My favorite part of this thread is the Morey haters that are saying well we can't get out of the first round so Barkley is right...the Rockets aren't the only team that use analytics fools...
Both Morey and Barkley are stating things from different ends of analytics and the quote below from DFWRocket is the best response. T_Man
I do love that Charles stated "They are not good defensively. Good defensive teams don't give up 118 points" BUT completely leaves out the fact that our starting center and our backup 4 were not playing, thus leaving teams the opportunity to drive the lane uncontested for the most part. I like Charles and he is very funny, but he IS totally biased against the Rockets. So let's prove him wrong by actually CONTENDING in the playoffs. Until that happens, he will continue to let his personal feelings about the organization drive what he says during and after our televised TNT games.
On a side note, I just wanted to address one more misconception of Analytics and "Moreyball". Analytics do NOT dictate the offense or defense on the floor. What analytics does is it tells your coaches and players what they are good and bad at. It is then the responsibility of the Coaches and the Players to translate that to an offense or defense. Memphis is a heavy analytics team. They drive their sets from the Post, play grind it out defense and aggressively pursue offensive rebounds. They do this because their analytics show that Marc Gasol and ZBo are most effective operating from specific areas around the post. Their offense looks nothing like the Rockets. The Spurs are a heavy analytics team. They drive their sets through their PG or secondary ball handler. They play swarming help defense and ignore most offensive rebounds to defend in transition. They do this because they score best when their offense is initiated either through the PnR or through an off ball action that leads to a PnR. Their offense looks nothing like the Rockets. Analytics and Moreyball don't dictate the offense. What they are able to do is tell us what our current roster is able to do well, what they do poorly, and then transmit that information to the coaching staff and players. It is upon the Coaches and the Players to take that information, assimilate it, and integrate it into their decision making to construct the best offense and defense possible. For every Bosh that makes a conscious decision to accept the data and forego an entire side of a floor, or Battier that makes a conscious effort to integrate the data into their defensive decisions there are other players that prefer to completely ignore that data. For every Popovich, Carlisle, Budenholzer or Spoelstra that is open to the story that the data is telling them, there is a Byron Scott or a Lionel Hollins that resists the idea that mathematics and computers can tell them something that they don't know. If the Rockets offense or defense is poor, it's not because of Moreyball or analytics. Those are only the lenses that allow the Rockets to understand their roster and what is happening on the floor. If the Rockets offense or defense is poor, it's either because the Roster is ill fitting, under talented, under performing due to chemistry or fatigue, or not being optimally coached. Blaming Moreyball or Analytics for the end result is like blaming the MRI for your diagnosis. It's up to you and your doctors to figure out what to do with the diagnosis. Are analytics perfect? Not by any stretch. However, it's better to have data that's partially useful than no data at all.
Light night was hilarious. "...and couldn't get the girls in high school." I couldn't stop laughing .... take him for what he is! And it's not like his perspective on analytics is totally unreasonable, though we all know he's ill-informed. He's old school. It's another opportunity for Morey to showcase his knowledge, if he truly believes in it.
The best thing about this confrontation is next time charles talks about the rockets people will remember this feud and notice his bias.
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Not yet. Just wait and see what happens when teams have time to prepare and concentrate on taking away your best weapon (The Beard). This is what happens in the playoffs. I confess. I have been watching basketball for a long time and I simply don't know if a team can win it all playing basketball the way the Rockets do - especially with an offense that is so heavily dependent on one guy's game.
Morey certainly picked a strange time to get so thin skinned. All Morey has to do to prove Barkley and Shaq wrong is to field a team that wins a playoff series (for a change).
You have an awful sense of humor or some weird condition that doesn't allow you to stop laughing at unfunny jokes.
He's been rightfully railing on TNT more than just last night. Please go root for the Mavs if you're going to take Barkley's side in this.
What I find funny is certainly not a joke about one's ability to get laid by a man who has to pay to get his. If you find that funny, I'm sorry for your brain trauma.
