Dude, T-Mac and Yao barely played together (Yao barely played period and T-Mac was injured during our playoff-run). What are you talking about? Also, it's hard for me to call T-Mac a superstar those last few years with Morey (look at his shoot percentage while he was a Rocket ...terrible).
Those are all tactical considerations. Strategically, and with the benefit of hindsight: 1. He didn't trade McGrady when he still had value 2. He didn't trade Yao before his body broke down 3. He's persisted in attempts to get a sign-and-trade acquisition of franchise players when he doesn't have sufficient assets to entice the incumbent team or the targeted player 4. He's stocked up on all the busts of the 2009 lotto draft hoping for a miracle 5. He's not intending to tank the 2011-12 season You can chalk some of that up to bad luck if you want. I don't think execs get any forgiveness for bad results regardless of their luck. McGrady's injury history and personality were known. The risks to Yao's health were known. Our courtships have always been characterized as longshots. Is it bad luck, or did Morey bet on the wrong horse and lose?
This will be the first time in a decade that the Rockets have had the flexibility to actually craft out a team in the vision of the GM. It will be the first chance Morey's ever had. We did build the right way in seasons past by putting our eggs in the basket of two superstars. The problem was that we chose the wrong two superstars to do that with, and it cost CD his job (I know this is not how it actually played out, but in my mind this makes sense). Now Morey gets a crack at it. Pick your superstars for us to build around, and then build around them. There's no timeline on that mandate; however long it takes. But as a fan I will personally only give Morey one shot at picking his superstars. Because Tracy and Yao showed us the cost of picking the wrong ones, and I am not going to live long enough to see too many mistakes being made by our front office like that.
Who did you want to trade him for and when? Not an option ever and you know it. SnT has nothing to do with other team or assets to use. Players chose not to come here. He spent nothing significant on any of these and took a flyer on them. Hill might pan out. Hoping for a miracle? Hardly How do you know what he is intending to do? If this is the best you can come up with, I think your expectations of what Morey didn't accomplish and what another better GM could of done are completely unrealistic.
GM is so important in the business. If there is someone even better than Morey, by all means I'm willing to have Morey replaced by that someone. Except Morey is the best in the business and you don't let a guy go because he didn't make chicken salad out of chicken ****.
I've said some of this already in various parts of this thread, but to recap: 1. I think Morey is a very good GM. 2. I think he made good decisions at the time on various big strategic issues. 3. Probably no other GM would have made better choices. 4. But in hindsight we see these were bets he made that lost and the Rockets are less competitive now because of the path he chose. 5. I think he's on the verge of another strategic mistake, but I'll give him enough time to see it through and prove me wrong. 6. If he strikes out again, my patience is exhausted. 7. There is no such thing as excuses or mitigating factors for an exec that fails. Do or do not, there is no try. 8. He also takes the blame from me for Alexander's strategy decisions. He says he's on board with the plan, so he has the responsibility.
Flynn is garbage, Thabeet too. T-Will maybe not but this trade is definitely a failure until he earns a starting job, that Morey expected from him Draft picks? Please tell me in which way Morris is better than Quincy Pondexter or Donuts is better than todays Olexiy Pecherov was? They are the same players. And that's not a great level. The only good move in the last year and a quarter was Lee for Ariza trade, that's for sure.
Excellent...then: Betting entails that the Rockets put forth some risk. There was no risk in trying to get big name players. It costs us nothing to try. But but but, it set back our rebuilding. Rebuilding is nothing but gambling in the future rather than now. If you have no patience, then why do you want to rebuild. It will be 5+ years before we are back in the playoffs and even then there are no guarantees. LOL OF COURSE THERE IS. Astros ran off a good GM, hope you are enjoying thier rebuilding!
