Chuck Kenny and Shaq on TNT made a great point...players shouldnt expect any loyalty to their teams and visa versa for teams and their respective players...If a team has a chance to get better...they will need to make a business decision...and when players say they want to leave...teams shouldn't be obligated to have things go the players way...If Orlando mgmt says...you know what the Rockets are offering picks this year in 2012 draft to get better...They can use these picks to start rebuilding asap...not waiting till Dwight leaves them for nothing.. Secondly...Orlando in this trade are going to get parts that will make them a decent team...Having Scola, Lowry, Dalembert and Patterson/or Bud will atleast help the Magic put out a team of substance...especially if SVG is sticking around... Bottom Line is this either Orlando fires Stan...or Dwight leaves before even the season starts...just imo
This has been said before, but it doesn't apply in this case. Its like someone trying to lose weight, you can't call it insanity because they eat at mcdonald's every day, without considering the choices they make inside the restaurant. We may try the same thing every year, but there's different choices to make within those years. It's not like we're going after one player, for the same player, every year. That just happened this season with Gasol. I would agree if we actually had a season that resembled tanking, but we actually almost made the playoffs and are at .500....if morey is lying and we are tanking, then Morey doesnt know the definition of tanking. It would be the most ****ty tank job ever, so I dont think he's got reason to lie this season.
There is a difference between tanking and rebuilding. They are NOT the same thing. I wish people here would quit acting like they are. I don't want us to tank (purposefully lose games) but I DO want us to rebuild. Getting rid of some of the older players, building a young foundation and giving them on-the-job training for a few years doesn't equal tanking. You certainly don't rebuild by signing Samuel Dalembert or Marcus Camby.....
Exactly...it's why I would get frustrated with those telling me we were actually rebuilding this year. Teams that are truly rebuilding don't bring in supplemental pieces like that to try to win a few extra games that particular season. You can call that tanking or rebuilding or guacamole if you like.
It actually isn't. I honestly see people who don't want us to tank as non-management people. I've worked for Google, Oil Companies, you name it. By us not tanking, we will try to be competitive and with the team assembled right now, we will hover around 12 to 17 in the draft for years to come. By trying to win every game when you know your team can't win a championship is very short sighted and is never smart business. If all of you guys agree that Morey is a big Boss like most anti-tankers do, if we get a top 5 pick than by your logic of Morey being so great....he won't fail on that pick. We need to tank once to get your superstar (This point is irrelevent) The point that matters is that by tanking you are setting yourself up for bigger and better things in the future (the long term)
Wouldn't be cool with JUST Camby as the old dude of the bunch? 2009 Rockets-like, in a way. Everyone was basically under 30, except Deke. Every other piece of the team, young. So I'm with you on this.
This. I don't mind the Rockets not wanting to tank, in the sense that they intentionally make the team bad. I do think that adding washed up band aid pieces is not going to do us any good. Anyway, what I hope is the NBA will do something to de-incentivize tanking and let competitive teams like the Rockets a chance to get over the hump.
I agree with this. I do not argue against rebuilding, I argue against tanking. Intentionally bottoming out. But, "rebuilding" is going to make it hard to be as bad as people want this team to be.
This is true. Rebuilding doesn't equal tanking. Tanking is one method of rebuilding. The key is to find a core with promise for the future and to get rid of all who aren't in it.
This, we are not asking the team to tank, we are asking for a change. I am tired of 14th pick every year by so called-staying competitive approach.
The point with non tankers is there is no way to predict the next bust...No way...and trust me there have been a lot of busts in the top 5 picks every year...much more than allstars...and sure as heck much more than halloffamers...Thats the issue...The rockets have really not been the best at drafting for need...but with the addition of Morey...he has done remarkably drafting for value...he would rather have picks in the 25-30's every year...b/c you can actually get lucky drafting a lower ranked player...if he doesnt pan out...no biggie...you still have a decent team..thats his point...tanking is what bad teams do...its no longer a successful model...period
Rockets traded spare parts for Francis. They traded for McGrady. Lucked into Yao. Should have had Gasol/Nene (not one I like, but I'll defer to Morey's player evaluation here). Coulda Woulda Shoulda. No luck. It's been two yrs of drifting (many years without success, for sure, but only a couple where you couldn't see what they were trying to do). Big man's bad foot left them in limbo a long time. Excuses, sure. Dalembert was an odd move. But other then that -- sometimes the cards you're dealt simply aren't a winning hand. Could you imagine the moaning if they really did stink it up for several years? If they were bad enough to get a top 3 pick? Francis/McGrady/Yao/Gasol (almost). Without a tank.
Do you think the Rockets got Yao without tanking? Do you think the Rockets got McGrady without Yao? Do you think they would have had both... and Gasol? Do you think if the Rockets still had a healthy McGrady and Yao any of us would be calling for tanking?
Yeah, how silly for the Rockets to want to make their team better by signing players to very cheap contracts or trading for an upcoming free agent, both of whom helped this season cover up a weakness on this team. Now, had they signed Dalembert to 4 yr/$35 million deal or traded Parsons/Morris to get Camby, I can understand being upset by those transactions. But they didn't and it's silly to get upset by those two transactions. Other than those two players and Scola, this is a very young team.
And with that tanking, here we are a decade later, still holding on to the wonder years of 94 and 95. One can make any number of excuses as to why, but that's my point. There's no one sure way to rebuild and knowing that, I much prefer my team, year in and year out, be competitive.
excellent take...the Rockets have been bitten with maybe the curse of trading Hakeem...lol But i dont understand why things happened the way it did...Yao hurting himself and then breaking down...was not expected so soon..TMac having chronic back issues and knees issues were possibly seen, but no one expected him not to get better...The Rockets mgmt have tried bringing another title...a healthy Yao, mcGrady and Artest brings the title to houston...no doubt about it...that team was our best team...but misfortune...and bad luck have plagued its stars...Things like this happen...think about Portland...poor portland...missed on two once in a lifetime talents..in MJ and Durant...it happens...but they had to draft for need...They needed Bowie and they needed Oden...If they were healthy...they would have a different legacy...The goal for the Rockets its to have the right piece to be able to still do well even if a star goes down...that is what the team is been trying to do...now the issue is trying to get that big name star...THey have a chance this offseason
The problem there is we aren't and no one wants what we have to sell. We're stuck in perfect mediocrity. I might be proven wrong in the future (and MAN do I hope I am), but I just don't see that light at the end of the tunnel. If there is one, I'm expecting it to be a train at this point.
Injuries are a pretty big excuse there, year in and year out -- very few superstars are done by age 30, and that was the case for both. But let's forget that -- I still think you're ignoring an obvious difference. There are NO guarantees of winning a championship no matter what you do, tanking/not tanking, etc. None. However, you roll the dice with one or more superstars and the chance to contend. No one in their right mind takes this Rockets team over one with a healthy Yao and McGrady at the core. We have no elite-level talent. Get it this summer (and I still believe there's a chance), or rebuild. That's my view.
