Nobody was b****ing about Adelman and Brooks when Brooks was turning Derek Fisher inside out and we took the Lakers to 7 games without Yao. It's amazing how much rep Morey gets for having accomplished nothing in this league. Adelman has a long track record of sustained success while Morey is preparing for his latest draft lottery pick.
Rick had a system. The players being brought in were fitting his system nicely. I thought the "input" was being well received on Rick's part, developing the young players that showed promise like Lowry,Landry and brooks. But then the "input" became the yao 24 minute watch, Williams and thabeet. WTF? Greg Popovich would have had the same WTF reaction. Yes, the front office in SA is well connected, but there are still lines that should not be crossed. No way in hell someone just brings a seven footer that has proven nothing in the league and tells Greg to play him. So in a way, the Front office still caters to Pop's system. They're not suggesting to play Tiago. Tiago will have to wait his turn and work hard like is the case all around winning organizations. Frankly, Our front office mishandled the shopping list. Rick can't make chicken salad with chicken...well you know the saying. And if the shoppers can't acquire height in the frontline, the defense is not going to get better. In the end, you still need players to make the five course meal, and that was not RA's job. And again, it's not like we had Derrick Rose or the freaking red head rotting in the bench. Lex is just in denial.
I see it opposite. I think Morey is pulling all the strings now. This team has MOREY written all over it. Owner Les is standing by his GM, willing to see if his ways work. I think Les gets this "new vibe" from talking to Morey or being around him. Morey wanted a guy who was open and willing to accept his ideas. Morey sold Les on all of this and/or told Les his plan if you will for going forward. Les is again, standing by his man(for now), willing to see if it works. If it works, great. If in 3-4 years from now, we're in a worse position or just about the same position as we are now, not only might Les be looking for a new HC, but a new GM too.
I was only countering genius with genius. I've seen you post before, meh, and I know you're better than to compare AB with Dream, so I won't respond to that. As far as why I'm mad about replacing an idiot with an idiot, I don't consider Adelman an idiot at all. Did he make questionable calls? Sure. Name me one Rockets head coach that failed to make questionable calls. I have the highest hopes for McHale, because, God help me, I'll be a Rockets fan until the day I die. But what am I feeling right now? It's not trepidation. Trepidation is for pansies. I'm just plain ol' upset. No venom intended, just expression.
The GM is responsible for the pick, and you're right obviously the team would have done a lot of prep for the draft before Adelman came on board. It doesn't make sense to set aside all that preparation in deference to the coach's personal choice. And Adelman doesn't strike me as the type to insist on drafting a particular guy after just joining a team. He probably gave his input, like a number of other people on Morey's staff. Ultimately, it was Morey's pick. So, I'd give Morey the credit/blame (depending on your perspective) for drafting Brooks. But the decision to play Brooks big minutes throughout January while he was struggling falls on Adelman.
agreed. and for the record, i don't think it was a bad pick. i think it was a good pick. i really liked what aaron brought to the table. i was disappointed when he started trending downhill.
I'm curious on which teams GMs have a lot of input on coaching decisions and vice versa. Anyway, this synergy thing sounds great theoretically, but I can see conflicts arising if the team is losing with the approach. Especially, it could undermine coach's authority with players if they believe it's the GM who is making the real decisions. This may be why McHale's leadership skills and championship experience gave him the advantage over other candidates for the job.
Sounds like they wanted a leader of men and someone for the younglings to look up to while Morey built the team for McHale to direct.
I think you let the coach, coach the team, but if the GM wants you to develop players, it is your job to follow along. DD
The part that scares me is how much input Morey feels he should have for game time decisions. Sure the articles say that in-game decisions are the coach's, but he'll still give input into strategy. And while I can see how a bevy of stats supporting shooting from location over another, on who's best suited to defend who, which players should play at which times, etc could help a coach, when you tear down the wall you start to blur the line between coach and gm. At what point would a coach, any coach, start to become frustrated with all the "suggestions" the front office is making. Obviously we saw Adelman's breaking point. Will McHale have one?
If McHale is willing to delegate responsibility for tactics to assistant coaches who in turn are willing to work closely with the front office, then it might not be a big deal. It looks like that is the set up the Rockets are shooting for.
That didn't need to be mentioned, DD, because it is a red herring. Adelman did both play and develop young players.
