Daryl Morey on 790

I'm not 100% sold on DM one way or the other, but to address your claims...

If it wasn't clear before it is now 100% clear that DM's hands are tied on coaching. Based on stuff I've now heard/implied, I think DM would have preferred Vogel both before he was hired by the Pacers and this year. I think he would have preferred Budenholzer before he was hired by the Hawks. I think he preferred Silas and others this year.

Les makes the coaching decision.

This is one of those things that can only be said in retrospect. I mean, pretty much the WHOLE universe was on board with their moves last offseason and had them pegged as a top 4 at worst team in the West. he "seemed" to understand fit and chemistry then.

Ultimately the chemistry issues comes down to Howards, who has now created chemistry issues EVERYWHERE he goes.

See post above. To clarify, as a fan, I abhore the hack-a strategy and would love to have great bigs that could hit free throws. Those guys don't fall in your lap though. Short of that, I am fine if there is true statistics that show a big needs to hit [x]% of FTs...

Players drafted seem to be developed internally as best as possible. Moreover, this falls less on DM's lap than many others in the organization - specifically the entire coaching staff.

Shocked that this isn't drafting choices instead of developing those drafted. I don't see a ton of Rockets draft picks going elsewhere and "exploding"... sure, you have your Whiteside's that you didn't ultimately develop... but in almost all of those cases its about the player and their mentality simply maturing.

The real issue is that they've "maxed" out the talent of those they do draft, and that max isn't great.

Your greatest rival traded to a position right after yours and chose a player at the same position, that has developed into a top 10 player in the league, whereas the guy you chose is a below average role player. THAT'S THE PROBLEM!

 

lmao on the next breaking bad...

 

Haha. Yeah who knows what the plan is. I just wonder what the long term plan is.

Nothing really asked to be honest.

I never expect Morey to give up his plan A, B, C...

I was just disappointed in the interview in general.

 

Yeah this very well could be the case. I get the feeling we will sign a few guys, but may not be what we are hoping.

Forgot about this. I thought this was the only thing that was relevant in the interview.

 

Les really is to blame. Going on the assumption it was his decision to hire D'Antoni.

You can't have a GM like Morey and not let him do his job to the fullest

 

I thought part of the MDA sales job was his magnetism with free agents. Where the hell is our KD interview?

 

The most relevant thing to me was, he said teams who have money THREE YEARS from now are going to be the big winners!! I'm hoping he doesn't choose to wait until then to spend or Harden will be gone.

 

When I say "Chemistry" I am not talking about guys liking each other in the clubhouse, I am talking about guys who fit together STYLE wise on the court.

It is not about KEEPING the team together - it is about understanding how pieces fit, that I don't think Morey does well at all.

If you are bringing in Lawson - you need to make sure he fits with Harden, he doesn't - if you are letting Josh Smith go (Fine by me) you have to find a big that can play that role of facilitator (Dmo being hurt really hurt us here), and you never...never. ****ING NEVER sign Corey Brewer and bid against yourself for 8m a year.

Morey's biggest failing IMO, is having a philosophy then putting players on the team that don't fit that philosophy....3s, D, and FTs.

We have guys that can't shoot the 3, can't play D, and don't hit FTs....either you believe in your philosophy or you don't...Morey seems to be hedging to me.

ALL IN - or bust baby!!

DD

 

I'm not sure what you expect him to say, the tampering rules are highly restrictive and punitive for violating them. We know changes are going to be made. Let's just see how it all plays out and then go back to our regularly scheduled GARM overreactions.

 

Meh, the chemistry issue has to do with certain players getting fat and certain players not trying.

Moreys teams have never had chemistry issues until last year.

Don't make stupid decisions because of one year

 

Jeremy Lin interview is more important for the rockets, that was a big plan to have MDA.

