Martin to Morey: Treating us like assets gets you nowhere

I thought it was a pretty fitting ending to the Adelman era when he walked to the tunnel alone after clinching his milestone.

None of our players being untouchable is a reasonable business stance, but Martin is right about Morey being so public about it. But even worse is the coach not being untouchable after what he's done throughout his career and here in Houston. The FO stance on that particular matter should be, "We're lucky to have a coach of Rick's caliber and it's up to him."

Between axing HOF coaches, talking about players as assets you can't wait to ship out, and trying to lowball players' worth with "injury concerns", there are definitely some shady things about our FO that are disconcerting to see.

 

byebye K-Mart..:grin:

 

As said before, Morey might have high IQ, but he got pretty low EQ.

Even though every player can be traded, at least he could have done a better job to make player feel appreciated. See how he burned the bridge with Battier. With the way Morey treated players, make you wonder why no free agent want to sign with Rockets. (Except those who came here to play for RA)

Would you work hard for a company that your boss treat you like an object?

 

Having zero emotional ties to players leaves you cheering for little more than laundry.

 

This is explains why he played horrible against the nuggets in the first 2 meetings, he didn't want to showcase himself to get traded for melo.

 

Kevin Martin is Charmin.

Shut it, fairy... :grin:

 

would you want to be in a relationship where she didnt know what she wanted with you in the future? thats whats Martin is saying. Feelings contributed to performance. Morey contributed to feelings.

 

Look, there's two ways you can go about this: as a gm you can be open and honest and give players the unvarnished truth; or you can be Danny Ainge and talk about the team being a family, having a collective identity and so forth.

Downplaying the trade aspect of being a b-ball player boosts player morale, but when that trade happens the whole team will fall apart and feel betrayed. Look at how Boston has spiraled since the perkins trade, it wasn't just because Perkins was a valuable talent, it was the fact that Boston was clinging to the belief that as long as the starting 5 remains unchanged, they would be unstoppable. When Perkins was traded everybody in the Boston team felt like they had their legs cut from underneath them, and they're only realizing now that as players they could be traded anytime, no matter how important they seem to the team.

OTH, being open about it like Morey will cause some discomfort among the players, however with a team that is always active in trades like ours I feel that's the right way to go. The truth is that no is indeed untradable in the team, and if I was a player I'd rather the GM be frank about it then talk about having one last great run only to ship me out at the deadline cause they couldn't afford me.

Maybe its just me but as a professional KM shouldn't be so think skinned about being treated like an asset. If he really didn't want to be traded then he should sign a 1M a year contract and create unbelievable value for the organization. That way he's guaranteed to be on the Rox roster.

 

Should read something like this:

would you want to be in a relationship where she pays you 10 million dollars a year but didnt know what she wanted with you in the future?

 

It's a business, Kevin.

Everybody not named "Les Alexander" is an asset.

You being treated like an asset is what got you out of Sacramento, remember?

The roster will stop fluctuating once we have found ultimate success, until then, the normal practice of trading expiring contracts and overflow/redundant players will continue just like it always has.

 

Morey talks to the media too much.

 

This is the first thing I thought of. We wouldn't even have Kevin Martin if it wasn't for Morey's "player asset" strategy.

 

I agree 100%. As an athlete, you ARE an asset, regardless of how the GM treats you. I suppose feelings will vary from player-to-player, but honesty would be appreciated by me. The best I could hope for as a fan (or the GM) is a situation like in the movie Major League, in which the team found a common enemy in the owner and started to play well.

 

If that were the case why play through an injury? Players don't have to and are still paid sitting on the side lines. Loyalty and trust goes both ways.

 

If Morey is the GM still this summer, he will trade Martin

 

This is very interesting and I hope Leslie is willing to listen to players and might replace Morey. The man has done a great job but he hurts the team as much as Tracy did when he kept running his mouth.

