I thought that was the most interesting item from the podcast... surprised that we would get to hear that.
I agree, but it is not likely. We also need a Pf that can finish inside and stretch the court and rebound. The fact is that we are not going to find a player that can meet all these needs. Above shot blocking we need a post scorer... so my guess is that is the way we go.
At this point, it's standard procedure for him to say that. Another one is: 'we tried to trade up to get him'. Yeah, right.
What analysts say that his best case is rotation energy guy? He is a feast or famine talent, but he certainly has the physical ability to be more than a rotation energy guy.
Good stuff. A few interesting tidbits (that I learned): 1) Morey and the analytics team have been 'obsessed' with Omer since before he was drafted. He basically said he knew how good Omer can be and believe he is exceeding expectations so far. So persistence worked well there. 2) Chandler Parsons asked for more money. I think this was more a 'fun' conversation than a serious 'show me the money' conversation. It was also an acknowledgment of the high risk high reward of 2nd round picks, as Morey pointed out they dished out a ton of top dollar contracts for 2nd rounders and Parsons is really the only one who panned out. 3) Morey noted that they felt DMO was ready to be a starter in the NBA and could potentially be better than Parsons...the context here is key as he was talking about the draft picks from 2011 but its obvious from Morey's tone he believes DMO can be an all-star (or near).
I think Morey shared it because this piece of information does not cost him any competitive edge. Just a harmless little story. Like he said, Morey was not being particularly tricky with Parsons' deal, several other teams sign their early (or even later) 2nd round picks to similar deals. Rockets themselves did it with everyone from Dorsey, Taylor to Budinger. Celtics have done something similar. It's not like future 2nd round picks in a position similar to Parsons are really going to refuse contract offer like what HOU gave to Parsons, Taylor, Budinger, etc. If they don't sign such an multi-year offer, all that an NBA team is required to offer them (and Bima can correct me if I am wrong here) is a non-guaranteed 1 minimum year deal. Given that a fresh out of college unproven 2nd round pick (1) has a VERY high chance of never making it in the NBA and (2) hasn't made any money yet, it would actually be a reasonable decision to accept the possibility of being locked at $900K/yr for 3 or 4 seasons in exchange of getting a guaranteed $1M or even $500K. I mean, how many 2nd rounders actually achieve Chandler Parsons status?
Here's the video <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pXnE-dOMisI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Unbelievable that Asik changes one of the lowest ranked defense into a first ranked defense. That would be similar to taking a low ranked offense, like Chicago perhaps, and replacing their best scorer with somebody who averaged 45 a game. Maybe Morey was exaggerating, but Asik is certainly one of the most valuable players in the league.
Another interesting part: Morey said they wanted Asik in the draft and admitted that they messed up by not getting him and being unable to acquire a pick to draft him. Asik was drafted in 2008 with the 36th pick. In 2008, the Rockets had the 25th pick, traded down twice to the 28th pick acquire an additional 2008 2nd rounder-- 33rd overall-- and a 2009 2nd rounder. So, the Rockets theoretically had a couple chances at Asik, but selected Donte Greene at 28th and Joey Dorsey at 33rd.
Donte eventually became Artest rental, and I guess they were that high on Ray Lewis with a basketball.... In hindsight, I don't think Asik development would've been on pace when stashed in the D-League than backing up Joakim Noah with the Bulls
Yeah, I found that interesting. I wonder if we were actually trying to get another pick in there? Was 2 not enough? That draft was especially deep. From 17-25, Roy Hibbert, Javale McGee, and JJ Hickson, Courtney Lee, Kosta Koufos, Serge Ibaka, and Nic Batum were drafted. From 26-37, there was also George Hill, Darrell Arthur, Nikola Pekovic, Mario Chalmers, DeAndre Jordan, Omer Asik, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. That's 14 pretty solid contributors in 21 slots. Goran Dragic went 45th. Morey had the right idea picking up extra picks in the right area, just got the wrong guys.
Unrelated to this interview, but from on same (Grantland's) youtube channel, there's a video on player acceleration. Notice something? Will Parsons be next?
More of a matter of team offense. This is not about how fast a guy accelerates, but how frequently, as far as I can tell. If so, then it has more to do with guys standing around more last season.
I see. Fire McHale then? I wonder where the Rockets rank as a team this year. The offense is totally different from last year and though the Rockets still put a fairly big emphasis on players spacing the floor and thus standing around a lot, I'd imagine they'd be at least in the middle of the pack as a team this year.
I remember reading that the SportVu cameras show that HOU had among the fewest "drives" to the basket (defined as moving with ball from 20 feet away from the hoop and out to withing 4 feet and in) last season and among the most this season. So I would think that there has been a change in the acceleration data. One thing I noticed (totally unscientific method) is that HOU gets a lot of "secondary penetration" where a guy who was spotting up as a shooter would get a pass and drive instead of shoot (especially against a hard close out, but also in other situations). Also, we are seeing not only Lin and Harden driving, but also Parsons and Delfino.
I love that he basically said PPat had maxed out as a player. Harsh but this really gave you a peak into the front office and how they think about trades and the players involved.. I really enjoyed the interview.
