That was a really awkward interview this morning. Strongly felt like Morey was obligated to do the interview but didn't want to be on the radio. All the answers seemed like he was lost and just repeating back the question. Blah blah adversity. We're having meetings. We're watching film.
No surprise. Morey loves the press attention, spotlight, and interacting with fans when he gets to brag about how good his team is, but is a coward who is too afraid to face the tough questions when things are falling apart. Morey is a frontrunner, just like the players on his team.
That's a little cruel. Most of us had high expectations of this team this season; who knew the team for various reasons would just fall apart like this (for various reasons affecting on- and off-court chemistry)? Not much Morey could say, not much the 790 guys could ask. This team will probably try to tread water as best possible before making moves that set us up better for the future, whether or not we make the playoffs.
Like McHale often used to say in these situations, I don't know. In public. In private, he knows the problem but not necessarily the solution. It's not a basketball or analytics thing, it's human nature. If the top guys on the team don't mesh, it shows on the court. If Harden is not willing to put the team above himself, it shows on the court. Morey may be trying to salvage Harden's tenure on the Rockets. To do that, he will have to let go of Dwight, trade for better players, and bring in a tough-minded defensive coach. Otherwise, we won't even make 14th seed. Problem is the better veteran players may not want to take crap from Harden.
I like how all of our problems are "Harden's fault" Getting outrebounded 46-20 - Harden's fault Poor transition defense - Harden's fault No one on the team can hit a shot - Harden's fault No one on the team can hit a layup - Harden's fault Can't hit a free throw - Harden's fault Lawson's poor showing - Harden's fault Ariza can't dribble a basketball - Harden's fault Yes, Harden's defense is an issue. One of 100 issues. Why everything comes back to Harden is mind boggling. Enough with the damn behind the scenes speculation. Its nonsense.
Hmm, no one said the rebounding was Hardens fault. Or blaming him for free throw shooting or dribbling or the other things you listed. You're a pretty terrible fan and poster, Lars.
This is a perfect description of Maury. A front running "leader" who, along with the team he's put together, can't handle adversity when times are tough will only set the stage for a bigger disaster and more futility in the future. Even all the PR and propaganda he spends so much time on is weak. At his own Sloan Conference, the GSW GM said that Maury makes ridiculous trade offers, but he tries to treat them with respect. Maybe Maury should spend less time in the media and focus more on the garbage team he's put together. I bet the Warriors GM, who was named executive of the year, doesn't have a twitter. Maury is a failed leader.
Glad you include this last bit. That issue is the one that magnifies the other 99 issues. And it's not just his defense. It's his defensive effort and attitude.
thanks to gfab for the link and J.R. for the transcription. To me, the key thing Morey said was right there: "You learn about people through that." This to me is his tacit acknowledgement that for all the analytics and planning, you really can't tell what players' character will be until the sneakers hit the court. I don't think it sounds like Morey has "given up on the team" as one poster suggested, so much as he has accepted and resigned himself to certain character flaws/weaknesses that have shown themselves after several seasons of putting this squad together. I also don't think he's talking just about one guy (Harden) or another (Dwight), although obviously those two are implicated just by virtue of them being the franchise pieces that everything has been built upon. So I don't know. Sounds like he's finally realizing that some of the pieces are flawed, and I suspect he's at a loss in terms of how to go about fixing what essentially are psychological problems. Bringing in a Navy SEAL motivational speaker just won't cut it, the problem(s) run far deeper than that. It will be interesting to see what if any move DM makes trade-wise; that should give us our first real indication of (a) what he thinks the problems are, and (b) what he thinks are the first steps to go about correcting those problems. At this point in the season, I think this set of issues is more interesting than the play on the floor. Anyway. I hope Morey hangs in there. I'm still a big fan.
