Let's see: you say that the Spurs were "gifted" Tim Duncan. OK, by your logic then, the Rockets were in turn "gifted" with Ralph Sampson & Hakeem Olajuwan. You sound like the rest of the Rocketsheep who want to dismiss San Antonio's success as some sort of lucky fluke. The facts speak for themselves and SA has been light years ahead of the Rockets organization in their ability to stock NBA-caliber talent on their roster and that includes during Morey's tenure. The bottom line is results and those results say four NBA titles for the Spurs. Well Morey now supposedly has just that in Howard but it may not matter all that much anymore because of the changing nature of the game. I actually bothered to read the entire article - especially the part about defense and it reinforced my concerns about Howard not being the catalyst that will bring another championship to the Rockets. As for the idea of arrogance on the part of the Rockets, yeah, I hear that a lot up here from my friend who works in the Mavs organization. I dismiss it completely because the Mavs under Cuban are the most arrogant set of pricks walking around today. But judging by the posts I have seen here, that article is spot on with regards to the Rocketsheep - not only are they arrogant but also entitled as if the Rockets under Morey are so superior to other organizations that they have no choice but to deal with us on our terms. It's actually quite funny to watch as the Rocketsheep become more and more like Cowsheep.
I was actually about to post the same exact thing with the Olajuwon analogy. Now the rockets have 2 players that are supposed to be "the best at their position." So if the Spurs were gift wrapped Duncan lets see what we have to show with the best SG and the best C. The jury is still out on that one, but the fact that some people think that we can sit and act with condescension towards the spurs is laughable. Following their strategy should be logical answer. Rocketsheep seems to be the right word, stock pilling assets is apparently > championships now.
This whole arrogance thing is probably a media tactic; there is no reason a GM for a non-contender would not trade with Morey just because he was the biggest douche in the world. Who cares if they give the rockets a championship piece as long as they got valuable assets back, they are not contending. What's more likely is that they tried to low-ball or fair value Morey and Morey is value Asik/Lin significantly higher. A GM that acts otherwise should be fired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkB9OT2XVvA haha every time I see this thread title, i think about this ad. Just change the Russian guy to Morey
Luck is a huge factor in the NBA. Luck played a huge factor in the current Rocket roster as well. If Stern didn't veto the Chris Paul to Lakers trade, the Rockets will not have Harden or Howard and will instead feature Pau Gasol and NeNe as the 2 best players.
I don't know why people can't be objective who looking at Morey's tenure. We don't have to act like he is infallible and at the same time we don't have to pretend that he did nothing and anyone praising him is being a "Rocketsheep." Being negative doesn't make one's opinion more intelligent. The fact is that success in the NBA requires both intelligent decision making and luck. Injury, for one, can derail a team for one or multiple seasons and even the best GM can't totally prevent or predict them. The draft is also inherently hit or miss. Even good front offices can't hit 100%, especially if they don't draft high in the 1st round. There is a degree of luck with the Spurs landing Duncan and having him staying more or less healthy all these years, but it took smart decision-making to surround him with enough talent to contend (from Manu, Bowen, Parker to Splitter, Green, Leonard) and convincing him to stay. Drafting a guy doesn't mean you control him forever, remember. Had the Spurs not landed the pick that got them Duncan, I suspect that a smart front office would have still figured out a way to maximize their chances at winning. They'd likely find star players some other way-- perhaps by tanking and drafting high, perhaps by the "asset trading" that Morey (and Ainge) did. As for Morey: A part of what lead to the current team is of course luck, good or bad. However, he has for the most part made good decisions and taken smart risks compared to most other GMs. This is why deserve a positive review.
The frustrating point is SAS tanked, landed Duncan to partner with The Admiral. What Spurs did subsequently, other than Pop tossing his old buddy under the bus and replacing him, has been terrific. DM the GM is good. He takes risks and no risk taker wins'm all. Bad risk takers lose most of their attempts. DM the GM has gotten a lot of hits and this team is in position to do great things. Or is positioned to be able to get to where they could do great things.
Olajuwon and Sampson were gifted to an entirely different Owner, coach and general manager, so that is pretty much irrelevant. My argument is for the current management group. They have not been "light year's ahead of the Rockets organization to stock NBA-caliber talent, not ahead at all. Outside of Duncan, the key pieces they have had picked up in the past 15 years: Bowen, Parker, Manu, Leonard, Barry, Sjax, Jefferson, Diaw, Splitter and Horry Rockets key acquisitions in the Morey's tenure (~7 years) have been: Artest, Parsons, Asik, Scola, Landry, Dragic, Brooks, Battier, Lowry, Harden, Howard, Camby, Martin, Ariza. So yea, basically its all Duncan, and some other solid moves. Outside of that, good not great. And its not as if Morey had some top picks to make that happen.
