14 replies to this topic

[coach_fletch]

Rocket and Spur guys that get cut are getting picked up by other teams and having success.

In my opinion I think that is a testament to Morey's drafting by the numbers. All of the stat math he uses.

I also think it is a testament to how good of a coach Pop is.

Just an observation.

[blakecouey]

If the players cut are having more success than those we have kept is that a testament to our management being unable to notice the talent/unable to use that talent correctly? I think it is more fluke than not, but take Lin for example. He was passed over for Flynn, by our Rockets, and he ha successes in NY, yet Flynn did nothing to impress me, and I was excited when we traded for him and wanted nothing other than the best. I realize we have kept talented players, but how do you say you're doing the right thing when the cut player helped their team get into the playoffs?

[rockets best fan]

blakecouey:
lin didn't make it here because he got caught up in the numbers game. at the time we signed him we still had lowry, dragic, flynn. when we signed him it was only because lowry got hurt. players sometimes have to land in the right situation for their talent. when lin went to new york they had a total void at point guard. so anything he gave them was going to be a plus over what they had at the position. as for players moving on after rockets careers....I wish them the best. we are keeping the better options (IMO) in most cases.

[blakecouey]

The reason he ended up on the wrong side of our numbers situation is because management regarded Flynn as the better option to retain. I agree sometimes its where they land that ultimately will determine their successes and failures, but the fact is, for the flynn/lin discussion, we kept tge wrong one. You can say we might not have camby had we cut flynn preseason, but as much as camby helped we still made it no further than last year and he's a FA now that openly wants to finish his career here in Houston.

[rockets best fan]

another reason he ended up on the wrong side of the numbers is at the time the lakers were pursuing flynn as a possibly a trade target. we hung on to him because of that fact. at the time flynn had more trade value. as for camby we basicly stole him for nothing(thabeet and flynn). those 2 players weren't going to get any playing time here. I think we should only keep camby if we can sign him to a more reasonable contract. say 5 mil per for 2 years. anything more than that and I feel we would be overpaying for a player thats almost over the hill.

[blakecouey]

We should be able to get Camby cheaper than that, he's lost a good bit of bargaining power by continuously saying he wants to finish his career here, and he'd be crazy to think he would warrant another 11m/year. I agree on we got camby for nothing, it was a good trade. We could've kept Lin though, not had to deal with boykins/fortson, and wound up getting camby half a season later.

[coach_fletch]

My point is that Morey is a good evaluator of talent overall. He uses his formula to pick up players who can play and then often uses them as pieces to be in position to make trades.

Lin was cut and not Flynn because the Rockets did not want to pay his guaranteed salary. Lin would have sat the bench here. Both PGs we have are pretty dang good. I agree that Lin go with the right team at the right time. And I can bet that the NY staff at the time were trying to pump him up and gave him the complete green light because they really did not have any other choices. Lin did great. Props to him. But Rockets deserve no blame. He is a FA unless the Knicks have already signed him to an extension.

ON a side note Lowry and Dragic have both proven they deserve to be starting PGs. One of them will go. Maybe the Rockets can do a sign with NY and Lin and trade with one of them (I would prefer Lowry though I think he is a pretty dang good PG.) Lin could come back up Dragic and have time to get a better handle on the game without all the NY pressure. Crazy idea? Yes. But fun to think about.

[DaDakota]

I am not sold on Morey and staffs talent evaluation at all. They have consistently taken the safe pick, but avoid the high risk - high reward guys.

And taking Marcus Morris over Kawhi Leonard, not looking good at all.

I know he has found value at the end of the first and mid second round, but he has been less than stellar in finding difference makers.

And letting Lin go was inexcusable IMO, they kept Jeff Adrien over Lin...lol, then cut him...

They knew all along Flynn would be gone at the trade deadline, they should have carried Lin or at least recognized his talent.

As for Dragic, they declined his option last year making him an unrestricted free agent, then tried to trade him last summer.....before finding out that he was really good.

yeah, not sold on the Rox org's ability to recognize talent at all.

DD

[blakecouey]

If Lin's talent was so evident he would've been kept, as it is he was the 4th option at PG with the Rockets. Had we kept him over Adrien he wouldve gotten less minutes(or at least not more than) Jonny Flynn, and MOST LIKELY wouldnt have had the breakout performances that have gotten him national attention. You can't evaluate talent correctly unless the player gets a real opportunity to play, and I don't mean the 8 garbage time minutes at the end of our two preseason games. I dont find fault in Morey or our coaches for that. Also, Lin has plenty of faults that will likely be exploited next year-A PG's #1 role is to keep the ball in his teams possession, he doesn't.

[DaDakota]

A PG's #1 role is to keep the ball in his teams possession, he doesn't.

That depends entirely on the role the coach has given him.

Some are scoring first PG's...Tony Parker
Some are pass first PG's ..Steve Nash
And some are combo guys...CP3 and DWill

It is no longer the job of the PG to simply be the facilitator in today's NBA.

DD

[Alituro]

That depends entirely on the role the coach has given him.

Some are scoring first PG's...Tony Parker
Some are pass first PG's ..Steve Nash
And some are combo guys...CP3 and DWill

It is no longer the job of the PG to simply be the facilitator in today's NBA.

DD

That doesn't matter, the safest place on the court for the ball should always be your PG's hands, regardless of some assumed role... Plays reset and begin with the PG and the safest place on the court was not in Lin's hands.

[blakecouey]

That depends entirely on the role the coach has given him.

Some are scoring first PG's...Tony Parker
Some are pass first PG's ..Steve Nash
And some are combo guys...CP3 and DWill

It is no longer the job of the PG to simply be the facilitator in today's NBA.

DD

I like your examples, all of which are allstars and all handle the ball well and don't turn it over often. Think Steve Nash would've been in the league as long as he has if he gave the ball up as much as Lin? Probably not. If you can handle the ball effectively it allows your team more possessions, which directly leads to more points and less points off turnovers than your opponent.

[DaDakota]

Of course you don't want turnovers, lol. No matter what role you are in, I guess I misinterpeted your post, somewhat, my fault entirely.

Agree about Lin turning it over too much as well, but so did Steve Nash when he was learning and still turns it over a good amount, the best players who have the ball a lot turn it over more on an average per game basis, but not on a per possession basis.

The last time I checked and it has been a while, most of the great ones were between 3 and 4 turnovers a game.

DD

[coach_fletch]

The Rockets front office is in a bad place. It lost two premier players because of injuries (Yao and McGrady). During the time they were healthy the Rockets were drafting with late first round picks. They have been recognizing talent and drafting it well enough to just finish out of the playoffs several years in a row.

I do not believe in tanking at all. It is not what sports should be about. That being said the Rockets drafting in the late part of the Lottery means they will get a possible role playing starter or a pretty good bench player. Yes, they could find lightning in a bottle but that rarely happens in the NBA.

This draft has no guaranteed stars. The Anthony Davis kid looks like the closet thing but there are still questions about his game. Not all scouts agree he will be a franchise player. I personally cannot decide. Making comparisons to other players is difficult. If he has a non-stop motor and crazy competitive drive he may dominate the league for years to come. Anyway, I digress . . .

I think Morey does well at finding pieces and if he ever can land a star or two it seems to me that the other pieces will be in place to make the Rockets contenders. I am glad that the organization has not panicked and overpaid on bad contracts.