[610] Morey Interview (2/4)

Nice interview with Morey today morning on 610. Here's the link for it:

http://67.72.16.166/kilt2/1568612.mp3

I've paraphrased most of it below ...

-----------------------------------------------------------

(about the game)
Morey: just need to get wins ... didn't play well overall, put them on the line too much ... both chicago and golden state were hot coming in ... good defensive gameplan ... a couple lapses late ... we like what we're getting defensively ... slowed down two team that like to push the ball

(about brooks playing time)
Morey: coach is going to go with which PG is helping more in the game. sometimes matchups dictate Rafer in terms of defense. sometimes need more scoring punch ... who plays in a game will be determined more by matchups

(currently what he's up to)
Morey: gathering people around the world to talk about the draft ... meetings for preparing for trade deadline ... active in looking at international free agents ... expect influx of international players due to global economy

(McGrady getting better?)
Morey: each game, we're seeing a little more ... may not see big minutes for a while, just trying to work him back ... last night team was in a good situation where he didn't have to close the game ... rotations are fluid, except with Yao being a constant 34+ minutes

(the guys you've assembled)
Morey: Von is like our draft pick this year, even though he was a free agent acquisition .. Dorsey will probably be out most of this year unforunately .. players grow the most between 1st and 2nd year which is what we're seeing with Brooks and Landry ... with Scola, just a matter of him used to him getting used to the NBA game

(Battier's offense)
Morey: as long as he's shooting the open shot, we don't care about his points ... only one guy gets to shoot and we're generally hoping its Yao ... defenders often don't sink off him because he can shoot in 40% range, so even if he's not shooting he's helping the offense function (in terms of spacing) ... proof is in how the offense has performend -- it has been very effective with him on the floor

(confident in the current squad, or need to make tweaks?)
Morey: we're always trying to upgrade ... historically, we usually tweak something .. feels that they can compete with anyone with the roster they have ... that's what they'll be talking about in meetings this week

(about Kobe's 61 and LeBron going to MSG tonight)
Morey: its why you want to tune into the NBA every night with Kobe and LeBron .... (changes subject) but Yao is pretty fun to tune into as well ... he demoralized Chicago ... he's been playing at a high level

(Yao dunking more)
Morey: its something he's worked on ... working on getting the offensive board and flushing it in strong .. he's doing better at reading double teams ... shooting it with double teams ... want him to get back to using his right hook off left block more instead of the jumper in the lane

(caller: about Tracy being a free agent after next season)
Morey: we're focused on making this season special ... we'll address that after hopefully a long run in June

(Ocho Texto: plans to use Landry more at SF instead of undersized PF?)
Morey: we're trying to get him down at 4-spot before expanding to 3-spot .. something our devel guys are working on is extending his range to the 3-pointer ... not really a midrange club, want him in the post and active on the boards ... trying to give him a primary move on the box where he attacks right and counter spin to the left ... worried more about getting him to the top in the league at the 4-spot before the 3-spot

(how does Brooks become more consistent with assists)
Morey: his assists come from being aggressive ... want him to to attack aggressively and take open looks .. we track "true assists" where they record passes to good open looks even if they don't result in an assist in the box score ... Aaron had a number of those in the last game even though he didn't have any assists in the boxscore ... we're pleased with Aaron, he's doing what we're asking ... he needs to be aggressive .. McGrady by far leads the team in "true assists" ... if you pass to a guy under the basket and they miss it, or pass it to an open 3-pointer, or pass to a guy who gets fouled, then they record it as a "true assist" ... another example: we want to run for open 3 looks, not one of the better teams at that , if Aaron is on a break, passes it to Barry for a good open look, they give him a "true assist" for that

(about the GRizzlies)
Morey: expect them to compete tonight ... they're focused on clawing out wins with the new coaching staff ... got talent up and down the roster ... Gasol's energy, he's played Yao well ... teams get up for the Rockets and trying to stop Yao and Tracy

