We have a disagreement here. I didn't see a lack of effort in the 4 losing games I saw (I missed last night's). During the losing streak I saw the players playing very hard and giving a great effort, as great an effort as I saw in the winning streak. I saw jump shots that didn't fall, I saw a failure to convert at the basket, I saw some unfortunate calls, some rotten coaching and finally I saw the weight of it all start to bog the team down but I didn't see quit in any of them. I saw them play very tough defense, fight hard for loose balls, force turnovers, and bang the boards. The 2011-12 Rockets season will go down in memory as a sad and bad one but it wasn't for lack of effort. There was no quit in this team. And there wasn't a single rotation player (once K-Mart went down) that didn't give maximum effort. The end was a bummer and it was hard to see it end that way, but it was only that hard to see because only a week before we were salivating at the prospect of giving OKC or The Lakers a run for their money in the playoffs. And why did we want such good teams? Because we had just got done out-hustling each of them and it made us believe in our scrappy underdog team. I loved the effort this season. I don't know what team you were watching.
A p.s. to amaru and MadMax: I can't disagree with Max's post about not going out to get small pieces intended only for short-term gain and ones that made our record marginally better resulting partly in a crappy draft position. But... amaru said there was a lack of effort. Does anyone want to accuse Marcus Camby of a lack of effort? As I said before I missed the NOLA game last night, but did anyone here not appreciate, respect and enjoy watching Camby pull down 17 boards with one hand and no back? To me, though we'd be in a better position for next year and the years to come without having brought Camby in, I wouldn't make that trade. I mean trading watching Camby play this year, especially at the end, for a shot at a better future. The effort displayed by Camby (and Dalembert and the rest of the team) this year is why I watch basketball. I don't watch it so I can fantasy GM and try to outwit the schedule and the lottery; I watch it to see real people outperforming expectations through sheer grit and hustle. In that way, to me, the season was a great success.
It would take me a long time to figure out a way to support a team that got better through underhanded methods. That you apparently wouldn't have such a problem makes me roll my eyes at you.
Eat crow? Are you kidding me? Washington called, and they want to be the poster children for your great tanking experiment. The only thing tanking promises, is that we would be a worse team than we currently are. It does not guarantee a turnaround. It took the clippers 2 decades of tanking to get it right. **** that. I would rather be .500 Good luck getting most of us to prefer losing for the foreseeable future. You'll need even more of that luck to convince Les, and his opinion is the only one that really matters.
He's rolling his eye's because we have a competitive standard that seems to be frowned upon by those who realize coming in last = championship in the near future...
So you did not support Yao Ming? Y'all really don't seem to know what tanking is. It's rebuilding, although the moves being made are moves that the GM knows will make the team lose more games. Trade Kmart,Scola for some picks at the start of the season. This means you are starting Lee, bringing in another young SG behind him and starting Patterson and keeping Hill. Don't sign Dalembert and don't trade for Camby. Don't continue to collect role player after role player in order to add a few more wins to your record. Just play your young guys and develop them. YOU DON'T even have to get rid of your good young players like Parsons. A lot of time (just look at the bobcats) you just have to get rid of your vets and the team can lose 10 more games in effect. Tanking is just rebuilding. No one is asking the players to go out and miss shots. That's not on the players to do, they have a contract to play for and are likely going to do just that no matter what the organization does. But Morey is a smart guy, he could make a few moves that makes the team worse...and he should do just that because that is likely the only way this team is getting a superstar player.
You're entire post loses it's credibility with this statement. Tanking is losing. PERIOD. It does not come with promises of a franchise player. It does not mean you are on the path to turning your team around. IGNORANT. ASSUMPTIONS. For every OKC there is a Washington, Charlotte, Golden State, etc. If you prefer that drech, become a Bobcat.
Rebuild. Tank whatever you want to call it. I dont care anymore. Its not tanking but Morey get your butt in gear fat boy. Move up in that draft or change this roster somehow.
