Irrelevant unless I made the claim that those organizations are better than the Spurs, which I did not. I agree. 20 years ago, the Spurs were gifted Tim Duncan which was great. They had a couple nice moves since then to help turn that gift into a great a long meaningful run. But if they land the #2 pick instead, simply by being not quite as lucky, then no one would talk about the Spurs being a well run organization. The original point was that the Spurs are a better run organization than the Rockets, while posters hold Morey to some standard that no GM holds up too. The "egg on the face" comment is just plain silly when compared to some of the monumental mistakes the Spurs have made. While impossible to evaluate two seperate GM tenures with different sets of circumstances objectively, it is quite clear to me that if Morey were gifted a Tim Duncan today and had a guaranteed 20/10 all world defensive big man for the next 17 years, the story would be much much different.
Wow, this is a terrible post. You're missing the whole point, yea Drafting Duncan was the best move but they have maintained their excellence for a decade and a half. They didn't go out looking for 2nd or 3rd stars, they saw talent and developed it. If you are going to use those mistakes as a metric you have to take into account what they have done despite being a small market team. They have won 4 championships during that same time period and we have won 1 playoff series. They have been winning and as a top team in the Western Conference during that time period as well. Every year they find some scrubs to surround their core of Duncan/Parker/Gino and remain as an elite team. Some people think of Parker and Gino as some star players they knew about forever but that is false. They saw their talent and continued to develop them because they complemented TD well, and with TD as their cornerstone they would always have an identity and would always be competitive in the league. Not only are they the best run team in the NBA, they are probably the best run team in all of sports.
I remember when TP was 19 and played like Lin but even more inconsistent (had better handles but shot more poorly). They totally did not get along during their early years.
I totally agree with your post. However, you must have missed the memo about the superiority of Morey's advanced analytics because they make people in Houston feel better than winning championships, unlike the Spurs and the San Antonio folks. Hey, Morey is a basketball god and he makes a lot of Rockets fans feel better than winning championships. How can you argue against that?
That's basically just one big cop out and lazy answer. All that nonsense comes back to the same thing: they got Tim Duncan. So your going to tell me right now if you had two identical bucks teams, Morey ran one and Buford the other, that Buford's team would get to a ring first? Sorry, but no. This will become very clear after Duncan retires and the rats start jumping off the ship.
Was it Howard, was it? Let me check. Oh, you're absolutely right. My mistake. I rescind my comments. Sorry, DMo. I still love you.
Spurs didn't run out and sign stars is true. They did develop them. But they also started with 2 #1 lottery picks (DRob and Duncan). However, that doesn't mean it's wrong to run out and sign stars. And it's not wrong to stink for a couple years and draft #1 if you know what you are doing. But it takes a lot of luck to get #1 more than once in 3 or 4 years. And it takes some stroke of luck to acquire a guy before he hits superstar status (Harden). What Pop and Morey have in common is they don't pass out bad contracts and if they have a player that is not a fit they get rid of him pronto. That is what kept Morey with the ability to sign a max player and it is what kept Pop capable of re-signing the stars the Spurs developed.
no reason to get arrogant until we make it out the 1st round, nothings guaranteed. Playoffs are about grind and heart. that goes to FANS and MOREY. I will admit he was to cocky after signing Howard having the big event like we won a championship this summer, MOREY also brags. I would wait to do my talking after playoffs are over. And if it was so big of an upgrade why you saying you NEED a 3rd star ? Parsons is solid and can easily be that guy for another playoff team. He can be that guy here trust in your team and make the bench deeper with defensive players and players with heart is my advice.
Yea I would. Yet, you continue to ignore the fact that the Duncan move alone would not net them championships. Everything else Bufford and Pop (yes he was a GM too and played a big role...) did helped them. That includes surrounding him with the right supporting cast in the initial stages, and then surround the core of Duncan/Gino/Parker with the right supporting cast later on. They have been shown to be extremely flexible and adaptable in making the right moves for their team. How else could you maintain that sort of competitive level for over a decade and a half?
If the Rockets add a rookie Tim Duncan on their roster this year, I predict they win at least 4 titles within the next 15 years.
I don't. I predict that they over play him and run him to the ground, morph Duncan's game and try to develop him into a 3pt shooter, tell him not to take any of those midrange shots he takes, sign players that are a terrible fit, try and compile assets the entire time, and then miss a window of opportunity because Duncan gets bad feet from playing so much.
We aren't revising history, we are simply dispelling myths. We have no idea what would have happened had the Gasol trade gone down. Its an "incomplete" at best.
This piece is written by one of the legit (or at least experienced) NBA writers that Bleacher Report recently hired, not a random opinion/slide show post made by some fan.
The Spurs are one of the best franchises in sports. The Rockets are nowhere close to that type of success. Hopefully bringing in Harden, Parsons and Howards will bring about that type of success.
