you're hatred (too strong, dislike maybe?) of Morey is always worth a good chuckle. Dude has been the GM for one year (a year in which the team has succeeded as much as they've had in the past 10+...which isn't saying much, but then there was that injury to that one guy on the team). And not to perpetuate the Gay-Battier trade that has been discussed ad naseum, but the Rockets weren't going to draft Gay. It's great if you think you knew for certain Gay was going to be awesome, but a bunch of GM's disagreed, including Toronto, Charlotte, Chicago, Atlanta, Minnesota...all teams picking ahead of the Rockets who also passed on Gay and ended up with a currently worse player....granted, those teams suck and we definitely don't want to emulate them, but I just don't see how one can bash the Gay-Battier trade. It was a win win for both teams. The Rockets got what they expected. So did the Grizzlies. Then finding fault in Aaron Brooks and Landry drafting.... Look, I agree with your philosophy. I want athletes and I want upside. But I think you're hammering on the wrong guy. Or at least, I think you should give it a little more time...say this next year.
Athletic size is obviously important but I hope DM won't go for a guy like Hardin either who plays soft for his size.I don't think he will do that because he values guys who play tough but I think you are right,he will value college experience over a talented "upside" guy. I honestly feel that players with athletic size and more upside will be gone before the 25th pick.
I cant read ur mind, but i think ur missing the point. I dont hate anyone especially a person that doesnt effect my business. I'm just stating a philosophy about drafting players. It wasnt about Gay to me because Ronnie Brewer was actually my choice. Alot of those teams that passed on the high upside guy wasnt ravaged by injuries and were lucky to get the 8th pick. Alot of those teams that passed on Gay, if the draft was a do-over, he would be the top player of that class. If u dont believe me, go and look up all the players taken before him and show me who has performed better than gay. I believe he was over that draft and has been over the last 2 yrs. CD last year was just helping the transition. If u listen to the type of player that he looks at, he would rather have a guy that can don something good right now vs a guy that can maybe do a lot next yr. I'm not saying thats a bad thing, i'm just saying that u restrict the upside of ur team. I have stated many times that i think Brooks should be the starter. I've said that i would rather have Landry more than Scola , but not both. I'm giving him credit for drafting Landry and brooks as well as trading for scola. Just like u give that praise, the criticism of not taking care of the backend of the roster, trading away the #8 and a player for a finished limited player like Battier, and also looking toward next yr while this team was in the hunt instead of bolstering the team to make a push and we still dont have a legit 3rd scorer and this team has struggled to score in the playoffs because of it. I'm just saying that if the draft board is there and if he has a chance to take a high ceiling guy with size, atheleticism, and skills that may take a 1/2 or a 1 yr to develop vs a avg size guy with limited atheleticism that can produce now although limited, he'll go with the latter.
Regarding Morey and the Rockets' personnel choices, we are in total lockstep. To not make height part of the evaluation is foolish and to not take risks on younger players with upside compounds the foolishness. Under Morey, the Rockets are going to avoid every risk and wind up with a never ending barrage of under-sized 4 year players who are nearly at their ceiling the first day of training camp. And (excluding the 2 stars) a team MLE-level contracts which have little expiring trade value. The Rockets already have their equivalences of Magic and Kareem. Instead of looking for the Byron Scotts and James Worthys...they continue to load up on Kurt Rambis's. From my experiences in the business world, there is something about math types that try to define the world in terms of either/or, black/white, right/wrong....with no in-between. Successful GM's have vision...having vision requires looking into the gray areas.
Leebigez, I think the rockets had targeted the allstar Brandon Roy (which is far and away the best player in the 2006 draft). They didn't get him so they pulled the rip cord on the 8th pick and went with the proven commodity in Battier. The trade was to take the heat off of T-Mac not having to kill himself on both ends of the court. I agree with the trade now, but still think the rockets gave up to much in the trade.
The last sentence sounds contradictory.I know Brooks/Landry look contrary to Battier type of players but I feel DM could go for another Batter over another high schooler like Rashard Lewis ala Tomjanovich.
GATER, your hatred of the Rudy Gay trade and Mr. Morey, while unwavering, is really getting to be repetitive. It's getting to the point where I wonder if it's personal. Who else, besides Dennis Lindsey perhaps, would have such an axe to grind on this ONE issue. You used to be one of my favorite posters, a poster who really added value to the GARM. Now you sound like another one-issue issue poster who does nothing but troll threads for reasons to repeat the same tired arguments. You've become a Morey-Only-Hater, or to use local terminology, an MOH. For the sake of the board and those who still remember your past contributions, please give this fight up until a point when (if you are correct) Morey is fired after predictably destroying the team. Then you can link to your posts and give the whole board an I-told-you-so.
You can't believe everything GMs say in one interview. He just said he rather have more ready player over upside, but every year he also acknowledges that the players he drafts will most likely not be ready to be a rotational player right away. Morey thinks that it's rare to find a rotation player that low in the draft, so then he would draft the player with the best potential. We haven't had many talented rookies in the past and we're definitely getting younger, and Morey's already been doing a better job than our previous GMs finding younger rotational players.