(Rockets play at the end of quarters, Rafer taking quick 3-point shots in transition)
Morey: yeah, that's a bad shot for Rafer, his best shot is the pass out with his feet set for a 3-pointer ... his drives in the lanes, even though some are down on his finishing ability, is a good play because we can get the offensive board and he hits that a better percentage than his other shots ... the Rockets look at "high leverage momenets", where the game is in the balance, and the Rockets are the worst playoff team in the NBA in those situations ... we're poor at it since Yao's been here ... he's our best offense but its hard to get him the ball late .. have struggled to find a second option particularly this year ... in the past Tracy was that option .. when he gets back to where we need him that will help ... thus far, we've struggled to get consistent offense in key moments of the game ... coach is aware of the issue and he's trying to address it

(Wafer and how he can improve his defense over the seaosn)
Morey: coaching staff does a lot of individual session work with players .. coaches and player devel staff have done a good job with Wafer .. he's an eager learner and we can see him making strides day by day ... Von's a favorite for the coaches because he learns fast and implements what they teach in games .. he's made strides defensively in regards to keeping guys in front, recovering to the three, rotating to stop penetration

(Surprised about Pop resting his stars yesterday)
Morey: (joking) he stole that from us, we're always resting our guys ... it shows how creative Pop is ... he's focused on the big picture almost better than any other coach ... something Rick does very well also (e.g. developing Brooks and Landry last year) ... those kind of coaches are special in the league

(can play different styles, fast with Brooks or slow down half court with Yao)
Morey: Rockets feel they can match up with anyone .. can play up tempo with young bucks .. can play slow down half court ... can play PnR with Tracy .. .can play inside-out wiht Yao .. can play triangle offense (corner series) ... a lot of options, inside-out has been our bread and butter ... players ready to go with different styles gives the coaches different options for how to win each night

(Orlando vs Cleveland with healthy Jameer)
Morey: if Cleveland guards them like they did in last matchup, then Magic in 5 .. they were playing right into Orlando's hands and giving up open 3s ... but he thinks Brown would adjust and he'd go with Cleveland in 7 because they have LeBron

(injuries in the West, Chris Paul)
Morey: a lot of the West will come down to injuries .. we've had our struggles and Utah has had it a little worse .. New Orleans has been relatively healthy, we'll see if their depth gets them through it ..2 through 9 in the West in pretty tight ... Portland and Denver have maybe separated a bit ... Spurs separating is little misleading because they've had the easiest schedule so far .. it might be ideal to get into the 2,3 or 6,7 spots in the playoffs in order to avoid the Lakers until the conference finals

 

They said they'd mention it, but never did. Maybe the Rockets aren't happy with it.

 

I thought this:

[rquoter]
the Rockets look at "high leverage momenets", where the game is in the balance, and the Rockets are the worst playoff team in the NBA in those situations ... we're poor at it since Yao's been here ... he's our best offense but its hard to get him the ball late .. have struggled to find a second option particularly this year ... in the past Tracy was that option .. when he gets back to where we need him that will help ... thus far, we've struggled to get consistent offense in key moments of the game ... coach is aware of the issue and he's trying to address it
[/rquoter]

was the most interesting part of the interview, and Morey even said that it was a very good question. We're apparently the worst playoff team at scoring in pivotal moments in the game. Interestingly, Morey seems to be blaming our Yao-centric offense for it. He points out that it's been a problem since Yao has been here. Not that Yao himself shoots poorly, but because the Rockets are generally so focused on getting him the ball they tend to get disjointed when that becomes difficult (which, against good teams, it often will in close games that are in the balance).

For those saying that McGrady is a problem at the end of games, the Rockets evidently don't see it that way. They still want Yao to be the number 1 option, but they believe they need a clear number 2 option to go to when they can't get Yao the ball. McGrady has struggled most of the season in filling that role, but the hope is that he becomes that player for us.

 

It will probably be very minor. Maybe moving Head for an extra PG or center -- I wouldn't expect anything more dramatic than that.

 

McGrady doesn't need to be 100% healthy to be a strong number 2 option at the end of games.