Those weren't in the middle teams. They were upper echelon teams that moved to elite teams with that one transaction. There is no transaction that gets us to elite unless Miami gives us Lebron for Budinger. He is the only one player that can turn this team into a champion. I can not think of another player that can do that for this team as it is. Also Morey is always trying to divert his responsibility. Sure every owner has some input into the teams personnel (see Cuban). But I doubt T-Will, Thabeet and Flynn didn't start from Morey. In fact Morey has stated that was his biggest disappointment this season. That none of them panned out. Of course it is because he birthed those decision and now he wishes he had an abortion. If you want to give Morey credit for Parsons you got to give him blame for that experiment and drafting Morris. Kawhi Leonard was the true small forward to take with that pick. Instead he wants to experiment with someone who never played the three in college because He thinks he can. Morris is facing the same problem as Beasley , he doesn't have the lateral movement to play the three. As much as he wants to think he is a three guarding more athletic 3's exposes his defense. It's why Parsons is in their over him and early on when he was really competing against Bud he couldn't even beat him out. The thing is he is not as good as Beasley on offense and Beasley probably has better lateral movement than him to play defense as a 3. And all you have to do is look at the fact that Minny is looking to dump him. The only thing I can guess is Morey's system doesn't value defense appropriately. Parsons was clearly the better defender but Morey spoke of Parsons as more of an offensive player and Morris the best defensive player we drafted. Yeaj in college guarding 4's who generally not much bigger than NBA 3's but slower that was true for Morris but on the NBA level he has to have lateral quickness to defend the threes he will face. I just don't see him staying in front od the sf's in the league at all and even the second tier. I don't think he can guard Bud. My unpopular opinion is he has missed the boat and some big choices that could have made a difference for this team and is wasting roster space and time with Twill Flynn and Thabeet. Thats on him and I won't even bring up Lin.
Les is probably concerned about the falling ratings, lack of fan support at games, etc. I'm not excusing his "win now" attitude, but he probably feels that if we adopt a lose now approach to ultimately snag the star players of the future, it may be a slippery slope from which the only outcome could be to lose the Rockets to another city. We've almost been there before and I sincerely hope it never comes to that again.
Unfortunately there are 20 teams or so that are in the middle though. About 5 teams or so that can win it all, 5 teams or so that are so bad they can't do anything but lose.
I don't get that at all... I think he is simply saying that the physical ability is there, sometimes it pans out and sometimes it does not.
There is your answer Clutch.... Morey is the GM, but not the owner. Les is not getting any younger... I firmly believe that Morey would have gutted the team last year for assets and a high draft pick.
Like a band aid, it's better to just rip it off and experience the pain quickly. Les is pulling some, then pressing some, pulling some more, pressing some more...
wow, this is very unprofessional and baseless. JVG has been a decent coach and transformed this team from lottery team to playoff team. CD did solid work as GM.
We are where the Astros were 3 years ago. Now, honestly, while I am pleasantly surprised by the recent play of the Rockets, sadly the Astros may have a better shot to become a contender quicker through the draft and / or FAs.
I don't think it's as unprofessional as it sounds...JVG has been saying stuff also. They take shots at each other. they kind of have to given the topics/questions.
If you are not kidding, hooray for him. That was an absolute joke. JVG made the Rockets into a retirement home for old burned out Knicks. It sucked up contract money and rendered minimal results. Does anyone remember Rod Strickland running down the court; he could barely make it full court and back?
First of all, Kawhi is not better than Morris just based on the fact that he gets playing time over in San Antonio. Jury is still out... There fore there is no "blame" on Morey drafting Morris? Second of all, Beasley's issues in Minnesota are more off the court and mental, than on the court issues... Parsons is starting simply because of his defensive abilities and the fact that Morris needs time to develop his game playing the NBA 3.... Third of All, compare the other Morris twin to Kawhi... It is widely believed that he is the twin with less game/potential than Marcus... Markieff Morris - 20 Minutes Per Game - PPG7.8 RPG4.90 APG1.0 Kawhi Leonard - 24 Minutes Per Game - PPG7.0 RPG4.90 APG0.9 Better/comparible stats to Kawhi at less minutes per game, so you can take that "experiment" line and throw it away.... case closed It sounds like you have tagged Morris' game already with very little NBA playing time... You must cover the Jayhawks or be an expert on the Small Forward position or better yet, be an expert on twins
I've missed most of flynn's playing time but the consensus I've read, from people who are better at analyzing the game than I am, is that he is looked completely lost, dribbling around like Steve Francis but without the offensive game. And that he can only succeed in a very pick and roll heavy offense. We aren't going to change our offense for Johnny Flynn T-will might still become a rotation player in this league, but the guy has shown nothing more than being a big whiner at this point. I'm not fooled by his "cheerleader" antics - the guy pouts and turns on you the second things aren't going his way. There is absolutely no argument that he should be playing over Parsons or Lee, and very little that he should be over Bud. Kevin McHale has been more than fair about giving players a shot, so it speaks volumes that Terrence has not gotten back on the court much since early January.
It may be unpopular but it is certainly shared. I personally think Morey should be held accountable for his wins, and his losses, and if Jeremy Lin turns out to be an all star player - that was let go on his watch....well.....maybe it is time to get a basketball guy as a GM, and support him with a stats guy. Morey has been decent at discovering role players with later picks, and apparently role players with his higher picks too. I don't necessarily hold him accountable for not getting us a Superstar, Les clearly has given him a tough task, but it is a no excuses league. The 09ers have all failed, we have a roster of role players, and one that is so crammed with like parts that some can't get playing time to develop or be showcased which kills trade value even further. And then the guy seems to be constantly on the radio talking about his team as assets, and low balling all the players with the lack of extensions, which might hinder other players from signing here by rubbing them the wrong way. I still give him a B....but it has dropped from a B+ to B - and if Morris doesn't pan out or busts out, he drops to a C. DD
Lin probably will be an all-star player at some point. The decision to keep or cut Lin in training camp doesn't rest on having a "basketball guy" as GM, though. No reason to think that has anything to do with it, unless you can point out how "basketball guys" were raving over Lin's skills more than "stats guys" before Linsanity happened.
