dude, it's all there in your answer. who hired and hyped up the coach? I remember Feigen and Friedman defending McHale from fans who wanted him gone mid-season. What do they think about him now?
I see your point. But we found Moreyball wasn't working and we had to change our whole gameplan which cost us. We were used to playing one way the whole season only to have to change up to save our season. Meanwhile Portland played the same way they played all season. Moreyball is not effective in the postseason just Mike Dantoni's offense. We all bought the fool's gold
You can blame the players or the coach, but they were assembled by Morey. If the coach can't hold the players accountable then the GM needs to hold the coach accountable.
The GM who brought you Harden, Howard, Beverley and more draft hits than misses? Really? :grin: Beware the Retrospect Alliance! What percentage of new posters would you guys say add to the site? Can someone make a filter?
Moreyball is 3's and lay-ups which is nothing like D'antoni's seven-seconds-or-less offense. The fast break transition game of the Rockets is what the coach is running because he doesn't have his own (or someone else's) offense to install. What the Vipers are doing in RGV is Moreyball.
With all pre season games, 82 games plus practices in between also videotape screening, thats hundred chances of time to get to know each other. How many more sessions do we need? Mind u, this is pro basketballers, pro coaches, i still feel rockets play more or less the same freelancing offence, n no team defence. One improvement is a motivated harden at playoffs time.
And that has gotten us where exactly? Only more heartbreak and seething anger at our incompetence. I used to be proud of the Rockets even though we didn't make it to the postseason. Now I'm ashamed to identify myself as a Rockets fan because of the pity or teasing I will get.
And this is exactly the reason why they shouldn't be so one-dimensional. Everyone standing around on offense....just ridiculous.
That's why Morey is on the hot seat going forward. His(and Les's) past screwups came back to bite them in the behind this postseason. The McHale hiring, signing Lin and Asik to poison pill contracts, trading Brooks for a guy McHale refused to play, and letting Dragic walk. The good news is a lot of these can be remedied very quickly. A new coach can and should be hired by the time free agency begins. Lin and Asik will both be on the trading block this summer(and gone no later than a year from now). Another backup point guard will be targeted this offseason(especially if Lin is moved). Dragic walking is done, but at least the cap space they didn't use on him will be available either this summer if Lin and Asik are moved or next summer if they come off the books. But it's on Morey to not screw this up. Yes, he traded for Harden and signed Dwight. But with those two stars come expectations of championships. First round exits are no longer tolerable by a fanbase that has had more than their fair share of them for the last 17 years.
Morey will make changes. We knew that depth would be an issue before the season started. The Rockets had to liquidate so many assets and have so many short term contracts to get Howard and Harden.
1st SG & C is a joke. Elite defender is a hype. Beverley got exposed by Reggie Jackson last season. Nobody wants to accept the truth. As same as Daniels, he has nothing to offer except shooting 3. He is not savior.
I agree with most of your points, but we needed a center really badly, and got Asik for 8.3 M. Paying him 15 M, wouldn't look bad if we weren't able to get Howard.
True. But Asik became superfluous the moment Dwight was signed. Yes he was key for the Rockets down the stretch, but we all know he's gone no later than next summer. So why not replace him last offseason instead of waiting?
The offense is frantic paced dependent on floor spacing & penetration. Definitely D'antoni esque. The Rockets are the epitome of Moreyball and live & died with it. It's not built for playoff basketball. You have to have a more balanced attack, and the Rockets simply don't have the personnel for this. Your strategy is to shoot 3's but you don't have efficient 3pt shooters to space the floor? That 'a on Morey
Obviously this team isn't good enough to win at a high level without having everything and everyone clicking on all cylinders. The roster needs major upgrades so that they can better weather scoring droughts from key contributes and bring more consistent defense. But I think it's silly to say this series loss is on Morey. Look at where the roster was two years ago and where it is now. Rome wasn't built in a day and tough losses are apart oft the maturation process. Granted, I don't think that they're supposed to be THIS tough.
Where the hell was he meant to get these shooters? Korver? that's nice, he wanted more money, can you blame him? not really. Dunleavy? well sure, same deal. Redick? again more money. Great 3 point shooters aren't cheap and you're not getting them in your first year of having blown all your cap space, the cba was changed specifically so you can't do that Miami do and MLE a Mike Miller the same year you cap space star players. To make matters worse, he has leftovers from his owner induced attempted suicide that takes up more cap space than Dragic, Lowry, Mr Have-it-all, etc etc. Bad leftover contracts and no cap space, we're basically where the Clippers were a year ago.
