Talking about last two years, he picked Yao over J Will, that is a big smart decision, smarter than many people here. JJ is a good buy. Eddie is a horrible selection, but who can predict his self-destruction years ago?
Arguably, CD is probably not the worst GM in the league. But can anybody think of many GMs lasting as long as he did when doing such a pathetic job? I'll start: 1. Jerry Krause 2. ...
1. We have no draft pics, how the hell are u suppose to build a good team for the future w/o them. In a year where there are more unproven players that can't IMMEDIATELY help a contending team like the Rockets than any other year, i don't mind it one bit. I rather watch the Rockets play in June than to watch the Rockets draft in June any day. 2. HE doesent know what to pay players. He tends to overpay. So does everyone else in the league. Get over it. Just be glad we're getting production out of Cato and MoT rather than other teams with the contracts that they're binded to with players that dont' produce (i.e. Hill in Orlando, #'s of centers in Seattle, etc) 3. Why the hell do we have no bench? Our bench has sucked for a while now. Wait a minute i know why, because we always trade away our draft pics for financial reasons. If you think rookies can help that much then you've been watching too much of Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard. I rather us make sound acquisitions via FA by getting veterans that know how to play rather than kids the coaches have to babysit (i.e. Griffin)
Actually i would say there were seven, not eight teams that passed on t-mac. You'd be a damned fool to not take tim duncan that year with a first pick. So I wouldnt fault the spurs on passing on t-mac.
I don't know if I want CD gone, but I'm pretty sure that if CD were replaced, the new GM's influense woudl be very apparent. I'm guessing JVG now has a say in these decisions, and replacing CD would definitely change the type of deals that would be presented to LES, right? I mean, Rudy and CD would present certain deals to CD, and he'd decide right? But now, different deals would be presented, and Les would still choose, but from a different set or something, right? I think replacing CD would change our personnel decisions - although we can't guarantee they'll be better. Utimately, all GM's are pretty much the same except the ones that are given the green light to spend (Mavericks, Grizzlies, Knicks, old Blazers, Pistons to some extent).
The question is who, today, is initiating trade discussions, personnel acquisitions, scouting decisions? Who, of the coaching staff, is reaching out to guys working out at Westside (I assume players are still coming to Houston for summer workouts/games)? Is there anyone monitoring the Eddie Griffins, Leon Smiths whoever and other talents who have fallen by the wayside for various reasons? Guys in places other than Houston working out? I like CD. As the 'extension' of Rudy's for so many years, how is his relationship with the new gang in town -- as well as the owner (who outed RT)?
Call me crazy, but I don't hold the decision to draft Eddie Griffin against CD. Sure he didn't turn out, but sometimes with a talent as big as Griffin (and I still think he has a chance to make some dough in the league) you have to take a chance with the off the court issues (see Randy Moss as an example). He was the best player available at a need position. CD would have been freaking Houdini if he would have guessed that RJ and Collins would have made a bigger impact in the league than Eddie.
Well since you brought it up, after drafting Hakeem no. 1, they could have traded Ralph Sampson to Portland for their no. 1 and drafted His Airness but that's all water under the bridge... No need to blame CD for anything - he's already done his damage for this year so let the man be.
A "talent as big as Griffin"??? Gee, I must have missed this! I'll be sure to get a bigger magnifying glass so I can detect this for the next time CD throws away 3 1st round draft picks on a "super talent" like EG.
Judging by what you've posted here, then NOBODY is in charge which is why their draft record has been so absolutely abysmal (everyone needs to take a look at the Rocket drafts since 1983 post). How brilliant! NOBODY can be held accountable because no one person is responsible for making decisions let alone taking ownership for them. So the bad decisions from this organization continue to come and go and there's no one accountable. This is exactly what you'd expect of a mediocre organizational structure. As for firing CD, the scouts, everyone in personnel, I only have one question: WHEN?
I'm guessing those moves were part of the reason Rudy was fired. I can already see a change in how we do things- traded Moochie, didn't sign Posey to a large contract, put Steve on the block. So someone has been held accountable. By the way, if that's all CD does, then what is the point in keeping him? What does he do that is so great that we must keep him? (I'm not saying fire him, just asking for the sake of argument).
Wasn't it Rudy out front and center who said he polled all his scouts and assistants and by concensus felt EG was #1 in the draft? IMO Rudy controlled all those decisions for years. That is clearly how it has spelled out to me.
What, you guys think this is 1972? Maybe they'll watch "film" of teams from last year too. If any of you guys think that one person controls the decision-making and player selection for an entire franchise, you are either unaware of the reality of the situation or just not able to figure out that this is a HUGE job. Most franchises have dozens of scouts, personnel staff, coaches, trainers, etc. They all put their ideas into a hat and they are whittled down by a few key individuals to a final decision. In our case, those few key guys are likely the coaches, the head scout, the head player/personnel guy (Dennis Lindsay and Keith Jones are the two in charge of that), the GM and the owner of the team. Decisions are made by consensus, by committee, not by one person. Even Jerry West has a very strong staff of people around him helping him filter all the information he gets and working with him to make decisions on players. Nothing in the NBA is done in a vacuum.
I have no problem with CD, I just have problem with the logic. What, He can not be fired because he doesn't really do anything? Ok, maybe it will all be the same if you put in someone else then. Something has to give.
Doesn't GM select coaches, or at least has strong influence in it? I mean, he is called GM for a reason right?
Just so I understand... Are you saying that GM's should never be fired,as they aren't really responsible? Or that they should only be fired if everyone else is as well?
Seriously JAG, maybe you should re-read his post or his one on the page before that. He is saying that CD, specifically, isn't necessarily responsible for this team's problems. Furthermore, I think Jeff is insinuating that this team's personnel problems don't fall squarely on CD's shoulders, and that most of the blame should fall in other areas of the team. He is defending the topic of this thread, which intends to make CD some sort of scapegoat for the state of this team. Good post(s) Jeff. Its amazing that one would continue to call for CD's head, given the information that you have provided.
