I finally got around to hearing Woj’s podcast interview with Daryl Morey, and a few things stood out:
- Morey said that people misinterpreted his statement that whatever coach they hired, they needed to improve their defense saying people took that to mean they would hire a defensive-leaning coach. Here was his actual statement: “I think its somebody who embodies what we need. We need to get our defense stronger.” I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
- Morey mentioned repeatedly that the team had won the third most games of any team in the league in the last ten years. This was news to me. But it begs an interesting question: is “consistently good” without extreme success really enviable? I think most fans would prefer a string of lottery seasons followed by consecutive deep playoff runs.
- To that end, Morey stated, when asked about Les Alexander’s involvement during the hiring process of Mike D’Antoni, that it was the right thing for the owner to be involved and that the owner is the one person who has the same incentive as the fans, in contrast with the motivations of the general manager and coach. I’m not sure I agree at all with that statement. An owner could have a very short term outlook on his investment, eschewing long term growth in favor of immediate relevance and revenue. In fact, later in the interview, when asked of the team’s course over the past ten years during his tenure, Morey implicitly confirmed the well-known fact that it was Alexander who has not allowed the team to properly rebuild, by reiterating his opinion regarding the difficulty and low odds associated with retooling on the fly, even saying “…you could argue we’re feeling the effects of that.” As someone who will always play the odds, there’s really no doubt left from Morey’s multiple statements over the years regarding the percentages that if it were up to Morey himself, he would have enacted a complete tear down at some point rather than pursuing the course he’s been required to take. So no, I, as someone who wants to see this team harvest and cultivate young talent, do not have the same incentives as the owner. And while I, and my readership, as die-hards, may not be entirely representative of the entire Houston sports market, the rest of the people out there don’t care about this team during down times in the first place.
