The Recent Daryl Morey Criticism is Completely Unwarranted
by Mike Kerns on Feb 25, 2011 9:51 AM CST
Email
Print
I knew it was a mistake.
I knew that on a day where the Rockets passed the trade deadline without completely getting over on another team, it would be a mistake of epic proportions...but I did it anyway.
I, like a handful of others, made the mistake of turning on local sports radio yesterday after the deadline passed and again this morning. And, damn if it didn't make me want to pour battery acid all over myself.
Things were said as stupid as "We should have traded for Deron Williams" and "Why couldn't Daryl Morey just get Kendrick Perkins? This guy just sucks!"
After removing my face from my hands and deciding not to break the mirror in my bathroom and using a shard to cut my eardrums out, I finally decided to turn the radio off instead. Not because it was the better choice necessarily. It was just less work and clean up.
But just like the Matt Schaub hate that was prevalent on talk radio in Houston this past season, Daryl Morey seems to have gone from being infallible to a scapegoat. Just like that. And it's complete rubbish. Hit jump for some reasons why.
I was guilty for awhile of being as silly as everyone else thinking Daryl could do no wrong (Scola, the 2007 draft & the McGrady trade). I have also been guilty of criticizing some moves (Terrence Williams, Trevor Ariza & building around Yao) he has made during his tenure. But one thing I cannot criticize the guy for is his inability to lure a star in this past year.
I've gone on record several times saying that I thought the teams "assets" were greatly overrated by the Rockets fan base. Sure, a couple of extra picks are necessary in making a blockbuster move. Just like expiring contracts and young talent. But without teams looking to unload serious salary to make cap space for a huge free agent class, no one was biting this year. Yet people are whining that he wasn't able to reel in Deron, Melo or Perkins? All three of those guys were traded for MUCH better trade packages than Morey would have been able to put together. But I am sure that Daryl gave them a call just to see. Problem is, there just wasn't enough on this roster to raise any eyebrows.
No one wants Kevin Martin, Brad Miller or Luis Scola with their existing contracts. No one aside from some homers in Houston think Chase Budinger or Jordan Hill are valuable assets. No one cared about Jared Jeffries and Yao Ming's expiring contract (and Yao's even had insurance money taking care of it). So to expect Morey to have been able to reel one of those guys in was just absurd given what he had to work with.
The final argument I'm hearing from those piling on Morey the past couple of months is how the team has had minimal success since he's been here, regardless of favorable transactions. But the team that he has built given his restrictions is quite remarkable. Let us take a look at some of the crap he had on the roster when he took over GM responsibilities in 2007.
- Juwan Howard
- Rafer Alston
- Bonzi Wells
- Luther Head
- Kirk Snyder
- Tracy McGrady (always injured with a max contract)
- Yao Ming (always injured with a max contract)
I could keep going, but I'll end your suffering.
So, he built this roster he currently has with all that trash AND had absolutely zero cap space to work with. And with the buyout yesterday of Jared Jeffries bloated deal, all the bad contracts are now gone and he has accumulated six potential first round picks in the next three years. That's quite remarkable.Especially when you look at all the young talent now on the roster.
Even if those drafts are weak, look at the blockbuster deals that went down at the deadline. All of them involved numerous picks and prospects. Daryl is setting this team up for the future and he is doing it nicely. No, Hasheem Thabeet isn't likely to be the future. Nor is Goran Dragic. But the picks that came attached to both of those trades will be.
It is now clear that the outlook for this team is a rebuild, not a reload. Rick Adelman is likely to retire and I don't blame him. Les Alexander is still willing to go over the luxury tax and Daryl Morey keeps stockpiling assets towards the future. So to criticize the guy because he couldn't make filet mignon out of ground beef isn't looking at the big picture. This team is very far away from competing and we all know it. So stop bashing the guy because he couldn't pull off a miracle Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown type deal.
Patience is the key to a rebuild and we're going to need a lot of it. Especially with star players trying to dictate and run the league now by choosing where they go and only wanting to play with their buddies in the big and flashy markets. But I'm excited to see what Daryl can build this team into without bad contracts, ego-maniacal divas and some actual cap space. You should be too.
