Jason Friedman interviews Daryl Morey. I thought it was a good read. http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/q_with_daryl_morey_december_2011_12_29.html A few parts jumped out at me: Morey says that he would like to see Lowry play more like he did 2 years ago, when he was a backup, but with extended starter minutes. This was interesting, because most of us would say that Lowry improved a lot last year. But two seasons ago, Lowry was arguably the most impactful reserve in the league. He was tireless in pushing the pace and going after lose balls. Last year, Lowry had to pace himself a bit playing 30+ minutes a night. He rebounding, free throw attempts, and charges drawn went down a lot. I'm thinking his transition assists probably also came down somewhat. In his second year as a starter, can he bring it all together? The first two games are promising. He thinks that the trend of star players coming together in attractive cities is a good one for our team. He thinks Houston is one of the top destinations players want to play in. Is he being sincere, or is he hoping that if he believes it hard enough it will come true? I haven't heard of any star player saying he wants to play in Houston. Morey seems to be very happy with the relationship between the new coaching staff and basketball operations people on his staff. He doesn't outright compare it to last year, though this quote (said jokingly, I'm sure) might be revealing something: "DM: My goal was that, before Kevin and I hate each other, that we communicate as much as possible so that it will carry over into the future (laughs). It’s inevitable that every GM-Coach relationship becomes strained at some point so I’m trying to over-communicate early so that I can learn as much as possible from him before that day hits."
That last part said tons about him and RA IMO. I think Daryl had tons of respect for RA but after the honeymoon I wonder if RA didn't see DM as more of a nuisance?
Edit: A lot of that the same from his radio interviews yesterday. Daryl said that yesterday in his radio interview. Probably blowing smoke He's wishing, hoping, and waiting. Star players don't want to play here, right now.
i think he just has a different definition of what an attractive city is. There's the NY/LA/ Miami/chicago definition, where it's all about possibilities outside the 48 mins of play. Then there's the Dallas definition, where there's talent and a good organization in place. This second definition is what he is referring to, unfortunately Dallas is a notch above because of the luxuries the team has.
Maybe he's referring to how many NBA players live here during the summer, so there must be something about Houston that is attracting them.
Hmm top as in top 20? I can't believe Morey is that much of a homer so I'm going to write that off as hopeful marketing. Even if he's able to clear cap for 2, the new CBA will make it tough to a star to walk away from that much money so we'd have to sign-n-trade with 2 teams. One is hard enough and 2 is more than twice as hard. My fear is if we take that route, we will feel like a jilted lover and just pay max dollars to a lesser FA just to get them to say yes and make us feel good for a short time.
I don't think he is saying Lowry needs to play different, just that he needs to sustain the crazy pace he would play at when he would just play 15-20 minutes.
Wouldn’t Lowry’s “energy stat” numbers be insane if he got back to where he was when he was a backup? He’s still one of the top rebounding PG’s in the game, and he continues to blows me away with his hustle plays...I think he needs to make his free throws at a better rate than he did last year, but other than that he’s a much improved player despite his energy stats taking a natural hit.
He's exceeding that crazy pace so far this year. He's gone to the free-throw line 14 times, grabbed 16 rebounds and had 4 steals. Granted, it's only 2 games.
As a city to live in and raise a family, Houston is great. I experienced how superficial LA can be. I've heard of how expensive NYC can be. Chicago's actually pretty nice however. That being said, I've had so many friends and family go work in LA and NYC just to move back here once they have had all their fun to raise a family.
Yeah, I don't know if he’ll be able to sustain that, especially over a compressed schedule like this, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’s exceeded my expectations.
tl;dr we have a very tough schedule early on so don't panic if the Rockets seem mediocre in the first 10 games
About the second point, I think it could be true. Remember when Francis and Mobley got traded for T-Mac, both of them were heartbroken to leave Houston, while McGrady was ecstatic. Granted, this probably had to do with Yao being here and the Magic being awful, but I still think this said a lot about players attitudes towards Houston. After all, this is the 4th largest city in the US. It's not as if we're a small market team.
I think players like Houston, during the summer, because they can party with less publicity. It's a way to get away for them, so i wouldn't consider that an attraction for them to come play here. It's a place they get over in a month or two and then want to leave. And it's not as expensive to keep a place here. We may attract older players who want to settle down, but i think at their age most of them already have a permanent home.
really the only attractive thing about houston is the tax situation, which the florida teams have as well