When did Tmac both still have value AND give the Rockets reason to want to trade him and expect to get something equal or better back in return? Before he was injured there was no reason to trade him, and while he was injured his trade value diminished. Perhaps he could have been traded earlier, for more than they ended up getting, but they weren't going to get fully healthy Tmac in his prime value for him at the point where his injuries were significant enough for the Rockets to question whether they wanted him around. So they rolled the dice on him returning to health and Yao staying healthy and lost rather than trade them for pennies on the dollar. There is also questions as to whether Alexander was willing to sign off on a trade of Tmac earlier than it happened. Well of course, because he was argueably the best center in the league before his body broke down. After he started having serious injuries, it is questionable exactly how much in trade he would be worth. Plus there are questions in many fans minds about how willing Alexander would have been to trade Yao considering the Chinese business opportunities he opened up. Would another GM have been more successful for the Rockets? I don't think there is any way in the world that Carmello was going to another team besides the Knicks, or that Bosh was going to any other team than the Heat. They were set on those particular destinations pretty much from the start. The only star that he potentially could have gone after, but he passed on is Amare Stoudemire, who allegedly wouldn't agree to sign an extension, and had questions about his health and taking a physical. Coming off dealing with Yao and Tmac's injuries, being gun shy about trading for another injury prone star was reasonable. At minimal cost for high potential gain. Perhaps none of them pan out, but even so it won't be as damaging to the team as some of the contracts the Rockets have handed out in the past to the likes of Matt Maloney, Brent Price, Moochie Norris, Cato, ect. No GM is going to hit a home run with every single move they make, expectations need to be realistic. Alexander decided that, and if the owner decides no tanking, then changing GM's won't change that. Of course he is going to publicly say he backs the owner's decision if he wants to keep his job, but saying that he thinks tanking would be the easiest way to improve reads to me as he was over ruled by Alexander on trying that path. Certainly Morey eventually will have to improve the team, but for me I look at what do I think another GM would do better, and go from there when evaluating the job he has done. If the owner won't let Morey do some things, then changing GMs isn't likely to change those areas.
Wait, really? Doesn't this happen every year now? I figured after Morey's drafting record and how well Patterson did, you might give him the benefit of the doubt on Morris. I don't see why you're convinced he'll suck.
This seems like the annual Morey bash, before Morey does his magic and the board is back to praising him.
Just how much is Les pulling the strings, because if Alexander thinks he can rebuild without tanking, he's delusional. As for Morey, without being able to prove it, I have a hunch that he's not as popular with other GMs as CD was. No matter how much leverage you have, the other side still has to like you, and I suspect Morey's high profile rubs some GMs the wrong way.
Depends on what he is setting up and how long Les thinks it probably takes to get to his goal perhaps? How positive that direction looks and how long it takes to get there. Adelman got replaced and so did fan favorite Battier. Results will eventually speak for themselves.
I hate to see my team lose but i think tanking is the best thing to do this season. I feel that we might seriously tank this year regardless of what Morey is saying. He clearly reveals that Les wants to stay competitive but that could be a PR stunt to keep fans excited and optimistic for this season. But if the losses were to pile up, it could easily be blamed on a shortened season, shorter training camp, unpreparedness by team (players, staff etc) and establishment of a new coach and system. Losing would be justified with result of a poor record but if we do it, this is the best time. Fact is, most fans are just happy to see the NBA back in action; support for the Rockets will not totally diminish. Pick are key to acquiring potential "franchise" players so if we can't get one through the draft then they could be just enough to lure a Dwight, CP-3 or whoever, if packaged effectively with our other picks or players. We surely don't have top assets that other teams may want but, a draft pick or two extra can make a suitor's mouth water. I believe we are a playoff team as constructed if we don't pull the tank card. However, we need to be a contender and not just a playoff team.
Here is my problem. I could understand why some people might be disappointed with Morey, but if the reason for that is because we're not winning enough, then that's ridiculous. Realistically, imagine the Rockets have the greatest GM in the world. Do you honestly think we would defeat the championship teams of the past few years without acquiring some insane talent? Some people throw the word "winning" around as if it doesn't come with cost.
I avoided the garm for the longest time just because of the morey worshippers. Either way I look forward to this upcoming season
I'll also give him three more seasons. Tactically he's made good moves, but I agree with the OP that strategically he's shown an inability to make the big move despite collecting all these highly touted "assets." Despite all the excuses that the Morey worshipers make for him, this is a results-oriented business and being mediocre is absolutely the worst place you want to be in the NBA since it's self-perpetuating.
