The younger fans only remember the Moochie-Taylor-Cato deals of CD's stint as GM and have grown up under Morey's tenure as GM, and with this board's attitude towards Morey in most other threads (see: "Git-r-done, Morey!" and "In Morey we trust"), it's not unreasonable to see why they would think that Morey is miles ahead of CD. The old heads remember CD as the assistant coach with close ties to the championship years, and don't appreciate seeing him "disrespected" by the OP. They have a clearer picture of CD's full tenure with the Rockets, especially with regards to the glory days. Still, I'm not sure why this has turned into a kind of Morey vs. CD thread. They are simply two different GMs with two different (though not totally opposite, as some would suggest) styles. Clearly, the OP has a style in that he or she prefers, and there's nothing wrong with that. Both sides seem to be getting rather defensive, when there shouldn't even be sides to begin with.
The trade is a wash now..... GAY scores well but does not defend, play smart or well within the offense. He is younger than Battier, but is inline for a huge raise soon.... I for one want no part of him at 10-12 million a year over 5-6 years.
CD and Rudy T together were the players in the organization after Steve Patterson left. As for Patterson, I do not know that I would say he built the Rockets championship teams. His handling of the Hakeem matter was terrible, and he almost traded Olajuwon for crap. Also Patterson had years of Hakeem's prime and didnt get the Rockets where they needed to be. CD and Rudy T made mistakes, but they accomplished more than Morey has so far (that includes when CD took over as GM). The trade for Francis was a steal, and the drafting of Yao Ming took guts.
I don't know about that... his deal is up soon and cap space is at a premium. Is Gay really worth keeping at the cap # he will take? I don't think so
Yeah, I knew I forgot that the moment I hit "Submit Reply". He had 0 at the time though. Oh, and it's just the Tampa "Rays" now.
I don't know anything about baseball, so I can't say how many world series appearances that Hunsicker and Purpura have. I'll just trust you on that one.
It is not CD being disrespected, it is the moves he made after he was made GM being disrespected. I started following basketball after I moved to the country in '98 so I will admit that I am not at all knowledgeable about what he did as assistant coach and before he was officially named the general manager. But the fact is, the team was not successful after he became GM and he did make alot more bad moves than he made great moves. He may be a great guy who has done wonders for the organization as a whole, but he was nowhere near a great GM. It is not like the initial post in this thread is inaccurate, it reflects many moves similar to what CD did as GM. You are right, there should not be sides. But it is only fair to see the job Morey has done building this team and compare it to the man he is replacing (just like how so many people compared Adelman to JVG and JVG to Rudy T, etc). And it is obvious that he has done a better job in his 2 years than CD did the 10 years before that. Morey in the past 2 years has never made a bad trade (and yes I attribute the Battier deal to Morey) nor a bad draft pick (you can look at the track record for yourself), so obviously fans will agree with the "In Morey We Trust" and "Git-R-Done Morey" attitude. You yourself said it is understandable to see why people here believe Morey is miles ahead of CD in the post I am quoting. I think the fact that Morey is a statistics guy really is a huge reason he has been successful. Everybody on this roster except for Yao/TMac/Hayes are Morey guys. In only 2 years, he has completely changed the squad and they are coming off the best season they have had in the past 12 years (quite possibly could have won it all if it was not for injuries).
Since when was Mo Taylor a "17-8" guy? He NEVER averaged more than a pathetic 6.5 rebound a game (and that 6.5 happened while playing 35+ mpg) in his entire career. In fact, he never averaged 8 rebounds a game even in college. The man was a non-rebounding underachieving scrub with horrible shooting efficiency (.501 TS% for career).
Are you fricken kidding me? Ok, great so, he was a 17 and 7 (sorry 6.5) guy....when the team signed him when he was being offered more elsewhere. Mo Taylor's career stats I am not going to say he was a good rebounder, my point, and the funny thing is that unless your intellect is somewhere south of Forrest Gump's you know it.....was that it was a decent signing at the time, that did not pan out. Picking at small innane portions of a post to start an argument is childish CH, you should be better than that. DD
He originally signed a 1-year deal and was re-signed to a fat $42M deal. More than the MLE. You are right, he was being offered more when he originally took the 1-year deal (he was never being offered more than the $42M he ended up signing for however). But the signing was horrible as he did not play D nor did he rebound. I think the signing was more as a result of panic after Dream left. You can spin it anyway you want but the fact is, he did not earn that money and it was far greater than his market value.
