Edit: Please merge with other thread. I missed it. Nicely done interview by the 610 morning crew. They kept it moving with the questions and got several calls in. <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf" width="400" height="52" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" flashvars="audio_duration=DURATION&external_url=http://podcast.sportsradio610.com/kilt2/2019441.mp3" />
Recap in case you can't listen. H = Host DM = Morey H: Name of your first pet and street you grew up on. DM: Sparky and Rockland H: If you were an adult film star Spark Rockland would be your name. DM: Hey, if this gig doesn't work out.....might be next. H: Everyone is hoping your current gig works out, and we mean that on multiple levels. DM: LOL H: Tell us as you prepare for Portland how the cuts went. DM: It is difficult all the guys are competing for one spot.......Beck, Pops etc..we would like em back but we only have one spot. H: Do you look at the initial portion of the season as a discovery period? DM: If we get through these tough games, we have the earliest tough season schedule....we think if we are .500 around January, we will be in the playoff hunt....hope the fans stick with us as our record will be a little tough early.....and playing tough opponents is the best way to improve. H: What about Temple going to the D-league DM: We hope he chooses that, because if he does we have a little extra edge to get him, us and the Spurs because of the D-league rules. H: What have you noticed from your main competition for playoff spots. DM: Us, the Clippers, Phoenix, Golden State and OKC all fighting for a spot...Phoenix is a favorite if you are looking for the 8th spot....good offense their weakness is defense....OK City, still improving, we feel we can beat them..they are a young team well run well coached....Clippers, tons of talent but often look like that and don't put it together....GS....offensively talented but defense is pretty suspect. H: Sparky Rockland joining us. DM: LOL H: How is Ariza doing? DM: Overall he has been an effective shooter, not an elite level 3pt shooter but effective, he is getting comfortable on defense, adjustments to how we play versus what he was used to with the Lakers, looked the most comfortable the last game in what we do, not worried about Trevor, he had 4 steals in OK city game.....that is his bread and butter, and they are game changers, and why we brought him in. H: The NBA is going to interput the players standing up on the bench, isn't that silly? What is the penatly? DM: I don't personally agree with it, but they have a lot of folks at the league looking for rules, thinks it should be done by teams and building by building...our fans around the team don't mind, we may need to get a seat belt to get our guys to stay in their sits, they play as a team. H: Yeah, Battier, Yao, they get up and cheer....seems kind of silly, bball is emotional. ML Carr would get fined for towel waving today. DM: Yeah, I am not a fan, people in many building pay a lot for those seats and some fans have complained...thinks we will take a few fines probably.... H: How much? DM: They hit the team pretty hard, 10-20k chunks, pretty big chunk. H: So many complaints? From other fans? DM: Not from Houston, never gotten ONE complaint......the NBA feels they are doing it on behalf so the teams dont have to be the bad guy...Morey says teams have to be the bad guys anyway tellilng people who to play, and people who buy those seats like feeling like part of the team. H: Adrian on the line. Adrian - I referee some basketball, we have the latitude in case a spontaneous play happens....if someone dunks or is a big play.....that is allowable....is there leeway in the rules for excitement. DM: TBD how they enforce it, there will be leeway unless you linger and stand up.....they are not going to get ya for just getting excited but if guys stand of extended periods that is where they get you. Ocho Texto: blah..blah..blah...stutter stutter...uh...uh... DM: Never heard you tongue tied, what are you going to talk about now that Rafer is gone? Ocho: A woman walked by with a big Arse, what about Trevor Ariza, like the acquisition......comparing Ariza to Pippen....but Ariza came from a motion offense to another motion offense whereas Pippen came from motion to stand still, why is Ariza struggling. DM: The issue has been with Trevor, he wants to extend his game, we want him to try, but we don't feel we need that, we will get a lot of offense from Scola and our guards, but as someone that was yelled at, sort of pavlovian if he shot it in LA, where we are telling him TO shoot the ball, he is just getting used to a change in coaching. John: I watched the game the other night and I likes Pops too, I like the way he go after a ball, if he make da team, what ya'll have in mind when you brought him in, how ya'll plan on using him ? (This is typed how he spoke..ugh) DM: I think anyone that is on the bubble of making the team is probably not going to play much early. We like his energy, ability to dunk and shot blocking, but he is not as big or as thick as you might want, but when you put him out there good things happen......Will Conroy and he are competing for that last spot....probably going to come down more to position than play. H: What are pluses minuses of Conroy. DM: He sees the floor well but he really plays well on defense at least 3rd pG and probably backup quality in the league gonna be tough to make that choice. Brad: Any way you can throw a curve ball at em, and get rid of Cook? Why not keep both Pops and Conroy....one of those guards gets hurt you are going to need another guard. DM: Brian brings an element