http://kilt.cbslocal.com/2010/08/10/daryl-morey-2/ Spoiler H: Daryl Morey is with us. How are you? DM: Thanks for having me on H: Where are we catching up with you? DM: US National Gymnastics Championships(laughing) H: Scouting for Rockets power dancers? DM: A little more focused on the men. My son is in the gymnastics. One of his teachers is in it and wife was a gymnastics judge. So..not allowed to watch if they played basketball. ... DM: I'm sure they'll crack down on everything. Have a target on my back. H: So we caught you being dad? DM: Yeah, trying to be. H: Schedule out. Open with the LA on national TV. Wouldnt have it any other way? DM: Yeah it's fun. Not that our guys needed inspiration but seeing another team get rings. A team we've had a lot of battle with. Only us and Celtics have taken to 7 games in recent years. Fire our guys up and maybe we can shock them. H: Do you go through schedule and go W-L-W-L? DM: I might have looked at it for 30 seconds. I've been in the league for 9 years. We have zero input in it. Pretty much it. For winning a title, which is our focus, we have no input. We'll have to win around 50 games to get into the playoffs. That's our focus. H: In the middle of the holiday season on Wed. Dec 29, the Big 3 are coming in. One of the anticipated games with it being their only visit. Since you're being dad, not sure if you saw the article but JVG predicting big things. DM: He's sandbagging for SVG. H: That's what we were thinking. DM: No, I say that because he's right. They are a very good team right off the bat. Got 2 of Top 5 players, maybe 3 of the Top 10 and thats a recipe for a very good team no matter what's around it. Incredible team to beat. We've had luck against good teams. A lot of quality wins recently. We'll be focused on the W when they visit. H: Does chemsitry have a big part on whether they'll be good or not? DM: Generally, it's overrated. Winning breeds chemistry. Many thought Artest would hurt the Lakers. We knew Ron was a better teammate than given credit for. A little corky but on the floor he's solid. Generally overrated but that said, we've had good chemistry and hope that creates wins. We focus first on getting good players and chemistry follows. H: I can tell you the Rockets play 11 of final 16 at TC. That's a good thing. DM: Yeah, we may have to...where we're battling til the end and having home games helps. I think we had best record ever at TC 2 years ago, and best home records in Rockets history. Last year, with Yao out, obviously not as good as a year. Hopefully 30-32 home wins this year. I think that's what it'll take. H: Trip to China this preseason. Does it throw a wrench of getting ready for season with it being such long travel? DM: All else equal, that long trip probably isnt a positive but I do think a lot of bonding does go on. I have never personally done it but I've talked to others who have. I think they give you an extra week to help overcome travel schedule and give you...a chance to bond as a team. You're really together. When Boston won the title, they went to Europe. Doc credits that and why they had great chemistry. We're gonna have to remain focused throughout the trip. Not just basketball, it's entertainment for the fans and selling NBA to China so I understand why the league does it. H: Tie in to China is obvious and strong one with that trip. I know you had to deal with questions, reports, etc on Yao. Tell us the latest on Yao. DM: Back in town this week. Was in China. Had a few charity games. ... Really important to Yao. Gonna be fun. I missed the original question. H: Just basically how far along is he, how much work, etc.. DM: Our coaches are over there. Gunning, RJ Adelman, Daryl Eto, David Maha, they were over with him. Yao a prized asset and working with him intensely. Hes coming along fine. Back in town for good, for the stretch run, for the start of TC. Everything we're getting from doctors is he'll be ready for that. H: I wonder if he's good at changing diapers. DM: (classic Morey laugh or fake laugh lol) We found he likes to train even more now. H: A little more peace and quiet on the court. DM: Yeah, sometimes work gets a little more interesting when diapers need to be changed. H: Thanks for joining us. Go back to being a dad. DM: Appreciate you having me on. Texans starting to gear up but we got a lot of great Rockets coming. Excited for the season to come soon.
In the middle of the interview, Morey said "Yao", and then seemed to correct himself and called him "Yao Ming" the rest of the way. Is it more appropriate call him by his full name rather than just Yao?
It's appropriate for black people to call him Yao and for white people to call him Yao Ming. People of other ethnicity call him Ming.
Why? You'll get the typical general response. "We are always trying to improve our roster. However, we also feel confident with the guys we have."
