Do you have a link/source for this? I know you're piggybacking off whatever GATER says, but I haven't seen a source to this statement before - just curious.
Let me take a stab at this. This is just a guess, so don't crush me if I am speaking incorrectly for Morey. Morey says you don't draft a midget, not because he is short, but because his shot gets blocked a lot and he gets a small percentage of rebounds. The fact that he is short by itself is not a knock out factor. If that hypothetical midget can get the results, Morey will not pass strictly on his shortness. For example most basketball people wrote off Calvin Murphy because he was short. Somebody looked at the results and gave him a chance. Morey would be that guy. Shawn Bradley would be the other end of the argument.
I'm going to let it go, but Brewer was there when they were drafting. I think he would have been a good pick, but oh well.
I'm surprised nobody's saying this, but Morey probably will not do as well in the draft as he did last year. Even when a team knows what they are doing, they are going to have duds. For the picks that we had last year, we got a couple of steals. I really, really, really can't believe we'll do that well two years in a row.
I'm not good at that link stuff, but in his interview a week or so ago he said they dont include height in player evaluations.
Uh, are you talking about the interview at the beginning of this thread? According to DaDakota's recap, he specifically mentions he would take Rose because big PGs are harder to find than front court players like Beasley. Sure sounds like you're putting words in Morey's mouth.
The interview at the beginning of the thread is not the reference for the height evaluation factor.I'm not sure how to look for the thread regarding this matter. The selection of Aaron Brooks was asked of Morey and I'm paraphrasing what he said, the evaluation of height isn't a big factor in the selection of a player as compared to his skill level. I feel skill factor and how a player fits with the team is the most important thing,but size/height does matter.I'm not saying Brooks was a bad selection but if he was bigger and taller without compromising his speed,I think the game would be easier for him. I don't think we are going to get the next Monta Ellis in the draft,we do need size/height, length,athleticism along with a good skill level in the back and frontcourt. We can't rely on guys like Head,Jackson, Skip and Brooks to a certain extent partially because of their short height. His comment makes sense, but I worry that he may overlook the need for height,size on the team. He did the right thing by going for athleticism in the 2007 draft,let's hope he will factor in the other points as well.
The only time I remember him discussing height as not the most important factor was in relation to Landry. He said (paraphrasing) when you pick later in the draft you have to give up something. In terms of Landry he didn't have the prototypical size to go with his talents but all of those guys were already off the board by the second round. Morey is just saying sometimes you have to look past size in favor athleticism. Of course the idea situation would be for a player to have both and Morey knows that. Unfortunately Beasley and Rose won't be there with the 25th pick!
Even then,the lack of height still hurts Brooks.Many people had doubts about if he would have difficulty getting his shot off against taller defenders and finishing at the rim despite his speed.He has shown promise but he has a long way to go. Edit: I hated Flopton for his cheating antics but I have to admit he was a hall of fame talent.He had problems against Harper and Pippen when they defended him. We aren't going to get someone as talented as him at the 25th pick. I'm not saying height is the main factor,we do have Steve Novak as an example of that,but we can't afford any more undersized guards and even forwards. I do recall DM making that statement about Landry now that you mentioned it,obviously you're not likely to get everything at 31. Landry has turned out to be a very nice pick.
I've been saying this for a while now!! Daryl Morey stated on sports 610, the Rockets are one of the very few organizations that does not look at a players height, as much as their skill level. The proof is in the pudding, look at their roster ,i.e; Chuck Hayes, Luther Head, Mike Harris, Aaron Brooks, etc. Too many SHORT players. In my opinion, this is why the Rockets are having such a difficult time of getting out of the first round.
I'm with YOU!! You have to factor Height into your evaluation process!! I'm not saying everyone on your roster have to be tall for their position but to be too small at 2 or 3 positions is self destructive!!
So, the taller aand better aternatives to these players that Morey overlooked would be who? BTW, Luther Head became a Rocket well before Morey was even a part of the organization.
I will try to put my two cents too. Height importance depends on position that player is going to play plus other attributes. Center and PF, are probably two more important positions for heights. SF in middle, and both SG and PG which less important compare to other attributes. For PG, good height is a plus feature, however attributes like speed, skill, shooting, power, and open vision are probably equal or more important then height. there is no way for a PG to complete for height advantage with other positions. I think strong, powerful/big attibute worth more than height for a pg, as they can use it to create rooms where height wouldn't help too much.
Darryl Morey had nothing to do with the acquisitions of Chuck Hayes, Luther Head, or Mike Harris. Mike was invited to training camp, and impressed ADELMAN so much he wished he could've put him on the team. Aaron Brooks is really the only person you could use that claim on, and even then it's pretty weak: we drafted one short point guard. That's it. And we drafted him because Adelman loved him, and the Rockets felt like this was becoming a speed game. It's not like there was a taller Aaron Brooks available that we decided to pass on. In other words, try again. I still don't believe that statement. I can see him saying they look at skills/athleticism moreso than plain height, but I don't see Morey stating they don't look at height at all.
Morey did resigned Chuck Hayes though, if he doesn't want him, he can just let Chuck go.. Also, how do you know Morey doesn't want Harris? He might like Harris just as much as Adelman do. I agreed.
Good idea - I thought I'd do this based on the players actual height in shoes since this is the standard for measurement in the NBA POINT GUARDS: Steve Francis 6'3 Rafer Alston 6'2 Bobby Jackson 6'1 Aaron Brooks 6'0 (5'11 3/4...) SHOOTING GUARDS: Tracy McGrady 6'8 Luther Head 6'3 CENTRES: Yao Ming 7'6 Dikembe Mutombo 7'2 Loren Woods 7'1 POWER FORWARDS: Luis Scola 6'10 Carl Landry 6'9 Chuck Hayes 6'6 SMALL FORWARDS: Shane Battier 6'8 Mike Harris 6'6 Steve Novak 6'9 I look at that roster and the one thing that DOESN'T jump off the page at me is 'undersized'. Our PG spot is probably the shortest - but heck, that's probably the position you can most afford a short guy anyway...
Daryl Morey was working for the Boston Celtics when we drafted Head and signed Hayes. Morey cut Harris during training camp and Adelman asked for him back. 1 out of 4. Try again.