Just don't expect it to happen overnight.
256 comments
|
4 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Fair weather fans...
can go ahead and exit now.
Morey is doing the best he can to not sell off this team pennies on the dollar. He knows the only way we’ll get that star player is by finding potential like T-Will and Thabeet or drafting one. he’s done his best and I trust him to build the team his way. No more Yao.
Hey, I didn't know you were registered over here man!
I agree. Hated always feeling like the franchise was tied to Yao. Finally, freedom in spending…but who to spend it on. Like I said, rebuilding isn’t a speedy process. Perhaps that star player is yet to become available or isn’t even in the league yet. Regardless, the future is bright.
My beef with Morey is that he didnt keep his promise in bringing in an All-Star Player
The assets he had to work with, that no one wanted, are all his own.
No one wants Kevin Martin, Brad Miller or Luis Scola with their existing contracts. No one aside from some homers in Houston think Chase Budinger or Jordan Hill are valuable assets. No one cared about Jared Jeffries
These are all people he brought in “to make a move for a super-star”. Obviously he couldnt have been any more wrong. He couldnt get a starting center in the summer, so we waited for a trade “cause thats how the Rockets get players” and he failed again.
We had a team ready to compete for a championship, all we needed was a starting center, and Morey failed in getting us one. So now plan B was set in at the 11th hour for a rebuild. Im dissapointed……
At the fact that the Astros suck, and the Texans cant seem to do anything right, makes this 10x worse. Its gonna suck being a Houston sports fan for the next 2-4 years.
And BTW, I will still support the Rockets no matter what...
I am excited to see if we have a potential all-star on our team now. I will still watch every game and continue to be a fan.
And he still might
Just because it didn’t happen this year doesn’t mean those guys won’t be integral in a future deal.
or last year or the year before...
Mike, I agree that he took over a bad roster and he has done some good moves in the process to move us forward but with the exceptions of Scola, Brooks and Landry, the rest of the moves have been yawns at best. Hill is not doing anything, Bud is just a pure offensive streaky shooter, and his streaks have been gone for most of this season etc…
I think the deal is that 1) people on this blog took every move as proof of his brilliance when all the moves have amounted to very little outside of turning a second round pickup in Landry into Martin (granted a good move), but T Will hasn’t done a damn thing nor has Hill or Bud. Lots of other teams have found second rounders as well and gotten role players out of them…that does not make him anything special, also, 2) as you said yourself, waiting for Yao for the last three years or even earlier has been tiresome and everyone knew this season that we had to only play him limited minutes to begin with and they only targeted Miller as a backup? Surely we could have gotten someone better.
As a whole it just seems relatively unimpressive. TWill, Thabeet, Hill have all been busts so now we are the half way recovery house for these guys? maybe, but the chances of them making the jump up into good players is slight. It just gets old heaping praise on the guy and ending up with mediocrity over and over again.
I don't disagree that many overrate him
I was guilty of it, too.
But the fact remains that he improved the roster ten fold over where it was when he took it, with zero wiggle room for cap space.
The story isn’t over yet. Let’s see where he goes from here now that he doesn’t have those restrictions.
So, you're upset that teams aren't handing the Rockets everything they need to be competitive?
A franchise player goes down and you expect that to be easily replaced? Bloated contracts and bad prior management takes place and the man squeaks out everything he can to try to get a big name player but no one is selling and you’re going to fault him? Martin, Scola, and Miller weren’t brought in “to make a move for a super-star” as you state. They were brought in to compliment one. Unfortunately that superstar couldn’t stay upright. I’ve been a vocal critic of Morey in the last month or so but it was only because the original plan didn’t work out and we were floating in gray area to move forward. Now we have an actual direction, a rebuild. Houston sports fans need to rid themselves of this sense of entitlement that they will always be relevant or that they are owed media favoritism or that star players are snubbing them/easily available. Sometimes you have to struggle to farm before you can actually dig anything out of the ground of use.
