[Sports-Yahoo] One person to blame for Rockets’ demise — it’s not Howard or Harden

Couldn't agree more with this article—Moreyball doesn't work and trying to get players to fit into the system is like trying to put a large square in a very small round hole. Instead of employing a system where you move the ball to get the best shot possible, this 3-point and layup system is bull**** to me cause it forces you into bad situations and turnovers and easy baskets for the other team. The long rebounds that occur from the bricked 3's create fast-break opportunities for the opposing team. The only reason it works for GSW is because their top shooters are literally the best shooters to ever play the game, they are the exception. I think Morey stubbornly holding onto this pipe dream of a system is really holding the team back. He should definitely be reevaluated this off season because his philosophy hasn't worked so far, he isnt a coach and has never played basketball on a professional level, so his ideas should be under tight scrutiny.

 

Last year was luck, a fluke.

 

DM had an entire season to correct his mistakes!! After 11 games and you fire the head coach was a sign that things were not going in the right direction. He had ample time to fix or at least patch things up. he did not.

 

I'm a big Morey fan... but hopefully he has learned something from this season...

1) coaching is important
2) personalities, chemistry and work ethic have to be figured into the analytical equations...

Hopefully we can get a real coach now and not just a Morey "yes man"... Morey is the GM - not a coach. He needs to assemble the talent (with input from the coach) and let the coach run the oncourt dynamics based on the pieces he has...

Just as James Harden is a sg - and not a pg....

Les is the owner - just sign the checks and let your people do their job...

PEOPLE IN THIS ORGANIZATION NEED TO DO THEIR JOB - AND NOT SOMEBODY ELSE'S!

 

I'm giving him one more year. The next coaching hire will tell me a lot. Free agency and trades will tell me a lot. Most importantly, the play on the court next season will tell me a lot. Not sure if Morey deserves another year, but i'd give him one last chance to get it right.

 

He deserves another year with a short leash.

 

It only doesn't make sense if you don't accept that last year's achievement was a fools gold and we won many games by narrow margins. Based on our offensive/defensive efficiency in 14-15, our expected win/loss was only 50-32. We eventually won 56 games, so by definition we overachieved, as well as getting to enjoy some lucky breaks at the end of the season and in the playoffs.

We only had 1 all star, and our offense heavily relied on the performance of 1 player - Harden. That is not a structure which works in the long term, especially if the other team figures out how to slow down that 1 player. As you've seen in this year's playoffs, GSW is a great team even without Curry. You couldn't say the same thing about 14-15 Houston Rockets.

Defensively, we had way too many overrated and physically worn-down players (Dwight, Ariza, Beverly, etc) as our anchor, and although it somehow clicked last season, it was only matter of time that our defensive tenacity would totally break down. We desperately need new, fresh bodies to guard the paint and perimeter. Many people don't emphasize this point enough, but we kind of lack quickness & athleticism in our players that leads to good defense.

People react as if all this was unimaginable and unpredictable. Sorry, I'm not a genius but I've always had a lingering suspicion about last year's success, and am personally not surprised by this year's result. Morey should've known better. Plain and simple.

 

I mentioned that the staff was different last year. The bigs last year (DMo, Black) and wings (N. Johnson, Papa, even Harden) were doing an excellent job recovering from the missed 3s. They didn't crash the glass but ran back. Since Howard came back, Dmo got hurt, and our rotations totally shifted, our transition D has been progressively worse. Yes, maybe it is possible to play great transition D while missing 1,600 3s, but you got to have the right personnel for it. If you don't, then you shouldn't do it.

I'm not arguing the offensive #s. But first, with the personnel we had, it did affect our transition D. 2nd, if the 3 was not falling, we were pretty easy to defend. I guess in the length of the season, the #s look great. But if you need to win a given game, unless you have great shooters, you can't just rely on 3 point shooting.

 

We were supposed win even more games this season and underperformed quite a bit more than we overachieved last season.

Which is why we brought in Ty Lawson, it simply didn't work out. Lawson is still sucking at Indy.

We aren't super athletic but we have some long, athletes. It was effort and poor communication that doomed are defense. Not to mention to JBB's baffling non-use of KJ McDaniels or Harrell who bring exactly what you want.

