This stood out for me, Patrick’s energy level has been powered by pure adrenaline, nonetheless, he still will continue to be solid when he finally settles down. I still keep wishing some of it would rub off Hill though. Thanks for the transcript.
His energy level is sustainable. His FG%, particularly on mid/long 2 pt jump shots, probably is not. The guy is shooting nearly 70% on these pick and pop shots, not even Dirk Nowitzki shoots with that kind of accuracy.
I think the Rockets are privately thrilled with how well Patterson has played, and this response was calculated to not make him look too good. If it was local radio, I suspect he would have been more effusive.
Likewise for me. I felt he was saying that we weren't involved in the NJ / Den / Detroit talks, but we might very well be involved in other Melo-related talks. Except for not clearing that up, I thought the interview was very nice. What blog is that?
If we go by the last couple of games then indeed, I’d say you are more accurate. To tell you the truth my mental picture was fixated in his come-out game (pun intended) against Toronto where he played with such an energy level that cannot be sustained by a starter; I’m still hoping for a few more games like that. There’s no need to discuss percentages because his FG% is falling as certain as there is a law of gravity; it’s great that he started that way though, gives him a great boost of confidence.
Daryl Morey: Spoiler Good Morning Daryl. How are you doing? Morning.. Congrats on the win. We said it going in, a lot of excitement because of Griffin. Overall thoughts on the evening? Very good win. We need to keep winning games and get back in this race. We know about the tough roadtrip. After that, it looks to be workable. Next 2-3 weeks will define season? Road trip is tough. If we can go 2-2 or even 1-3, we can survive that. Clippers were hot so good to see the D step up, shut them down, and hold them in the 80s. Thoughts on Griffin? Hayes did a good job. He did. Blake is terrific. #1 pick for a reason. Was delayed for a year. Pretty obvious he was gonna be a great player when he was at Oklahoma. We're getting to see what he can do. He is special. Lets talk about Hayes. We know he's not the biggest guy in the world but heart and effort is there, especially on D. He is so valuable to the team. I know you wish you could bottle that up and put it in everyone. Go beyonds talent, it's an ethic he has. Absolutely. Playing at a high level. A leader of the team. He, Shane, Luis are our key guys. D our big issue and he is providing it. Sets a great example every night. Was talking to some buddies, and said dont know what to expect on D tonight. Obviously consistency is missing, why? I agree with that. Good question for the players. We need to bring that same intensity every night. Depends on the team. Clippers were missing a weapon but we did a good job shutting them down. Every night hard to win no matter who is out there. It's been our big challenge. If you told me Martin has an off-night, I might've told you you're not winning this game. On any given night, we got a lot of good players. We can survive on 'O' w/ multiple guys having off nights. Cant have mutliple off 'D' nights. That's when we struggle. Kyle, Shane, Chase, Luis have stepped up. That's not our challenge. We need consistent D effort. Dallas tonight. Peja Stojakovic signs there. Surprised about that? Thoughts overall on them? They're a consistent team. Obviously have built around Dirk for years. Plugged different guys in. At home, they always play tough. They've won 60-70% of games at home. Peja they're just integrating so not sure on him and how much we'll see. We'll have to play well to win. All-star game - should it be changed on how they come up with it? Whether it's adding a player or two or not doing it position by position. Right. I don't think much about the All-Star game. I think there are probably a bunch of ways to improve it. I'd like to see different events during the weekend to keep it interesting for the players. Maybe some more people to All-Star game might be good. Honestly havent thought much about it. Do you/other GMs hold your breath about players playing and possibly getting hurt? We need to get a player there first. We dont worry about them getting hurt. Talked last week about how much conversations are going on. Things ramping up as we get closer to the trade deadline? Pretty active but not unique to the Rockets. There is a lot of talk about teams who are in, out, and on the bubble like ourselves. Definitely a lot of talk. How does uncertain offseason do what you want to do in the short term? Forbes list came out. Rockets #5. Says here: 17 of 30 teams lost money last season. A lot of uncertainty with CBA. How does that affect things and how you want to construct this team? Cant talk about the unknown. We are constantly looking at our roster and how close it is to a championship roster. Which players fit into that? If they fit into that, we're trying to hold onto them. If a player we feel that can upgrade us, we'll add them in. Always uncertainty but thats our goal constantly. Evaluating this team, who is jumping off the page? Patterson playing well. Yeah, Pattrick has been very good and improving. Our consistency from our young players is something we watch constantly. Jordan Hill is someone we're hoping to see be more consistent. Flashes but tough for coach to know what he's going to get from him. Looking for consistent D from whole roster except for Chuck and Shane. Not sure we know on a given night what we'll get on D. 36% shooting and held them to 10 pts there. Certainly must've been best D performance of season in the 4th Q there. Probably better performances of all time to hold them to 10. ... You gotta win some games. I'm real helpful this morning. [Caller]: I like the guard rotation. Lowry has proved me wrong(that he wasnt a starter). Do you think Brooks get his job back or do you like it as it? Both are starter quality players. Last year Brooks was terrific and Lowry coming off the bench. Lowry has been equally terrific this year. When he's out there, we're beating up on teams. I see improvement in Aaron. Tough choice for coach. However he does it, I'm fine. When he gets them on the floor together and closing out the game like yesterday, we do pretty well. One of our "Get to know Daryl" questions: [Texter]: What is a normal day as GM? What does it consist of? What can you share? What I like about the job: there is no normal day. I was at the BYU-SD State game which was pretty interesting. I'm on the road to look at college players. Normal day is getting up early and flying to a new city and watching the game. In the office, a lot of phone calls and prep for the trade deadline and evaluating rosters - yours and others. Monday is typical office day, paperwork and that. Everyday is different. He