As it stands, no one is just giving big name players away, which would be the argument against Morey “not landing a star player like he promised.” Then again does every public figure fulfill their promises? You must be disappointed any time you get the chance to vote. Morey has pulled some good moves (cited in Mike’s write up) and pulled some I disagree with (Sup Trevor Ariza trade?) but overall, he finally shat while on the pot and decided to rebuild, which I’m grateful for. You won’t easily find players given away that you can build a franchise around, more often than not you need to draft them or build them from within. We have plenty of picks and we have a promising core of young talent (I think potentially spearheaded by Terrence Williams) and some interesting questions (Can Jordan Hill and Hasheem Thabeet improve to fulfill their potential?).
Teams rebuild, this team probably should have started last season but we gambled on Yao and it fell through. The guys brought in to build around Yao were no longer as relevant but those vets aren’t likely long for the team anymore. I just look forward to seeing who we will deem the face of the franchise and am ready for an exciting brand of basketball that we can compete with.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
by BD34 on Feb 25, 2011 10:26 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
So you praise Morey cause he got us some draft picks from people that were leaving anyways at the end of the season??
Im sorry but any GM in the leaugue could have dont that. You praise him cause he decided we are going to rebuild now? Again, any GM could have made that decision.
I still like Morey and ultimately I think he just needed more time to peice a bigger more complicated trade that made sense for the teams involved. The Nuggets waiting so long on Melo really screwed us up. I think he tried and failed, then plan B was to rebuild.
I think Morey could have landed us Perkins in a trade that sent Battier out to Boston and involved another team that sent a replacement big to Boston as well. Its just hard to make a trade like that in 2 days. I also think he could have got us Wallace if he had more time. We had some of the pieces Boston and Charoltte wanted…but not all.
Perkins
Scola
Wallace
Martin
Lowry
Thats a line up that compete to be in the upper half of the western conference for 2-3 more years.
Again, I still like Morey and I think he can do great things for the Rockets. I just dont see how people can praise the moves he did, cause really, anyone could have done them.
Consider how big of a critic I was
and now I’m praising him. The most important thing this team needed was direction, he finally selected one. That was my gripe that he wasn’t doing that any GM could do. Because Morey didn’t have the pieces to get Perkins and decided against going the attempt to compete now route, you’re knocking what he did. It wasn’t what you wanted and you’re upset but this team needed to rebuild sooner rather than later.
Three team deals are hard to pull off, yet you’re holding that against him in your theoretical scenario for Perkins. Jeff Green gives the Boston Celtics some longevity out of the deal that Battier would not have, you ignore that.
Charlotte would have had to cough up more than Wallace if we tried to strike a deal on sheer salary numbers alone. Morey flipped guys he wasn’t going to keep and had no long term impact on our plans into draft picks, a potential Center (My post covered my belief in Thabeet) and one of the better backups out there to remedy the PG situation.
To me, this earns praise.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
I dont think you read my post right..
Im not knocking him for not pulling of a complicated trade. I understand those trades take more than 2 days. And I think he could have done it if he had more time, thats why I still like Morey.
Im just not riding his d*ck cause he got us in a plan B rebuild mode, and a couple non-lottery picks from guys that were leaving.
Im also waiting to see if they play T-Will, cause if they dont then im really gonna question what the Rockets are doing.
I wouldn't say I'm "Riding his dick"
I have criticized plenty of his decisions in the past. Just saying that people saying he needs to go are fucktards.
Oh boy.
Did I encounter one of those guys today. He kept telling everyone that Morey should be fired because he traded two great players away for shitty draft picks.
I wanted to soak him with the hot pot of coffee.
But I stopped myself.
"KUBIAK FUCKING SUCKS. BOB MCNAIR SUCKS. THE TEXANS SUCKS.
