[Rockets.com] Daryl Morey and Kevin McHale meet the media

He's playing this like a fantasy league.

 

Morey saying we don't prefer to build through free agency is like, Duh.

(past off-seasons) "And you can come to play with Yao Ming...."

(this off-season) "And you can come to play with Kevin Martin, Kyle Lowry, and 13 forwards...."

Don't get me wrong, I like our players, but if I were a "name" free agent, Houston might not be in my top 5. The marketing and/or contenders are elsewhere.

 

KM: It helps to work with the big guys but you can work with some big guys a long, long time and not get much improvement, then you can go with other big guys a short period of time and they’ll improve. But we’re going to get better. I want to punch the ball in the post. I believe the ball has to get in the paint offensively whether it’s off the dribble or whether it’s from a post move or whether it’s from offensive rebounding – you’ve got to win that paint. If you win the paint you’ve got a good chance to win the game.

So we have different ways of getting the ball in there and the guys’ talent and their proficiency will dictate where the ball goes. I mean, I’m not going to throw it to a guy who can’t score in there. But if a guy can score in there and he’s our 1-man then we’ll have the best posting-up 1-man in the league, if he can score down there. I want the ball in the paint, though.

This was true when McHale played, not sure if it is still true under today's rules favoring guard play, and today's dearth of post-up players. Maybe McHale knows this is no longer true, and he is already preparing his "we did not win because we have a 6'6" center with no post-up game" excuse.


Are you concerned at all about basket protection?

KM: Nah, there’s two ways of basket protecting. I’ve seen some very, very good teams that didn’t have big guys; they basket protected by getting bodies in the way, taking charges and coming over. It’s always easier if you have 7-footers because you can come late, protect late, everybody can stay home more and if you have two 7-foot guys that can protect the basket then it’s simpler. But to say you can’t do it without that is absolutely not true. You just have to work a little harder at it.

This quote confirms McHale has been told that Chuck will probably be his starting center.

 

let the not-so-cleverly-disguised tanking begin....

 

I'm really concerned about McHale's tone here:

People are different, not everyone is a miner's son. Lack of professionalism shouldn't be tolerated, but it's never as cut and dry as he's making it out to be.

He sounded much more like a players' coach when he was interviewing.

 

What exactly are you "really concerned" about? Everything he said is right.

(I still hope that a few guys come into camp fat and out of shape so that we can embark on our losing streak )

 

morey looks like he gained weight. hope our players dont look like that...

 

I think your jumping to some pretty drastic conclusions about a high pressure interview where their lips were sealed on a number of different things they couldnt speak of because of the lockout and competitive reasons. If you watch the interview, media members like Jerome Solomon made it very uncomfortable for McHale and Morey, almost mob-like. Very annoying.

-First off, the first thing McHale said to Solomon was "you want me to make excuses already..... There are no excuses in the NBA"

When he talks about getting the ball in the post first, he is talking about making the defense commit to someone in the post to open thing up on the outside. I assume Scola will be option #1 on offense, and he needs to get even better at passing out of the post. He will be featured alot this year.

Also, Patterson, Hill, and maybe Morris even will be utilized more in post up situations rather than being dragged out to the high post where Adelman took away their ability to affect getting offensive rebounds and score in the post. I saw good things from Jordan Hill last year, but he was completely useless in Adelman's offensive system. Look for him to be much more effective under McHale in a more simple offense.

All that McHale means to say here is that he does in fact plan on changing the system on offense to be much, much more simplified. You feed the ball in the post, and then you cut and move off of screens for good, open shots. That is very simple NBA basketball, and good for young bigs like Hill, Patterson. Scola will be in hog heaven.

-Secondly, the quote does not confirm anything about Chuck Hayes being the starter, but dont be surprised if he is back. However, Feigan has reported multiple times that the Rockets will make him an offer and it most likely will be under the condition that he returns to the bench and is offered the low mid level exception. The same contract that Boston, Miami, OKC, and some other teams are very likely to offer as well.

I wouldnt start sulking yet about Chuck being the starting center. Alot of thing are bound to happen before Christmas to this roster. Also dont read too much into this interview. They obviously couldnt say or hint to much for trade/free agency reasons and litigation purposes. Also, McHale looked like he was about ready to knock the crap out of Solomon, and I dont blame him.

 

Hey Clutch,

Were you part of the interviewees?

 

I personally enjoyed the interviews and really like how KM answered certain questions. I'm not sure how this team will get their superstar but in the meantime it looks like we'll have a solid team that plays hard defensively.

 

thumb up