Agreed, the signing did not pan out, but at the time, it was not looked at as a bad deal for a guy with his skills etc. Sometimes signings don't work out, I am hoping that Ariza doesn't turn into another Shandon Anderson, because to me, that is exactly the type of player he reminds me of... Let's hope he ends up being a good signing....and not one like Mo Taylors....that looked good at first, then became a nightmare. DD
CD has left a large thumbprint on the Houston Rockets. His work with Hakeem, his steadfast loyalty to the organization, his willingness to adapt to any role he was trusted with. He is a true Houstonian, a true Rocket, and rightfully deserves to have his "jersey" hanging in the Toyota Center rafters. He gave his working life to the Houston Rockets. Frankly, there isn't much to crow about during his years as GM. Everything he did was in close conjunction with the wishes of Rudy Tomjanovich and Les Alexander. His greatest accomplishment was getting everything in place on the Houston end to get Yao Ming in uniform. We were fantasically lucky to get the #1 ping-pong ball that year. I thought the Barkley trade was cagey. The McGrady trade, made after Rudy's retirement, was fantastically exciting, too, but the contracts we took back from Orlando were awful. The contracts he dished out to Taylor, Cato, and Norris were truly awful and really set the team back. The trade for Griffin was the worst trade in Rockets history, edging out trading Pippen to Portland. Rudy and CD constantly attempted to draft "the next Rudy Tomjanovich," and it never worked. A parade of white wings never made a dent in the roster. I thought the Battier trade was a good one. Who would Kobe Bryant rather have on his team, Rudy Gay or Shane Battier? Roy would have been beautiful, but Portland was too smart. Trading for Scola and drafting Landry and Brooks (two picks I hated at the time) was an incredible stroke of work. Francis, James, Barry, and Wells were mistakes, but they were not anywhere near as costly as Taylor, Norris, etc., and they were quickly gotten rid of (Barry will be gone soon, I believe). I was very much in favor of the Ron Artest deal and was supremely satisfied with the result. Morey's real test will be acquiring real stars, franchise cornerstones. Will he be able to draft them? Sign them? Trade for them? He'll have to prove he can without destroying his own model before his reputation is sealed.
http://clutchfans.com/feature.cfm?FeatureID=84 Yes, we signed him at the "full MLE" -- 2.25m. The MLE didn't become what it is today until the more recent CBA. Mo's best offer was for 4.5m per year for 4 years; the following offseason, we gave him a 6 year deal at 8m per year (48m!) coming off a 13 pt, 5.5 reb year.
Yeah, thanks I forgot we got him for a 1 year deal first....BleedRocketRed already mentioned that. Nope, just a long time fan who believes he deserves respect for all he has done. DD
all these posters vehemently defending CD makes you wonder how much sympathy the guy garners because of his degenerative eye condition. i mean, cmon. he was fast becoming one of the worst GMs in the game with a history of really bad moves that preceded his exit. alot of these posters will stick it to mcgrady for not performing... so why can't CD be scrutinized for his performance (or lack of performance) too?
I love Morey to death but man the people piling on CD are utter classless. Almost every year CD made real SPLASH. 1996 - Barkley was acquired in his prime and at full all-star caliber. 1998 - Pippen was the most coveted free agent in 1998. 1999 - Francis was the best PG prospect in the draft and we gave next to nothing for him. This was at a time when our team was on the decline much like right now but Morey couldn't get the Grizzlies to do his bidding for Rubio. 2002 - Drafted Yao, yes it was a common sense choice but you have to remember Elgin Baylor was once upon a time a GM in the league too. 2004 - Got T-Mac at age 25 in his prime. Got me my "Tracy with Facey" poster. Look CD as GM made bold move after bold move and that is what you are expected to do as a GM, get players with the best chance to win a championship. Now some of these moves have turned out to be terrible because of many different reasons like injury, bad fit, problem with coach etc... That blame should not be placed on CD. Show some respect.
I love all these people saying 'Oh, well maybe now we'd rather have Gay than Battier, but back then Battier was a better fit for this team.' At what point did it become clear that, regardless of the other 14 guys on the roster, Battier was NOT the better player, or the better fit, or however you want to put it? Was it some time during his second season, when he averaged 20 points and 6 boards on 46% from the field (as a freaking 21 year old)? Was it some time before that?
