Celtics were the second worst team in the league, if I remember correctly... they used that lottery pick to help make the leap forward. They also had Pierce. The Lakers had Kobe. Detroit is a better example, but they had an elite defense already if I recall. In my opinion, there is nothing about the current Rockets that is "elite." That's a long 2 months. Come on now. The Rockets are 6th in the West right now... tomorrow they may be 5th, or they may be 7th-8th. In a week or two they could be anywhere between 4th to 11th. The 10th team in the West absolutely owns us. The Rockets have been good this year, but they are in a large, tight pack of West teams that could make or miss the playoffs. In my opinion, nothing right now establishes the Rockets as "top 4" ... not at the moment. He did say it was possible... I'm sure it is. We could land Deron and Dwight and voila -- it's done. If it was impossible I think the conversation would be different. However, it's clearly the hard way to go about it. It's risky. We need to hit it big with a trade or free agent and the luck has not been great so far.
You are right, of course. They did have losing, if not "bottoming out" seasons. The thing is, they got a couple of good draft picks out of the lotto (Eddie Jones and George Lynch), but not the superstars.
Its not worse (yet) than a B- for me because the team is still competitive despite enormously bad luck, and Morey has made some good moves to ensure that. Still, he's fallen well short of his expressed goals.
You guys do realize that the team has the same record after 36 games (21-15) this season as they did in 08-09? You know, the last season this team had a star?
amazing that NBA GM could be considered a position that one could fall well short of goals, and not only not be canned, but given a B-. being such a premium job, i would think that a higher standard of excellence would be necessary.
you can't land a superstar if no one wants to come here, and you cant force another team to trade you one if they dont want to. I view the Lin matter as a plus for Morey. He brought the player into camp. At that point, it's up to the coaching staff to decide who they can use and who they cant. If McHale feels he's a 4th string guy, what's the point in keeping him on the roster? I put the blame there entirely on the coaching staff. And, yes, I did think he played a lot better than Flynn in exhibition games. I give Morey a solid A. Our team is in 4th place, despite losing our 2 best players, and having no high draft choices. He's drafted good role player despite having no high draft choices. He trader Rafer for Lowry, Ariva for Lee, and Landry (a second round pick)for KMart.
There are "goals" (do your job adequately) and then there are "goals" (if you actually make it happen, you're amazing). If his goals were of the former kind and he fell well short, I agree with you he should be fired. As it is, he's a B-. And it will soon be in the C range if he can't get something valuable in return for these dead weight contracts he has on the team by the trade deadline.
Hey I hate to poop on your stats comparison but why did you leave out the fact that Morris is only hits 39% of his F/G's while Kawi hits 46% of his. Huge difference. Something else you failed to mention is that Kawi is 2 years younger which makes a big difference in developement and potential. And last, don't you think it's huge that Kawhi basically rebounds as well as Markief and Kawi is a small forward while Markief if a power forward? And I almost forgot, early returns make Kawhi look like he might be a stud defender in this league, I don't think anyone is saying this about Morris.
I think Les understand it wasn't for a lack of trying....Players wanted super cities and super teams and we, as a whole, weren't appealing enough. Morey has to sell the team and the future, but he can't change the city, location, past tradition, etc...No GM can. He still kept the team over .500, which was probably a big goal Les had placed himself. What exactly is "all this" and what should we hold Morey accountable for? When did we become so spoiled as fans? why do we deserve to be the exception? The team that never has bad luck, bad timing? Why is this team suppose to be flawless? Not many teams can transition through different eras without hitting below .500. We've done it, since Morey has been here and before. From twin towers, to dream's team, the big 3, franchise and yao, yao and tmac, and now...we've kept winning. Only 3 losing years and i believe at least one was due to A LOT of injuries. i'm beginning to think half this board would commit suicide if they were fans of another team...
All reports have/had the Knixies ready to drop JL when injuries forced him on the court. The same coach who wouldn't let the Knixies draft him in the 2nd round was loathe to play the man. Then, Voila! Lin-sanity. Arising from...from...from??? And now them New York brain trust is brainy and trustworthy? And DM the GM is D-u-M-b???
Then quit,stop b****ing and passing the buck. If I knew it was impossible to perform a certain task,but couldn't do it,I would find something else to do. I know its only 30 of these jobs, but adelman moved on when morey wanted him to put finch on his bench over his longtime assistants. Quit or you will get fired. Id rather quit with dignity vs get fired and be shamed.
I. Did. Not. Mention. Dallas. But, we don't know what's going to happen there. Even if it did attract DH, it's obvious why. Think. It. through. Carefully.
so, it's Portland, then. Smooth transition from Drexler to Rasheed, complete roster change...never missing a playoff, much less falling below .500 In the immortal words of Brendan Sullivan...am I a potted plant here?
that was a depressing interview, Morey basically saying the Bobcats (or whatever awful team wins the lottery) will be better positioned to win a title than the Rockets
Maybe, but if you have to make yourself into the "Jailblazers" and alienate the community for years in order to do it...
