As we drink the Morey Kool-Aid...We are all Guilty

speak for yourself buddy...

1 and 2 are too early to give up on.
3 is justified
4 was due to lack of available big men
5 was not ready til recently
6 was not a steal for the lakers
7 is currently hurt

 

Ron Artest was not coming back. He had his mind set on LA + championship. And there was no Yao, and no Tracy. He wasn't coming back.

He did go out looking for size. He got David Andersen. Just because you have size doesn't mean you're good.

That's all I got for now.

 

incentives not incenitives

 

It's a long-term plan. You keep making good deals, gradually increasing your talent level, without taking on too many bad contracts. Once you have too many crappy contracts, you are screwed, and get into the same situation that Washington, Philly, and many other teams are now in. I won't say New York because, even though they don't have much talent, most of their payroll is expiring; they just need to be wise going forward.

If you read what fans of other teams are saying, teams like the 76ers thought they were on their way a very short time ago. Once you load up on bad contracts, though, you either make it fast, or start spending several years unwinding all the bad stuff.

I would remind those in panic mode that we are a near-playoff team (not in the Eastern Conference, either), with 55% of our payroll (Yao/Tracy) not available. Even if we can't unload Tracy, we are only back to the level of the salary cap, with no terrible contracts, and lots of room to maneuver. Many teams can only dream of being there.

Don't lose your heads.

 

1) Let's be honest, I think Morey new this going into the deal. He stated clearly that as long as Ariza provides what he has been providing (defense and hustle) then he was worth the deal. After watching this team play without him against Miami, I think I would retract that statement. Forget his shooting, that can be fixed by finding better shooters to take those shots. I like him for the price.

2) It's totally unfair to classify a 2nd round draft purchase after one season or even two. Give me Landry and Brooks stats at the end of one year. Patience is virtue.

3) I believe T-Mac sat himself. They were willing to play him minutes to get him involved but he didn't like it.

4) I agree, size is needed but at what cost and from where? Anderson was just a cheap, hopeful solution and not a very good one at that. Chuck Hayes has done as good a job as he can so I can't blame him. They are hand-tied by millions to Yao and Tracy this year, hard to resolve in a season like this.

5) Maybe, but boy are you making assumptions based on what? He's been better as of late... kind of a bad time for you to pronounce his demise.

6) Good move by Morey. No sense placing Ron Artest as the best asset and leader of your franchise. Would have been the worst move in the history of this organization. Not to mention, you cannot assume that other factors led to letting him go like his behind the scenes behavior. No superstars and a team of young players led by Ron Artest? hahahahaha.

7) Von wanted big dollars... he got them overseas... or did he? The Rocket's tried to bring him back at the minimum and he failed his physical (with Memphis as well).

Boy, your analysis was spot on. Just because Dallas is getting a 13 P.E.R. player who is turning 30 and a rental in Haywood does not mean the Rocket's are done. My god, Morey even stated that the talks with teams mentioned IS happening but the pieces are not the right ones being discussed. He obviously new that Butler to Dallas was likely to happen. Think harder and you might figure out that other options may be coming.

 

I can agree with you on some of these. A lot of users here are so in love with Morey it doesn't matter what he does. They will be amazed.

 

If you're gonna make an argument, get the facts straight. The Lakers signed Artest to a 5 year deal worth $34 million. That's anything but a steal.

 

Longterm of just acquiring good talent doesn't work. You need superstars.

You need:
1.) be terrible and get a super star.
2.) Have a buddy working in an opposing teams front office
3.) get lucky and sign a superstar

Look at spurs:

They pickup many good players, but aren't that good becuase tim duncan is getting old.

The cavs have a ton of crappy contracts, but they have superstar so they are winning.

 

Wasn't Ron Artest's deal 33 million/5 year deal?...

 

1+6

I hate Ariza, but signing Ariza instead of Artest was better choice.

 

This post is beyond stupidity.

How many other GMs in the league entered the year knowing full well that there best TWO players- not one but TWO would be out for a majority of the season???

Where would Dallas be if both Dirk and Kidd were out?

If Phoenix had Nash and Amare out?

Hell, if Cleveland just had Lebron out?...

Your statement about Artest alone shows your limits on what the Rockets are trying to do.

I mean it is difficult to overcome 40 million on the sidelines no matter what moves you make. I dont wanna hear about TSlack either--the ingrate bum chose not to cooperate and pushed himself of the team.

Please give Morey credit to where we are now but sober people realize hes not a magician.

 

and you haven't?

why criticize the low risk moves made by morey and not applaud the low risk moves that turned out to be gems?

 

Quite honestly i would have to agree on most of what you are saying. Most of you praise Morey for everything but yeah I would have to agree Taylor is a waste. He has shown nothing other than a good dunk here and there. When Von was stockpiled on the bench and and finally got some PT he was soooo impressive everyone was like WOW! Taylor hasnt shown than and yeah I would have rather given that 2 mil to Von than have Taylor on the team.

The signing of Ariza is WAY WAY WAY to early to tell if he messed up. Give me a guy to create for him instead of Ariza to create then get back at me on that one. I think Yao will even make Ariza a better player.

Yeah Anderson is GARBAGE Morey definitely missed on this one. I would rather him go out and get a shot blocker. That why our defense blows. No one is scared to attack the rim.

And yeah I would definitley still love to have ron ron but props to him for a taking a pay cut to want to win now.

Finally, we all have hopes Dorsey can be a Ben Wallace caliber type player. I doubt that will ever happen.

 

2nd round picks take time to make good sometimes even late 1st rounders take time brooks w/ all the hype did not prove himself to me until late in his 1st season yet he is an all star overlooked!!!

 

Good points. Everybody just needs to stop panicking. We have all summer to get the talent straightened out. Screaming like chicken little is so damn popular around here.

 

I think Morey has done decently given the circumstances.

I kind of sensed some degree of "panic/urgency" after we lost Artest. The whole scramble to sign either Gortat and/or Ariza seemed to come as a reactionary move to losing Artest and obviously earlier in the year, Deke and Yao. Overall, i'd say DM was dealt some difficult circumstances with player injuries to compensate for. However, where I feel DM has not been as "prudent" as could be is in buying more "insurance" once it became clear as long back as two seasons ago that our big 2 - Yao and Tracy - had more than the remote chance of injury. i.e. DURABILITY ISSUES

EVen the Artest thing. It was fact that it would be one year thing, and resigning him was not in the cards. I mean, c'mon. This was Artest. And however one viewed that situation to be unpredictable after one year, I would have thought Morey would have some "contingency" plans even before season's end, then after the fact, where I indeed believe we were "scrambling" for talent to make up for the headline news of losing Artest.

Lastly, for those who say this is just backseat driving, I only ask you consider how long it took before you realized Yao AND Tracy each or both had durability issues? I think any honest Rocket observer would have started seeing this even back in the JVG years.

Hopefully, come and even before this offseasn, we can go back to being "proactive" instead of "reactive" which is what I feel we've been doing for the past 18 months.

theSAGE

 

What superstars win the title with any regularity? Not DWade, Garnett, Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Amare, etc. Your plan relies heavily on luck, and usually results in a rare championship in an island of mediocre years - at best.

I'm glad you mentioned San Antonio. They are a well-run organization that is in the hunt almost every year. They don't gamble very much. We're getting there, and if we're smart, we'll be there every year for a long time.

It takes assets to trade for those superstars. We traded assets to get Tracy. We got lucky with Yao. There's luck involved, but shrewdness will get you farther, even in the NBA.