It is not black and white Sam, there are things I do appreciate about what he does, and there are things I think he is not doing very well. At the end of the day, I would probably look to build through the draft a bit more, and stop being so active in the press. DD
I think we all mean something different when we say "moneyball." I'm great with them using advanced statistics...but the goal should be to use it to create a TEAM. I think the approach of Moneyball (as I define it), taking an asset/player by asset/player approach lends itself very well to baseball. You can acquire assets because for the most part you're acquiring sticks at the plate...and each AB is a separate occasion for each player. You find what is undervalued and you maximize it...this has particular value in MLB where there's no salary cap and smaller market teams have to find an advantage somewhere. I think that taking that asset/player by asset/player approach in basketball lends itself to exactly what we have right now....a roster with 27 power forwards and not a center to be found. It seems to me there is very little of real team building and fit here....it seems to me that every move that is made is about creating flexibility for the next move, with very little emphasis on building around anything. The game of basketball itself requires more than that. There is no real core to this team....and if you wanna say it's because they suck, then who is responsible for that? Everyone on this roster is one of DM's guys. Ultimately, I feel like he's great at making nearly lateral moves that create flexibility to go after a trade he hasn't delivered. I'm not saying he never will deliver it....but most of my feelings on DM are reactionary to those who act as if he's built a golden legacy here. I don't get that.
Are you saying that Morey is deliberately leaking stories to the press so the rest of us go, "gee whiz, that Morey is really working all the angles!"
It is ok to have a different opinion Larsv8, not everyone has to agree with the way things are going. While you may think he is doing a GREAT job, I personally think he is doing an "OK" job. And all that really matters are the results, so far, he has an INC. While I give him credit for trying......trying is not good enough, you have to execute your plan or else you will be canned. So far, Morey is great at trying, and pretty poor at executing on his big plan. DD
And rebuilding through the draft means getting higher picks which means having a poorer record which is against his orders. So if you were the GM, you'd get fired for not following Les' mandates.
The attempted Pau Gasol deal. I can't fathom the thinking that Gasol does anything to improve the team. Even if it went through, there was no guarantee that Nene was coming, too. Gasol is soft, overpriced, and in his 30's. At best, he would have helped get them in the playoffs...but then what? I was trying to be patient with the draft picks...but the fact is that not one of his 1st round picks have managed to be better than the 2nd round pick of the same year. Every single one of his 1st round picks have had to spend time in the D-league.* *That weren't traded...i.e. Batum...which can easily be argued as another strike against him, though I don't remember the circumstances
Danny Ferry dumped a terrible contract to get money freed up. The Rockets could do that as well if that was their goal. Perhaps they could trade Kevin Martin for an expiring contract. I mean Kevin Martin has a whole YEAR on his contract still. Probably should do a Joe Johnson type deal where he trade that albatross YEAR for a handful of scrubs who only have a YEAR on their deal so that at the end of a YEAR the money is off the books.
I don't doubt Morey's master plan. I did hate the firing of Adelman, and then to hire Mchale was a joke. I am disappointed with the constant drafting of undersized PFs.
Yeah, I would tell Les that the only way to properly do it is to go really young. But Morey has stated publicly he agrees with Les that there is another way to do it, so we can't lay this all at Les' feet, though I am no fan of Mr. Alexanders. DD
So basically you would tank and rebuild. I'm not sure how many more times this has to be re-re-re-stated, and I know that this will fall on deaf ears for the Rocket Rivers and DaDakotas of the universe, but here we go: Of course he stated publicly he agrees with and supports his boss - WTF do you expect him to say? "This team is kind of without direction because our dumbass owner doesn't believe me that the best way to rebuild is to be terrible?" The fact that he actually was candid enough to disagree speaks volumes and probably got him in trouble.
Yeah if Morey were a GOOD GM like all the other ones in the league he would come out publicly and disagree with the owner of the team and say something like "I don't agree at all with his vision and direction but I'll still cash my paycheck."
We already had a contender once under him. He knows what it takes and how to get there. Fans are just being impatient and would rather take the quicker route to nowhere rather than the longer path to somewhere.
Ah, Mr. half quote strikes again.....how convenient that you leave out the part where Morey goes "And I agree with him" I mean honestly Sam that is really low. DD