Saleem, I think that the rockets should have gotten at least an extra pick for what they gave up for the 8th pick and Swift. That subject has been argued at length on this board. To me DM is in the win now mode ie(T-Mac & Yao being their prime), but it would seem that if there were a can't miss young guy (potential homerun) that slipped to where they could make a deal in moving up, it wouldn't surprise me at all if DM pulled the trigger. But overall I'm looking for Morey to go with a more proven player ie.(senior or junior) because of the win now situation.
Seven- If u don't think there are high quality, impact, more than rotational guy in the bottom third of the draft, ur wrong big time. With the influx and intrigue of the international players, a lot of very good college players get pushed down the board. Guys like Finley, Josh Howard, Prince, Randolph to name a few were taken in the bottom 1/3. If u just look at the guys whose stock dropped because of some grainy videos doesn't make sense. I clearly recally that skinny kid from UK that did everything for his college team in the ncaa dropping like a rock named Tayshaun Prince. Then out of nowhere some guy comes in and goes 22-25 from 3 and gets drafted before Prince. That's why u have these 2nd rd gems cuz ur eyes start lying to u. I just think the philosophy of being safe don't win rings. Safe would have been keeping Daniels and leaving Parker on the bench. Safe is keeping vlade instead of trading him for kobe and freeing up cap room for shaq. Safe is continued development of al jefferson not trading for garnett. Safe is going to UT and being a doctor and not dropping out to custom build computers full time. Safe is good, but u don't succeed in sports or the business world being safe. If crunching numbers tell u to take the safe guy all the time, ur team will have less growth and explosion and u will have a team just like the rox have now. Good enough to be good, but not good enough to win it.
Morey has been on the job for one freaking year. They won 54 games with Yao missing the last part of the season. You are being stupid.
In that case the Rockets would've then had to choose between Novak and Hill for the remaining roster spot. An US player isn't going to go overseas. What they do now is either request to be waived or try to make the team with a non-guaranteed contract in pre-season. Since Hill got injured (out for the season) he would've been waived. So that would've meant the Rockets wasted their pick.
So, what shade of gray is your declaration that the Rockets are incapable of winning a playoff series with Rafer Alston and Shane Battier starting?
If Hill had signed a non-guaranteed contract and hadn't gotten injured,he would have had a chance to make the team. I'm glad that Novak has improved too,but look at the example of Mike Harris going overseas and then coming back to the team. I'm aware that US players do request for waivers so they can make to another team's roster which is one of the reasons why overseas players are taken late in the 2nd round,but if overseas players don't make it to the NBA,it counts as a wasted pick too. I hope Newley will prove me wrong and become a useful NBA player but I have my doubts about it.
Morey says Rockets seek scorers http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1470/morey_says_rockets_seek_scorers/ Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, appearing on local 610am radio Monday night, touched on the Rockets and the upcoming NBA draft. When asked about the team needs, Morey headed straight for offense. "We're probably putting more of an emphasis on a scorer, a guy who can attack the basket and shoot, over defense," said Morey. "We really feel like bench scoring is big. We're not going to get everything that we want -- someone who can play 'D', attack the basket, shoot. You're describing Tracy McGrady there." The Rockets hold the 25th pick in the June 26th NBA Draft but all has been relatively quiet on the rumor front. Morey told ClutchFans two weeks ago that there could be more potential trade-up options this season and said again today that it was no sure thing they would stay at #25. "We feel like we have all options open with that pick," said Morey. "Trading it is definitely on our minds in terms of if it can get us what we need." The second-year GM also wanted to be clear about what can be expected from a low first round pick. "For planning purposes, we hope to beat the odds but we don't expect the pick to help us out of the gate," added Morey. "We expect him to help us over time, so we're open to high upside. If there is a guy however that is sort of a perfect fit that we think could play their way on the floor, we'll consider that as well." Morey also said the Rockets are considering three things when weighing who to select and where. "One, what do we think they'll become?" said Morey. "Then, how risky they are -- how much upside to how much downside there is on a player. Finally, what the market thinks. We spend most of our time just figuring out the top 30 to 40 guys who we want for our situation. If we can move up to get a player we'll try to do that. If we can move down to get the players we want we'll do that."
ummm, why post a thread oof an article from this same web site that orginally got the story from CCR's thread?
I only see this Interview... http://www.sportsradio610.com/pages/151267.php do you know where to get the podcast for today's?
They definitely should have gotten more for what they gave up for the 8th pick and Swift, I don't mind if he goes for a good junior or senior but it's always difficult to project a young guy with a potential homerun. A number of GM's end up passing them until someone else takes a gamble and hits paydirt.When one is in the win now mode,sometimes safety first doesn't pay off. I do give credit to Morey for pulling the trigger on Landry and Brooks which gives me some hope that he will look for a player with athleticism and a good skill level.I hope we can get some height and size along with it as well. I'm not looking for someone who can just run and jump or a softy.
