Both his max payed stars went down with injury. After we shipped out TMac he was still building a team with 18 million dollars of dead cap in Yaos contract. One year after we finally shed Yaos cap number to start building on a level playing field we landed Harden. 1 year after that we land Dwight. Other than people's gripe about his coaching choices I really can't see what else there is to b**** about given the circumstances.
His take on Morey is hilarious, esp. that last throwaway line about "besides all these great things Morey has done"...that's like me saying Jordan is a terrible basketball player. I don't know what the hype is all about. Take away his 6 rings and what do you have? Let me know why others find him so great. lmfao
The fact that he was even able to scrap the team should be considered an accomplishment in and of itself, when you have teams like the Knicks that are consistently bad because they hand out bad contracts and lack the cap maneuverability to make any moves to improve their team. I don't think Morey has ever made a bad contract. Maybe you could argue Scola or Ariza, but Ariza got flipped for Courtney Lee, and Luis Scola deserved that contract.
I didnt say he was bad at all or am I bit%$ing ! im saying if you were a NBA fan just knew about teams and playoffs not GMS. If someone described morey to you, his stats and what he brought to basketball, his success over the years and you didnt know what team he was a GM, if you had to guess you would think it was heat, pacers, okc, spurs, lakers that person was talking about, that’s how people talk about morey.
In the end its all about results and Houston Rockets playoff record for the last decade or so speaks for itself. If the Rockets do not bring in results in the playoffs starting this year (I am not talking championships yet, just wining a couple of playoff series), then yes, objective rockets fans like myself will consider them a continuing failure.
Well, Ingram was right that Morey has his weaknesses (*cough* McHale *cough*), but Ingram was wrong dismissing all that Morey has done as a GM and judging his performance poor as a whole.
The "in the end it's all about the results" mentality misses the mark in terms of evaluating a GM's work. Of course going deep into the playoffs and winning the title is the goal of teams, but not look at circumstances facing the team is myopic if you are looking to evaluate a GM's work. Morey got hired in 2006, became the GM in 2007. To the extent that fans are frustrated about the team's performance before then, it's not on Morey, but rather on Rudy T, Carroll Dawson and Les Alexander, the guys actually in charge back then. Morey's job in the early years was to surround Yao and McGrady with talent when the team had little cap flexibility (with two max guys and players like Alston and Juwan Howlard on the payroll). He managed to add Battier (whether or not you want to credit/blame him for it), Scola, Landry, Brooks, Artest and Lowry during a 3 year period. The team didn't manage to go further in the playoffs because his two max players physically broke down, both in 2009 and in key stretches during prior seasons. After 2009, it took 3 years for Morey to find the next franchise player, another year to sign the 2nd one and the team is back on a 53-54 win pace so far. As far as NBA "rebuilding" jobs go, this is on the faster side of things whether you look at games that tanked for high picks or those that (more or less) did not. I would be disappointed if the Rockets don't go far in the playoffs this year, but I wouldn't think that Les Alexander would, say, fire Morey for doing a bad job if this happens.
A list of successful teams and how many years it took for them to rebuild. Rockets currently in Year 5 since our 2009 run. Pacers - 7 years since going 44-38 and going to EC semis and started to rebuild their team with Artest flaming out at the Palace OKC - 6 years between their last run with Allen and going to the 2nd round with Harden/Westbrook/KD. Yes, even with possibly the best 3-yr run in the history of drafting, it took them 6 years. Bulls - 13 years between MJ's retirement and going to the EC finals with Rose Miami - 4 years between the end of Mourning's team and start of Wade's dominance. Pat Riley is indeed a great and many times underrated GM. Also had the luck of having a top-5 pick in the greatest draft in recent memory, but still incredible. Spurs - 1 year. They did tank successfully for Duncan Clippers - Forever? GSW - Forever? Portland - 6 years if you count Roy/Aldridge Blazers to be back in contention. Otherwise, 13 years since the Jailblazers days Now, if 5 years is your benchmark, then your definition of failure would apply to most of the NBA. That seems a little a harsh IMO. Especially because teams that rebuilt in such times had incredible luck, aka hitting lottery jackpot, on their side.
Dear everyone. Morey's first team was built to complement Yao and McGrady. Once their bodies gave out, we had three choices: 1) Ride a roster of Lowry, Dragic, and Scola to where ever they would have taken us 2) Tear it down, tank, and hope for Anthony Davis 3) What he did: Rebuild on the fly I'll take this team over options 1 and 2 any day.
Ummmm....what? "When he finally figured out that you needed two superstars to be a postseason success....." He always knew that. He inherited a team that had a broken down Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, and after they were done he was constantly trying to find superstars. That is why the Rockets were mentioned in every rumor for every available superstar over the years (Dwight Howard when he was in Orlando, Carmelo Anthony when he was in Denver, Chris Bosh when he was in Toronto...etc). Morey continually said that he had to get a first star in order to attract the second one, which, by the way, was exactly what happened. "....he had to scrap the team in order to sign the second one." Really? He traded Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris and Thomas Robinson. That counts as 'scrapping the team?' "What he hasn't yet realized is that Dwight Howard is not a champion..." I am so sick of this excuse. True, Dwight Howard has never won a championship. Nobody criticized the Heat for getting Lebron when he hadn't won a championship before. Dwight Howard carried a Magic team to the Finals, which is far more postseason success than Chris Paul has ever had. Kevin Durant, who has been praised so much for his recent run in January, has exactly as many Finals appearances (1) and NBA championships (0) right now that Dwight has. "...and that fielding a team that won't defend is only going to get you bounced in the first round." Ok, now this is just getting ridiculous. This guy contradicts himself in the same sentence. Right after he said that Dwight Howard is 'not a champion' he criticizes Morey for not finding defensive players. If you are trying to build a better defense, getting the three-time DPOY Dwight Howard would be a good move. "If you can figure out why Morey is so smart let me know." Morey has admittedly made some mistakes. I think he would be the first one to tell you that. But, after losing the two stars that he acquired, to building a legitimate contender with two new stars, all without ever having a losing season and being in or close to making the playoffs and without ever having a top 5 draft pick to take, is pretty incredible. I am sure there are a lot of 'smart' GMs in the NBA, a lot smarter than I am, but I cannot think of a single example of that ever happening before. I've heard of Bill Ingram before, but I haven't really read anything from him. Now I can see why.
Take away his 6 rings and what do you have? This reminds me of Monta Ellis. And anytime I have a chance to post this video, I always do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G9yS2-x5sA (At the end of the day, the only he has that I don't have is more wins and 2 championships.)
Carl Herrera, No matter how you couch it, DO NOT EVER start a thread quoting that guy again. Even bad pub is good for him. I want to puke at the thought of you starting a thread about him. seriously. Now we're going to get CH copycat threads quoting that guy every time someone thinks he made a stupid comment
The Boston Celtics plan to sign swingman Chris Johnson for the rest of the season, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 6, 2014 another swingman gone from our vipers, hes been shooting 40% from 3 with the celtics and playing good defense his 10 games. Rondo said the other day to the media I hope we can sign him.
Y! Sources: The Boston Celtics will sign swingman Chris Johnson for the rest of the season. http://t.co/5HLCfga8sa
