I'm not basing it on one season. Despite adding Dwight Howard, they had the same result as a year earlier. A first round knockout in 6 games. And now they've regressed talentwise and with the coaching staff(they're short 2 assistants including Sampson). So really, I'm basing this on a 2 1/2 year span. I don't see any progress being made, and unlike the Mavs and Spurs, there's no recent success you can point to in order to instill any optimism.
I believe that just about sums things up quite nicely. I have been following the Rockets since 1971 and have literally seen it all so what's going on right now is no surprise. Of course, since you have violated the Prime Directive and dared to question Morey while pointing out this organization's track record and lack of results, you can expect to be labeled as a "hater" by those who partake (guzzle) the red koolaid and many (more) insulting comments are certain to be directed your way.
I somewhat disagree with both of your points regarding them, but also feel they merit as much validity as any of mine. It's ok to have a different view point. It's equally ok to state it on this message board/start a thread/respond as you see fit. That's what it's all about. What I personally don't feel ok is regurgitating the same opinion in every thread regardless of how it relates to the content, labeling anyone that disagrees an apologist, and searching for any shred, piece, or grouping of words (regardless over their intended context) uttered by anyone in sports - that supports your theory that we suck and or will continue to suck because of percieved flaws in the nature of the team. silly me, I like empirical evidence over opinion and innuendo. we've had our most heated discussions and inflammatory comments when there our no games being played. This puts those like myself in a difficult position. If I choose to base my opinion on whats taking place on the court, how do I argue the points being spewed from those basing their takes on google translated comments, subjective comments from our stars, or butthurt comments from a player we chose to let walk?
Very true and this is where I have the most concerns about Morey's approach to building a team because I have seen the other way work for the Rockets (and the Spurs). What Morey's doing is what Cuban and the Mavs have been doing since 2011 with a profound lack of success. Now, I have been willing to give Morey the benefit of the doubt but he's going into his 8th year as GM and he must to produce something tangible on the court come playoff time this season else it will be 2015 with DH looking to opt out in another year and the whole process will start all over...again.
you both seem to forget how many squandered picks we had prior to and post Horry/Cassell. Those were essentially the only two picks we got right for a long time before or after. It also ignores that task that was handed to Morey to rebuild a team without tanking. The only way to go about that was through a continual pipeline of marginal improvements through trades and FA acquisitions.
1. One play off series in the firsts year a team is together does not make a trend. 2. The Mavs were 1st round exits in 3 of the previous 4 years and were trounced out of the 2nd round 4-1 by the Nuggets. In one of those seasons they had the best record in the league and were the number 1 seed when they lost to the 8th seed in round 1. The Mavs had absolutely developed a trend, thats why they were being called the 1 and done boys. 3. Your right, the Rockets added pieces in the 90's that paid dividends towards their championships. How do you know the pieces the Rockets added this season don't turn into Cassel, Horry, Ellie type of players? You don't. Nobody knew the type of impact those players were going to have when the Rockets acquired them. Ellie was a journeyman player, Cassel was a late 1st round draft pick, most of us fans were screaming for the team to draft Baby Jordan when they drafted (unpopular choice) Robert Horry. Good teams lose in the 1st round. The facts are the facts. Neither of us will know if the Howard/Harden experiment was a success until after the experiment is over.
Guess how many starters from that team that lost to OKC in 6 games are still on the team? Hmmmm, lets see. Jeremy Lin - Gone Chandler Parsons - Gone Omer Asik - Gone Carlos Delphino - Gone Francisco Garcia - Gone Only James Harden and Pat Beverly are any rotation players from that season that are still on the team. So that takes us back to one single season of the Harden / Howard era. Once again, 1 play-off series does not make a trend.
I'm really questioning Les more than Morey. I've always based my opinion on him as an owner from the standpoint of is he willing to spend money in order to put a contender on the court. Although to be honest, even that's debatable given how this organization is constantly trying to "maintain flexibility" under the cap. But what's becoming clearer than ever after this offseason's swing and a miss is that the mindset of going after big-name players is not a Daryl Morey idea. It starts from the very top and has been going on since the late 90's. In fairness to Les, often times he does get his man. Clyde, Barkley, Pippen, Francis, T-Mac, Artest, Harden, and Dwight. That's an impressive list of players right there. The problem is this isn't translating into postseason success. At some point, one would hope that Les would reevaluate his approach to building a contender and try something different. Dude's a businessman after all. Look at it this way. The Rockets have been to the NBA Finals 4 times in their history. The first time was kind of a fluke run with Moses Malone who they traded for. The second time was with the Twin Towers who they intentionally tanked a couple years in a row in order to land in the draft. And the third and fourth time was with Dream(leftover from the Twin Towers era) who they spent years building around via trades and draft picks. Now granted, the NBA has evolved over the years and you can't necessarily employ the same strategy that might've worked 30 years ago. But I'd say the formula of getting a big man, surrounding him with talented role players especially in the back court, and having a quality head coach to lead them from the sidelines has led to the best outcome for this franchise. Why not try to duplicate that? Shoot, they already have Dwight and James, so it's not like they have to go out there suck on purpose for two straight years like in the early 80's.
