There's no such thing. Morey's main job is to assemble the team. One can't approve of him without approving of at least some or most of the players he brings in. I'm a Morey fan because of the players he's brought here so obviously I'm not a "Morey-only" fan. But neither is anyone else because it's kind of impossible. How can one hate all the players he's brought and still be a fan of him? Do those people just like the cut of his jib? It's impossible to be a GM-only fan.
Morey while having good qualities has several drawbacks. 1. Yes he didn't have high lottery picks but overall his 1st round drafting is very mediocre - White (bust), Mook over Kawhi, Dekker (bust) etc. But you will say 14 other GM's missed out on Kawhi. That's the whole point. He hasn't really separated himself from the top tier GM's by drafting well in the 1st round. Saying 14 other GM's missed out just goes to show that Morey is amongst that mediocre pool in 1st round drafting. 2. His whole notion on coaching and the little value in game X's and O's takes. His constant GM-coaching and the persistence with clueless lap dog McHale who Morey can force to implement Moreyball. His ideology of hiring a coach that he can puppet around and shove statistics down his throat. I'd just wish he'd hired a coach and let the coach do what a coach is supposed to do and Morey focus on drafting and trades. 3. Moreyball philosophy while having some of the worst 3 point shooters around.
I'll be honest. No, I never expected the team to be this bad this season. But I also didn't think the entire organization would write off the summer and training camp and come into the regular season completely unprepared to play. I didn't think their defensive struggles in the playoffs last year would carry over into this season and plague them all year. I didn't think Harden would come into the year fat and out of shape. I didn't think McHale would make no effort to integrate Ty Lawson into the offense. I didn't think Morey would allow Josh Smith to walk knowing D-Mo would need til at least December before he was ready(and even that didn't pan out). I didn't think the rotations would be so incoherent from game-to-game. The team has underachieved everyone's expectations, but when you pull back the curtain and look at some of things that have happened since the WCF, it's suddenly not so surprising that they're this big of a disappointment. And I have to admit, my confidence in Morey is not very high right now. I think his entire basketball philosophy is being called into question with the failure of this season and I have serious doubts that he can adapt going forward. Same goes for Les BTW, but obviously he can't be fired.
Yes. And of course the two other teams are the Texas teams. Rockets have done a lot of regular season winning. Playoffs...not so much. Spoiler Since 2007-08(including this season) San Antonio: 485-202(.706); 8 winning seasons; 8 playoff appearances(three 1R exits; one 2R; two WCF; two Finals; one championship) Dallas: 417-273(.604); 7 winning seasons; 7 playoff appearances(five 1R exits; one 2R; one Finals; one championship) Boston: 406-282(.590); 6 winning seasons; 7 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; two 2R; one ECF; two Finals; one championship) Houston: 407-283(.590); 8 winning seasons; 5 playoff appearances(three 1R exits; one 2R; one WCF) Chicago: 396-290(.577); 5 winning seasons; 7 playoff appearances(four 1R exits; two 2R; one ECF) Oklahoma City: 395-294(.573); 6 winning seasons; 5 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; one 2R; two WCF; one Finals) Miami: 393-295(.571); 6 winning seasons; 6 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; four Finals; two championships) Atlanta: 390-299(.566); 6 winning seasons; 8 playoff appearances(four 1R exits; three 2R; one ECF) Denver: 386-302(.561); 6 winning seasons; 6 playoff appearances(five 1R exits; one WCF) Portland: 382-307(.554); 5 winning seasons; 5 playoff appearances(four 1R exits; one 2R) LA Lakers: 379-311(.549); 6 winning seasons; 6 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; two 2R; three Finals; two championships) Golden State: 371-318(.538); 4 winning seasons; 3 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; one 2R; one Finals; one championship) (All your NBA champions during this time above) Memphis: 362-326(.526); 5 winning seasons; 5 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; two 2R; one WCF) Utah: 357-329(.520); 5 winning seasons; 4 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; two 2R) Cleveland: 356-330(.519); 4 winning seasons; 4 playoff appearances(two 2R exits; one ECF; one Finals) Phoenix: 354-335(.514); 4 winning seasons; 2 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; one WCF) Indiana: 351-335(.512); 3 winning seasons; 4 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; one 2R; two ECF) Orlando: 348-338(.507); 5 winning seasons; 5 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; one 2R; one ECF; one Finals) LA Clippers: 344-344(.500); 4 winning seasons; 4 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; three 2R) New Orleans: 333-353(.485); 4 winning seasons; 4 playoff appearances(three 1R exits; one 2R) Toronto: 322-365(.469); 2 winning seasons; 3 playoff appearances(three 1R exits) Detroit: 295-393(.429); 1 winning season; 2 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; one ECF) New York: 293-397(.425); 3 winning seasons; 3 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; one 2R) Milwaukee: 286-403(.415); 1 winning season; 3 playoff appearances(three 1R exits) Washington: 271-414(.396); 3 winning seasons; 3 playoff appearances(one 1R exit; two 2R) Charlotte: 272-416(.395); 2 winning seasons; 2 playoff appearances(two 1R exits) Brooklyn: 269-419(.391); 2 winning seasons; 3 playoff appearances(two 1R exits; one 2R) Philadelphia: 262-426(.381); 1 winning season; 4 playoff appearances(three 1R exits; one 2R) Sacramento: 231-456(.336); 0 winning seasons; 0 playoff appearances Minnesota: 205-484(.298); 0 winning seasons; 0 playoff appearances
Yeah, the regular season records are overrated during Morey's tenure. Keep in mind that since 2007-08, the Rockets have been in the postseason 5 times and the lottery 3 times. They've won 3 playoff series, one in 2009 and two last season. And this season, they're at best a marginal playoff team and that's only because the West is having a down year. That's slightly above average IMO. And if that's good enough for Les and the fanbase, so be it. But when you add in the prior decade before Morey's arrival in which the Rockets won zero playoff series and were in the lottery half the time, this franchise has been through a pretty lousy 20 year stretch with 1997, 2009, and 2015 being the few bright spots.
Was Ty Lawson really an all star? That's kind of like Bill saying (on air) that JSmoove was a former all star. Both handy players, but neither guy an all-star. Your point stands though - we might reasonably have expected the team to improve with the addition of Lawson, not to regress. Hindsight is everything, and Lawson had been regressing for years, small guards tend to fall off the cliff fast. Hopefully we can get at least something in return for him...
The philosophy of taking efficient shots and efficient shots being 3pts, free throws, and layups/dunks/post play is not unique to Morey. The best teams have been taking more and more 3pts and less and less midrange shots for a while now. Our problem is personnel; we lack players who are good enough to consistently hit threes and too dumb to realize they need to do something different when they aren't making threes. Morey does have responsibility in this and needs to address it, but this is mainly on the coaching staff IMO. Now how much that has to do with Morey as opposed to Les, who knows.
