I typically like the stuff Houston Press puts out on sports, but wow... they went nuclear on Morey. http://www.houstonpress.com/news/is...to-become-daryl-moreys-next-scapegoat-8363494
While Morey deserves a lot of criticism for this season, this was way overboard and sounds more like a teen blog vent.
Everyone wants to criticize, piss, and moan, but no one offers any solutions. Criticism is fair towards anyone in the Rockets organization right now, but you can't just say "the Rockets need more three point shooters" without offering any specific solutions.
They played defense last season. How was Morey supposed to see the future and know they would decide to not play defense this season when it's the same group of guys who DID play defense last season? This guy is acting like the offense was a huge failure. The team was 4th in points per game, 2nd in points per shot, and 7th in points per possession. The problems this year overall were not problems offensively. The main issue by far was defense.
I agree with the premise. If I were to assign blame, it would go: Mauri - 35% Harden - 25% Joe Blows - 15% (He gets lower blame because he was put in this no win position by Murray with a bunch of inmates running the asylum thanks to McFail) Keith Jones - 10% Sam busty Dekker - 10% Others - 5%
You can fault him for many things but I guess his system, his star players and role players were his doom and you have an owner who lets Morey do certain things but the most important thing to go deep into the draft, that one he did not let Morey try dysfunctional organization to a degree (in terms of championship aspirations) Overall bad season for him, his worst so far I guess.
Once again, critics overlooking that the offense was one of the best in the NBA. It was the defense that fell through. Is the author suggesting that if Morey had done better offensive players, an otherworldly offense would have made up for our mediocre defense? History suggests that if you're aiming for a title, that isn't the case.
Is this the Jeremy Lin guy? I remember Houston Press having a Jeremy Lin guy who hated everyone and everything else about the Rockets.
Well you do have to wonder: free throws are a key part of your philosophy, and you've got Dwight, Capela, Josh Smith, and D-Mo
Appreciate you presenting arguments backed up with facts. Perception and reality are usual different. Fact is, efficiency (aka Moreyball) is the new norm.
Because having players who play defense and are versatile are a key part of the strategy. I don't get why so many folks only focus one side of the floor. Morey wants players who can shoot, pass, and guard multiple positions, those players are not common.
Morey failed big time on his player acquisition to implement his strategy, and he overlooks character far too often which leads to seasons like this. Morey is not all that great. DD