Daryl Morey will be doing an AMA on /r/NBA (Reddit)- 8/16/13

Too bad it was more than that.

 

"Really depends on context but I prefer all 5 players to be offensive threats at all times so I know I prefer score first PGs more than most teams."

I don't understand this. How can you have 5 players to be offensive threats if your PG is looking to score first instead of making plays?

Anyway, someone please tell Jeremy to play more selfish next season. Morey endorses it

 

This was an interesting question and reply:

Some recent research from Muthu Alagappan presented the finding that there are more than just five positions in the NBA. Are you familiar with this research? If so, what are your thoughts?

Edit: For more background:

Instead of basketball’s historical five positions (whittled down from the 13 positions in his original research), Alagappan lists these 10 as the player groupings:

• Two-Way All-Stars
• Shooting Ball-Handlers
• Scoring Rebounders
• Paint Protectors
• Three-Point Slashers
• Role-Playing Big Men
• Rim-Attacking Defensive Ball-Handlers
• Three-Point Specialists
• Low-Usage Ball-Handlers
• Role-Playing Ball-Handlers

​

Reply by Morey

Read it. Definitely think it is silly we have clustered into 5 positions for sorting traditional stats.​

 

I am sure Morey would be more than happy to have the pass first Chris Paul on his team.

 

Busted! :grin:

 

I'm sure you were half-joking, but we all know CP3 is a really good scorer as well. Morey's answer is obviously only applicable when there is some sort of meaningful choice to be made. Plus, all stats and analytics go flying out the window when top 10 players are concerned. When you have a shot at one, you take it.

 

Basically, would rather have a Westbrook than a Rondo. Both were considered top 10 play-off players in the playoffs when healthy, yet everybody knows Westbrook is shoot-first and Rondo pass-first and limited on the 3pt land. Although I am sure Morey would love to have both talents, he would prefer the Westbrook type player over the Rondo type.

 

1. Confirmed that one of Dmo or Jones will likely have the first shot at starting PF. I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise for most here but to me it was. A pleasant one. I didn't think that either would be ready, but would love to be wrong. I have higher hopes for Dmo out of the two. He actually earned his starting spot last year, with McHale trusting him enough to 'Ok' the Morris trade. Then subsequently earning his way back onto the bench after wearing out. The team did play well initially with him though, posting some of the season's best 5 man unit numbers, as I recall.

2. Of course they will experiment with Asik and Howard. It can only benefit the team by having your 3rd best player play as many minutes as possible, but then again not at the expense of hurting Howard's(your best player) game. Its a bit of a catch 22. That's why you experiment.

3. Reaffirms what I thought about Casspi. Bad fit and bad situation with bad teams. Will likely be a solid contributor this year, but I guess in the Delfino role as opposed to starting PF. Was always the more likely scenario I suppose. He could still start later if he outperforms and Dmo/Jones struggles. I am intrigued with Casspi, has that Jeremy Lin feel to him pre-Linsanity. Has not been given the proper opportunity.

4. Seems genuinely irked about a wide perception of Lin. A perception that is reflected on this message board, and I'm sure in Houston in general. I've given up on arguing about Lin. Too many people hold him to an unfair standard. I've seen people on this board bring up his playoff stats as some sort of proof that he sucks. With a straight face. As if he wasn't injured. I chalked it up to his race, Lin said it himself that he has to prove himself over and over because of the way he looks. But Morey is probably right, it is more due to the circumstances, how he started and ended last year, especially coming off of Linsanity. I mean, that doesn't make it any less irrational or unreasonable. At the end of the day, fan perception is worthless. The only opinion that matters is Morey's, because he gets to decide who stays and who goes. So I'm glad that he sees Lin through the right kind of lens, unfiltered ones. Because only then does it guarantee that whether Lin stays or gets traded, it will be for the betterment of the team.

 

Thanks for the link, I didn't see this thread.


Sports Illustrated article:

http://nba.si.com/2013/08/16/daryl-morey-jeremy-lin-reddit-ama-houston-rockets-andrew-bynum-kevin-garnett/

Rockets GM Daryl Morey found a good way to kill time on an August Friday: he participated in Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit. In addition to revealing that coach Kevin McHale will experiment with a Twin Towers lineup of Dwight Howard and Omer Asik during camp, Morey offered this in-depth response to a question about possibly demoting Jeremy Lin to a back-up role …



It is amazing to me that all the time I encounter people feeling negative about Jeremy’s season with us. I have chalked this up to:

– he started off slow, mostly due to getting 100% back from injury
– very high, unrealistic expectations after his time in New York
– had a rough ending in the playoffs, again due to injury
– people generally remember starts & ends more than anything else
– people generally compare things to their expectations when forming opinions versus look at the big picture

Last year was Jeremy’s 1st full year in the league. Essentially his rookie year. If last season would have been his rookie year and he never would have played in New York, right now people would be appropriately talking about him incessantly as one of the top young rookie stars in the league. He was the starting point guard on a playoff team in West at age 24!!! Don’t get me started on this. Too late …

 

You have to read the next part to understand it. Basically, Morey meant there is no assets from Knicks he wanted.

 

Morey is still reading this AMA. He just posted a new reply 22Hrs ago after his previous comment from 26 days ago.

 

Hope this'll put the "McFail" stuff to rest. But I have a feeling the teens who say it are not reading the board during the summer.

 

The concerns over McHale are/were legitimate. Just because some idiots call him names and are not basing their reasoning on logic doesn't mean that there aren't issues with McHale that makes people second guess him. Hopefully, this year will be able to show us that he has the coaching instincts to take us to the promised land but last year, albeit with a completely new and young team, he exhibited poor judgement in several stretches of the season imo. I remember one game where ge left Marcus in there for like 20 straight minutes when he was just trucking it out there. Even if he felt Morris was the best option for that game, he shouldve switched him out much earlier. No coach is perfect and it is a hard job rotating players correctly, but that's all the more reason we have to have a coach to put it all together. We shall see.

 

He never really did that with Ppat or Morris. He was actually pretty quick to point out their flaws.