buried the headline! He cant talk about Bimmer Bedette. ... BYU hosting undefeated team. What was it like? Good environment. One thing, it's amazing when you go to college games, you see some amazing crowds and atmospheres. Was at Texas A&M this past Saturday. Their fans are intense. Same here. BYU is a little scary. You say the wrong thing, it's like going to a Jazz playoff game and saying the wrong thing. Things can get a little scary. To follow up on "Getting to know Daryl", what is the most calls you take in a day? How many calls in a given day? The day before the deadline is most intense or maybe on draft day. Talking 100s there. Normal day is about 20-25 calls. [Caller]: Why is that we trade for young players like Lee and Williams but they dont get worked into the roster. Traded Ariza, that was 50% of the D. You bring in Lee and Williams and they dont play much or if at all. We got a lot of really good young players. Frankly, they cant all play. The timing - we have players we target. We cant time those things. To get a player we like, there is a trigger or deadline or a team is pushing to get a move done. Both cases with Terrence and Courtney. Terrence deal - NJ was going to move him and that was our only chance to get him then even though we knew we had depth at that position. Same with Courtney. Nets and New Orleans pushed that deal. He was gonna move and that was our only chance to get him. For periods, it does look like its overstacked, we understand that, but we target players we like and get them when we can, because if you dont get them at the time you have a chance even if there is no playing time for them, you probably missed your opportunity. [Caller]: Not a common practice for two teams to trade expiring contracts. Has it been done before? That happens quite a lot. Trying to think, Peja got flipped..oh Dampier and Chandler got flipped. Thats a good example. It happens all the time. Players who are expiring are trying to get in a good situation. They're not always used to relieve salary. Dont have the whole list but it does happen. Mentioned the Forbes story. Rockets 5th most valuable franchise. Thoughts there? Says a lot about Houston fans. We're well supported by the community. We come to work everyday knowing we have hopes and aspirations of our fans. Thanks a lot. Good luck in Dallas. Alright, thanks. http://houston.cbslocal.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-scenes-with-daryl-morey-on-vandermeer-and-lopez/
^ Thanks. [rquoter] [Caller]: Why is that we trade for young players like Lee and Williams but they dont get worked into the roster. Traded Ariza, that was 50% of the D. You bring in Lee and Williams and they dont play much or if at all. We got a lot of really good young players. Frankly, they cant all play. The timing - we have players we target. We cant time those things. To get a player we like, there is a trigger or deadline or a team is pushing to get a move done. Both cases with Terrence and Courtney. Terrence deal - NJ was going to move him and that was our only chance to get him then even though we knew we had depth at that position. Same with Courtney. Nets and New Orleans pushed that deal. He was gonna move and that was our only chance to get him. For periods, it does look like its overstacked, we understand that, but we target players we like and get them when we can, because if you dont get them at the time you have a chance even if there is no playing time for them, you probably missed your opportunity. [/rquoter] Good question, and good answer. Morey saying that Lowry has played equally well compared to Brooks last year was interesting.
trading for players when you have depth at the position already makes no sense to me for a team that is trying to win now unless they are a blake griffin type of player that will be a superstar.
Yup, that was a great question, and I completely agree with the answer he gave. If you've got the chance to grab a player you really like, you take it, even if he'll be sitting on the bench for a while. Still, it kind of sucks that he's stuck at the end of the bench with practically no where to go right now, regardless of what he does.
What Morey has said, you can believe him or not, is that when he makes roster moves he's mainly looking at how it positions the Rockets long term (like maybe a couple years out, or more).
Translation, we are stocking up on assets right now without regard to team chemistry or depth at any position. Once we cash in for a star, then need will come into play more. Makes a ton of sense actually. Also, Hill sucks.
True thats his philosophy right now what I am probably the most curious about is how that will change if/when the team is able to acquire that "superstar" that Morey has wanted since day 1. He has always had to sort of build this team with the "big picture/long term" view in mind giving the tenuous health of both McGrady and Yao. If he gets that star I wonder how his approach will change in terms of what type of players the team will target. Obviously his group of guys will still analyze stats and parts of the game in a manner that we could only imagine, but will they start looking for players that excel in different areas compared to the players they are looking at now?
His answer bothered me a bit. If he had gone out and secured a serviceable seven footer in the last two years it would be one thing but when he keeps bringing in tweeners and projects that play basically the same position his credibility takes a hit. He is going to (deservedly) catch hell from the fans if he doesn't flip some of this redundant talent in order to actually fill a need the Rockets have. Having half the roster be nothing but SG/SF is getting really old.
I won't question his knowledge but it seems to me that the game has changed and flipping assets for a star (or even a really, really good player) isn't likely to happen these days.
And this is my one big concern with his strategy, I understand he saw what Boston did with their big three but that won't happen very often and if he is going to continue to acquire these guys and store them for the right moment...we might be having this conversation again quite a few times over the next few years.
surprised to see Scola mentioned twice (positively) by DM. thought DM might be pissed with Scola for the lack of D. but Scola always tries.
Pure speculation on my part but based on things Daryl has said over the last year or so my hunch is that Martin and Hayes are his two favorite guys with Lowry, Scola and Battier being his "second tier" favorites. I don't think any of those guys are moved unless a top 5-6 NBA center or a legit All Star (at any position) is coming in return.
Chuck and Lowry get credited the most in his post-game twitter comments. Martin and Scola (our two highest scorers) have been rarely mentioned this year, interestingly enough.