Also, some people here do not seem to get it. All players know that behind closed doors, a GM is calling teams, working on deals and they might get shipped out. However, if a GM keeps saying that every player can be traded at any moment it has a huge effect on them.

I also think this might refer to the Yao trade rumours, after going down again, and maybe AB as well. Landry was at his peak when they traded him so maybe Brooks felt since his trade value was at an all-time high, he could be traded too. Morey never made it a secret he is always looking for upgrades.

I understand the whole deal of acting like it's a family (Ainge) vs. acting like the family can break down at any time (Morey). However, the Rockets situation is totally different from the Celtics. They have the talent, a recent championship, a few star players. The Rockets have one in Martin but nobody seemed to give him his due.

We saw this season and last one that the Rockets need to be almost perfect to win a game. Show all hustle and hard work on defense, be unselfish and shots have to fall in order for them to win.

Early this year that didn't happen and this constant doubt about their future, especially AB with Lowry's extension and to a certain extent Martin & Shane. Yao's injury attributed heavily to that because there was no way the Rockets were going to get deep in the playoffs without him.

I can't say that they played more selfish earlier in the season to showcase themselves in case of a trade or not play that well so no team would want them. However, I can say that Morey didn't handle this situation very well and his mouth might have cost us the faith these players needed at the beginning of the season.

Personally I hope RA does not come back but since Morey will probably be here for years to come, I hope they bring him back. This will gave the team some faith and hopefully restore some trust between the players and the organisation.

It seems the last few years there has been a negative atmosphere surrounding the Rockets organisation. The two obvious ones are:
- not bringing Mutombo back who was desperately needed for the team to get it together. Yao and Tracy both called because things weren't going well in the locker room.
- the terrible way the Rockets dealt with the Tracy situation and later with Artest in the offseason. Ariza to a certain extent as well because he was brought in as a hero only to be shipped out a year later.

I hope the tide will change and in case Morey stays listens to the players and stops talking so much. I hope at least Lowry, Hayes and Martin are given the backing they need to perform this well again next year. We need a good atmosphere for a whole year for a change!

 

Loyalty and trust have nothing to do with playing through injuries. Just ask Grant Hill. If an injury is a legitimate injury then the player should actually be encouraged to sit down rather than aggrevate the injury. If its a Paul Pierce "sitting on a wheelchair then standing up" or a Melo "knocked out from hitting his head on Durant's rib" type of injury then they should be expected to play.

 

DM said it early in the season. It's a test of the players' character.

He said the FO was looking intently at the players and seeing how they respond to various adverse situations--things like not receiving a contract extension, how will AB respond to it? Chase in a shooting slump, how will he respond? KM in trade rumors, will it make him or break him? Kyle Lowry as s starter, how will he handle the pressure?

The GM says anyone can be traded to make the team stronger. How will KM respond to the uncertainty? Some play harder, others fold.

I think Luis Scola gets it. He acknowledges we are far from being a contender. And I think he doesn't resent management for being honest. He also is not twisting management's arms to retain RA.

Bottomline: it's the GM's job to make the team a contender. Players either contribute to that or don't.

KM should be happy that the Rockets make sure our traded players end up in good situations, where they are wanted. That's all you can ask for.

 

Martin is right, and he is wrong. Morey is just telling the truth when he says that everyone is theoretically a trade asset. If he were to say "we like our team and are not looking to trade anyone", he would be lying, unless your team is Kobe, Lebron, D. Howard, etc. You always have to look at improving the team through trades. HOWEVER - it is a matter of communication - do you have to say it to the media? What good does that do? You indicate your interest in trading to other teams, not to the media. You also don't say "we want to be predators" - you might think that, but it sure does not help your talks with other teams. Not every thought that is the truth needs to be relayed to the media, because even though it just means being honest, sometimes it is better not to say things, even if they are true.

 

Morey need to upgrade whiny asset for agreeable asset who enjoy trade rumor.