Hello all, First of all, sorry for getting these to you so late. Technical difficulties prevented them from going live until now. Anyway, here are the links to my late-night chat with Morey, and our story from last night's game. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/ballz/2008/02/burning_the_midnight_oil_with.php http://blogs.houstonpress.com/ballz/2008/02/rocketsheat_a_pair_of_pleasant.php Hope they're at least somewhat enjoyable. As always, feel free to share your questions, comments and suggestions with us. Have a great weekend! cheers, JCF
If it's any consolation, I was posting on this board about the Rockets at 1:50AM, so you're not alone! This really is the new age for the NBA: they've finally managed to rebound from the MJ age, actually not even that, this has a chance to be the best playoffs since '94-'95.
JCF, I like your writing style and the fact that you seem to be "in" with Morey. But I REALLY like that you put your articles on Clutchfans! Keep up the good work and kudos from Wyoming!
It's nice that Morey has made himself so accessible (and it's great to have the Press take advantage). East Coast guys always seem more willing to take to the media.
I LOVE the questions you ask daryl. keep it up. it's nice to actually be able to get some insight from the guy who is running our team, I don't think I've seen that previously. this is a testament to daryl's approachability and willingness to answer questions -- but you still have to ask the right ones, you definitely have done that. I appreciate that.
Good interview. One thing I don't understand is this notion that we've upgraded the backup pg spot all of a sudden. We traded one sucky backup pg for another team's sucky backup pg, except the one we received is older. Hopefully Jackson's poor shooting percentage can increase with the supposed more open looks he'll get here.
"And this deal was again one that was easier because it—combined with the other move—gives us the room to sign one larger or multiple smaller dollar free agents, and there’s a few guys out there. We think we can upgrade the team and we want to be able to potentially sign them." This is for everyone who were overreacting. Let me ask you this: Would you rather have Mike James on our bench next year or a top free agent? 11 mill in expiring contract is a lot of money. I really think everyone should hear the trade elsewhere before getting on this board.
If nothing else, it gives us another option. Brooks has really struggled the last month or so. I like his future, but he clearly wasn't a guy that Adelman would trust in the playoffs in crucial situations. And knowing how important the PG position is, do we really want to rely on Rafer Alston to play 40+ minutes for us night in and night out? One could argue that Jackson is no different, and maybe worse, than Mike James. We'll see. Adelman apparently likes him, so that should count for something.
yep. the more time passes the more i like this trade.... nothing significant, but our rationale for pulling it off is completely on point, imo.
Never been a big Alston fan, but the last 2-3 months...it seems he's doing a lot better. He seems to be more opportunistic when he drives and is finishing easy floaters. He also seems to be picking up a few more fast break opportunities than usual. 40+min still is probably too much for him, but I am more comfortable this year than the last two with him. I'm hoping it is that he is more suited to RA's Rockets offense than JVG's instead of just luck or me only seeing his good games.
Wow! “Only people who don’t understand the game are fascinated with scoring." But ask him if he’s playing the best ball of his career and it’s apparent that media day defiance is still alive and well. “Oh no,” says Alston. “Only people who don’t understand the game are fascinated with scoring. They don’t understand anything about defense, assisting the basketball, rebounding the ball, help and recover. The only thing they can identify are points per game. People probably see I’m scoring, so they assume I’m playing the best basketball, but I don’t think the scoring has anything to do with playing the best basketball. I’m running the team, getting the guys the ball, getting us a fast start, I’m defending, and I’m helping get rebounds. That’s the best part of a basketball player.
I love your personable style Jason,but I wished you had pimped DM about the potential impact of Bonzi's absence on T-Mac and also the rest of the players who will have to do much more in his absence. Giving more minutes to Head instead of Bonzi is nothing but spin.
I take it you don't agree. If you only look at the box score and see who scored the most points to decide what was important in the game you can't really understand what happened. It's people obsessed with stats that miss the nuances of the game. Is scoring important.. of course it is, but its only one piece of the puzzle. Great job on the interview recap and the article, as always Fritz!
No, Mr Morey. It's not a concept of a few times, it's you have to go THROUGH them in the playoffs. And don't tell me that deal improves the team "dramatically", please.
Michecon, I don't think Morey was trying to say these moves made the Rockets dramatically better. Rather, I think he was stating that a dramatic improvement is the franchise's constant and never-ending goal. This deal does not dramatically improve the team today. However, with the team now possessing Jackson's contract (set to expire at the end of next season), it does increase the likelihood that the Rockets will be able to dramatically upgrade the team in the future. Thanks for reading. JCF
Yup yup. Every thing that either helps the Rockets score more points then the opposing team... or forces the opposing team to score less points than the Rockets... is part of the game. A lot of people take it for granted that the benchmark of a good NBA player is through the number of points scored. Nah. I think the better benchmark of a good NBA player is that the player does whatever it takes to win the game (of course, legally and ethically ).