I'm sorry, we had luck last year but this type of drop was not very imaginable or predictable.

 

Which is why we are top ten in points in the paint and free throws made and preach efficiency. Execution just didn't happen.

 

But the problem is besides Harden, we didnt' have the staff to execute. When you don't have guys who can drive, you shouldn't tell them to drive in the teeth of the defense every time. When you don't have guys who can shoot the 3, you shoudn't tell them to shoot the ball every time they're open. You have to utilize personnel to their strenghts, like GS does. They don't make Livingston shoot 3s, or really drive. They let him post up or take mid range shots.

 

56 flukes? Wow, impressive.

 

This.

FWIW, the writer of this one is a former sports-radio guy in SF who likes the Warriors, can't stand the Rockets and loves the hot take. This served as the perfect opportunity for him to combine all of those interests in one forced narrative.

 

Here's a summation of the conversation I hear in the GARM:

Morey fan: "Morey brought in guys who were good enough to get us to the conference finals last year, then kept that team mostly intact to make another run. It didn't work because of bad chemistry, bad defense and overall lack of effort. Time to aim for a top free agent, make other roster changes, find the right coach, and try again next year. Bottom line, though: Most GMs in the league are bad, and we have one who has kept us competitive more often than not. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Morey hater: "SEE?!? YOU MOREYLOVERS ARE ALL THE SAME! HE'S TERRIBLE! He makes all of his decisions by spreadsheet and never consults with people who actually know basketball! Analytics will never work because nerds don't know sports!! Anyone who has any basketball intelligence knows that! The Warriors did everything right! They molded the perfect team from raw materials handed down from the gods, then brought Steve Kerr down from Mt. Olympus to coach these basketball immortals. We should follow their plan exactly! {Pauses to wipe spittle from around his mouth.} Morey must go!! Get rid of him -- AND GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!"
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We need to blame the fast food culture in the current Rockets organization: No long term player development, swing for the fences each year, bringing players that are locker room disasters, blowing the team up each year.

We could have developed a system with 4 years. Harden could have become an excellent off ball SG, leaving room for Lawson or another PG like Rondo or Rubio. We could have developed Dmo into a much better player than he is now had we have him more court time in 20132014.

 

Everybody in the world doesn't agree with me & my midrangers - therefore he is getting off scot free

 

This 100%. Only idiots or haters would care about what a writer who doesn't follow the team at all would say about the organization.

The fact that the writer didn't even mention the defense which was primarily the problem says all you need to know about his agenda.

 

Horrible article, which will only be praised by irrational and not very bright Morey haters.

 

Playing in the playoffs and regular season is different. Your opposing team has time to focus on your strengths and weakness. Even though we were a good team offensively, a good coach in the playoffs can devise an effective strategy against us because our offense is predictable.
Harden and Beasely are only ones that can create and will shoot mid range jumpers. The rest of guys are either lay ups, 3pts or kick out to the corner.
We don't have a lot of good 3pt shooters unlike the Warriors. The Warriors don't let their bad 3pt shooters shoot threes like what we do with Brewer.
We emphasize free throws, but all our big men can't shoot free throws. Harden our reliable free throw shooter did not get to the foul line often because the Warriors made a conscious effort not to reach in.
This top ranked offense only surpassed 100 once in five games of the series because to Warriors realized not fouling Harden and forcing the other players to make something is the key to stopping the Rockets. Portland players complained two years ago when they faced the Spurs that their game planned was easier against the Rockets because they only had to focus on one player.
Many of you are correct that our defense was a major problem. The Warriors got a lot of wide open threes and against a team of decent 3pt shooters that is a recipe for disaster. We did not adjust our defensive game plan about this issue from the first game of the series and hence we got blown out by double digits.
Morey needs to get a coach that can get this team to play defense again, build a roster that does not depend heavily on one player and tweak the offense a little bit so that it is not predictable because that will hurt in the playoffs.

 

The issue with Moreyball isn't the concept - it's a perfectly valid concept.

The problem is finding the right personnel to make the concept work. It's incredibly hard finding great 3&D guys to put around Harden. They are rare and not cheap. There's only 20 guys in the NBA who shoot the 3 ball at above 40% and we don't have any of them on this team.

That is why Moreyball doesn't work.