Morey: (Did the Carmelo timeline go according to plan or some delays along the way?) Took like 5 years so a little delayed there. (You've courted him in free agency a couple of years ago, along with last year. What is the affinity?) What's not to like? Reality is you win games with highly talented players. We feel confident that in our environment, players play at their peak. We feel here with the Rockets & with 2 of the best in Chris & James, he can fit in and contribute at a high level. (Conversations with him about his time in OKC?) Didn't talk OKC much. Coach & I, primarily coach, spoke to him about the potential ways we feel he can come & help the team. Carmelo felt positive about those potential ways coach laid out. Really was an easy decision for both sides. Timing wise, he was in South Africa. He's a guy who contributes to the community. Once fans get to know him, they will be excited what he brings on & off the court. (What D'Antoni has said is surprising because of the way it ended in New York but also refreshing. Part of me thinks Mike will say, 'Haters come at me. I can make this happen.') Big part of that. From our interviews over 2 years ago when we were talking about Carmelo & the time in New York, you want to understand what went well & what didn't in past stops to make sure coach is a fit here. His answers always impressed me. He put a lot of responsibility on himself. He also said as a person & as a teammate, he was always positive about Carmelo. Fit wise, with that roster & evolution of the game, he never said a single bad thing about Carmelo, even 2 years ago or when we were discussing it last year with New York. Mike has always been positive. Mike has evolved in his coaching as well. Carmelo has always been enthusiastic about what Mike said. ... (Starter or reserve? Did you use Eric Gordon as an example?) There's a lot of...it's not just about starting but also how games are closed. That's been talked about as well. Both are the things that come up when talking to a player before a free agent signing. When coach talked to him about various ways starting/closing games, Carmelo has had an incredible approach. He realizes he's joining a successful team. ... The approach has been great from the first discussion. (Vocal 25% of my listeners say I know who Carmelo is. How do you respond who think this isn't a good fit?) Natural to be skeptical. ... Skepticism is natural. Trying to catch Golden State, they're still arguably the best team in NBA history. Time will tell. We feel we need to continue to take risks. People don't understand our moves. If you put the lens of smart risk taking on it, all of our moves make sense. MCW in the right role, right situation has the talent. If we can tap in, he can flourish. Carmelo in the right role can help this team. James Ennis, as his role expands... ... Put the lens of smart risks on there, these are smart decisions that if they pan out, can close the gap with Golden State. We don't feel we can be status quo and close that gap. (More of a risk taker today than when you took over?) More of it is where we are as a franchise. We took a lot of big risks with tons of downside during the rebuilding phase. We were taking big swings back then. Now we're taking more calculated bets, if they pan out, can close the gap with Golden State. Start of my career, we had a good team with Yao & Tracy. I was new to the job. Huge swings that didn't pan out before. Now in the calculated risk phase. (Most surprising move of the offseason - did Boogie signing in Golden State surprise you?) Yeah, that surprised me. I'd have to look at the list of moves. OKC keeping their core together, thought that would be challenging. They've done a nice job. Those jump off the top of my head. Maybe not surprising but I thought they were less likely than likely.
Can someone please explain to my why the national media is so obsessed with the idea of Carmelo Coming off the bench. Now That he has likely agreed to come off the bench they are still mad at him. It’s like OK he’s come off the bench but he won’t like it.
It was sarcasm...but I'm implying Ariza doesn't have the talent to make that type of pass; he can hardly dribble without tripping over himself.. but people on this board are convinced he's a better basketball player than Carmelo Anthony.
The person who was suppose to be guarding that dunk was helping out on Melo. Not sure if Ariza can command that kind of attention .
I forgot who said it but it was someone who use to either play with or coach Melo but they were saying Melo is actually a really good passer and could average 10 assist a game if he wanted to, the problem was he never really wanted to pass it
