudding. Can he put it "all" together and get past the first round? Getting Harden and Howard is a huge first step. Building a good supporting cast like Riley did is hard to do while still managing all the financial issues. We don't know what "behind the scenes" distractions he might have to deal with like Les wanting Lin for promotional purposes. We are all still trying to get back to that "championship feeling" we experienced in the 90's and expectations are understandably high and somewhat unrealistic.
This **s kissing is disgusting. Those "stars" lost to the Trailblazers in the 1st round. One first round win since 1997!!! and people are bragging about the GM. Unbelievable!
I think it's cute that you think Riley built a good supporting cast. That's the one thing he's pretty terrible at, and he was terrible at it during the Shaq/Wade era. The only great support player they've had was Lebron's creepy uncle, Ray Allen and 5 minutes a year of Mike Thunder Killer Miller.
So how could he technically be the "best GM in the NBA" if those franchises are better than we are? The Blazers have had it worse than us, yet they have a better team?. Seems all this praise Morey's got is forced on us..... Good GM......But has a LONG way before I'll give him that genius title. This offseason is make or break
It depends on how you judge a GM. Take baseball as a comparison for a moment: Team A is up 1 run, pitching with runners on first and second. A lefty comes up to bat. Two scenarios break out: 1) Manager goes and gets his lefty reliever who is murder on lefties 2) Manager sticks with his right hander who has been dominated by lefties all year long including that day. If the Manager picks #1 but the lefty gives up a homerun, did he make the wrong choice? If he picks #2 and the hitter drives one deep into rightfield but the outfielder makes a game saving catch did he make the smart choice? All you can ask your GM to do is make the smart decision. It working out right is dependent on other factors. I'm happy with a GM that will make the smart decision most of the time.
Didn't we play the Lakers in the second round under Morey? Or you specifically referring to this current team? I see no reason why won't be able to get out of the second round as last year was the first year we should have advanced. I don't think anyone here believed we could have truly beat the Thunder two seasons ago in the 1st round.
I'm a huge morey supporter, but the fact he didn't hold Mchale accountable to his horrendous coaching in the playoffs disappoints me. The guys who actually play for him claim they like him and he's a great coach, so maybe as an outsider looking in I'm misguided. Who knows...
Here you go... General Manager: Ray Patterson, May 1972 – September 1989. Jun 19, 1984 - The Houston Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuwon in Round 1 with Pick 1 in the 1984 NBA Draft. “You talk about operating on a shoestring, Ray did a great job in the early days,” said former longtime Rockets executive Carroll Dawson. “He built a place for basketball in a football state. He was the right guy at the right time. He was always on top of things.” General Manager: Steve Patterson (son of Ray), September 1989 – August 1993 Feb 21, 1990 - Vernon Maxwell was acquired by the Houston Rockets from the San Antonio Spurs in a trade. Jun 27, 1990 - The Houston Rockets acquired the Draft Rights to Carl Herrera from the Miami Heat in a trade. Jun 27, 1990 - Kenny Smith was acquired by the Houston Rockets from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade. Aug 22, 1990 - Matt Bullard signed a contract with the Houston Rockets. Jun 24, 1992 - The Houston Rockets selected Robert Horry in Round 1 with Pick 11 in the 1992 NBA Draft. Sep 25, 1992 - Scott Brooks was acquired by the Houston Rockets from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade. Jun 30, 1993 - The Houston Rockets selected Sam Cassell in Round 1 with Pick 24 in the 1993 NBA Draft. General Manager: Carroll Dawson, May 1996 – May 2007
Dawson wasn't the GM but he still had his hand in the cookie jar. From my understanding Dawson is the guy who talked Rudy T into taking the head coach job when Rudy felt he wasn't ready and taught him everything he knew about coaching.
The problem with Morey is that he's trying to put lipstick on a pig. Harden and Howard are the lipstick and McHale is the pig and until he fixes the coaching position _ he's just chasing his tale.
Morey doesn't think so. According to him it was a "coin flip" and coaching isn't a priority. But when it's all said and done, Portland's best 2 players collectively outplayed our best 2. They won. They are a better team than we are
More like the pig is the organization and it's history of first round exits and injured superstars in the past 10 or 20 years.
Terrible logic. Ask any one outside of Portalnd in the NBA, whether it be a writer or whatever, they are going to tell you The Rockets are better than Portland. Things to consider. Being better doesn't mean you win 100% of the time. The best team never wins every game. Ever. Hell it doesn't even have to mean you win 75% of the time. You can be better and win 51% of the time, which means you have a chance of losing 49% of the time. Portland beat us in a series, but that does not equate to being better. The better team has lost plenty of times in sports, it doesn't automatically make the winner better. Does anyone really believe the Giants who beat the undefeated Patriots were the better team? Hell freakin no, but they did win THAT game. No one and I mean no one believes Poetland is going to be better than The Rockets next year. Vegas won't have them winning more games than us, all the websites won't have them projected to win more games than us.
Terrible logic? Lmao. Portland won because they had the BETTER team. It's simple. San Antonio beat Miami because they had a BETTER group of players than Miami. I'm not sure what better logic you expect lol. The BETTER team always beats the less better team in a playoff series. Mchale's terrible, but the biggest difference: Aldridge/Lillard>Howard/Harden
