Is it fair to judge Morey on wether he hits the "Home Run" or not?

Name 10 better GMs in the league, who would be doing a better job than Morey without being able to tank, not having a superstar to lure another one to start with, hang strung by two injured superstars and not having cap space until this year, and doesn't have the benefit of being in New York or LA.

Would love to hear it, but please chronicle their moves.

 

I hope this is not a thread ender. Really looking forward to specific posters making specific posts on this, using facts the Mark Cuban way, not Skip Bayless generalities.

 

Let's at some more caveats and conditions

The other GM has to be left handed on a team with the color green in there scheme and has to be over 45 but under 47. . . . . .

Rocket River

 

Good strategy. In an effort to make the standards look ridiculous you throw out some ridiculous ones of your own.

Qualifications like injuries and not being in NY or LA are put out there and you respond with "left handed" and between ages 45 and 47. Nicely done. It helps deflect the legitimacy of his argument and make you look less silly. At least in your mind.

Justtxyank

 

I guess you couldn't come up with any?

 

I hadn't answered it because I thought it too weak an argument to address. But, I think it does reflect the crux of the disagreement between the Morey fans and the doubters.

Mike_lu posts a slew of excuses of why Morey's position is so difficult:

* Can't tank
* Doesn't have a superstar draw
* Hamstrung by having Yao/McGrady sucking up money while injured and no cap-space to play with as a result
* Doesn't have the natural metro advantage of the glamor teams in NY and LA.
* And of course, who could do better than him?

So the Morey fans say with this hand he's dealt we should lower our expectations. It's not humanly possible to succeed with a hand like that. The doubters say all that stuff is irrelevant. And the two camps pass each other like ships in the night.

I understand the Morey fan argument, I just don't agree. If Morey had all of those constraints, if he was a victim, than I agree he couldn't be blamed for not doing any better. But, I don't think he is a victim. I think he's a leader who makes his own destiny.

So, Morey fans, instead of asking for the umpteenth time who could do better than Morey (a question none of us is qualified to answer), try to understand the doubter argument:

1. Morey is a leader of this team.
2. He shapes the destiny of the team beyond the details of a draft pick, trade, or free agent signing.
3. He is responsible for results, even if the primary driver of the results are completely beyond his control.

So, to return to the excuses above:

* Can't tank: He says he can succeed anyway. If he can't, he should quit. If it's impossible, he should convince Les. Putting the blame on Les for Morey not being able to do what he says he can do is an affront and a waste of breath.

* Doesn't have a superstar to draw superstars: He had two. He didn't manage to get a sustainable benefit.

* Hamstrung by Yao/McGrady injuries: He knew of the injury risks with both players and chose to take the gamble. He lost.

* Not a glamor team: So overrated. NY and LA can only accomodate so many players. It hasn't been a problem for OKC. It hadn't been a problem for Houston during the Olajuwon/Drexler/Barkley/Pippen/Francis days. The Heat weren't a glamor team until Wade. NY isn't a very strong draw despite being NY. LAC was a pariah until Griffin. Glamor teams are made by the promise of their rosters, not the coolness of their cities.

Morey says he wants to build a contender and he thinks he can accomplish it. It's open sea for him -- he knows where he wants to get and has to find a way to get there. He must have the ingenuity to get there.

 

I don't know about any of the methods, but I'll tell you this. There are 14 GMs in the league who are doing better than Morey. It's not about how you break the eggs, it's about the ommelettes you produce in the NBA.

 

14 is the wrong number... 16... it's been a long morning.

 

How about this . . . I don't really Care.

As someone pointed out . . everyone has injuries and
29 teams are not New York and LA
Hell . . . How is LA helping the Clippers???
Their best team had Elton Brand as their star.

The reality is . . . Morey has just been pushing stuff from one side of the plate to the other side
then saying he full.

As stated . . . being 0-82 but being able to say . . collectively we only lost by 82 points. . . would that REALLY make you happy?

Is our great hope that . .Well . . AT LEAST BE NOT MILWAUKEE!!
We pick a low and then say . . .we ok with that
MEDIOCRE . . MOREYOCRE!!

Being #14 pick means . .. 13 are worse than you . . 17 are better than you
OH! Maybe we can be the 8th seed. . . . Reverse those numbers

Question: How long should we wait? Give me a time frame . . .that would have to go by . . . before you 'get concerned' about the direction of the team.



Rocket River

 

Thank You
He inherited a 1st round exit team . . . only got past it once in what . . 6 yrs?
then fired the coach that did it. . . .