-90% of the Texans blogosphere-
Those are people who are
Extremely ignorant to the whole reasoning behind doing deals, players’ value, and the business side in general. SO many of them out there so don’t even sweat it.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
guys...i understand how hard the whole process is...
but getting first round rejects is not great “rebulding” great rebuilding is what portland did by getting Roy, Aldridge, Batum etc…or what OKC did with Westbrook, Green, (leaving aside Durant as that was pure luck to get once in a generation player) but those teams’ GMs truely get credit for turning two horrible franchises, the jailblazers and the old Sonic, into real competitors.
Comparing their pickups with TWill, Hill, Bud, Thabeet is just sad.
Maybe we can see what we use the draft picks for….but then those players are going to take some time, right? ….and/or it is a weak draft so that is another reason why it doesn’t work out…. I don’t mean to be overly negative but I am just not seeing anything more than mediocrity…and I don’t like being similar to Memphis.
Depends on what your perception of Plan B was
To me, Plan A was rebuild because the Rockets were a hell of a lot farther from challenging for a title than they were from being a damn fine rebuilding squad.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
So to change the pace a little I guess we will all be watching this years March Madness and Final Four to see what potential prospects we see
So what’s the most critical position do you think we need to draft this year?
C: we have Thabeet to develop already
PF: We have Patterson to develop
SF: We have twill to develop
SG: we have Lee to develop
PG: ?? i guess this one, since we know what Lowry and Drajic can do
What direction do the Rockets go?
Evaluations will be something you wait til the end of the year
to make the call on. Scout all positions in the NCAA tourneys since we select “best available” anyhow. If there’s no guarantee of any of these guys on our roster after the end of the year, why account for them? If I’m the GM I’m most likely holding on to Williams, Lee, and Patterson. Thabeet is a flyer player to see how he turns out.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
well...
draft the best player available…regardless of position. I always thought that was the best thing to do though some teams don’t.
Yes, i’m talking about the detroit team who passed on melo because they already had prince and the portland team who passed on jordan because they already had drexler.
I'm not too sure people are "riding Morey's dick"...
I don’t think we are running in the street and singing Morey’s praises for the trades that were made. I think more of it as being thankful we have a shrewd GM who knew we could let two players walk, or we could try to get something for them without completely mortgaging our future away with bad contracts and veterans that take playing time away from our younger players when we know the Rockets are going anywhere.
Morey wanted to go all in, but the right opportunity wasn’t available, so he got something for nothing and we live to fight another day when the next star becomes available through the draft or through trades. Morey isn’t perfect, nor is he some kind of God, but he’s smart, aggressive, and patient and I hope we hold on to him long enough for him to see this thing get turned around the right way.
Until then, we ar eprobably going to score a lot of points and give up just a couple more. Interesting to see what the offseason is like wtht he draft and free agency considering there won’t be much out there and we will have a ton of cap room and flexibility.
It was neither shrewd no bad
There was not a deal to be done so he got something instead of losing them both. Landing the super star is hard. We will rebuild now that the Yao era is over. The big question is if Adelman will be back. The new coach might have a different system and need different types of players to execute it. Look how different JVG was from Rudy T and how how different RA is from JVG. It does look like we are making some good defensive moves too.
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 9:47 AM CST up reply actions
If Yao had been healthy there was a veteran competitive roster.
But you can see the planing – even though Yao wasn’t healthy the team is full of promising young players that we got on the cheap. Not all will work, but I’m betting some will.
"Each in turn... volunteered his suggestions, his invaluable suggestions."
Twitter - xiane1
The Dreamshake
thanks for pointing that out...I needed to be reminded of that
as we could have more older veterans than possible good players.
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 2:02 PM CST up reply actions
Agree with the need for direction...
And agree that we are on track. This whole year was a set up for Yao’s comeback. If he was solid right now we would all be talking about completely different things, but instead he shattered. We rehabilitated, we played him, and he broke. Since that happened we have been scrambling.
There were no miracles out there at the deadline, and I think we did the best we could with what we had to offer. You don’t get something for nothing, and we did not have a shot at the few marquee players available. We tried, Morey reportedly worked the phones hard, and we ended up with a couple of decent prospects and picks at the last minute for two guys that we could afford to lose.
