As you said, Barkley was pissed, but also was responding off the cuff. If am not adding "deeper thought," I'm explaining my philosophy on Analytics within the context of his statement and my knowledge of Barkley's basketball beliefs and Morey's. So, who is adding deeper thought to Barkley's statement....you are, too
When someone gives an unprepared response like Barkley did to a crafted trolling tweet like Morey did, there is nothing wrong with adding historical context to the discussion. Now you're putting words into my mouth. Morey never said that. Barkley did, basically. And I said in my very first post last night that Barkley is closer to the truth than Morey's. Morey's history of turning over the Rockets roster and assets provides no proof of the value of Analytics wrt winning and traditional NBA coaching and scouting. It's just a intellectual philosophy, so far. See, how can slow down and talk about basketball coherently on this subject. Please try to do that or stop replying to me in this thread. Your rant is boring.
My take is easy to understand: A) Barkley is a known Rockets hater. B) Barkley makes incorrect statement that the Rockets defense is one of the worst in the league. C) Barkley then chastises Morey for something he never said. D) Therefore, given all three, anyone who is defending Barkley here is an idiot. I am not making any sort of comment on Morey's use of analytics and the results of his time here. I'm happy to read any debate on that. But Barkley, especially last night, is just flat-wrong and his opinion on the Rockets should be taken with the all the grains of salt that cover the beaches in California. And if I looked in the mirror and found myself taking his side after last night, I'd be forced to admit to myself that maybe my time as a Rockets fan has run its course. It's like calling yourself a Christian while you agree with the devil.
I just don't agree. I like his tweet. Barkley would have been bashing the Rockets after the game anyway, so what does it even matter? This tweet came out after the pre-game show, which was unwatchable and had Barkley, AGAIN, bashing the Rockets and Shaq saying that Harden is not an MVP candidate. I used to like the TNT broadcast but now it is unwatchable. Adding Shaq was a terrible mistake. Shaq+Barkley is a terrible combo. I hope Morey keeps talking smack to those two idiots. And what did Barkley ever win? Oh that's right...NOTHING! Barkley is now creeping towards Pippen level hate for me.
This is definitely because of the beef he has with Les. I'm curious if Kenny knows the truth about what really happened between les and chuck
While Morey's use of analytics has not yet, and maybe never will yield a championship, that's still not what Barkley said. Morey's been outspoken in his use of analytics, but he's also been outspoken when saying you need elite superstars to win it all. He's never once said that analytics alone will win a championship.
You can say that about almost anything. For example, Harden made a last second shot to enable Houston to win a game. Had it not been for a couple of lucky bounces during the game, he would not have been in that position.
I love this idea that Barkley, a guy who's spent years bashing the Rockets because he thinks Les owes him $3 million, can be "trolled" by a solitary Daryl Morey tweet. Morey has grown more powerful than we can possibly imagine.
I listened to SVP and Russillo talk about this today and I think Russillo is the only sport radio guy that heard today who 100% gets it. Not only does he defends Morey and the use of analytics, but he also calls out the personal beef that Barkley and the TNT guys have with the Rockets.
It's Morey's fault that Barkley can't come up with all the reasons heypartner thinks Barkley's right.
Barkley is partly right. You need a mix of analytics and the eye test. However, Morey is an idiot for trying to battle with a known idiot on TV in Chuck. let bygones be bygones.
He wasn't held to any academic standards. I don't know if that will make you feel better or worse, but... it's something.
ESPNs NBA podcast today started off with this topic. They all agreed Barkley is a dumbass, but all pretty much agreed that stuff like this is why he is so entertaining. Then basically said you don't watch Chuck for intelligent bball talk, he's there for entertainment. Thought it was also funny that one of the guys said that the reason Chuck has that job and gets paid so much to do it is because of analytics. The TNT big wigs see the ratings he gets and say to themselves this guy has got to be on tv.
Analytics has been exactly what has driven the results of the league over the last decade. There's a reason why the NBA champion typically is the best 3 point shooting team of all the playoff teams, and not the best mid-range shooting team. There's a reason why the Spurs, who not only weren't the most talented team in the NBA, but probably weren't top 3, won the championship. It's exactly analytics. The Spurs shift to an offensive machine has been analytic driven. Saying you have to have the best talent to win is an absolutely useless and moronic statement. For one, it's not always true. See last year. See Pistons. See Dallas Mavericks. See any number of other playoff series. That doesn't mean that the reason those more talented teams lost was analytic driven, but that could be a reason. But we know talent trumps everything. Beyond talent, the question is does analytics make sense and provide added value? Of course, you'd have to be an idiot... like Charles Barkley... to disagree with that. Conveniently, most of the NBA and the sports world overall strongly embraces analytics. Which is exactly what Morey's tweet said. "misinformed biased vitriol disguised as entertainment" Barkley is entertainment.
Barkley truly sounds like an idiot. If Morey were to be released today, every team in the NBA would approach him for a position, not necessarily GM, with their team because of his progressive analytic use. The comparison to Billy Beane is horrible as well. Beane replaces all-star talent with cheaper, aggregate talent. The production is spread through multiple players and positions. The opposition to statistics' usefulness has truly become asinine.
I agree you make your own luck. If Morey wasn't prepared we would have never been able to get Harden.