"Sports
NBA free agency 2016: Jeremy Lin brings baggage, but is a perfect fit for the Rockets
The Dream Shake 11 hours ago" yahoo.com

 

Lawson didn't suck because he didn't fit stylistically next to Harden. Lebron and Wade don't fit stylistically, but made 4 straight Finals (every year they played together) and won two. There's plenty of ball to go around. Lawson sucked... because he sucked. he sucked when Harden was on the court, when Harden was off the court, and when he was with Indiana.

Brewer at $8 million is a fair deal in his up years. As with everything else on the team, more than anything, the players basically turned. Brewer reverted a lot.... maybe because he got paid, and its valid to argue players that are in contract years play better and then perhaps suck the following year but that's definitely not universally true and would only conclude that you can't ever sign a FA. Ariza reverted a lot, especially defensively. Howard reverted a lot, especially defensively. Josh Smith was signed back, and still sucked. Harden came in out of shape, though turned it around meaningfully. DMo never got healthy. The coaching sucked from before the season even started - speaking of Lawson, it was clear McHale's plan was to simply have him go out there on the court with no direction, lol. Capela was f'd with... bench as center, starter as PF, bench as PF/C, some games with 0 minutes, some games with 30 minutes. etc, etc.

Again, NOBODY saw the roster, the players, the management of the "fit" and "chemistry", etc. and though, this is a 41 win team. Many SMART people - in the league, GMs, journalists, analysts, and fans, all looked at it and thought top 4, top 2 type team.

Not only that, nobody said anything about it until Cuban brought it up regarding the Parsons signing. Which of course was the most ironic thing for the owner who literalyl broke up his championship squad and has chased free agents every year for the last decade.

 

MDA doesn't need Jeremy Lin, he already has a far better player to run the offense through.

You cannot run an offense through Carmelo Anthony, he isn't a guard like Nash or Harden or Lin.

 

But Lin could bring more money to Les, who cares money much more. The question is that if Lin wants to be here.

 

(Plans Thursday night?) We're not allowed to talk until Thursday.

(LA?) Can't really say.

(How do you anticipate the salary bump and subsequent bump the next year -- how will that change FA?) Pretty dramatically. Most money chasing the fewest. No one should pay attention to the dollars. It's an unprecedented situation going in.

(When there's a certain amount of bigs on the market, doesn't that limit the amount of bigs who can get max or will the money change drastically that it will open it up for more max money deals?) It should settle back to normal in 2 years. This summer & next, there will be close to unlimited dollars chasing players. The teams that spend well over these 2 summers will help themselves 3 summers from now. This year & next, it'll be pretty wild west.

(You value flexibility. How do you balance that with the money you'll have to spend?) There won't be much restraint this summer & next. In 3 summers, the teams that spend wisely will make out well. This summer & next, not much restraint. It'll be different than the dynamics of past years.

(We know you want to guys who can shoot from distance & finish in the paint. Where does FT shooting factor in for you when talking about bigs who rebound & block shots?) It's an important skill. Less important than protecting the paint, rebounding, screening well, diving, finishing at the basket. On the list of skills for bigs, it's important but not in the top 3 for sure. We've had some guys with FT challenges. We've had some players that were unbelievable like Yao Ming. It's an important thing. I do expect them to change the rule on hacking players. That has a decent chance of being changed. You definitely want to be above the threshold where you get hacked, which is about 50%. I know we've had players below that threshold in the past.

(Decision on RFA) Next two days.

(Decision already made?) We wait until the final day or day before because it's when you have the most information on your plans. We'll be making that call in the next day or two.

(Thoughts on the draft picks) Chinanu Onuaku - 2nd year player, very strong defensively, very strong rebounder, shot blocker, runs the floor well, thicker frame than say Capela, forecasted long term to play center with more sand in his pants & ability to guard bigger players. Offensively, good passer, good screener, good roller & fits how Mike wants to play. Pretty excited about him.

