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

I'm watching them, and Tiago Splitter, and lollerskating.

 

No Question.
They saw Scola as an aging international who is replaceable

 

I give him a B. Morey was a B+ / A- after the 2009 season. Since then its been the usual changing an average rotation player into a slightly better average rotation player.

 

Some things to think about:

-- If Morey stops being a GM of the Rockets, and the Mavericks pick him up (Cuban the title winning dynamo owner probably would), you'd be a little WORRIED...he wouldnt seem so mediocre anymore.

-- Rockets in the 1st half of the decade had multi-all star #2 pick of the draft in Steve Francis. Then later the #1 pick in the draft.

Rockets currently WITHOUT a franchise player or high draft pick NEAR that caliber (of their own choosing, not the Hasheem Thabeet castoffs), are playing at the SAME SUCCESS rate. Even with good coaching, is it fair to cite "Moneyball" as a reason for that? For all the hype of the Clippers and Wizards shiney new stars, they still sucked major ass.

-- On Tracy Mcgrady, I thought he and Yao were kept a year too LONG, possibly TWO years. The Rockets/Morey's approach was its about having SUPERSTARS. We know Yao's situation just couldn't be helped or avoided. Taking a chance on McGrady the superstar you HAVE seemed sound logic.

I think they should have SOLD HIGH or sold MARKET RATE on McGrady. But you mighta been ASSURED to be mediocre with no cap flexibility trading McGrady for an Iguodala / Elton Brand / Rip Hamilton type of player.

 

Hmmm seems like the first preseason game shut the haters up for now, Jordan Hill and T-will are looking like beasts waiting to be unleashed.

I guess treading the waters of mediocrity doesn't seem so bad :grin:

 

Who do you have in mind who would've done this? If you can think of one, tell his name to Les and Les will fire Morey's ass and make this guy the highest paid GM in the history of the NBA.

And you can surely make a bundle in referring fees.

 

Uh huh.....yeah Les isn't involved.....right...from today:.

Ha.

 

LOL so you're saying its DM's fault Bosh et al didn't want to come to Houston? If we replaced DM with Buford would Bosh and the rest change their minds?

Would you like some cheese with your WHINE? If you hate losing so much why did you follow a franchise whose cornerstones were Tmac and Yao Ming?

"We all hail him as the greatess for stealing Scola from the Spurs, Artest and Kmart from the Kings." -> there's your evidence. How can you point this out and say moneyball isn't working? Also Dallas just won a ring using $ball, so take that and suck it.

 

Those were 2 transactions. What about passing up on Nicholas Batum in the draft? Or drafting Joey Dorsey? The guy should hire you in his PR department

 

The Mavs won the title this year didn't they? Well guess what? They have a similar moneyball approach. You can trash Morey if you want to. No one is stopping you. However, please don't say "the evidence of moneyball working is lacking" because you just come across as ignorant.

The defensive liabilities of Kevin Martin and Scola are beside the point entirely. Would you rather have Vassilis Spanoulis and Carl Landry (albeit great value for a second round pick)? Didn't think so. Those two were brought here to complement a 7'6 anchor in Yao Ming, who retired 4 months ago. Having that presence in the middle, Shane Battier at the 3 and easily a top 5 defensive point guard in Lowry would have more than made up for Kmart/Scola deficiencies. Speaking of which, how is it we got Lowry again? Oh thats right, we traded Rafer Alston for him. How is Rafer doing these days?

As I stated earlier, aside from Tmac breaking down in front of us, Yao Ming has just retired. The players Morey has brought in were intended to complement Yao. He traded McGrady's corpse for a replacement in Kevin Martin, a project in Hill, (who was a rookie chosen 8th overall) and 1st round draft picks from a terrible team in the Knicks. The picks have depreciated in value mostly due to Amare signing and having a career year, however at the time were gold. In any case, we are still reaping the benefits of that trade. (Hill showing improvement, a top 10 scorer in Kevin Martin, Donatas, and another pick coming this year.) As Yao has just recently announced his retirement, I don't see how you could reasonably assume that this team would have an entirely new direction so quickly. Things just don't work that way. You have to admit, had Yao stayed healthy, the curent roster would have undoubtedly gone far. (I would asume Shane would have been retained.)