BTW, I mentioned it on another post but the draft picks are important. If we scout properly and gamble a little we can do well with these picks in a rebuilding effort.
Houston, when Yao went down we had a problem. We went from a contender to a pretender.
When you are lower than whale poop it is a long way back up. Relax, we are making progress.
by albertchester on Feb 25, 2011 6:34 PM CST up reply actions
What starting center would have helped?
Once again, people fail to realize that there are very few quality big men in any sport. Name one center that was available to the Rockets that could have elevated us to a championship level team?
The answer is none, we had arguably the best or at least the second best center in the league in Yao, every other center in the league save Dwight is sub-par. (Head to head, Yao consistently bested Howard.) It’s Dwight and Yao and a grab bag of mediocrity after those two. Yao carried the Rockets through the playoffs two years ago and was a dominant force that no one including the Lakers had an answer for. It was unfortunate that Yao suffered his catastrophic injury, but it’s reality. The same can be said for most Bigs in their careers, we were very fortunate to have Hakeem remain as healthy as he remained during the majority of his career. There are tons of examples of excellent big men with astronomical potential, potential that was cut short by injuries!
It’s not like Morey was expecting Yao to break down at 30, none of us were, unless you are the ultimate pessimist.
You're just inventing a fantasy world here.
“These are all people he brought in ‘to make a move for a super-star’.” Really?
Brad Miller was a stop-gap measure to have a backup center. No one better was available. He’s not a “trade asset”
Jeffries’ awful contract was the price we paid to get draft picks and Kevin Martin. We knew at the time he wasn’t worth his salary.
Budinger was the god damn 44th player chosen in the ‘09 draft. You don’t expect anyone taken then to be a game-changer. Are you pissed DM didn’t take Nick Calathes, Danny Green, or Henk Norel, the next guys chosen in that draft? Those household names aren’t even in the league.
Wait a minute
I don’t recall DM ever saying he was bringing these guys in to trade for a superstar. There were no superstar centers available at the deadline. Look how much Portland had to give up to get Wallace. For us to do that deal we would have to give up the best assets we have. Perkins is broke, Pryzbila is coming off of surgery ( we’ve been down that road), Mohammed is over rated, Dalembert is not going anywhere. There was nothing out there for us that would not require throwing out the baby with the bath water. Let’s see what Williams and Budinger do know along with Patterson and Hill knowing we are sitting on 4 1st round draft choices in June
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 9:37 AM CST up reply actions
I tend to agree with this, Mike
I admit to being one of those who overvalued those “assets”, partly due to how Morey himself hyped them up. He still has to share part of the blame because we did see the reports of him not offering enough for what he wants and asking too much for what he has. Nobody was going to get lowballed by him this time around and I think that had something to do with it.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
I'd rather him not get taken to the cleaners
Getting picks and potential for expiring contracts is better than getting smoked.
D Money is beast!!
stop hatin on genius elvis! he has a young team with quality players and a shit load of picks to hopefully find a star whether it be in the draft or trade the picks for a current star
houston as a whole has some crappy fans. few loyal and understanding fans. i’m glad i found thedreamshake. some people with a brain for sports are actually on here. thank you for the post mike
Would we prefer
that he be the guy that is getting written up in all the sports media for doing stupid trades, (yes Danny we are talking about you). Hell, Boston players are bitching!
danny is a fuckin idiot!
i understand trading perk. but also getting rid of erdan or whatever his name is for a 2nd round pick is retarded. you trade both your starting and back up center. wtf?!?!?!
This is wat bothers me
“All three (Deron, Melo, and Perkins) of those guys were traded for MUCH better trade packages than Morey would have been able to put together”
You going to back that up or not?
Because they were. The Williams deal really highlights this (two potential lottery picks, Favors, and a former all star PG). Perk was for a 6’9" Forward who plays the 3 and 4, gives them youth, and a nominal back up center to replace Perk. Melo was for 4 out of 5 Knicks Starters.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
all we had was a couple expiring contracts and older guys. withyoung talent but nothing thats a proven player like what those trades involved.
we are rebuilding and i like what morey is doing. he had a shit roster to begin with with crap salaries and he’s done pretty damn good
Consider this
Still don’t like the trades,but…
If the team knew it wasn’t going to re-sign Battier and Brooks and even declines Dragic’s option,the trade boils down to:
Ish Smith for Thabeet and TWO Firsts.
