This has already been beaten to death in the GARM, several times, since Mchale was hired. The bottom line is we're doing A LOT better than most fans and media would have predicted. We've got a star, finally. Want to blame Morey? For what, for knowing we had to play this way to compete at a higher level?
Not a big McHale fan, but don't think he is atrocious either. I like how quickly Beverley had been used. I think he needs one more wing in rotation to keep Harden fresh. Playing Harden a lot won games, but he is out of juice right now.
They also won 45 games with the steve and cat show. That team was pretty talentless beyond those two.
Where was this thread when the team was 21-14? Oh wait, no where to be found. Young teams have ups and downs, and this is true of the Rockets.
Too much of a good thing isn't a good thing. To take advantage of Harden's terrific passing for a SG is a great thing. To make him the de-facto PG of the team with defenses keying on him already, and him not being able to run an offense properly (despite being a great passer ... there's a distinction, everybody is left watching at the 3pt line) and tiring him out needlessly on top of playing him 40 minutes, isn't a good thing. To take more of the most efficient corner 3pt shots and shots at the rim is a great thing. To have two PFs whose range is more consistent around the 15-18ft range shoot the corner 3s, and a PG who shoots 30% career spot up for 3s (and whose consistency at best comes with foot-on-the-line), and have your SG (and sometimes the PG and SF) take a bunch of unnecessary shots at the rim each game when there's two shot blockers standing there waiting for them knowing the Rockets aren't likely to take the mid-range jumper so they don't need to come out of the paint, isn't a good thing. Harden's being blocked 5 times in a game at least 3 times already this season. Know any other superstar that gets blocked 5 times a game 3 times in a season? Or even 3 times in a game, full stop. Why not utilize a mid-range game to keep the defense honest. Harden should be able to do it, Lin has done it pretty well last year, Parsons has a nice pump fake step-in 18ft jumper, and it is 2Pat/Morris's comfort zone (and I think Jones/DMo's also). Too much of a good thing isn't a good thing when the guys taking the corner/spot-up 3s aren't much good at it (Lin and the PFs), Delfino and Parsons are inconsistent, Harden is actually only 35% for the year (with defenders respecting his drives from than his 3s), and Douglas a liability everywhere else to play many minutes. And we're telegraphing our attacks at the rim so much the help defenders / rim protectors doesn't even need to come out of the key to help. I think some posters here (like McHale) needs to wake up and stop thinking "when the ball goes in, our offensive struggles will be solved". Yes, there will be nights when the ball goes in, the defenders are stretched, spacing returns and we'll go for 120 and a 20pt win. But this is a problem deeper than "we have a young team so inconsistencies is expected", or "where was this thread when we were 21-14". You don't lose 7 in a row and struggle to beat a team like Charlotte without acknowledging there's a problem. You don't dig a hole in the sand and put your head in it like McHale, and keep saying "we just need a spark or some energy, and we just need to get out of a funk". Teams now defend us differently, and our coach needs to have ways to counter it. Hot shooting can treat it on some nights, but it isn't a cure. I'd rather see a better/more consistent offense, than hoping for 3pt shots from a team that's not very good at 3pt shooting to hit them at a rate high enough to create spacing for shot at the rim as our go-to-in-all-situation offensive philosophy.
Nobody has been more critical of Morey than me but this team is 22-21 and so many ppl said that we will not win as many games as the Texans before the Texans season was over. That being said the only trade I see the Rockets making that will not hurt us this offseason is Marcin Gortat. Suns want to go young and this team has the assets to make that happen. Gortat for Aldrich, Patterson, Motiejunas and 2nd round pick Lin / Harden / Parsons / Morris / Asik Douglas or Beverley / Delfino / Smith / Gortat Maybe in a second deal move Douglas to a team in need of a PG maybe Bulls for a 2nd Round These are logical trades I think Rockets need to make the playoffs
1. I concede on this point 2. We are exactly where we've been for almost 4 years now within the .500 range around the mid point of the year. Time will tell if history repeats itself and we go on a skid that lands on the outside of another playoff run. As it is now, we are unlikely to win any tie breakers with anyone since we have the worst conference record of all the teams in the hunt. 3. I concede on this as well. 4. Eh, it hasn't been year after year. His first year with Brooks and Landry remains his best draft class. He has had some diamonds in the rough but it has mainly just been Parsons and Budinger. Unless you count Batum who they immediately traded for more picks which they used to land Artest but that really doesn't count since we are talking about the draft. Time will tell on recent 1st round picks Patterson, Morris, Motiejunas, White and Jones, although for Patterson, White and Morris it isn't looking good. Early on Morey was great creating a cast of players and coaches that Yao and McGrady had a legit chance of winning big with, save the issues with injuries. But since our 7 game series with the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs all those years ago, very few of his moves have been that great until he landed Harden and Asik proved he was a legit center. It does seem his personal philosophies and theories on the game are influencing the coaches (or he is acting as a mouth piece for them), which if accurate he is indeed a part of the problem. McHale or Morey, the way the team is being handled is a problem. We have some nice players, but Morey isn't inflalible, he's made some dumb moves (Terrance Williams anyone? We are still on the hook to give up a 1st round draft pick for that move where the guy couldn't even get on the court) and if he is a major force behind this current system of play, he is to blame because there is no question this team can be better.
