Here is an example of an owner that can be characterized as the opposite of Les Alexander in his approach to winning: “Here’s the new mantra for savvy NBA teams: “Chemacterility.” Why haven’t you heard the term before? Because I just made it up. But it’s an amalgam of three concepts that have formed the foundation of the Duncan era in San Antonio: chemistry, character and (cap) flexibility. As soon as Duncan arrived, in 1997, Popovich and Buford began to avoid bad guys and bad contracts, preferring role players, quality guys and short-term deals.” - ESPN writer, Bill Simmons I'm not saying this is the only way to build a great franchise but it certainly sounds like the exact opposite of our owner's moves and strategies. But, it's hard to argue with the results in San Antonio where they won 4 NBA championships over a 9-year period... and are still going strong. Some people say that the Spurs are too soft to win back-to-back titles and that their status as a legitimate NBA dynasty is in question. Those people are clowns and have nothing with real substance to talk about. I say this team is run by a smart owner, named Peter Holt, who understands the soft cap and knows how to make good management decisions over time. "Holt believes a values-based management philosophy, in which the community gains benefits from association with a company that is committed to proper business ethics. A company's responsibility leads to the company supporting community projects, leading to mutual benefit for the community and company. These values were one of the primary factors in Holt's 1993 decision to invest in the Spurs. His desire was to keep the team in San Antonio to help the community and vice-versa." The Spurs may not have won back-to-backs yet but their owner certainly showed the ability to PATIENTLY build a quality franchise the right way and put together a winning product. He found a good coach (not a proven or elite coach by any means at the time) and he let that coach make all the basketball decisions on the court. This owner didn't fire his head coach prematurely, either, despite very disappointing early results: "Controversy surrounded Popovich during the 1996-97 NBA season, when he fired Spurs head coach Bob Hill in mid-season, naming himself as Hill's replacement. Popovich's record that year as an interim coach for the Spurs was 17-47. Popovich was highly criticized by Kevin O'Keefe, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, following his decision to fire Hill." Holt also involved his head coach and GM in nearly all of the critical off the court basketball decisions. He didn't try to do more than he was capable of or pretend that he knew more about basketball than he actually did. He didn't rule with an iron hand. He made a good decision. During roughly the same stretch that Holt and the Spurs' front office was making all the right moves and building a top-flight franchise, the Rockets front office, led by none other than Les Alexander, was making mostly the wrong moves, slowly but surely disintegrating our franchise. Dear Les, For the fans, please give up the cash cow that is Yao Ming if you can't figure out to run an NBA franchise. Go do something else with your life. You and your wife can go save animals or retire on a beachfront property somewhere far, far away from Houston. Signed, A Rockets Fan Les needs to permanently transform his philosophy and approach to running this franchise. If not, I truly hope he does sell this team. He can take all that money and pursue getting richer in another industry. If this team never reaches its full potential with a foundation piece like Yao Ming (much like Duncan had done in SA), the first place I will point my finger is NOT at Yao or Tracy McGrady or Jeff Van Gundy or Rick Adelman... I will be pointing squarely at the guy who failed at being a leader on the largest scale >>>> Mr. Leslie Alexander.
The Rocket's organization is ultimately responsible for this team, and Les Alexander runs the organization. Personally, I don't think he understands this business and has been given a great deal of bad advice. If he sells out, the Rocket's fans will be the winner. We could do worse (NY), but we could do a whole lot better.
Les has put as much effort as any top owner in sports over the past decade. The decisions aren't always correct but the effort has clearly been there. His dedication to winning is a rarity in sports.
With Les, it is not a question of effort or dedication to winning. He is a stand up guy that represents some good causes. His problem is that he is impatient and lacks basketball expertise yet he continually tries to make basketball decisions. That is a bad combination and, not surprisingly, it led to almost a decade of futility. All those wasted draft picks and horrific contracts dragged this team down visibly over the past decade. CLEARLY, his decisions aren't always correct. Man, is that an understatement. The problem is that they USUALLY are not correct. Les has been involved in WAY TOO MANY bad basketball decisions over the course of WAY TOO MANY wasted seasons to draw any other conclusion. I can only imagine how different things could have been today if you took back even half of those lousy moves over the past ten years. Alexander's biggest problem is that he never seems to learn from his mistakes. A person is not stupid if he makes a mistake. Mistakes are human nature. A person IS stupid if he doesn't learn from his mistakes and keeps repeating those same mistakes. I just don't see any signs that Les has turned a corner. At this point, there is overwhelming evidence that he is not capable of building long-term success in this industry. As a fan, I don't mind if Les remains the owner as long as he avoids making any basketball decisions. He should take a page out of Peter Hoyt's book and go out and hire qualified people to manage basketball operations, then (key point coming here) SIT BACK AND LET THEM DO THEIR JOBS. This is what he should have been doing for a long time. Unfortunately, Les just can't seem to avoid his temptation to meddle in basketball affairs. That is what is torturing his legacy and the hearts of Rockets' fans.
I reckon its his reluctants to go over the luxery tax and get better talent and him just constantly changing the team every year
I totally disagree with this post! First, how many other teams in the league have had the success of San Antonio in the last 9 years? Only a couple, Detroit and Lakers, have come even close. So to compare the rest of the teams owners as losers because they didn't doesn't make good rational since. Everyone can't win, but everyone that doesn't win is not an idiot or stupid about business. Anyone calling Les stupid about business, first should be a billionaire themselves. Second, I think Les has shown great commitment to trying to produce a winner. He has been willing to make the trades that his advisors told him would make the team better. Les gets pissed when his advisors advice doesn't pan out to be what they said. I haven't seen that Les makes ALL the decisions, and to expect that an owner just owns that teams and shouldn't be concerned about his investments and how they spend his money is ridiculous. I wonder how many people complained about Les before the turnout of this season so far, surely some as with anything, but the majority...I doubt. The man brought this city the only CHAMPIONSHIPS that we have to date in ANYTHING! He brought us Clyde and Barkley, Hall of Famers...even though many didn't want Barkley. Sure bad decisions were made, but everything is always a gamble, that's life. He hasn't given up and doesn't just sit there doing nothing to change. Sure, I wish we would have taken Rudy Gay instead of Battier, and I could name other moves. But I don't question Les' desire to win, although I wouldn't mind if he spent some more money. Rick Adelman is the REAL REASON THIS SEASON SUCKS SO FAR. Let's hope old Ricky can get it together and do what we thought he could before this season is over. Cause as you CORRECTLY pointed out, if old Ricky doesn't, I don't think Les will be patient enough to give him another chance to suck next year!
This post is dumb. The Rockets organization belongs to Les. It does not belong to us the fan or the city of Houston. People on this board asking Les to get rid of the team will be crying if Les ever takes this team and move to a new city.
This post is not simply about Alexander selling the team. Try reading more carefully next time. It is about his track record of repeatedly making bad decisions and the impact those numerous decisions have had on this team. I specifically recognized his good attributes but pointed out that his mistakes have far outweighed those positive attributes. I said I hoped that he would stop interfering with basketball-related decisions because he doesn't possess the knowledge and experience to do so but signs are that he can't resist that urge. If Alexander keeps the team, he needs to hire qualified people and let them do their jobs. If he can't do that, I do hope that he sells the team to an owner with a different management philosophy.
