[Andrew Sharp] Shooting for the moon: Why Rockets, 76ers have failed to launch

Neither team paid much attention to chemistry and both tried to star chase year after year.

 

Right... Like Howard and the Lakers? Or like Carmelo and the rest of the Knicks?...

Oh wait, you were talking about the Rockets and Sixers. Pardon my confusion.

 

I think it's becoming apparent that pure analytical guys like Morey and Hinkie need basketball minds around them to help out in the front office decisions. 76ers already brought in Jerry Colangelo to help Hinkie steer that situation over there in some type of direction. If Les allows Morey to stay, Les needs to bring in a seasoned basketball exec to help consult and steer the Rox organization in the right direction.

 

Interesting that you have both teams constantly swinging for the fences, one through the draft and the other through free agency. Both will swing away again this summer. If they swing and miss again, they'll look stupid. But if they connect...

 

You can only go so far crunching numbers, running models on spreadsheets and being a nerdy geek.

I wonder how many of those statistical tools measure leadership, heart, IQ and dumbness

Sure doesn't seem to because we have a team of no leaders, low IQ and dumb, dumber and dumbest

 

LOL, exactly!

 

funny how none of this was really being talked about last year

 

Yes, that's what is so confusing. The Rockets were getting better year after year. 54 wins, 56 wins, and then it all falls apart.

 

Plenty of people talked about this last year they were called McHale and Morey haters. Going back to the fire McHale thread should give you some gems. Harden is playing elite this year but last year looked like prime Jordan it covered mistakes. Dwight wasn't as slow either.

 

LOL,

GSW is actually playing the Morey model to the extreme and executing them in the perfect form and perfect way.

The only difference is the players they have are MUCH better than what we got.

The whole world is shooting more 3s than ever, just because the group of the players we had suck collectively, doesn't make the idea and analytics are wrong.

 

Sorry, this article doesn't do anything for me.

I think the "chemistry" thing is a bit overblown but certainly an easy target now.

I will say that the Rockets lack of coaching/coach issues is spot on.

Painful to see teams like Mavs/Carlisle and Blazers/Stotts do well with perhaps less talented rosters.

The Rockets need a culture change and that starts with a firm hand at coach. I think you can blame Morey for perhaps targeting coaches he feels will accept HIS stat philosophy. Maybe Morey will take a step back in that aspect. Sure the coach and GM have to be aligned in thinking, but perhaps Morey will loosen the reigns on following his philosophy.

I am sure Charles Barkley would love this stat geek bashing article.

BTW, every team chases stars and flips role players until they get it right.

And its easy to praise the Spurs for their approach because they have been very fortunate to luck into a foundational piece in Tim Duncan that started that process. BTW, they TANKED for him. Like the 76ers are doing now.

 

And assuming that those are the only metrics the Rockets use in talent assessment is comical and misinformed. Analytics is a conversation starter, but this hilarious statement that it is the be all to end all is ridiculously off base. Some people watched Moneyball, thought it was a documentary, and took it as the gospel.

 

Don't look now but two teams that also rely on analytics (Spurs and Warriors) are at the top of the west. Also, Miami used it when they had LeBron, and others as well... But shoosh, that hurts the #narrative of Dork Elvis and Le$.

 

Nothing wrong with analytics being used, it is when they are used as the primary decision over a basketball one............that it all falls apart.

DD

 

Article misses the point entirely. It looks (and there really isn't any other plausible explanation) that Harden has let fame get to his head.

 

Agree 100%

 

Yes, this is almost as bad as when we won a championship then fell apart the next year and got the 6th seed then got beat in the First round by the Clippers. No wait, that was the "Spurs dynasty that doesn't die." We beat the Clippers and got to the conference finals.

This article is silly. We haven't won a championship, because it is extremely difficult to win a championship. As a matter of fact, only a couple of teams have won championships in the last 25 years without a player the caliber of Lebron James, Shaq, Kobe, Tim Duncan, KG, Hakeem, Steph Curry, or Jordan.
The Rockets don't have that caliber player and only 2 or 3 teams in the league do.

 

When it's used as the only metric it falls apart. It can be a primary metric, and then secondary metrics may sway your opinion in a different direction. The assumption that it is the only metric that Morey and Co. use is what I find to be downright comical.

 

the notion that players got comfortable is more likely than not. where's the continuing self improvement or drive to be better. what a shame and waste of a season