Pete- I guess trading ur best player (hill) for wallace and atkins was luck? What about trading ur best player (stackhouse) for hamilton because the gm has fettish for players from his alma matter? What about picking a 6'5 pg from small eastern washington cuz ur pg is a fa and gettig older? U know, there is a lot to player evaluation besides number crunching. Joe D has shown in a small window to be bold,shrewd and decisive. Yeah he should have drafted bosh, but when u can fire a hof coach and everyone thinks u made the right decision speaks volumes. I think the hardest job a gm has is to be real about ur team winning a title. I may be in the minority, but regardless of health next season, this team isn't championship quality.
I don't think he deserves that. I don't agree with him, but I don't think it calls for a slam like telling him to root for Detroit. Them's fightin' words!
How the hell can you be mad at Morey? He would have won GM of the year if Kevin McHale had not decided to give KG to Boston during a poker game with Ainge in exchange for topless pics of Ainge's wife and a 12 pack of Boston Lager.
Dave- I didn't say I was mad, I just don't think u can show me a team that has a guy with no association with hoops running their team. I think there is a huge gap in evaluating players when u have played or been part of it at from the collegiate level. I just see this team on the treadmill of mediocre play without a major shakeup.
Why is Daryl Morey an issue after one year on the job? If merely being a former player and champion, being "determined to win" and showing a willingness to make "big changes" makes someone a great GM, then Isiah Thomas would lead the Rockets to glory, right? What evidence does the original poster have that Morey is unwilling to make changes (does firing a 50 win coach count as a "big change?"), or somehow passed on improving the talent on the team? What "basketball players" did Morey pass on that are better than what he drafted, or was available in free agency? Somehow the original poster got it into his head that Morey does not use traditional scouting methods when building his roster and this is a false notion. "Number crunching" is no more the sole basis of Morey's evaluation process anymore than "traditional scouting" is the only way that Dumars makes decisions. Morey has said as much in his interviews. I guess it's easier to whine on a BBS and make a lazy complaint about "moneyball" in basketball then it is to actually understand what Morey is trying to do and the rationale behind it. I will bet you that he knows more about basketball than everybody on this site combined and cares more, as well.
another leebigez thread, more of the same monotonous stuff from him. there's big difference from being a real rockets fan who critiques his/her own team without ever leaving doubt that they they are real Rockets fans... and the jaded bitter fan who after years of frustration takes out their frustrations by publicly voicing their displeasure by constant streams of nagging, grass is green on the other side type of talk, nitpick every move and nonmove the GM does/doesn't do, and basically find a negative for every positive. I tend to step away from the keyboard when I think I'm hovering towards the latter, I suggest the OP do the same.
i don't know. if every coach coaches his team into the conf. finals (3 years in a row) and gets fired, then after each season we would only four coaches survive in the entire league.
BMoney- I never said that a guy played the game should be the only factor, but does have some weight. I own a trucking company and I wouldn't hire a driver that has never driven before. I've read up on morey when he was hired by boston and I tried to see how a guy that didn't play high school hoops run a organization? Does that even add up? I know that personell guys rely heavily on pro and college scouting, but at some point u just have to watch a player play and see how he effect the game beyond per's. Personally, I don't know if u can do that if u haven't played since jr high. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know once u traded wells and snyder then cut green that u had no size behind tracy and shane. Nor did it take that same scientist to know the rookie 4 with bad knees, might have knee problems. It shouldn't have taken another playoff elimination to see the shortcomings because they were there in the preseason. Its called being proactive and building up ur roster.
Point 1- Jerry Krause never played college, or pro basketball. Theo Epstein never played pro baseball. We would agree that they were very successful. I think sporting acumen can come in many shapes and sizes. Bringing up Kirk Snyder, Bonzi Wells and Gerald Green as an example of Morey's mistakes is like complaining about the dessert served on the Titanic. Wells was traded before Yao got hurt and Adelman and Van Gundy didn't trust Snyder enough to get him any minutes. The Rockets didn't lose in the playoffs because they didn't have wing depth...there was a certain 7 and a half foot all-star center who was missing. Are you seriously suggesting Gerald Green, or Bonzi Wells, or Kirk Snyder leads the Rockets past the Jazz? Come on now.