Rocket River

 

Can we go ahead and lock this up? 8mm per year for a guy who has never put up more than 3 ppg in the NBA just SCREAMS home run. The doubters have been silenced.

 

You have to hold Morey as accountable as any coach etc, this is the team that HE HAS BUILT.

It is the culture that HE HAS BUILT.

It is HIS TEAM...

If it fails it is HIS FAULT !

DD

 

Team Morey Inherited:
Tmac
Yao Ming
Bob Sura
David Wesley
Jon Barry
Scott Padget
Clarence Weatherspoon
Ryan Bowen
Moochie Norris

Team that Morey has built:
Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Goran Dragic
Kyle Lowry
Chandler Parsons
Marcus Morris
D-Mo


Yeah, Morey has taken trash and turned it into quite a good, young exciting roster, and all without tanking. You can go ahead and rant and rave about the piss-poor job Morey has done, feel free to cherry pick data like One 2nd round appearance in 15 years without any context, the fact is Les Alexander knows Morey has done a great job, the most intelligent posters here on the board know he's done at least a good job as GM, certainly better than the average.

 

He has not done a great job, he has done a decent job - his plan is to gather assets and trade them for a superstar or franchise changing player.

He is FAILING at his own plan.

It is fair to judge him on those merits.

His drafts have been pretty good, his free agent signings have been marginal - Ariza for example - his trades have been also pretty good - Artest, Kmart, etc....

But overall, the team has just not gotten significantly better, and that is the barometer that all GMs are measured upon.

It is HIS PLAN, and if it is a bad plan or he is unable to execute on it.....then it is :

HIS

FAILURE !

DD

 

Just to highlight the highlights.

Let's try this:

Which team would win if you pitted THIS TEAM:
Bob Sura
David Wesley
Jon Barry
Scott Padget
Clarence Weatherspoon
Ryan Bowen
Moochie Norris

Against THIS TEAM
Luis Scola - all rookie team -
Kevin Martin
Goran Dragic
Kyle Lowry
Chandler Parsons
Marcus Morris
D-Mo

Rocket River

 

I don't judge a anyone until I understand what goals they are trying to accomplish, how they went about accomplishing those goals, and did they actually accomplish those goals.

So if Morey's goals are:
* Don't reach the playoffs (2 times)
* Get the 9th seed every year
* Keep trading players/assets unitl something works
* Keep shooting for superstars you have no chance of getting (I really think NBA players have blackballed him for some unknown reason)
* Signing average talent and expecting superstar results

Based on the above he's doing a great job.

 

He cant even hit a bunt single. Right now even Omer Asik sounds iffy to me. That how tough Morey is having it at his job.

 

So let's say we change GM's tomorrow. Who is your replacement candidate and what is he going to do to take us out of this mediocrity that was caused by Morey giving Yao Ming and Tmac career ending injuries?

Some of you like to say every team has injuries, and that is true, but not every team has career ending injuries to their super stars. In fact most teams don't, and when they do it's like the Celtics losing Reggie Lewis and sucking for a decade. If the Heat lost Lebron and Wade to career ending injuries do you think they would be contenders any time soon? And that is with another all star in Bosh still on the team. People love to harp on the 9th place finshes, but seem to forget how remarkable it is that the team minus both Yao and Tmac was able to get to a 9th place finish in the first place that next year when we were projected to be one of the worst teams in the league by many "experts".

Morey doesn't get a lifetime pass by any means, but I judge him in the context of what I think another GM would have accomplished in the same situation. Everyone including Morey is disappointed that he hasn't been able to get a star to come here. But at the same time there is no reason to think that a star would be coming here if only we had a different GM. I suspect that most superstars don't care who the GM is as long as they get paid and put a good supporting cast on the floor. Morey has done a good job filling supporting roles, and all superstars make the max so money isn't even really something that has to be negotiated. So the missing link is that stars who are leaving a team that isn't a contender, want to go to a better team, preferably with another star already there. Not to a lottery team. That's something that neither Morey, nor any new GM could offer over the past few seasons. So changing GM's is just change for the sake of change, and in my opinion, more likely to land you a worse GM, than a better one. Even in the chance that you do get a better one, I don't see it changing our odds of getting a superstar thru trade or free agency, because like I said, I don't think who the GM is, is something most superstars care that much about relative to a ton of other factors. Being a contender already, with other stars already there topping that list.

 

Like usual, couldn't have said it better myself