John Wall opens up about his time in Houston

I agree with all of this, but why should John Wall be getting all the benefit of the doubt?

I think a lot of what he is saying is somewhat truthful, but I also think he is pumping it up to have something that will blow up his podcast.

I also don't really see any news here because I thought this is what was going on anyway, whats the news here?

 

You’re not wrong. But it’s obvious to me that we’re tanking and what John Wall said confirms it. I just didn’t think it was fair to fire Silas when the goal of the organization is to tank for high draft picks. I put most of the blame for this on Stone, but the situation is not that bad at this time. We need to hit on our draft pick next year and Stone needs to add some talent through trades or free agency. If those things happen we could see great improvement next year.

 

Ironically, the NBA is looking towards expansion and the PHX deal has given them an idea of how to inject more cash in to offset the Nat'l TV dilution that adding teams in say LAS and SEA would create. Here's a recent article on how that could work... https://www.si.com/nba/suns/analysis/how-phoenix-suns-sale-4-billion-helps-potential-nba-expansion

Injecting $300M per franchise would be a good way to prop up those small market teams, until the next TV deal.

 

The Rockets have a ways to go to be in the top 3 of dysfunctional orgs in the NBA.

Have you seen the **** show that has been going on in Sacramento, Orlando, OKC the last 3-5 years?

 

John Wall is not a player you want young guys listening to. He's a guy that thinks 20 points on 18 shots means you're doing awesome.

If it's true that they wanted him to stay away from the young players, I completely agree with that.

John Wall is just a gang affiliated version of Russell Westbrook

 

So... would it become not tanking if they played John Wall who was worse than the guys they played?

 

The owner is responsible because he believes anyone can run and coach a basketball team.

The GM is responsible because while he sees the bigger picture of losing and getting draft picks, he fails to realize the importance of culture and accountability and setting the tone. He believes that just saying he cares about players is enough. He is also not confident, he is afraid of having a strong coach or assistant GM that he thinks will usurp power from him like he did from Daryl Morey.

The head coach is responsible because, while he is a good person, he lacks any real integrity and doesn't hold players accountable. It is such a large issue that the organization relies on Lucas and Hollins to discipline and coach the players.

The veterans have been on other teams and organizations and know this is a disaster, so they have no desire to mentor young players that honestly, in many cases, don't want to be mentored.

The young players fight structure, and they think they have it good coming to practice late, having all of their mistakes easily forgiven and basically run the team.

It isn't the end of the world YET. If the Rockets get Wemby or Henderson or possibly Amen Thompson AND bring in a real coach and let him or her make decisions - then it can still work well.

The problem is that I don't have any confidence in Stone pushing for that to happen, because he is so insecure and wants people to agree with him and not question him.

At this point, it is arguable that the best outcome is that the Rockets get a top 3 pick..... fire Silas and Stone and hire someone that either has had success as a GM or is very gifted with a vision to run the organization. For all the dysfunction, the Rockets GM opening with a top 3 pick would be very interesting to a number of candidates.

The Rockets probably won't do it, but I would fire Silas at the break and give the team to Abdelfattah and let him pick who he wants his assistants to be and see how it goes.

 

Then showed up fat and loafing, looking like Barry White's love child.

 

I know those people, they come to you and tell you about themselves and when you ask them to donate to charity, they will give you a long list of excuses and reasons why they can't donate while they are trying to convince you and everyone they are decent beings.

 

Yup, they are just his observations and give clarity to why there have been so many negative things said about the organization.

If the Rockets get a top 3 pick, they will have a new coach and possibly a new GM in the next year or two.... a lot of this can turn around quickly.

Ego, insecurity and misplaced pride is what can ruin the rebuild.

As for Wall, he is old, he never became the player he was supposed to be .... and he isn't without flaws and he has a past ..... but it doesn't mean his observations are wrong or invalid.

 

Right now Orlando and OKC are better positioned in their rebuild than the Rockets.

Sacramento has a terrible owner.... but they are likely making the playoffs.

I would rather have the Rockets future than the Kings.... but not the Rockets over the Magic and OKC.

A lot of this is going to depend on where the Rockets land in the lottery. If the Rockets get the #1 pick, they will become the top young team in the league... if they pick #2-3, then they have as bright or a brighter future than Orlando.... pick #5-6? Well, unless we getting lucky, we will just be another team rebuilding without a star.

 

Hardenism and Moreyism continues to ruin this franchise, enablers of bad habits and narcissistic egotistical front office. You just can't kill it with fire.

When Morey did all this **** it was just the elvis dork personality that was swept under the rug.

 

I am not as optimistic as you are about the No 1 pick.

There are tons of ways to botch this as well.

Nagging injuries, too much hype, glorified Porzingis with Defense and so on.
Egos and a controlling Stone.

But you are right about one thing, the media and all folks would be watching Houston.

 

Can you imagine the hatred from non Rocket fans and NBa analysts if we ruin Wemby's progression? Ya I'm not sure people like Silas and Stone are capable of taking that type of heat.

 

If John Wall is as bad as you say he is, it should’ve been easy for KPJ to beat him for the starting PG spot. Paying him $40M not to play was a tank move.

 

He did. That's what Wall is crying about. He's got such an embarrassingly low BBIQ that he doesn't realize just how terrible he is. He just saw that he scored 20 points and thought that meant he was amazing. Funny how some have forgotten that he was absolutely the tank commander when he played.

Allowing Wall on the court is shameless tanking. Playing the more talented young players is the smart move.

 

You have to get rid of people.

5 players can average 23-25 ppg.

And yeah I put Bari in.

Those are all capable scorers.

The back court situation is not really that great.

Guys like Eason are never going to get the touches to be more than a role player.

That'd be insane.

 

this would be true if Wall said it and was alone but he is cosigning what we have heard from others, so what he's saying is likely true

 

No they didn't. That's objectively false. Their rebuild started as soon as Westbrook left just like when Harden left.

That doesn't mean I disagree with the premise that the Rockets training staff and management is a mess now compared to OKC.