[SportsRadio610]: Morey Interview this Morning (11/21)

They always ask about Stevie

 

Somehow I can't play it, please recap.

 

I got a strong sense that the groundwork is being laid for a change in the lineup. Morey basically said one is coming but the timing isn't right. Instead of my suggested measure of benching Luther in favor of SF, it wouldn't surprise me if they actually bench Rafer and make SF the starter. Morey said they want to give things more time so that when the "new" lineup is implemented, they will also give it a lot of time. Morey actually used the word "new".

Some sort of change at PG is coming folks. Morey was plain it wasn't up to par. Where do we have the biggest problem? At the starting position.

 

The 2 subpar positions of the Rockets are always 1 & 4. Lius Scola really played well in recent 2 games. If Scola can show some consistence in his play in a few games stretch, I wont be surprised Scola will start. On the other hand, the PG position just doesnt have an obvious starter candidate. So, Probably Rick Adelman will stay with Rafer over the season (if no trade).

 

Sweet, at least Steve will know when he gets his shot that he will get a fair shake and not the short hook. You win with talent in this league.

 

Morey is definitely holding onto his right to go in a different direction. He doesn't say too much specifically, like a good GM, but when asked if Steve would go back to the bench (based on rick's comments) all he really says is that Rick has the opportunity to change the rotation if he feels necessary. He does sound like he is preparing for changes in pt, although it appears it would have to be Adelman's call and he is definitely going to be more hesitant to make changes than Morey would be. At the end of the day though, I think Morey has more pull in who sees the court than he lets on and I can't imagine DM is pleased with what we have gotten thus far from the point guard position.

 

exactly. i think the reason he got francis AND james was to take rafer off the court. morey sees what we are seeing: rafer is NOT going to be the answer or even a component of a championship team.

i think if francis doesn't get time, hell, he might just trade rafer for the heck of it to get francis time. he seems intent on getting francis playing time.

 

Maybe Morey can do some magic and get Jason Kidd, since he just opted out of his contract.

But there will be more Kobe talks now that Jason Kidd is on the market and New Jersey is desperate to get something out of him

 

No need to panic, it's only the usual bumps in the season and what many people expected to be an early rough start as the team learns the system.

I'm not sure what these guys are contemplating, but there is enough talent on this team to win.

 

Though it's still early in the season but I can see SAS and Dallas running away from us. Then the highest seed we can go is 5th seed. We may still ranked 4th
and get home court advantage (similar to last year).

 

On point guard:
Morey: "...at that position overall has been sub-par against WC opponents ...need to get better play there"

Changing lineup:
Morey: "(Adelman doesn't think change) at this point isn't necessary ... (Adelman thinks) it's too early ... (When Adelam makes a change) it will be a change that will last a while"

 

Sounds more like Scola will be starting than Francis will replace Rafer.

 

This intevew and question time did nothing to improve my opinions of Morey and Coach 'A'.The tone of Morey's voice was such that one felt he was not saying what he wanted to say or that he didn't quite know what to say.

 

If Morey doesn't see the sub-par play at the PG position, he might as well be an idiot. My theory is the team and coach wants to get one "final" good look at Rafer before they give him the boot. In other words, they're going to let Rafer play through every kinds of situation at the beginning before the team lets him go and officially begin the Franchise Era II.

 

There is no need for Adelman to rush any change in the start lineup. The reason is simple - the Rockets five starters have played together 2 seasons, so the defense should be there. If the new offense is not clicking, they can always fall back to some old plays. If Adelman rush to make changes, then the Rockets may run into a very poor start in a tough early schedule. I think in December, the schedule will be easier. Adelman will get more opportunities to try out different combinations of players work together.

 

Exactly. I feel Rick will wait out the first two months before he puts Francis officially back in the lineup.

 

I heard Bullard on the radio this afternoon with Rich and Adam. Major props to them for their preparation, having several specific issues they wanted Bull to address and allowing him to elaborate when he chose to. This is exactly how a radio interview should be conducted.

To recap (my memory is bad and I listened to it in the car about 90 minutes ago), Bull didn't break any new ground.

He expects MJ to shoot better. Said it has been very "un-MJ like"

He didn't give Rafer any props or support going forward.

He said SF may find a role similar to Jason Terry, which he intended as a high compliment because of how Jet is tearing up the league so far.

He said Adelman still doesn't have any idea how things are going to shake out.

He expects the offense to run much smoother tonight because of the practice time since Saturday.

There was a lot of other stuff but I can't remember at the moment. I feel bad because it was chock full of good discussion.

Once again, props to Rich and Adam for how an interview should be conducted. At first I was irritated that Mattj was off today but the two guys did very well. Maybe it was Adam who made sure they were prepared to drill Bull with relevant questions.

 

Some more words from Morey from an article published today:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/marty_burns/11/21/francis/