I'll back it up
The fact that we could not prepare a better package for Melo, Perkins, or D Will bothers me. It shows how “valuable” our asset really are and is a reflection of Moreys work. It’s just disappointing.
Reply button?
We all overvalued those assets and partly due to how much Morey hyped them up.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
With only one lottery pick to work with
and those teams had one pretty much every year I’d say we faired better than we should have.
I think it shows
how valuable other team’s assets are. The number 3 pick in the draft plus a young, previous all-star PG for Williams. Melo was going to NY regardless so we shouldn’t be talking about him. And Perkins was acquired for Jeff Green and the Clips 2012 unprotected 1st round pick. We didn’t have what it took to get those guys. And the main reason why is because Brooks, Buddinger and Hill all regressed this season. Not too sure why, but the combination of other people giving up much better assets and our assets not performing well put the Rockets at a disadvantage. Morey can’t control Brooks shooting less than 30% on the season after going for almost 20 points per game and 6 assists.
Are you really serious?
You know how NJ gets it’s assets? by making half of decade long worth terrible decision, You know how Knick got their “assests” by being damn terrible for more than a decade. Boston was stupid, but Jeff Green is highly regarded enough by them and 2 first round picks are what they need to add young talents(OKC happen to have them in abundance).
You really want to compare that to Rocket which were competitive 3 out of the past 5 years, and had one lottery pick.
You’re really comparing that?
Press the reply button!
It is how we know who you are trying to talk to.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
Because I'm capable of independent thought
it doesn’t bother me. Your concerns are grounded in the mindset that you are obviously overvaluing what we had as well if you think we could have gotten Melo, Perk, or Williams. All of those teams offered players that fit the situation those teams were in and of a better cut than what we had.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
morey is not a videogamer who makes the players go out and play the game
this team’s assets would have been much better highlighted if it weren’t for the injuries this season.
AB – if he hadn’t gone down, he would have been a much more valuable asset since he was probably going to be moved because of money issues anyway
Yao – if he hadn’t gone down, the likes of courtney lee, chase budinger, etc. would have got wide open looks throughout the season
besides that, every worthwhile player on our roster save scola (and perhaps lee) has missed games this season due to ankle injuries. perhaps we need to get those shoes checked out.
lastly, morey does not control RA’s rotations. we have lost a couple of games purely because RA didn’t put a hot player (i.e. Martin) back into the game early enough in the fourth quarter.
Its not like he could go out and say "our assets suck"
by Rocket94 on Feb 25, 2011 11:18 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
What's he supposed to say
we suck? If two years ago Boston went through what we did with Garnett and Pierce, they would be sucking right about now. Same with Kobe and Gasol. We gambled on Yao coming back. We are not even having this conversation now if he is healthy. But because this gamble failed, the role players around him, including Brooks who had a terrible year, cannot step up to do what Yao could do. We sacrificed some D for scoring but Yao in the middle would have helped tremendously. SO we are what we are. A young team with some guys with great talent and a chance to really put them to the test. At the end of the year we will see if RA is staying and we will have a solid appraisal of these young guys real potential.
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 9:58 AM CST up reply actions
Gotta keep in mind that
The GM is not the one teaching these guys how to improve their overall basketball skillsets. He did his job in getting young players with high ceilings onto the team, but between luck and coaching development or player motivation or whatever not all these guys have developed into the “valuable trade assets that we can use to get a star” that everyone hoped they would be.
If players like Bud and Hill would have progressed like we thought then Morey would have been able to put a much better looking offer together to try and get us a star.
Sally, will you meet me at the airport?