It would be ridiculous to proclaim that Morey hasn't thrown everything he has at free agents. Don't you remember the campaign for Bosh? There isn't enough exposure in Houston, and quite frankly the city at first glance lacks the appeal many of today's stars are after. (I love Houston, but let's be honest here....) There is a reason we traded our assets for Pau instead of Paul. Simply put, he would rather be in LA. Pau at least had 3 years left under contract. Looking around the NBA, the only current star player who has signed with a team not in a glamorous city would be Zach Randolph, who at the time was considered a major risk to sign. Many people thought the signing was foolish and rightly so. Is that the type of risk you want our GM taking? More often then not, those GMs turn their teams into the Pistons.

My question to you is, what star free agent did Morey not wholeheartedly pursue? Then ask yourself where that free agent is now? Miami, New York, LA. And there you have it.

I am unclear as to what exactly the point of this thread is, or the point you are trying to make in general. If you go by the guy's draft record, almost all of his choices have panned out way above expectations. Aaron Brooks was taken 26th overall only to win MIP and abuse the Lakers into a 7 game series without Yao. Carl Landry was a 2nd rounder 6th man of the year. Every trade he has made he has come out on top. I challenge you to find one where this isn't the case. Every free agent signing he has made has either panned out or been quickly corrected. Would you rather have Courtney Lee or Ariza? Obviously Lee has more value at this point. Brad Miller's contract landed us a former top 5 pick in Flynn, (he was pretty good before injury, mind you) and Donatas, a 20 year old who is currently tearing up the Euroleague. Keep in mind, Miller was signed to backup Yao.

Morey has stated that the best way for the Rockets to gain a star is through the draft or through a trade, and it is painfully obvious why. If you seriously expect a star player to just come to us through free agency, you might want to just move out of Houston. To put that on Morey just baffles me to no end.
I feel Morey has done a very nice job as the GM for the Rockets. It sure beats putting up with some of the contracts Dawson gave out. What you are asking Morey to do nearly out of the realm of possibilities. Instead, try focusing on all of the tangible things he has done to improve this club. Ask yourself how the Rockets attained any of your favorite players, and they will a undoubtedly look like a steal. Morey has done a lot to improve this club and I feel his should actions should be met with gratitude instead of the skepticism or just plain impatience I have seen flooding through the GARM these days.

 

We can talk all we want about Morey's "genius" and how awesome he is and how he's the next great thing for general managing. But the bottom line is he has not produced results. All these assets and picks and whatever have amounted to nothing aside from a random playoff appearance in 2009.

I give him a C. For all that I hear about how great and awesome he is, I see a whole lotta nothing to show for it.

 

Same grade as last year. I give him a incomplete. As in he has not completed his work yet. After a while those start to turn into failing grades if his assignments dont pan out. Jordan Hill has to pan out this year, Budinger, Twill, or Morris. Patterson has to play decent and look like he has a future. Some combination of those things or him trading for something to look forward to.

 

Until we have a winning record without Adelman, I'll give Morey a D. They can make as many excuses as they want

 

Dorsey and Batum are low first rounder/2nd rounders. Are you saying missing on those two is equal to trading V-span for Scola and getting the Kmart package for Tmac?

Dorsey wasn't even drafted by us, he was just a freebie in the eventual Ron Artest trade.

 

We were 4rth in the West before Adelman took over.

 

Morey drafted Batum and then traded him for Donte Greene and Joey Dorsey.

Then he traded Greene, Bobby Jackson, and a 1st round pick for Ron Artest.

If you put that Nicolas Batum trade in front of me again right now, I'd take it every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, Batum is a pretty decent player, but Ron Artest was a major reason why this team made it past the 1st round for the first time in over a decade in 2009 (ironically beating the team Batum was traded to). And had it not been for a ridiculously unlucky injury to Yao in the 2nd round, who knows what would have happened.

He did miss pretty significantly on Joey Dorsey, though... but that's just one bad apple in what I would consider a pretty damn impressive drafting resume.

 

Dorsey was a Morey pick. There was so much wheeling and dealing that draft it was hard to follow. But Dorsey was targeted by Morey. Both Batum and Darrell Arthur coulda been had, or possibly Deandre Jordan.

(But Donte Greene turned into Artest which turned into finally winning a playoff series)

 

Can you imagine if the Rockets DIDNT advance? Then Yao retires and the Rockets were stuck with Donte Greene? Can you even flip Donte Greene now for James Posey?

Playoff success was JUST what the doctor ordered at the time. Now the narrative is Morey should have been drafting STUDS for DEVELOPMENT.

 

Yes....DaDakota warned us all what a huge mistake we were makiing getting rid of a "first round asset" like Greene.