Now...now... I am not leaving my man JVG for this guy. But there is something I really like about Morey in a non....man crush way. What I like about Morey is that he doesn't seem....like afraid...if thats the right word for it. I don't know if its because he is young or because he just really thinks he is the shiznet or whatever. But like, during draft night, I am like "Who is this jerko we just drafted? I can't believe we continue to be so stupid during draft night!" And then BAM, multiple moves and holy crap!...a great night indeed! Now, he is making offers to Brent Barry and Robert Horry...trying to add depth to the bench. He is doing his due diligence on Landry just to make sure. Last year, he stole Scola from the Spurs. If there is a rumor around the league, his/the Rockets name are somewhere in there it seems... This dude reminds me of a fearless poker player! All this could result in crap when its all said and done. But one thing that I can see with this guy, there will be NO BULLETS left in his holster!
I actually think Morey is pretty conservative as a GM. Getting Battier with the 8th pick was a safe move. He'll take some risks, but its his MO for them to be calculated risks.
i think morey is the best thing that has happened to the rockets in a long time. he gives me a confidence in the front office that CD never did. With CD we were always seemingly making high risk, high reward decisions. See Eddie Griffin, Scottie, Barkley, etc. decisions that i guess you could justify but usually left me scratching my head (we had to trade horry and cassell?) or just downright disappointed (we passed on rashard three times? for who?). With morey, even though i may not always agree with the execution of the deal (we want francis back?), I have confidence that he has a justification for what he does, and has done a great deal of homework behind the scenes (trading back TWICE in the 08 draft). i know he's crunched the numbers, understands the context, has the salary cap and long term future of the team in mind, and the buy-in of ownership. that gives me confidence that as a team, the rockets will improve continuously going forward. no more terrible contracts (cato, kelvin), no more unjustifiably expensive free agents, just smart, business-wise moves (trading bonzi/james) that may not have tremendous upside, but also wont screw the team over long term. with CD, it seemed like we were trying to climb to the top by leaping up four stairs at a time. sometimes we'd take a big leap forward, and other times we would screw up and fall down the stairs. with morey, we're taking the steps one by one, and moving up slowly but surely.
Yeah when I'd listened to his interviews the year when he was under CD's tutelage, I was a little bit concerned that he would be a stats geek and nothing else, but he's definitely shown quite a bit of general managing savvy since then. In the end, results are what matter and how you get there is irrelevant. But if you break the skillsets of a general manager down, Morey has proven thus far to be an above average negotiator with free agents as well as teams that are looking to trade, he has shown caution by not handing out inflated FA contracts, his payroll management has been admirable considering the mess he was given to start with, and finally all aspects of his touted stat-based player evaluation systems have led to a dramatic improvement in our player and team scouting. What more can I say. Buford, Dumars, and Pritchard get more press, but we know that Morey is right up there with them if not the best GM in the game already.
Regarding Morey .. I found it interesting that Chad Ford or some ESPN person said that the Batum pick didn't make sense because Hollinger didn't like Batum, and Morey tracks Hollinger. And then, Bam . . . multiple trades keyed off the Batum pick and trade. All the threads we have going about FA's, Trades, etc . . . It would be great if someone with time and expertise could do a Moreyball/Hollinger style analysis of the names we're all kicking around. We could then track that against what actually happens to see if there's really predictability. If so, we as fans can better guess what might happen. The downside is that the other GM's in the league are likely running through the same exercise. As for the names. In no particular order: James Jones Mikael Petrius Matt Barnes Chris Duhon Delonte West (RFA) Kilenna Azubuke Jannero Pargo Maurice Evans Brent Barry Gordan Giricek (no need if we get Barry) Roger Mason Travis Outlaw (via Trade) Martell Webster (via Trade) Kyle Lowry (via Trade)
I thought CD made that move? Wasn't Morey still his understudy at the time? I have liked Morey since he started shaking things up last season. The guy is obviously a lot more than formulas and statistics. He is smart, shrewd and great at what he does. In Morey We Trust.
I would be interested in that too. You could compare things like the PER, Eff (off and def), on/off plus and minus, ummm... I am trying to think of some more... maybe a/t ratio and true shooting percentage (with the 3's and such factored in).
