What EVIDENCE do we have that Morey is doing a great/good job?

That's a personal attack? Are you 13?!

To those saying its Morey and not Les keeping us in mediocrity you are guys are clueless. What team have you been following? Time and time again Morey has publicly said "Mrs Alexander wants us to remain competitive while retooling yada yada making moves to improve the team" - i.e. he is not allowed to tank!

If he trades away KMart and Scola for 1st round picks like many of you want then that means one of two things:
1. Morey will lose his job
or
2. Les decided that they should properly rebuild.

So as far as what his JOB is (as per thread title) and how good he is doing. He has remained a winning team despite no stars, and not paying too much on the roster, while remaining flexible enough to be able to take opportunities (i.e. trading for P.Gasol - vetoed ofcourse).

 

I don't think he's terrible but I also don't think he's half as good as the hype that still seems to be around him. How many years has he been the GM now?

 

4 seasons I believe? In which during that time he built around yao. Now, he surrounded yao with great talent, it's just that injuries has plagued him. I can see why some people don't see him as a great gm, but he DID in fact build a great team for yao. Had he been healthy during 10-11 who knows how far they could have gotten.

 

LOL I didn't know so many Rockets fans were r****ds, I thought most would have been gone by now, seeing as how the Rockets were "Mired in mediocrity", and both Tmac and Yao have been traded. Flippedfk? Rock4ever? Who the hell are these trolls? If you're looking for evidence, let me lay it out for you:

A. Drafts that were pretty good:
1. Aaron Brooks
2. Carl Landry
3. Patrick Patterson
4. Chase Budinger

B. Trades that were awesome
1. Scola for V-Span
2. Lowry for Alston
3. KM, J. Hill, 1st rounder for Tmac
4. Lee for Ariza
5. Dragic for Brooks

I don't know what you expect from DM, history has shown that while he makes misses here and there (Ariza signing, passing that dude in Portland for Donte Greene), the vast majority of his trades and drafts have been downright awesome. A lot of posters are saying us being mired in mediocrity isn't his fault, because Tmac and Yao were the building blocks of this team as recently as 4 months ago. Given that the team had no value apart from Tmac and Yao, DM and his team has done an amazing job at getting us at this level.

Ironically, all the FA rejections the team has had has made all the haters get out of the woodwork, "yeah DM's done an average job" or "he oughta be fired". I for one love the fact that our FO is putting its neck out there trying to get talent to come to the Rockets, instead of sitting on his ass all day long like Otis Smith or that dude from the Cavs who just wait for capspace to clear, sign some dudes to major money, and then sit on his ass again.

 

Well as much as I appreciate Morey's work you got to come up with better comparisons. Why not compare him to elite Gms the likes of Buford, Presti......

 

Take away Duncan the way Morey lost Yao and Tracy, and I'm willing to bet Buford doesn't look so great. Buford didn't draft Ginobili or Parker, he didn't sign Bruce Bowen. He's fine. He also inherited a great situation and an all-time great player in Tim Duncan.

Presti's team had a 2nd and 5th overall pick in 2007, a 4th overall pick in 2008, and a 3rd overall pick in 2009. And he presided over two 20-win seasons, inheriting a team that won 30 games to get all those picks.

Context is pretty important guys.

 

Buford had the privilege of drafting Tim Duncan with his number 1 pick, we got Yao Ming with our number 1 pick. Are you saying the Spurs would have won 3 rings with Yao Ming?

Presti got the 2nd pick when he started operations, and the Thunder cleaned house right before they transferred. We've been capped out from Tmac and Yao since day 1.

All your comparisons are invalid, what moves would have Buford and Presti done if they were hired by Les Alexander to capped out team which had Tmac and Yao under contract for the next 4 years?

 

We would have been better off with Danny ferry. At least we would have sacked and got a Durant or rose or wall or Griffin or cousins.

 

I am not one to drink the moray Kool-Aid, but I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt. My argument has been in the past that if you lose two max players you should have something to show for it. This means you should have obscene cap space, or assets valuable enough to replace the two max players. We have neither. But as for evidence of morey doing a good job, I will give him the following: $ for $, we have some of the most productive players in the NBA
Amare Stoudamire
$18.2M, 25 Pts 8 Reb, $728k per ppg, $2.25M per rpg
Pau Gasol
$18.7M 18.8 Pts 10.2 Reb $995k per ppg $1.83M per rpg
Luis Scola
$8.6M 18.2 Pts 8.3 Reb $473 per ppg $1.03M per rpg

and for the hell of it, I'm going to make up a stat. Per/salary ratio
Stoudamire: 1.25, Gasol: 1.25, Scola: 2.14

Monta Ellis (I apologize to everyone on the board who wants this guy)
$11M 24 Pts 1.8 A/TO 2.1 Stl, $458k per ppg $6.1M per A/TO, $5.24M per spg
Joe Johnson
$18M 18 Pts 2.3 A/TO .65 Stl $1M per ppg $7.83M per A/TO, $27.7M per spg
Kevin Martin (not as efficient/economical as I thought)
$12M 23.5 Pts 1.1 A/TO 1 Stl $510k per ppg $10.9 per A/TO, $12M per spg
Ray Allen
$10M 16.5 Pts 1.9 A/TO .96 Stl $606k per ppg $5.26M per A/TO, $10.4M per spg
Per/salary
Ellis: 1.7 Martin: 1.79 Johnson: 0.91 Allen: 1.64

Sorry for the format. Typing on an iPad. I'd be happy to explain/defend. I know many of you will say stats don't win games, and that can be argued. But stats do in fact eliminate subjectivity.