Deckard, You know I love Adelman, and believe he should still be here. However, if the organization has decided to take a LONGER view, and go for development over victories, I think it is his job to follow along, and that is where the rift was created. The Front Office would like a higher draft pick but can't come out and say they are tanking, and Rick wants more coaching victories.....it sucks, but it is what it is.... Am I happy about it? No, because there is no guarantee the team comes out better in the end.... But what choice do we have but to make peace with it...???? Personally, I think Les is the problem and until he goes this is what we have... DD
I don't quite understand the hate on both sides for Adelman on one and for Morey on the other. Both of them are top flight in my opinion. Adelman has obviously proved it over the long haul, but Morey has done very well and I think his haters seem to gloss over what he has done with what he has been given. He's not perfect, but pretty dang good. I certainly wouldn't think we could find anyone better out there to replace him. Adelman got more out of this team than I think McHale or anyone else would, but we will see next season if its all Adelman or if these "no name" players are just straight hustlers. I mean thats what I love about this team and enjoyed watching, the scrappiness of Lowry and Scola and Hayes. Adelman couldn't have done as well with a group like this without that passion from these players. So, yes Adelman is great, but lets see if maybe the players are just a little bit better as the collective that Morey formed than we give them credit for. The knock on morey is his inability to get stars and mainly failed attempts at centers (Stoudemire, Chandler, etc.). i think he got beat out on those deals or wasn't ready to take the risk to get the players, but those are gm learning experiences and most GMs have a few of those. But, don't also forget all the players he has used nothing to amass. AB for #26, PPat for #14, Bud (2nd rd), CLee for Ariza, Lowry for Rafer. I mean cmon, can we not agree that both adelman and morey are good? And, do you really need Adelman at this point with this team? He obviously wasn't going to develop our projects and thats what we need at this point. Morey still has to shoot for the fences for the star or get a high pick to draft one, but the rest of the pieces are there and just need some development. Let the year go by (or at least until the start of the season), before you blindly bash Morey.
Huh? No, Brooks was a good draft pick, and he helped the Rockets in prior seasons... however, he was not as good as another player Morey wanted, Kyle Lowry.... and Brooks turned cancerous... You just do not get it.... using your logic Olajuwon is a bad draft pick, he isn't helping the team now... Also I do not get where this "Morey is only about numbers" approach comes from. The Rockets scout extensively, numbers are a single factor they use, usually to help verify what they are seeing with their own eyes. Also, to all the people saying "Adelman is a hall of fame coach"... I want a link. He has been fortunate to coach some very good teams and has not won a title. I suppose Lenny Wilkens is a hall of fame coach as well, and Bill Fitch too. As far as Adelman having the highest winning % with the Rockets... Morey has been the GM the whole time... so does he have the highest winning % of any Rockets GM? It is simple.... Adelman is in his 60's, he didn't want input from the front office, and then was upset we they made deals... even though the team played better after the deals.
Who is passing off Brooks as Adelman's guy? However, it was Adelman's decision to play him as much as he did...
Yeah, why would you ever play a guy who was pretty amazing over the course of an entire year, and hope that he gets over his injury, that is just silly..... DD
I like the mchale hiring,but what I don't like is les trying to pass it off as some new way. I agree its a coaches job to coach and a gm's job to gm. I also don't have a probleam with morey taking a chance at these high ceiling guys like hill,williams,and thabeet. My problem is when he's taking the chance and the effect it has on the team. Morey knew after they gave lowry his deal they were going to trade brooks. Why not trade him in the offseason when his value is sky high? They also should've traded shane right after the lakers series when his value was high also. Making in season trades and speculations all the time hurt this team big time. Not to mention that adelman wasn't going to play those guys anyway. Adelman is a big practice guy and in season trades with unfamilar players was a big deal to him. In the end, its les being les again. He thought the slow down ball of jvg was the reason the TC had so many empty seats and he was wrong. Then he wanted to go more uptempo for that reason and that didn't work either. He talked about going over the tax to put a "contender" on the floor and did everything to get under. They could've had gerald wallace if making the playoffs were important,but they didn't want that extra 3m on payroll. To a point,can't say I don't blame him. I'm just glad and hope they realize this team is a long way from serious contention which is what the true fans recognize very early. Rocket fans, good or bad, don't show up for average ball and that's just the truth.
They are paying the luxury tax sadly enough. It's just that most of the salary cap is tied up in Yao Ming on the bench.