Yes it was CD that made that move, the first thing Morey did was Draft Brooks landry and getting Scola.
the problem with just using statistical analysis to predict stuff like that is that quantifying defensive ability and teamplay via statistical analysis is next to impossible. the metrics we have are marginal and unreliable at best. so really, when you crunch the numbers on a player all you are doing is finding out whether the player is good at generating the kinds of stats we can track, and most of that is offensive. what you are really interested in is overall teamplay and synergy, and that won't come through in stats. its the same with batum. his stats dont tell much of a story, but since morey was talking about a potential high risk-high reward guy, he made alot of sense. he was reported to have the highest cieling of any of the wing prospects in that part of the draft, and was the least NBA ready. that means he has the potential to dramatically improve as his body and game reach the NBA level.
Hollinger's rookie rating system both had Landry and Brooks rated rather low as "red flag" players last year (landry due to age &arms and Brooks due to size) last year, so I would be careful about drawing too much of a connection
Couldn't agree more ... he takes low risk, potentially high-reward moves. All of his moves, with the possible exception of Bonzi/James-for-Jackson, have tried to turn nothing into something. Vassilis Spanoulis had made it publically clear he was not going to play another minute in the NBA -- Morey turned him into Scola. He tried to patch up the PG spot with a potentially high reward player in Mike James and it cost him virtually nothing (Howard). Carl Landry cost him cash. The 25th pick just spawned two high second rounders for nothing. As much as I like Morey, he hasn't shown he can do the big trade. His goal has been so far (it seems) the long-term health of the franchise and trying to add low-cost, possibly high-reward moves around Yao and Tracy in the short-term. He's done that part very well so far.
Has there been a need for a big trade since he's been the GM, though? Morey probably thinks that the team is close to contending for a title, and that making a big trade would be too risky for the team. I guess the question is: does Morey need to make the big trade with this team? He doesn't think so. I think that if in the future he perceives that the roster needs a shake-up, then we'll see what he's made of with regards to making a big trade.
Which always makes me suspect....Summer of 2010. I hope Les knows better than to make the "you can play with the best center in the league, we have low state taxes and 281.64 days of sunshine a year" speech to LeBron, Bosh, Melo, or Wade. Now, if Morey is allowed to make a deal for a player with a longer-term contract and actually grow this team to reeaaaally contend NOW, I will gladly say, Guess they changed their minds/I was wrong.
I guess that depends on whether you think the Battier trade was his, or CD's, becuase if it was his trade, then it is a pretty big trade, but again, it is trading for a known safe player over potential, which is exactly the opposite of the other trades. And, also it depends on the view of the franchise and whether they think they are close without a big trade, in other words, does adding Barry make them a championship contender if Yao and Tmac are healthy? I think they are in the mix for sure. The issue is that the Rockets have to assume Yao and Tmac are going to be healthy, you can not have that money tied up in their contracts and have a contingency plan for one or both being out....so if you assume they are healthy, then you have to fill the roster with complimentary player. I don't think Morey is in a position to target a large deal...... Ugh, my head hurts. DD
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I agree with u Clutch. Before anyone that think I have a axe to grind, I want to say this. I think he did a good job getting Greene and getting a high 2nd rd pick for next year. I believe jvg when he said that was moreys move and I believe him. I like the Scola move even if I don't believe he stole scola. To me stealing is when u get a star player like Davis for the scrubs, Carter for the scrubs he went for and we know Gasol was grand theft, but I will give him his due. I just feel astro-like with his moves. I think the team will be good enough to win games, but not good enough to win it all. I mean the Lewis scenerio looked good, but it hadno substance.Then I look at Jefferson being traded for Yi and Simmons and ask where were the Rox? In this business, u need to be a little risky. I mean West traded Divac for a high schooler and freed up enough money to sign shaq. Pop traded Daniels to open the starting position to a rookie named parker. Ainge traded the number 5 lotto, and a emerging player for a last run. The Heat did the same. Is morey willing to do something similar? Would he part with Scola and filler for a chance at brand,magette or artest? That's what separate good gm's from ok gm's. U have to be honest with yourself and the team and go from there. Players are good enough to win games on their own, but winning a ring takes a little more. All those that like to bag on CD, do u think Morey would have pulled the trigger on clyde trade or the mcgrady deal? If u say no, then to me, those are 2 trades that changed the course of this franchise. If CD wouldn't have traded a major cog on a championship team, the rox don't repeat. If CD don't see that francis was as good as he was going to get and don't pull the trigger for mcgrady, this team would be a in and out type playoff team. Judging by how strong the west is, I don't know if they make it at all after the 47 win team. So criticize CD as u may, but until we get more rings, CD has been the most succeslful gm in the history of houston pro sports.