I do believe that we are on the same page here - the focus for evaluating success should not be based on tweet's, Facebook posts, ESPN Sportcenter reports, sports talk radio, Chronicle fluff pieces or Rockets' PR. The only valid criteria is what this team produces on the court during the playoffs. And as the Count has pointed out, since the championship years, that really hasn't been much to cheer about. One final point: I have come to notice a dramatic increase in defensiveness amongst the red koolaid drinkers (especially when the Spurs are mentioned). This needs to stop because far too many are defensive to the point of a complete loss of objectivity. They want to bury their heads in the sand and ignore reality. While that can sometimes work and work very well for a long period of time (see Jerry Jones & Cowboys fans), the end results is that one can devote years to this process with nothing substantial to show for it in the end. By all means, support the Rockets with all your heart but do not turn a blind eye to their failings. Hold them accountable for the product that are putting on the court because without accountability, there is no incentive for them to learn from their mistakes or get better (again, see Dallas Cowboys).
Not in the least. I have been posting about the incompetence of the Dawson + Alexander regime for years. In many ways, I see Morey emulating the strategy that doomed them under Dawson and that concerns me greatly. And that's why I have given him the benefit of the doubt even though his pickup of Ron Artest outraged me to the core of my being. But it's been 7 years with year 8 on tap. This process was never intended to be open ended. Exactly, when should there be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel for Morey to show playoff results?
Last season's roster was not that different from the previous year's. Both teams had Harden, Bev, Asik, Lin, Parsons, Garcia, T-Jones(although he didn't play much in 2012-13), and D-Mo(see T-Jones). I'll exclude Brooks since he was shipped out at the trade deadline last season. The only major changes in 2013-14 were the addition of Dwight, Casspi replacing Delfino, T-Jones emerging as the starter at PF, and Garcia getting benched in the regular season and losing his minutes to Daniels in the Portland series. Yet despite those changes, same end result. First round loss in 6 games. Now I won't argue that the roster going into next season is very different from the one we had 2 years ago. But that's not entirely a good thing. Omer has basically been replaced by Dwight(who obviously is a better player other than at the foul line). Lin's been replaced by Canaan or maybe Johnson(jury's still out on either of them). I don't know who's taking Delfino/Casspi's place. And of course, Parsons is gone and Ariza is now the starting SF. You're right that one season does not make a trend. But considering this team(at least at the moment) is worse than it was a year ago talentwise and last year's squad failed to make it out of the first round, I'm just having trouble seeing where the optimism for 2014-15 is supposed to come from.
good posts. both of the last two. we may slightly differ in opinion but are both fans coming from the same place. We're also not so far off in opinion that we're coming from different worlds. To me, that is what a message board is all about. Sharing points of view and being open to others opinions.
I hate SA and Dallas. I am a season ticket holder for the Rockets. And that is because I enjoy watching Harden and Howard play. I also watched the road games on Ballstreams. Most of you on here b****ing and complaining about the team didn't see all the games, just the playoffs. Like i said..if you don't like what you see move around. No one is forcing you to be "fan" so if you don't like what you see kick rocks. I'm sure Harden, Dwight, and Morey don't give 2 s#*ts about your "support". And they are not going anywhere so get over it. Get on board or get lost.
If the Rockets are tormenting you find another team. Les Alexander and the Rockets have continually swung for the fences. Some stuff hasn't worked out but it's not like they are sitting on their hands. Nobody is forcing you to be a fan. If you are so miserable then quit. Sports are to be enjoyed. What good does it do for you to log into this site and continuously talk negative . Like you mom said: if you have nothing nice to say shut up. Take your negative Nancy ass out of here. You are contributing nothing and Clutchfans would be a better place without you.
Clearly you are tormented by a lot of posters here. If you can't stand their opinion maybe you need to find another forum. Frankly I think you're acting so viciously because you sense the truth in what people are saying and you can't take it.
This current Team has less fire power and flash than last season's team but it is built not just to better complement Howard & Harden, but it's also built for a deep playoff run. Perimeter defense has improved by subtraction and post defensive depth has also improved. The selfishness quotient has also decreased. Call them role players all you want, I call them hustle players who have shown the mental fortitude to focus on rebounding, defense and understanding their limitations and play their role to the fullest all for the sake of winning. All we need is one or two small moves/signings and the Rockets are set to take their game to another level, unselfish winning basketball .... Winning in the postseason and not just regular season.
You can go to other teams' sites and look at them. Ignoring Cleveland for a second, just go down the list of lottery teams. Bucks, Sixers, Magic, Jazz, etc. all are looking forward to their future. All of these teams suck and have sucked for multiple years at a much lower level than the Rockets. Every fan can look at things as glass half full or glass half empty. Generally it involves our own views of how a team should be built. If we disagree, then you can always find ways to question the result. Morey has built a Rockets team conservatively speaking is in the top-10 of the NBA. That's top 33%, or better than 20 other teams. Age is not an issue with this team nor did we mortagage the future. In terms of the team's future potential, we should be in the top-10 easily. So the question becomes whether one believes that being in the top-10, with possibility of improvement, is a failure because we're not top-5 or top-2 or whatever one's personal cutoff line for success is. Or one believes that it's a success because we have already achieved top-10 success with upward mobility. Neither side is right or wrong. Just depends on whether whether one looks at the Rockets as a glass 1/3 empty, or 2/3 full.
No it's pretty sad all of you gather like little school girls and discuss a bunch of negativity amongst yourselves. If I didn't know any better I would think I log on to this site and it's an episode of Mean Girls. I mean how many different ways can y'all say the same crap? We have 2 of the top 10 players in the league in their prime and it looks lime a damn funeral in here. b****ing about stuff that ain't gonna change is useless. Dwight and Harden are the cornerstones and Morey is the GM. If you don't like it too bad.
If only the game was 2 on 2 I'd be as optimistic as you. Even then they wouldn't match up against LeBron and Irving. Oh wells.