Lol @ chemistry being overrated. Generally, allegedly, supposedly, or w/e, ON the floor, it'll never be overrated. That word is starting to take over for curse words as "word to say when you have no words left".
It is not appropriated for black people to call him Yao ! I have never heard Yao Ming called just 'Ming' before There are only four pure races which one calls him Ming?
For some reason every time I see a threat titled "__________ on 610" or other variations, I keep thinking that someone spotted them driving down the freeway.
He didn't know they'd get Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, too. Without them, it's 45 wins, with them, obviously 70+.
Yes, it's true. In the Chinese culture, there are rules of etiquette that MUST be followed! Only blacks can call him Yao. Whites must refer to him as Yao Ming. But it is not true that all other ethnic groups call him Ming. Mexicans must call him El Yao, while Puerto Ricans would refer to him as "Jubettarun Ming." Russians should use Yaonoff, but Europeans must call him Sir Yao. Native Americans call him Totem Pole, and his former lovers call him "WOW Ming!" There! Now Clutchers have the 411. If I missed any races, please feel free to fill in the blanks!
bump On this morning with Lopez and Joel Blank Spoiler H: Let's go to our buddy Daryl Morey. I'm stuck with Joel Blank, any advice? DM: I'm sorry about that. We're stuck even longer with him. JB: This is fantastic. H: Hey, Luis Scola tearing it up. Odds for American team? DM: We keep close tabs. We think American team will win. Coach K has done great job. Can put better athlete at every position. H: Bob Bradley named US soccer coach for next 4 years, should US basketball team do something like that? Coach K kinda doing that right now. DM: Yeah, he's doing a great job. As long as he's willing to do it, team is in good hands. Rockets folks have advised them over the years. Keith Jones was the trainer, think he's taking a year off this year. We are a big supporter of US basketball. Scola over there, not taking any time off. Putting up good numbers. I hit him last night to stop beating up on tiny Middle-Eastern teams. H: Switching gears to Rockets, exciting offseason for you. Obviously didnt get the big name fans wanted but added some pieces. Put together a quality team. Got the big fella back. DM: Yeah, got one big name guy back. Yao back. He's been looking great, great in practice. Coaches and myself and everyone on staff figuring out how we're gonna play it this year. Different pieces with Miller, everybody healthy, and Courtney Lee. We gotta a bunch of players who on offense can execute and do what Coach wants. On D, we feel good about some of the scheme changes to get back to where we were. Took a drop last year. H: I know there is talk about another big name that could be traded., I wont mention any names. How active are you on scale of 1-10? DM: We feel very good about our group. I gotta look at everything, that is just my job. League isnt very active right now. Teams focusing on coming to camp. There isnt as much trade chatter out there. Bottom line, not a lot of chatter right now around the league. H: Speaking of camp, going to camp early, going to China. How do you look at that, and preseason overall? Going to the Valley, Austin, and then China. Can team build commodery or a bit of grind? DM: Obviously travel...you'd like to play at home. Travel is set up well though. Think our guys can come together. We've been down to the Valley. Focus is on the schedule and our guys are great at executing and focus on bringing back wins. H: Daryl Morey joining us. Everyone talks about "well he came back looking so much better". Anyone jump off the page as having a good offseason? DM: Yeah, I'd say Kyle Lowry is one. Got a big deal and has been working out before and after the deal. Not always in our gym. Been working in Philly. Works out with a top guy from Vegas. Kevin Martin has been in Tampa. In our gym, Taylor and Budinger have both looked great. We got a lot of guys focused. Patterson and Hill also here in Houston. Hayes also looks terrific. Has been consistent presence and leader here in Houston. H: I always talk about developing another skill in the offseason. Have you ordered anyone to work on this and you're starting to see it? DM: I'd probably call out Kevin Martin. Someone we asked to improve defensively. Kevin has only been good in this league because of his work ethic. Got good approach. He's not the only one, just the first one that has came to mind though. H: Thanks for joining us. And hey, doing the Quick Weight Loss center on my recommendation of course, right?! DM: I am. You are like my AA Quick Weight Loss center sponsor. Down about 15. See if we can keep it rolling. H: Good job. Appreciate it Daryl. DM: Alright, talk to you soon. Thanks. http://kilt.cbslocal.com/2010/09/02/daryl-morey-with-john-and-joel-9210/
