Great Insight Solomon. All problems with no solutions. He's just like half the whiny posters on CF. Look, I get that its easy to point the finger at Morey as the person to blame. Its his job to take that blame. However, if you cant come up with a better solution of what needs to be done, or could happen given their situation, then writing an article like this is just a waste of time, and makes you sound like Bleacherreport writer. We all know they are going to make some sort of moves, and if they dont they are probably going to get 2 very interesting rookies. Everyone just needs to get over the fact that Morey will not run out onto the court and kick the ball out of bounds to make the Rockets purposefully loose games. Its not going to happen, so its time to move on to some more something a little less tiresome sounding than the same ol tanking conversation. I agree that technically they have failed the past three years according to their "plans". No playoffs, no Yao comeback, no superstar trade, and no great draft picks. Boo Hoo, its time to move on and lets get creative figuring out a way (other than trying to lose on purpose) that can help build up this team. -Soap Box Warning- personally Im a major Spurs hater. Its in my blood. However you see the way that team plays and their personnel.(none of which are superstars in the mold of a Lebron/Kobe) and it really makes you fall in love with purist "TEAM" basketball. When a team can mesh and play like that, its unstoppable and a thing of beauty. Sure the Spurs have 3 big names on their team, but its only because they have won 4 titles. They are all great players, but your kidding yourself if you think Ginobili would have been Ginobili if he would have been drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies. Im perfectly fine building the Rockets in the same mold of team oriented players and a great team brand of basketball that beats the odds. It would be nice to get a superstar to come to Houston and get on TNT every Tuesday and Thursday, but until that day comes, I just want them to build a great TEAM. The search for a star comes from when that TEAM wins. Then those big names just sort of take care of themselves. Anyways Soap box out.
the solution is not complicated with our current roster. the roster we have after yao left won't bring anything, including trading and signing big tickets, to the table. those mini steps to improve the team will not help at all. instead, those steps ruined our chance to get higher on draft cause they made the team at same level each year. mini steps work only when you have a foundation. we haven't had foundation after yao left. what's the point to make those moves?
Give me a break. Morey has one hater holding him accountable in the local media. In NY, he'd be roasted by over a dozen reporters on a daily basis judging his every move. This team has had very low expectations for years now and has failed to meet any of them. We blew a 94% chance to make the playoffs down the final two week stretch. Apparently, management is above criticism no matter what. And are the "whiny" fans you're talking about the tankers? I'm an anti-tank person, but can see merit in their argument. You call for solutions but shoot down a very valid suggestion for rebuildling. Don't tell me it's impossible or that we'd have to lose for years because Portland just did it on the fly at the trading deadline. They were on the same treadmill we were and now have the #6 and #11 pick, with plenty role players to use to trade up, and cap room to poach our best players (Dragic). They don't even have a GM, but they're doing a better job of rebuilding than our "wizard". At this point I have to question if Morey can even see the team for what it is. Two years ago he said we were an all-star away from contention. That just seems delusional now. Are his hands really tied by Les? Or does he think he can add that all-star level player, like Gasol, and expect the fans to be satisfied?
Thank you. I need others with a little smoother touch like yourself to get that point across. apparently I have little people skills over the internet. Well So far I am told so. In person I am different. :grin:
I am not sure how management is to blame for the final 2 weeks of the season. Did they trade somebody at the end of the 4-0 road trip that turned everything bad? Management is not above criticism (I disagreed with the Rockets letting Adelman leave, for example). However, I don't see how the last 2 week of the season was caused by the front office. 1. I agree that not all pro-tankers are whiny. But some are. It's one thing to provide analysis on the relative merits of tanking/competing, it's another to make one-sentence "We are doomed!" posts. 2. It's true that Portland has the 6th and 11th pick, but they got the 6th pick by trading one of their better players, Gerald Wallace. If the Rockets are willing to trade one of their better players, like Kyle Lowry, they can probably land a mid-lotto pick, too. For example, Toronto is reported/rumored to like Lowry and may trade the 8th pick for him. If this trade is made, the Rockets would have the 8th, 14th and 16th pick, and more cap room than Portland has. Hell, they'll have enough cap room to resign Dragic and poach Batum for Portland if they want to. So is Portland really in a much better position than the Rockets in terms of draft picks and cap room to rebuild? It depends on the All Star, doesn't it? All Star Jamaal Maglore probably won't work. However, take some of the teams that went to the NBA Finals recently and subtract their best player, many of them are no better (and some are worse) than the .500 team that the Rockets have been. 2009 Magic minus Dwight Howard? Any of the Cleveland teams minus Lebron? Hell, remember when Kobe's Lakers lost Shaq and hadn't yet traded for Gasol? They won 34, 45 and 42 wins in 3 seasons, and that's with Kobe still on the team and with Phil Jackson coaching 2 of the seasons. Is it delusional that the addition of an All Star can boost a .500 team into contention? Besides, who said the Rockets were going to stop working once they get one star player? Remember even the Gasol trade was designed to also create cap room to add another high $ guy like Nene? The front office is not "above criticism" and I doubt anyone here think they are. Some of their draft picks (Jermaine Taylor, Dorsey) and other moves (David Andersen, Steve Francis, Trevor Ariza, Terrence Williams and more) have not worked out. However, they've done of good job under adverse circumstances-- losing 2 stars to injury while their contracts had to remain on the books-- and have a above-league-average batting average in terms of hits and misses. They have not managed to land a big star yet, or a high draft pick, but they have positioned the team, in terms of cap room, players under contract, and draft picks to take advantage of opportunities.