Zhou Qi - already playing at a professional level in China. Very unique in that he's over 7'1, 7'7 wingspan, will come into the league with a top 3-4 wingspan, unique player. He's skilled, can shoot, high basketball IQ, can handle the ball at that size. Unique player defensively, good weak side shot blocker, mobile at that size. Will probably stay overseas at least one season and Chinanu will be on the team this year.

(Overlap with what he & Harrell does?) They're different. 'Trez is a 4. More of a high energy player who's super mobile, super athletic, more offensive skill. Chinanu is more of a 5.

(When did you come into the NBA) 2002 with Boston

(Did you scout Yao?) No, I did not. I came towards the end of 2002. My first draft was 2003.

(Reason I ask, where is Chinese basketball now compared to then?) Pro league is way further along, more established, a common destination for pro players. Pro league has come along. In terms of youth development, it's farther along. A lot of people would hope it was further than this. Surprising they haven't developed more guards over there. They generally develop more bigs.

(Midlevel change at all?) Not a relevant thing this year. It's pure free agency. Pretty much every player can make almost anything from every team up to the max obviously. Midlevel, Biannual concept are out the window this summer & next. I wouldn't focus on the dollars if I was the fan. They'll be irrelevant to spending in the past.

 

This is patently false, been saying this for a lot longer than that - that Chemistry was not something Morey valued.

DD

 

Well..

#1 - show me where this was a common and loud refrain from the masses before then? Not a random post or two by you or a few others.

#2 - you could have been saying it... doesn't make it true. It wasn't true then, and it isn't true now.

Plus, your position is confusing. Are you saying now again that he undervalues chemistry, or fit? As you've noted those are different things. it's been "chemistry" the last few years. But since that was tried and failed, it's changed to "fit", though you seem to be using those words interchangeably.

The common refrain before was that DM used the word "asset" too much. Which was also ludicrous. Every GM in the league looks at is as assets and value and how to improve thereupon. Which is why the GSW of all teams is looking hard to add Durant. Which is why the Spurs have chased free agents regularly. Which is why the Mavs, despite Cuban's belief, don't value chemistry. Which is why Atlanta just traded Teague. Which is why the Thunder just moved Serge Ibaka.

There are plenty of arguments to be made against DM and the Rockets organizationally. Your arguments seem silly.

 

Apreesh, J.R.

I guess my only comment is Zhou should be considered the NBA's 2nd lengthiest wingspan, bested only by Rudy Gobert. Gobert is 7'-2" with a 7'-8.5" wingspan. Zhou is 7'-2" with 7'-7.75". 3rd is Whiteside 7'-0" with 7'-6" wingspan. Smart move to nab him and stash him. People like to point out his thinness but I think Brandon Ingram is even skinnier. Despite being real lean, I thnk Zhou is kinda ripped. Or shredded at least.

Spoiler

 

Maybe not the masses, but the masses are usually behind those of us paying attention.

Well it is true - has been true - will continue to be true until Morey understands or puts players that fit around his philosophy.

Chemistry to me, means how players fit together on the court, how their games mesh - it has never been about how much they like each other - at least not for me. Plenty of teams have clubhouses that get along but they suck on the floor.

It is all about role definition, and finding players whose chemistry meshes on the floor with the entire team concept.

Sorry this is confusing for you - it is not for me.

Of course they do, that is their job, the problem for Morey is that he is out front TALKING about it, and players hear him say it, and as human beings this can have an effect on them.

Morey is a horse trader, a flipper, a guy that continually kicks the can down the road, in hopes of getting better, that almost NEVER works, teams usually have to grow together over time with a few changes here and there, tweaking rather than overhauling - we churn our roster more than most contenders and I believe that has a negative impact on winning and growth.

Sorry you don't like my position - I believe Morey and Les are as much of a problem as the players on the floor - I don't dislike Morey, I just don't think he has any plan or roadmap beyond, flipping and hoping, flipping and hoping, and frankly his drafts have been pretty average to poor lately, maybe this one will be better.

DD