 

I don't get the argument against Morey. I always hear, yeah he made good trades and draft, but we aren't contending or tanking, therefore I don't think he did a good job.

 

You can't tank you way to contention. Clippers, nets, warriors, wolves, bobcats, bucks, wizards, And Toronto have sucked for years. Cleveland got two lottery picks. They will suck again this year.

 

Ok let's compare Morey to the "elite" GMs.

Presti: lucked into the #2 to get Durant. Used the #4 pick on Westbrook. lucked into the #3 to get Harden. Aside from that his only major moves have been to find Ibaka, trade Ray Allen for Jeff Green, and trade for Perkins. That's a team built almost completely by tanking, with the only "good" moves being Ibaka and Perkins.

Jazz: They've done a solid job, but their current team boils down to this -- Deron Williams was healthy when he left. Yao and TMac were not. So they got value for him, and we didn't. Their other moves have been marginal. Favors and Kanter might still bust, too.

Spurs: drafted Duncan with the #1, found Ginobili and Parker, and turned a bunch of role players into ok starters. A raccoon could have drafted Duncan. Ginobili and Parker were excellent finds, though it's been a decade since they got them. The rest of the moves have been decent but nothing special. Richard Jefferson, anyone?

The point of this is not that Morey is so awesome, but that even the very best GMs can not turn around a franchise without 1 or more lottery picks, and almost nobody ever trades those away.

Honestly, those griping that we are a team stuck in mediocrity, what are you going to say if Morey decides to actually tank? Your mediocre team is going to truly stink for 2-3 years.

 

I can name 3, only because this organization has gone through 3 gms in like 3 years. Portland (Aldridge is a great player but not a superstar) has had the benefit of drafting Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. When everyone in Houston thinks that this organization is cursed, the Blazers have faced more adversity than the Rockets. With Roy and Oden killing their franchise with injuries, Portland has still been able to a playoff team with guys like Andre Miller and Marcus Camby. They have also gone through GMs like crazy, with Pritchard, Cho, and now whoever the heck it is now.. In this time, Portland has still been able to make upgrades to their team like Wesley Mathews, Gerald Wallace, and now Jordan Crawford. This past summer they also traded Andre Miller and Rudy Fernandez in a 3 way deal while acquiring Raymond Felton, an excellent PG.
I will be the first to tell you that Portland probably isn't a contending team in the west, but they could be 1 more piece away with LA, Dallas, and SA probably regressing in the next couple seasons. That's an organization that has been able to retool their roster while remaining competitive, ie what Les wants. So to say it can't be done, it can. And it actually was done by an organization who went through 3 gms in like 3 years. I'm not saying this is the best way to try and build a contender, but hey, whatever Les says goes right?
Me personally, I'm a pretty cut and dry/black and white observer. To me, I think a GM is either exceptional, terrible, or mediocre. Right now, he's not exceptional, but Daryl's not terrible. I still think he has a chance to hit a home run, but each offseason/draft that goes by he should feel a little more pressure. I don't think Morey should be run out of town, but I do not get the absolute love affair with this guy. I think Morey has acquired some players that the average fan formed an attatchment with like Scola, and these fans are blinded by the notion of I love this player so much that any team would covet him. Simply not the case.

 

I agree a GM is worth the environment and the picks he is given. Good GMs reduce their mistakes to a minimum and strike fast, seek help to succeed faster.

 

Well its interesting you bring Portland up because apart from LMA, that team is terrible. Wesley Matthews? Gerald Wallace? How's that any better than Kevin Martin and Luis Scola? We're also one piece away from being dangerous in the west exactly like Portland, so I don't see why you think Portland has done a good job and but our GM stinks.

 

They play more defensively, we used to play more offensively. They made the playoffs, we did not.

 

And there's a big misnomer about the Tracy McGrady injury/contract in 2009. For those who say that we were hampered by this and only a complete year removed from it.... Going back as far as 2008, teams were inquiring about his services (even though he told reporters he was done for the year before the front office) because of his huge contract expiring in the big FA summer of 2010. So a note for the mis-informed... Before we commend Daryl on being the badas that flipped TMac and Carl Landry and landed us picks, Kevin Martin, and Jared Jeffries.... Just remember that Tracy(his contract) had been highly sought after for quite some time by several teams wanting cap space for that summer. Everyone thinks that he turned T Mac and Landry into Martin and picks, but they fail to see how other organiztions benefited maybe more so than the Rockets if you like Amare and the money the Knicks had to spend the money to get him that summer. The Rockets summer of 2010 landed us Brad Miller.

 

They have an interim GM now. His name: Chad Buchanan

 

OK first of all, never said our GM stinks, I said he's over-rated and hasn't done anything exceptional like this fan base wants to crown him for. For me, the jury is still out on him.
Why do I bring up Portland? The same reason 99% of Rox fans bring up the injuries this organization has had to deal with. Portland has been through the adversity, yet has found a way to be competitive. And when you say they have LMA and that's it, you are further proving the point. They have been a playoff team and will be a playoff team for quite some time. And you don't think Wesley Mathews is a good player? He's not a star but he's very solid. As for Gerald Wallace, acquiring him at the deadline payed huge dividends for them, they were a whole different team.
Basically our GM has a challenge. Build a contender while not tanking. Like I said, it's not my preffered way or the easy way, but it has been and can be done.

 

Morey is an upper echelon manager..... Easily top 5 to top 3 in the league. You don't fire him without getting value back!