And we are still in the same spot... Have you considered that there are sometimes when it is better to try and retool (when there are/were many near to bonafide superstars that were on the market) than to draft (Davis has been the only true #1). Your Portland example is pretty weak considering they've had a good GM when they drafted their core of Alridge and Batum. People act if our future is so terrible.... we just had our big 3 in the 2008-2009 who were contenders. It sucks it didn't work out and it sucks our current plan hasn't worked. But 3 straight years of near playoffs misses with nothing to show but options with draft picks, capspace, and contracts ain't that bad in my opinion. Gasol was just one piece. He wasn't THE piece to lead us to contention. However, I think the fan's outlook would have been quite different if Stern let us keep Gasol.
Not that good and unlucky is not a good thing to put on Moreys resume though. Jerome is right about that. Morey needs a stamp on his career or highlight. Until he gets one, being average is not a career defining resume for anyone.
It is clear at this point that we aren't getting an all-star for nothing, if it happens at all. We gave up so many of our chips for Gasol that it might have been a lateral move at best, even if we added Nene. That planned roster certainly didn't scream contender to me and I was not alone. We were supposedly going to retain Chuck as well. With Gasol, Nene, and Chuck all having down seasons you really have to question whether Stern saved Morey from himself. Same old story. Maintaining flexibility is great, but Morey should be trying to improve our position, not wait for that perfect trade as if it's right around the corner. I know I sound like I'm whining, but someone like Clutch can criticize in much more constructive manner in his articles. He knows Morey held on to certain players for far too long, forced to sell them low. He knows we were better off not having a season at all this year. These are things Morey doesn't seem to recognize in his interviews. He thinks we can tinker our way to contention. The sad truth is that an author of a fansite (no offense, Clutch) and David Stern know how to rebuild a team better than our GM. I'm almost upset that his defenders think next year will be any different from the last three. Is he going to sell high on a player for once?
1. While it's true that Pau, Nene and Hayes had down years, it's a different matter whether they would have down years had they been with the Rockets rather than their respective teams. In particular, Pau was forced to play around the FT line with Bynum getting more touches and Hayes was on a bad team. 2. Just like people in any asset trading situation, whether it's stocks or pork belly future, you are never going to buy everything at their lowest price point and sell everything at the highest. Nobody has that kind of foresight. Players' production, health, etc. go up and down all the time and nobody can "time the market" perfectly. Morey has made more than his fair share of good roster moves. For example, while you can say that Morey traded Brooks after his value peaked, he got Goran Dragic plus a 1st round pick for it because Dragic's value was rather low during a bad season. Trading for Ron Artest with two low first rounders was also a very good deal. The same goes with trading Rafer Alston for Kyle Lowry (who was just a back-up on a losing team at the time). The question isn't whether you guess the peak of every player's value perfectly when you make trades, it's whether you make informed and reasoned decisions that position yourself to improve. And that's not just a business of guessing value fluctuations, but also a matter of understanding the salary cap and taking advantage of available opportunities. 3. We all want the team to quickly recover from the loss of Yao and McGrady to injuries, but going back to contender status (or even 50+ win status) after the loss of your best player(s) take years to accomplish whether or not you tank. It took the Sonics/Thunder 4 years winning 20-35 games before they became a 50 win team again. After the loss of Shaq, it took the Lakers 3 seasons winning 34, 45 and 42 games before they became contender again after the acquisition of Gasol-- and that's with the Lakers still having Kobe and having getting Odom and Butler in the Shaq trade. And these are the lucky teams. Many teams (like the post-Kidd Nets and the post-Ewing/JVG Knicks) have taken even longer to recover. Yes, it's frustrating that the Rockets hasn't become a 50+ win team yet 3 years after Yao was lost to injury. However, lets remember that 3 years after the Lakers lost Shaq (traded him, really), that team was facing Kobe Bryant demanding to leave the team. It was only the middle of the 4th season when they managed to trade for Gasol. 3 years is just about the minimum amount of time that a team can expect to take to fix things. So, I'd hold off making judgments for at least another offseason.