and ability to stretch the floor by playing BC at the 5 and stretching opponents like others did to us, we like him as having a chess piece out there, he has playoff experience and can help, right now it will come down to Will and Pops. Terry: Any possibility the Rockets could package 2 players and pick up another 7 footer? DM: Takes two to tango, we are not big with Yao out, we are challenged in size, but unfortunatly 7 footers that are good make a lot and teams dont give em up, but right now there is no move that works for both sides. Kevin: If Pops makes the team, what do you do with Dorsey? DM: Joey was 3rd best rebounder in preseason, number 1 in summer.....we think it is a skill we need and may be the biggest factor coming into this season, we think he is worth the investment, this is really his rookie year, if he had not been injured his first year, he might get some time...but right now he probably will not play much, may play in D-league to work on his game. Curtis : 2nd the ditch Brian Cook comment.....if I had tickets behind bench and you guys are just looking for the home team, what if you bought expensive tickets behind the VISITORS bench.....and you can't see the game. H: DM, fans know where they buy the tickets. DM: Yeah, certainly there is a reciprocal rule, the league knows what they are doing, it is a reasonable reason, but I feel it should be building to building decision, I personally would choose not to it. H: Preseason finally tomorrow opening game on Tuesday.... DM: Rockets.com, if anyone wants to get in trouble with your wife go to Rockets.com and hurt your marriage..... H: DM aka Sparky Rockland on radio this morning...... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- End Recap. DD
I would have liked a preview of the POR-HOU game coming up next week. In particular, whether Morey thinks Andersen or Hayes is a better matchups against Oden. I can see pros and cons for both.
Please keep Pops AND Conroy I just listened to DM on the 610 podcast, and this was disappointing: Rox are keeping Cook and Dorsey on the roster. This means the final roster cut comes down to a Sophie's choice between Pops and Conroy. We need both those guys. We don't need Cook or Dorsey, for crying out loud. This thread is a prayer, a plea, a petition to the Rockets organization to dispose of Cook and/or Dorsey in order to keep Pops AND Conroy on our opening day roster.
Dorsey is still a project, but he has much higher upside than conroy. Cook is a guaranteed contract and has value as trade filler. Pops will stick because he's got some size and athleticism. I can almost guarantee that Conroy gets cut.
this is the most likely scenario in my mind as well, although i dont think dorsey has that much potential as you do
IMHO, Pops has rendered Dorsey redundant. Since PG is the most important position on the basketball court, it's common for NBA rosters to carry three reliable PGs. All Dorsey can reliably give us is six fouls.
Morey sort of lied about Cook spreading the floor. The dude doesn't belong in the NBA, what good would a spread out floor do? He just wants to wait till his contract expires and get that 3+ million off the books.
pops has nowhere near the defensive potential of dorsey. pops plays streetball defense. dorsey is capable of playing legit nba on-ball and weakside defense. if he ever gets to the point where he stops thinking so much and starts playing on instinct, he will be really really good. may happen, may not, but definitely not a player to give up on.
Common around the league, sure. But carrying 3 point guards has not been part of the Rockets M.O. in the Morey/Adelman era. Considering what Pops has shown in the preseason, particularly as a weak side shot blocker, I don't see the trend changing.
To be fair, Cook showed some skill in the preseason. I wouldn't keep him over Pops or Conroy, though. C'mon Les, take a haircut here!
What else is there to say about him that we don't already know? He's coming along well and he feels ahead of schedule, but they're not going to rush it. There is no definite date set for his return, but it seems as if he's on track for the end of November. I don't see what else Morey could add to that other than "if he makes it back in his old form it could change our outlook quite a bit". T-Mac has said that he is looking forward to the new high energy play style and that he feels he will mesh well with it. I guess we could have used Morey's perspective there. Anywho, here is a recent interview with McGrady and I doubt much has changed in two days: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/10/20/nba_20091020_tracy_link.nba/ I actually enjoyed listening to this podcast because it gave some insight into the decision behind keeping Dorsey over Pops. Someone on this board had mentioned rebounding the other day as well, but yeah I like hearing it from someone close to the action because I guess they're seeing an ability to evolve in him. That's reassuring that he has the potential to develop. I still hope they keep Pops over Conroy just because he ratchets up the intensity of the team a lot more and gives the whole group a big push. That's something we could definitely benefit from now. Before Pops was on the floor I always felt like the Rockets were always on the verge of running out of steam. Even Brooks, as resilient and upbeat as he is, always seemed like he was on the verge of frustration while still smiling, but lately he's seemed a lot more positive in general and more confident in his playmaking. I feel like it has to do with a lot of added youth in the lineup, but Pops definitely caps it all and makes the team feel larger than they really are.