I can see Leebigez's point about Morey's lack of playing experience being a factor in his decision making because like it or not it IS a factor. But it's only his 2nd year as GM and he's still trying to clean up the stinking pile left behind by CD & Les. While I really hope that he'll succeed, I have to be honest and admit that he faces long odds and he may not be able to make the Yao-Tmac experiment work. To get out of this box and escape all of the bad decisions of the past 12 years is going to require more luck than anything and I wish him all the luck in the world because he'll need it. Look closely at the teams that have passed the Rockets and that should give you some clue as to high big a hill they have to climb in the West to be champions.
And we had nothing behind Rafer. Morey was trying to be the cartoon character plugging leaks in the dam with his fingers. It turned out Mike James sucks, Francis was spent, and Brooks hit the rookie wall and may not be any good. You don't want to see what this team would've looked like when Rafer went down without Bobby Jackson. That's why he fell to the 2nd round. We bought him for cash, resigned last year's starting power forward, and added another power forward via trade (which probably cost the Spurs a Finals berth). Are you seriously criticizing adding Landry as a 2nd rounder?
Joe is great. He's all about winning. Firing coaches, and hiring new ones. He has an incredible strength and conditioning coach in Arnie Kander, an NBA miracle worker. I looked up information how they were able to keep Grant Hill, Weber and McDyess recover so fast from their injuries. Joe is sharp. I started another thread on Joe's strength and condition coach.
I do wish the rox had the sense of urgency of the pistons. I just don't see it in the rox mgt particularly since they know the Yao tmac window is only a few years. I agree that if dumars was in charge of the rox he would do more than move the chairs around on the deck. I would love to see a bold move like trading battier for ron artest, that's a move that I think dumars would make.
U kinda make my point. It wasnt about the Bonzi/Green/Snyder move in itself, it was more about the after math and the response. Once he made the decision to trade bonzi and snyder and release green, what was the backup plan midseason? He made the decision to get rid of Tracy and Battiers only backup with any size, why wasnt another player brought in? I mean there are dozens of swing players availible via trade or fa 6'6 or taller that could come in and spell the 2/3 spot for 15 to 20 mins a night. Wasnt reuben patterson sitting at home? I mean the pure rational when either trade was consummated made little sense. We're trading Bonzi and James to have flexibility if someone gets released. Hell, i would have signed Ira Newble at least. Isnt this the same problem we had the yr before? No size at the 2/3 backup because Bonzi and coach couldnr work together? Then we had to hear they wanted to make minutes for Landry. When did Bonzi and and Landry play the same position? I just wish they had the same sense of urgency the Pistons have. Judging by Yao and Tracy's health and the power of the west, they should have even more sense of urgency. Im not going to apologize to anyone for winning 22 ina row, but a gm has to look at the whole picture and cant be afraid of a tweak. Once James fell out of rotation, he should have been trying to deal him so he could make another move before the deadline. To top it off, we go into another yr with the same holes. Size on the frontline, a 3rd scorer and a atheletic wing that can create a shot.Wasnt he on staff last yr?
I would trade Isiah Thomas, Dumars and Michael Jordan for Red Auerbach in a 3-for-1 GM trade. Dynasty builders don't need to play in the NBA playoffs to be successful. The most successful NBA GM is Red Auerbach, who has 16 rings in 29 years as a GM, coach and president of the Celtics. He never played in the NBA playoffs, or even a regular season game, like Dumars. http://www.jockbio.com/Classic/Red/Red_bio.html
Don't forget about Joe Dumars and his training staff success. If Rip Hamilton and the Wallace boys were always injured, there wouldn't be a playoffs. If we get Dumars, we might steal some of their staff. It's unlikely that we will get Dumars or Arnie Kander, though. The best we can hope for is an imitation Arnie Kander and an imitation Dumars.
