I edited down Justice for a few points: CD's number is up? CD has stated he's been ready to retire for some time. His being in place was reportedly necessary to affirm Yao's extension, as per Yao. Try something new? Heck yes. Look at Phx, down in the dumps before Isaih rescued them. They then hired D'Antoni, pushed the envelop and are now elite. Fast. I hope he finds Colangelo's bottle and drinks from it! Morey has done nada. What had Theo Epstein done (in SD) to justify his position in Boston? Look what he has done. Can lightening strike twice? Everyone is sky high on Lindsey. He appears to be a great guy. However, he has been a major player in player evaluation and acquisition. Has his voice been heeded or ignored? Either way bodes poorly. Didn'y Alexander extend JVG thru '08 after last year's play-offs? I hope this is as good a hire as it has been a surprising one.
Here's what Phil Maymin, a Boston sportswriter, has to say about Morey: "If you want to see Moneyball applied to basketball, Daryl Morey is your guy. Over the next 5-10 years you've got to believe that quantitative analysis is where it's at, especially in establishing chemistry. Defining roles and finding role players. It's one of the toughest problems in the world but also the most important for a team game where as you unfortunately know even having two of the best players in the game is not enough to win. It's the hidden reason why San Antonio and Detroit have done so well. Those GMs are old-school too but they constantly worry about chemistry. Despite the Celtics record there is no denying their chemistry is rock solid and improving. Talent alone doesn't win games anymore (cf. Knicks). On the flipside it would be unfair to label him a numbers guy only. While he's obviously world-class when it comes to quantitative analysis, pure numbers guys can't really look at high school guys and tend to focus on college players as prospects, yet with Daryl involved the Celtics drafted three high schoolers, all doing extremely well (Perk, Big Al, Green). He understands the game and knows talent when he sees it. He's got the whole package. You will be very happy with him. Kiki is a terrific rebuilding GM, in jettisoning old contracts etc. and bringing in talent. But the next step is moving some of that talent to build a better team. The Celtics are at that stage as per the Ricky-Wally trade. The Knicks are past due. (Maybe so is Denver?) But in Houston you don't want to rebuild from scratch, you want to build around your two superstars, right? For that, the best person short of Joe Dumars is Daryl Morey.”
Wow that article makes me excited to see what he can do for our Rockets.......Great find, and a great read. Thanks man
I'm very late to this thread. Did anyone see JVG's interview on Fox26 just now? He wasn't consulted at all and Morey's hire was a complete surprise to him. The look on his face when he answered the question said it all. It's clear that Morey, not JVG, will have final say on personel decisions. This is Les' response to the awful decisions that were made last summer. Next season, JVG is on the big time hot-seat, which will make most people here very happy.
What did they have on Fox? Fox seems to get all the information ahead of time. I need to make it a habit to watch the sports show everyday at 9:45.
I haven't read much of the thread, but I like the risk taking on the part of Les. The first comparison that pops into my head is Mike Leach. The guy had only played football in high school and had no coaching experience. He was actually an attorney before he started coaching.... and you know how he has performed. A more thorough statistical based analysis may certainly be the best way to improve this team because of the current NBA environment and also our current needs. Stars are easy to evaluate, but we don't want stars, we want role players. It is tough to find guys to fill rolls when you are looking at young players who may not have taken on a lot of responsibility/minutes thus far in their careers. We're talking about sifting through all the 7th and 8th men in the league. CD struck gold with Wesley, Barry and Sura, but blew it with Swift and Alston. I was more excited about Swift and Alston at the time of the deals than the other guys, so I certainly don't think the mistakes that have been made were completely avoidable.... except the Bowen/Padgett move being a serious screwup. Also, there are a lot more players to scout and narrow down than in the past with the increase in HS players, International players, and early entries into the draft. One more method of weeding through all these unknowns would certainly be useful.
apostolic3 you probably know I've got serious problems with JVG but now I'm empathizing with him big-time. I don't think JVG ever envisioned taking a job where is boss is looking at data from a completely different perspective from someone who's watching guys almost everyday. JVG may be the ultimate bottom-line coach, but from a statistical perspective many things he does are easy to criticize. His hero Parcells is like that too and JVG fans had better hope he doesn't pick up the phone and call Jersey. I don't have a problem with optimism or with most of the posts in this thread, but I'm in disbelief over the lack of healthy skepticism over an unprescedented hire. If JVG feels likewise, I'm pleased.
In any regard, extended. JVG wasn't consulted? perhaps that is significant? If it is significant, then what coach would be hired? One who pushes the envelop as much as this hire? Thibodeaux? A new D'Antoni, whomever he may be? Musselman? Adelman? Of course it may not be significant...
