If Les Alexander and Mark Cuban switched teams, would the Rockets be better?

Yo TM

I'll give you that point if you also concede that Olajuwon and Drexler were on the team. Plus, isn't this kind of an argument in my favor if we're considering just making the WCF as a success? That means Les' player personnel decision was a good one.

As an argument against Cuban, not even Dirk was his decision to draft. I'm unsure exactly what makes Cuban a good owner other than he's famous and gets fired up, which not every fan enjoys.

 

I'll be honest, I don't care if our uniforms are cheerleader outfits...this is about winning.

I think those Patterson picks were great too so not sure the point you're making, but I'd respond if you wanna clarify.

 

No, I wasn't there, but I watched. The question also had nothing to do with past ownership/management. Rockets pre-Harden? If you've followed the league as long as you've followed the Rockets, you realize that no team can will their way into being great. So many factors are involved (taxes, market, past relationships, coaching styles, team/city culture, weather, family) so Morey has done a good job of working around those constraints, but Morey isn't influential unless Alexander unleashes him.

 

An owner and CEO aren't the same though. The owner is employed by no one. His job is whatever he feels like.

 

You think it's just coincidental that Raiders are getting better without Al Davis (RIP)?

Also, hey man, more power to you on being a lifetime fan. Lord knows I was one of few that stayed loyal to the Rox during that rough first decade to the 2000s, but youth and internet knowledge (when properly researched) are not inferior.

Anyways, TM. I'm just declaring it now as the Q has asked, Les > Cuban.

If you're arguing the opposite, then you're welcome to counter, but other than that this is just a historian's pissing contest. And I've got other things to do.

Also, it is in fact the owner's duty to win in competition. Whether or not other owner's act accordingly is not a reflection on the position but on the owner who is, in some regard, then stealing from the fans with a product he never intends to be superior.

 

No, it's not an owner's sole responsibility to win, but it's likely the majority of it. Economically speaking, unless you're LA, you can't ask people to pay for something that doesn't pursue winning to the ultimate spot.

Look, you may not like Les, but that's purely subjective and out of the Qs scope. So, your argument seems to have evolved into: Les is worse than previous owners due to subjective aspects (ticket pricing/availability and jerseys), therefore the argument that Les > Cuban doesn't hold. Houston has changed a lot since Patterson...arenas can only get so big as they compete for popular land with other industries that bring far more economic growth to Houston than sports. Those ticket complaints are just a function of a growing city. Why are you blaming that on Les?

 

Seems to me that Rox were playing an inactive role. That article reads as though we were just allowing people the time to give us offers. Any businessman would do that. Ultimately, they didn't leave.

Anyways, this has apparently become personal. I never was criticizing your historical knowledge. I was just giving you rationale counterarguments. So, I'm just going to leave this one alone as I'm sure the entertainment factor for all of the viewing CF peeps has now disappeared as this has become something more than an informative discussion.

 

I agree with that assessment but I am not sure Les and Morey are the greatest duo.

They are second tier good and with MDA they found a very good partner. But that is hardly a dynasty.

They are built like a lesser GSW team with more 3 pt shooting.

And it took Les 20 years to get back to the WCF. It is still not perfect.

You could say 70 percent of other NBA teams got it worse.

But hey, there is always the upper echelon of contenders year in year out.

They are very close but they have to be careful not to sink down to mediocrity again after Harden leaves the game.

 

Not the greatest duo? Yea, I'd agree with you there. But those two have done a lot with the circumstances. We're just not a hot player's market

Hopefully now we're a hot potential contender market so we can get some of those vet-seeking-rings discounts now!

 

The Mavs had lower playoff ticket prices so screw Les.