Buford said at sloan that Pop said nothing either way at the time (and he was hoping it stayed that way)
If this is true, I think it says something about Morey's reputation in the league. If the guys being interviewed are repeating that they don't want the coaching job without having GM powers I think you have to consider that is their way of saying "I won't work for this jerk, Murry" and not just about them wanting a Thibs deal. I didn't expect this but I believe Les would drop Morey in a second if that is what it took to reel in the coach he wants.
Silence does not indicate neutrality, dissent, or approval. It indicates silence. If Pops didn't want Kawhi he would have spoken and the trade would not have happened. Buford is a top notch basketball guy. Taking nothing away from him. But Pops is the boss there. Anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't know the Spurs.
It has become the thing to do again around the league. I don't believe it is personally against Morey. I think it coaches looking at the general state of the league right now: the Vogel situation, McHale firing (Houston), Blatt firing (Cleveland), Sacramento's coaching shuffle of past few years, Memphis coaching shuffle of past few years, Fisher firing (NYK), Jason Kidd firing, etc. Coaches want to win and succeed, but they want some stability. I think they see the increasing quick trigger nature of the profession, and want more control over it. Also, I think with analytics having becoming more utilized LEAGUE-WIDE, they probably see that is being more in the coaches purview and wanting more control over that too as opposed to the GM or President of Basketball.
Morey is so overrated it is sickening. No finals appearences nothing noteworthy other than getting problematic Harden. He also got Joey Dorsey and a number of other losers. His next job will be as a commentator on NBA tv because of his popularity due to the circus atmosphere he has surrounded the Rockets with. It may be fun being the bridesmaid for Carmelo, Bosh, James, Durant and all the others he wastes ech offseason chasing, but we pay a price as all the good free agents don't get looked at while we are star gazing and we end up with the Dorsey scraps.
Pop definitely targeted Kawhi in that draft, there's no doubt, and he absolutely signed off on the deal despite loving Hill and wanting to keep him. What's funny is that the Hill move was actually an attempt to stay out of the Lux Tax threshold in the year Hill's contact expired (following year), and the Spurs had desperately tried to move Jefferson's contract that very same year in an attempt to keep Hill. Grantland had a piece dissecting the deal from both sides, I believe Lowe was the author. Interesting piece - had the Pacers not had Granger at the time, it sounds as though they would have kept Kawhi.
His evaluation of talent is overrated. We landed big stars via trade and free agency with Carroll Dawson as well.
Incredibly stupid to ouster Morey. I would be very disappointed. Would be highly skeptical of JVG in a dual role. As coach, fine, but not coach/GM. I dont see Morey taking a reduced role, much like Hinkie didnt in Philly when his role got reduced. Just hire Joerger. Morey/Joerger would be a great tandem. Great opportunity now to hire a young up and coming coach with a great track record, develops young players, coaches D, will play up tempo offense and is into analytics. Get him.
I think Morey having full control of basketball operations hasn't been working and he needs to find a great basketball mind to share those duties and work together. Force feeding the 3 and D isn't working. Like the wildcat in football it doesn't take long to have an easy way to defend it.
^^ I wonder to what extent, if any, this philosophy of Morey is affecting his future with the team. Is he willing to bend? Stop imposing his will so much over a coaching staff? I agree with the percentages thing; 36% from 3 is like 48% from 2-point territory, lay ups are higher percentage.....but if your personnel can't make them? And this makes it so much easier for the other team to defend you. Harden looked more comfortable once he mixed it up a bit and went for the long 2 pointer from time to time. It freed him up a bit at the 3 point line. Etcetera etcetera.
Exactly. You need to have offensive flexibility, and when you are either gonna shoot a 3 or try to get a layup it's too predictable.
To people who think Morey is a top GM, would Buford/Popovich have acquired any of the following players or coaches? Joey Dorsey Corey Brewer Josh Smith Micheal Beasely Kevin Mchale (coach) J.B. Bickerstaff It's like Morey has a weird sexual fetish for low basketball IQ players/personnel, so he goes out of his way to acquire them whenever there's a chance. Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverly also falls into this category to some degree. As someone who is primarily known for being smart and thinking ahead of the curve, Morey just doesn't seem to value intelligence in his players and coaches. Same thing with evaluating personal character. It's like Morey does exactly the opposite of what the Spurs management would do when making decisions on hiring coaches and player acquisition. They both value analytics and data, but one is completely clueless as to what makes a basketball team truly great, and what type of players are needed to achieve that goal. Hence the discrepancy in the number of championship trophies between the two organization.
Ty Lawson - lost a 1st for him Terrance Williams - lost a 1st for him Terrance Jones Anyone named Terrance Remember the excitement over getting Patrick Paterson and how he was their 6th rated player on the draft board - jubilant, then we let him go as he was just a smart 6'9" Stretch 4 - which we could use btw. Morey's track record is not all that great there have been plenty of misses, but with so much flipping you can find wins and loses, for him. Depends on whether you like his flip or flop strategy. DD
I think it's necessary until you have the right mix of players. Look what keeping the same flawed core did for us this year? There was no magical Harden run to save us. The one year Morey did no flipping and the Rockets have one of the most disastrous seasons of all time.
Ty Lawson was universally considered a steal for a first round pick. Of course, everyone knew he'd be a shell of himself except Morey, right? These hindsight posts are so awesome.
I don't think Morey would have traded Scola for VSpan like Buford/Pop did. Everyone make mistakes. Buford let Mahinmi and Joseph walk for free. He drafted Felipe Lopez in first round. He drafted Dragic and treaded him to the Suns for Malik Hairston. He gave a 10x4 to Splitter few years ago. And there's probably more.
He did plenty of flipping. Players that were on one team and not the other. Nick Johnson Papanickalou Thornton Lawson Canan Hayes Shved Dorsey Smith - there and back again. DMo (almost) That is 9 players that came through here in the last year that were here and gone.. Don't fall for the "Same roster" narrative - it wasn't. DD
There have been 6 different teams win the championship since Morey has been GM. Most franchises have failed considerably more than we have during that time. And while yes I agree that nothing counts but winning, show me a better option. Morey has had hits and misses but he's been intelligent in his pursuit and I still trust his decision making. OMG Fire Murray, just doesn't scream great argument.
Why do you trust his decision making? I think it has been good in some instances - Harden, Bev - and questionable in many others. The key question is has he advanced the team - and 41-41 is not a resounding yes.... DD