I don't agree with this. It seems like confirmation bias on your part. Last year, when the expected Bosh signing went awry and he let Parsons go, the media - and much of clutchfans - was on him like a pile of bricks. He didn't shy away from the negative attention then, and even did interviews admitting that their plans had backfired. But he didn't put a b.s. spin on what happened and eventually shored up the bench to help the team make a run in the playoffs. Morey isn't perfect, and has made mistakes. I think he did the team a disservice keeping McHale after the disastrous Portland series a few years ago, and hasn't been able to find knock-down three point shooters to complement the system. However, I don't understand why so many posters despise him so much, and are either quick to heap scorn upon him when things don't go well, or refuse to give him credit in good times. I mean, Christ, I know it's the internet, and extreme opinions and knee-jerk reactions are the norm, but this still seems very tiresome to me.
01:54 <iframe allowfullscreen width="629" height="354" scrolling="no" src="https://media.iheart.com/player/embed.html?autoStart=false&useFullScreen=true&mid=26602887&siteid=589&share=http://downloads.iheartradio.com/media/station_content/589/2015/12/mp3/default/pgs_12-23-15_0_1450866108.mp3" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" ></iframe> -(Team seemed to have turned the corner; better overall feel at Toyota Center?) Yeah, better. It's been steady improvement. We obviously have a long way to go. We have a very difficult schedule coming up. If we can continue to play like we did against the Clippers, like we've done recently against some better teams we've played, we'll be back on track and hopefully build momentum into the playoffs. -(Magic tonight, Spurs Friday/Warriors next week - hard to look ahead?) We can't look past Orlando. They've given us a tough time. They have the ingredients of teams that give us trouble. They got very good defenders on the perimeter that can shut down initial penetration which a lot of our offense comes from. Having Donatas back and his post up game, Dwight's been much better in terms of his offense. We obviously need to win this one but they are the kind of team that gives us trouble. The big game on Friday against the Spurs will be a good test. Spurs & Warriors are the class of the league so it'll give us a nice way to check how far we've come. When we've been losing, it's because we're beating ourselves. Even against Charlotte, things that have been problematic for us really showed up there again. Lots of turnovers, lots of ??? in transition, they shut down our transition game. That should have been a much easier win but we made it harder. -(How is Christmas week going?) Ha ha We're pretty focused on the Rockets. [...More Christmas questions...] -(Spurs on Christmas; do you like the Spurs?) I don't like the Spurs. Why do I have to like the Spurs? We usually play them pretty well. They're nearly at the height of their powers. They're sneakily almost playing as well as GS. You do have to tip your cap to them even if you don't like them. What they've been able to do this year has been an amazing achievement. Hopefully we knock them down a peg. We'll find out Friday. -(Not a great start but any comfort knowing 4th seed is right there?) It's a little misleading about how easy it'll be. Our schedule is most difficult the rest of the way but no reason if we're playing the way we want to and should that we can't get a top 4 seed & HCA. It won't be easy but it's for sure something we can accomplish with our team. -(Rockets 1 game out of the 4th seed; with everything that has happened, where you are is insane in a good way) We want it better but we knew if we turned things around, we could get back to positioning ourselves well. If you watch the league and as a staff we watch every game in the league, no one is playing well except GS and SA. Beyond them, there's not really a team in the NBA playing well. Last year you had 6-7 teams playing well night in, night out. It's been interesting year to see how few teams are executing to the level that they should be. -(Where do things stand with Ty Lawson?) There's been steady improvement. It's not just Ty Lawson. We could name a bunch of guys on our roster not playing to the level we and they know they can. Ty is one of those. He has been playing better. Coach Bickerstaff is committed to getting him to where we know he can be. We know he can play at a high level. Every guy who has that level in them, we need them to play to that level if we want to compete with SA & GS.
Funny, I was getting to work and heard the 790 dudes saying Daryl Morey would be on next. So I missed it and then couldn't find the podcast. Leave it to J.R. to bail me out. A better interview than his last (wins will do that for a fellow), even if Morey isn't allowed to say, "Nah, I'm gonna trade that ****, he's a chemistry-killer."