I agree that we need a star or two or three or our team won't be contenders. I don't believe that tanking is the way to get those stars. Spend the money on the free agents, or make trades. Make the team a place free agents want to come to like we used to be. Treat your players well, and show loyalty. In the meantime win as much as you can. It builds up the team so they can be good enough to support those stars and understand what it takes to win in the league. A certain part of winning is a developed culture in the game of basketball. I think it's all about developing that culture.
Meh Golden State has not been tanking. They've been holding onto a mediocre roster trying to make the playoffs until this year. Yeah Washington and Bobcats just started this process and do not have good GM like we do. Look at the top teams in the NBA. Now look at their star players. Was that player drafted by that team? Nuff said.
Lets get this clear for the hundredth time. Its not tanking. It might be called losing because we traded for young players and draft picks. That is called rebuilding folks. I want the Rockets to rebuild. Replace your thoughts of tanking with the word REBUILD
That's been the route Morey's tried to go for 3 years. No dice. What free agents were those? Dream - drafted Vernon Maxwell - traded from SA Horry - drafted Cassell - drafted Drexler - traded from POR Barkley - traded from PHO Pippen - S&T with Chicago Mobley - drafted Francis - traded from VAN Yao - drafted McGrady - traded from ORL Battier - traded from MEM Scola - traded from SA Artest - traded from SAC Martin - traded from SAC Lowry - traded from MEM Lee - traded from NJN For two decades, we've only used FA to bring in supporting cast types (exception of Pippen). Maybe it's him, maybe it's the league, but Morey has failed to swing a trade for a guy we can hitch the wagon to. Big name FAs want to play next to other big name FAs, so that leaves us with a trade or the draft. Clock's ticking.
And look at guys like Drexler and Mcgrady...they came AFTER the star player was drafted. Just like how Lebron and Bosh would not be in Miami if Wade was in Detroit. We are not the Knicks or the Lakers. Those are pretty much the only team that does nto need a star player to attract a star player because of history (Madison Square Garden, Being a Laker) and location (Obviously) Whether it is Morey foolishly hoping to do this or it's Les telling Morey that he's not willing to tank...we're not getting Deron Williams and we're not getting Dwight Howard...and if we stay on this route we won't be getting the next batch of big FAs either. Look, if the Pacers win the NBA championship or make a deep run I'll change my mind on this. But if the Blazers are a top 5 team in the west next year I'm going to be shaking my head because we were exactly in the same position as they were and they went the opposite direction.
Tanking as defined by the people on this board is a myth. No team started the season saying "let's be terrible". In the tow biggest examples that are usually trotted out 1. us drafting Akeem and 2. Spurs drafting Duncan are completely different scenarios than what we have at hand. The season before we drafted Akeem we were terrible, we barely won 20 games. We didn't have good players that we got rid of in order to get a chance at a high lottery pick. Now you can suggest that after they saw the writing on the wall late in the season they did not put the best palyers on the floor in order to improve the draft postition of a team that was already headed into the lottery. But that is not the same as saying that they had an average collection of players and decided to dump the good players they had at the beginning of the season in order to head to the lottery. The same thing with San Antonio. They actually had a pretty good team, a playoff caliber team. They then had season ending injuries to their two best players best players. So again, they saw the writing on the wall, and decided (AT THE END OF THE SEASON!!) to pack it in for the last 15 games in order to improve their draft postition. This idea that franchises have had this top down pre meditated tanking where management decided to get rid of good players and replace them with worse players simply is NOT TRUE. It's a myth. It has never happend. Every team starts every season trying to win as many games as possible. Tanking is a last resort once you know that you suck. The only thing those examples prove is that landing a superstar in the NBA is about mostly about random luck.
And tanking would have gotten us what? A bunch of players who didn't just lose, but didn't give a damn either? These guys(young ones) need all the pressure cookers they can get. What does the team spinning out of control have to do with eating crow? For what? A good dose of humble pie may serve the team down the road in unexpected ways. But fight until the bell rings, or don't play. Our deficits are clear to everyone.