To put it another way, CFers thought there was no way we'd end up with the 14th pick again; now they're b****ing that we might only do that well.
He does make a legitimate point about the 3-pointers / layups thing. Not that we haven't made it before, but if this board was cleared of all repetitive posts, there'd be no board. 3 pointers and layups? Great. But it does make us easier for defenses to prepare and weakens what should be a strong part of a player's game. Not to mention our players have a penchant for blowing those "high-percentage" layups. Now, is it Morey who's to blame? No, not really, but the whole thing does have a bit of his stamp on it.
Morey is to blame for drafting 5 power forwards (Patterson, Morris, Jones, Montiejunas, White) and none of them are the answer. Something is wrong with Morey's talent evaluating, because he just wasted 5 picks. The PF position is the reason we'll miss the playoffs.
If I learned anything from Moneyball, it's the coach's fault for not implementing a system in which the players were brought in for. It's never Brad Pitt's fault.
I am disappointed at this point. How many years has Morey run this team? He did not build a team to have a deep run in the playoff, and he will not in the next few years either. His understanding of the game is fundamentally wrong. He is more like an old grandma loving to cut and collect coupons from magazines and weekend news paper. It simply just builds a 0.5 team good enough to sell tickets and make $$ for Alex every year. That's it.
I disagree. The hit rate for players drafts at: #14 (Patterson), #14 (Morris), #18 (Jones), #21 (Motiejunas), and #16 (White) is EXTREMELY low. Maybe one out of every 5-10 becomes a legit all-star...the rest wash out or become roll players. Patterson and Morris are roll-players. For the right price they are worth it, and right now, with both on rookie contracts....they're worth it. Jones and Motiejunas are nothing more or less than unknowns. I think DMo has the most upside of any player we've drafted or traded for over the last 5 years, save Harden. White I'll just go ahead and mark as a miss. It happens. Morey took a chance, and it didn't work out. So just one surefire "miss" so far for players currently on the roster. We will miss the playoffs because of multiple reasons, not just because of PF. Lin is not a good fit for Harden. We shoot tons of 3s, but aren't a good 3 point shooting team. We have no legit post threat, PF or otherwise. Outside of Asik and to a lesser degree Parsons, we have poor defense.
Considering this team is the YOUNGEST in the NBA, AND the LEAST Experienced in the NBA with 13 NEW players, a .500 record is a VERY good result. How this team will develop once he's finished doing his trades and players develop is anyone's guess. I'm sure if you asked any GM in the league whether they'd be happy with .500 out of the gate with a roster of players with an average of 1.9 years of NBA experience, they'd to a man say "Hell, YES."
we do not have the personnel to run that kind of play even though I agree the best way to win a championship is a good 3pt shooting mixed with in the paint game (dunks + layups) out of our starting lineup- Harden is the only 3pt threat even though he is a funk now which I believe came out from carrying all the heavy load Parsons- ok shooter on a good nights PPat/Morris- below average 3pt shooters Lin- abysmal Asik- o 3pt contribution. If you want to run that setup, you have to have the right set up, meaning at least 3 out of your 5 starters have to be above average 3pt shooters. And the other 2 have to be great in the paint. And the games we lost were due to more coaching issues than referee's errors. Concerning McHale's hire- our high iq gm strikes again
lol at the people who actually think Machado will ever be a star in the NBA (dont know if you are one or not). I dont know how many people have seen him play above the collegiate level, but I have. He single handedly lost an RGV game in back-to-back possessions by throwing up an ill-advised 3 on one possession, and then dribbling off his leg on contested drive the next possession. Not to mention, if he were any good he would have shown something against "superstar" Jeremy Lin, who many will agree that he not of starting PG caliber.
