Morey Quote "Inefficiencies in the NBA are reflected on the Rockets Roster"

Morey didn't get Hayes.

Scola isn't undersized. Neither is Patterson. Morris was drafted as a SF.

Add Marcus to the guard argument, as well as dragic and Wafer, and there's isn't much difference in numbers between his picks and the "exceptions".

Therefore, i can't agree with your assessment.

 

Do they have hot gfs or wives? Maybe that's where we're messing up.

 

Not quite sure "inefficiencies in the NBA" is synonymous with "fatal flaws." You might be misunderstanding him What is the context of Morey's quote?

Let's assume Morey does mean "flaws." I would not agree that it is a "philosophy" with the front office at all. It's a "reflection" of drafting/trading based on other value criteria without overvaluing size. At equal value, he'd take the taller PF. As for guards who can't shoot

Parsons, Artest, Ariza aren't guards...but Brooks, Martin and Lee are? You're reaching on your #2, point. I don't agree at all. It shows that he has several value criteria found in different types of players.

I'd still like to see Morey's full quote, as I think he means something else.

 

trugoy, you're misinterpreting what he said.

"Inefficiencies in the NBA" = the league as a whole undervaluing certain qualities.

Morey is saying that the Rockets believe certain qualities are undervalued and they try to gain an advantage by putting more value on it than the rest of the league. If one looks closely at the Rockets roster, he's saying that one could infer what those qualities are.

 

I think the reason these "inefficiencies" exist is because Morey would rather draft a player that was great as some things and terrible at others, because more often that not, all around players drafted outside of the first round do not become successful because their games do not translate.

His draft Philosophy, at it's core, will cause a lot of his preferred players to be woefully bad in some catagories and great in others. Like T-Will being one of the best rebounders from the guard spot. but only because those players are valued lower by the rest of the NBA.

I think I'm concluding that the chance of drafting an impact player outside of the lottery increases if you draft based on 1 or 2 skills you absolutely know will translate to an NBA level, rather than drafting a solid all around player and hoping his game develops to an NBA level.

 

Here are some things I believe the Rockets value, maybe more than other teams:

- intelligence and professionalism; ability to follow the coach's game plan
- players who can guard multiple positions effectively; mobile defenders that can cover more ground is more of an emphasis than shot-blocking
- 3-point shooting, especially the corner 3

 

Didn't realize you were droppin' knowledge until you said that.:grin:

 

That's pretty much what I wrote, too. Yes, finding value in qualities that others are unaware of is pretty much the definition of Money Ball.

I don't believe that is a "fatal flaw" and don't think Morey does either.

I also believe your "exceptions" "Brooks, Budinger, Martin and Lee" are all equally examples of Morey guys Why do you call them "exceptions" as if they are overvalued.

 

Appears Morey and Cuban share some similar ideas.

Cuban was saying in his interview with Bill Simmons how their use of analytics was showing that strong wing defenders had a bigger impact on team defense than a shot blocking big.

FYI Dallas was 8th in D last year with Tyson and 4th this year without.

 

How about guys that get to the FT line a lot???

and

How about defenders that play good D without fouling excessively?

 

Competitiveness as well......those guys tend to keep up their level of activity, instead of checking in and out.

 

That's generally true. But there are exceptions. Players like TWill, Ariza, even Artest aren't known to be smart and submissive to game plan. But they have above average physical gifts and Morey took a gamble on them.

I am not even talking about players like Dorsey and Thabeet because those didn't cost much to acquire.

 

How about guys who rarely get injured?

 

You are not understanding what Morey does, at ALL.

The clearest example of Morey's skill in acquiring overlooked players would be Carl Landry. In fact if you look at Landry's prduction in college, it is a mystery to me why so many GMs overlooked him. Even in the pre-draft workouts, Landry was kicking the a$$es of guys drafted way ahead of him. He was productive, but also smart.

I have tried to make this point at various times over the years, so I will try again here: Morey's particular skill is in finding the gemstones which others have overlooked. Is he perfect at it? No, of course not. He has had some misses, Lin is the most recent and most glaring example. But he has had some very powerful successes - Landry, Brooks, letting Hayes grow into a beast, grabbing Lowry for Rafer, knowing Scola was worth stealing from SA when the time was right, grabbing CLee, Bud, and Parsons now..

All of these things, Morey does because he does not have, and probably never will, the luxury of a top-shelf draft pick.

But he knows that teams will occasionally trade away their future picks for something of current value.

Think of it this way: if New York suddenly decided their season was toast, and they wanted to trade away Lin, what do you think they could get for the guy? An unprotected 1st? TWO firsts maybe? All for an undrafted guy out of the Ivy League.

Yeah, Morey missed on Lin, but so did everyone else, and if they had kept him here, he probably would have been riding the pine the whole time, but that's not even worth talking about now.

The point is, you find undervalued players, they become worth more than you paid for them, and people are willing to give up greater value for them.

So the plan is, we either turn undervalued pieces into valuable players (Scola + whoever for Gasol), which is probably a net positive, at least in the short run, OR, you trade those pieces for future considerations, such as dumping TMac on the Knicks. And if not for Lin's miracle run, that draft pick would be looking mighty mighty sweet right about now.

Eventually one of those things is going to happen, and it will turn into a superstar talent, where we wind up with our own Blake Griffin or Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose.

The one thing Morey's skill-set does not do is reliably attract free agents to want to sign here. That has evolved now into the role of the already-in-place superstar on your team, and other stars wanting to play with him.

Does Lowry bring that cachet? Does Gasol? It's a pipe dream to think that we could get Deron Williams and Dwight Howard here, because when they basically have the freedom to choose where they get to play, what incentive is there to come here.

Without having either a bad enough team to earn a top pick, or being lucky enough to get the top pick in the lottery (Yao Ming), we are not going to be able to draft our next superstar. And we are probably not going to be able to outright sign them as free agents.

So it has to come through trades.

And the only way Morey can have anything worth trading, of having anyone any other team would even want to trade for, is to turn guys you would not expect to be stars, into high-quality near-stars. Maybe even once in a while you find a long-term keeper in that mix as well.

Personally, I would like to see the Rox hang onto Lowry, but I understand that Williams would be an upgrade, and that's just a fact of life in the NBA. Also, I would really like to see Parsons be a long-timer on this team as well. A team needs guys like that.

So it's not that Morey specifically plans to find flaws, it's just the opposite. He works extremely hard to find the guys who may have some flaws but whose overall package more than makes up for those flaws.

 

Someone may have already add this one but he certainly values the ability to draw fouls and shoot a high FT percent. One strategy that became clear with the Martin acquisition and reaffirmed with the Morris draft pick is the value we place on getting the team into the bonus early, a particularly valuable skill while we have had a generally strong FT shooting team.

 

Very well articulated.