I thought most here agreed that JVG has been making the calls for all player trades, evident by the # of old Knicks stopped by. So this guy, or GM will mostly work on the game promotion ideas, try to sale more tickets.
xiki, I respect your posts and I'm not sure where you're coming from in this thread. Yes, JVG originally signed a 3 year deal and Les extended it a year after the euphoria over JVG's 100k fine. I've found much of the reaction to Morey here to be bizarre. apostolic3 has backed virtually every decision JVG's ever made as far as I've read and his last post was IMHO earnest and the segment he saw genuinely shocked him. If Les wants to "push the envelope" with an unprecedented GM and you obviously approve, why worry about a coaching change? The only reason I can think of is that JVG can say "thanks, but no thanks" and go on his merry way. And he might.
Good find, docgundy, thanks. I'm now a bit less nervous about our new GM. I hope he impresses me in the draft this year.
Did anyone catch the first sentence of that article: If you want Moneyball applied to basketball..." terse, you hate JVG. docgundy has a seemingly unnatural attachment to him and hasn't even factored in how JVG is going to respond to this hiring. These are strange times. Clutch, give us an article at least. Either that or your take on all of this.
declan32001, can't let this go. I haven't "backed virtually every decision JVG's ever made". What I've come against is the ridiculous JVG bashing that blames him for anything more than coaching and personel decisions. Just ONE example: He's too tough on the players in practice & on defense and that has caused the injuries. Because I refused to jump in the river and go with the flow, it must have seemed to you I was a JVG-lover. Last summer I ripped the idea of signing of Stro to the point many here flamed me. I ripped the idea of going into this year with Sura and Wesley as our starting backcourt, which was exactly JVG's dumb plan. I criticized them for not re-signing Padgett and bringing Rybo back instead. I said PF was our 3rd greatest need while JVG thought a new PF was our #1 need, then he blows our MLE on Stro. I had problems with JVG this year but it was hard to intelligently discuss him here. That said, he deserves a pass because of the injuries. Now that a new sheriff is in town to (probably) take away personel decisions from him, next year JVG is solely responsible for maximizing the talent put in his hands. His job will be on the line. No more excuses. I believe those are the messages Les has sent with this new hire.
I'm not sure, either. I do believe there are broken pieces and fixing them the same old way may not be fixing anything. Is Morey the answer? How would I know? I just know that personnel decisions have been more bad than good for a very long time. For example, forgetting the splash, where is the break - out player(s) the Rox have put on the floor? How come Rox never see lightening strike us with a Smush, a Diaw, a Krstik, a Delonte, a Kelvin Martin, guys who came from late in the 1st -- or from nowhere to develop into good pieces for their teams, guys just off the top of my head.
More information from the Chronicle... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3760956.html
declan, I weighed in first with real skepticism about the hire (just happened to get my 2 cents in ahead of everyone else who is a skeptic), and I still think it's strange, although I appreciate the info some of the members have found about the guy, like Sam. I hate to use a baseball analogy here, of all places, and it may have been used already, but damn! This came from left field. The fact that Van Gundy found out after the hire is simply stunning. I just have a difficult time believing that Les would make a move like this, one that is radical, no two ways about it, without consulting Van Gundy. Like you, I have my problems with Jeff, but results are the bottom line, and we can't really give him a fair shake based on results this season, considering how hammered we were by injuries. One has to believe that he's on thin ice, simply because of how this hire was handled. Has anyone considered how this hire would affect getting a new coach, should Van Gundy chose to move on in the wake of it? We would have to replace him with a guy with really deep experience. I don't see how we could take a flyer on someone getting their first real shot... an Avery Johnson, for example, or a Mario Elie, with a kid like Morey as GM. This move has deep ramifications for the Rockets long-term. No question about it. I hope everyone comes back healthy next season, we pick up the pieces we need, through the draft, trades, and free agency, have the best record in years, and go to the WC Finals. Morey shows himself to be a genius, CD goes out in a blaze of glory, and Van Gundy figures out how to use the new rules to create the offence that uses our players to the best of their ability. (I'm not too worried about the defensive side of things) That would be ideal. It may also be the opposite of what happens.
B Scalabrine is a flat-footed forward who can shoot the 3 and no more. It's interesting to use the 1 season's stats and conclude that B Scalabrine is a +ve impact player. A few questions: - Any explanation or just stats? - If it is only 1 year stats, could it be a phenomenon? - Could the impact come from the opponents' player rotations? When B Scalabrine played, the opponents would put a bench player on the floor most of the time. So, VC, JC or JK could take advantage of a weaker opponents' lineup. Should we say that B Scalabrine had a positive impact in this case? - Why is the stats bumped up to 48 mins? B. Scalabrine is a 10-15 mins bench player. If he plays more than that, the opponents' starting forward will eat him alive. It's a magnification of the impact if the stats is bumped up to 48 mins.