For the fans who are
crying about Morey, they should just be glad they aren’t Suns fans. Their GM gave up a pretty good back up PG and a 1st round pick for a 25 game rental of Aaron Brooks. Ouch.
not really a rental
if he plays well, they’ll have a chance to retain him since he’s an RFA
if he plays badly, they can just not make him the qualifying offer
I don't
think they will be looking to pay him starter money unless they are planning on getting rid of Steve Nash. Some team will offer him starter money so that’s why I say he is a rental.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 25, 2011 11:49 AM CST up reply actions
in the end it comes down to them, though
unlike a melo rental, where the rental period would have been used to convince him to become a full-time prospect
right now brooks is really the only guy on the depth chart for phoenix at PG, after nash. and if he plays well enough these next couple of weeks phoenix may even try to get him cheaper with an extension.
otherwise they’ll have to look at a sign and trade in the offseason.
He won't take an extension
He wants a new deal, starter money, and a chance to win.
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 10:00 AM CST up reply actions
depends on how he plays
if he finishes the year off sucking then he may not get a good deal
He sells his 1st round picks for cash, too
Almost every damn year. They could have won a couple titles with better ownership.
Don't throw in the towel on Thabeet.
He may be our center of the future. He’s raw, but he’s still an excellent shot blocker right now. If he can improve his defensive awareness, he’ll be a stud defensively. Offense is not an issue, and it may never be one.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Feb 25, 2011 11:37 AM CST via mobile reply actions
This, a million times over, this.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
I hope he atleast gets some PT this season
I know he was stuck behind Gasol and Randolph when they went small in Memphis, but I hope the same doesn’t happen here. he seems like an awful fit for Adelman’s passing big man offense, and I know there’s really no rush to get him on the floor, but I hope we can atleast see him play a bit this year.
I mean Morey made an excellent point
saying that its hard to find a guy at 7’2. And if he was a developed player, it would cost us significantly more to get him. Hes fully capable of becoming a serviceable center, hell remember Yao when he first started playing? All we had to do was give up Shane for the rest of the season? AND we might get him back (hopefully hes willing to come back) at the end of the season? Helluva deal.
you cant teach size
You can at least try to teach basketball. Unfortunately Thabeet is even less experienced in basketball than Jordan Hill
Yao scored 30 when he first started out and he’s know basketball all his life.
once again though, you still cant teach size, and he’s not injured.
I wonder if we take a flyer on Oden(we are trying to rehab busts anyways)
Not buying it
“hell remember Yao when he first started playing?”
You mean when Yao averaged 13.5 ppg, over 8 rebounds and shot 50% from the field??? Yeah I remember that?
I hope you weren’t trying to compare that to Hasheem Thabeet’s 1.2 ppg, 1 rebound and 43% shooting, because it’s not even close.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 12:39 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Can't agree strongly enough!
Remember when Shaq started out? He only averaged 23/game his first year. He didn’t hit 29 a game until after he had been in the league a full year! It’s the same with Thabeet!
He's
already our best shot blocker, let that sink in.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 25, 2011 11:50 AM CST up reply actions
seeing how he hasnt played a game here
That’s remarkable
I would be more scared if he was the same raw talent
with his only upside being an offensive game. Im glad he already has a defensive foundation, because that cannot be taught. Defense is a mindset, an aggressive approach to the game and most times cannot be instilled in a player at this level. An offensive game however, can come at ANY time in a career, IMO.
by theSpaceCityKid on Feb 25, 2011 3:48 PM CST up reply actions
oh right we traded shane...damn.
Still more physically intimidating than Chuck. No offense to Chuck.
have you even seen Chuck Hayes in person?
That guy is ripped
Goran is a good pickup
he impressed me last year in the playoffs, but Morey still did not get us that allstar he has been talking about since last offseason. Thabeet is a project at best, so now we have two projects going on with Hill and Thabeet. Everyone knew Boston wanted Battier, and even though Perkins offense is not that good, he is a champion and proven starter. So to see OKC come in and make the deal makes me wonder. And Portland already had a good young small forward and get Wallace. All the bobcats got was injury prone Pryz. So i guess we are all going to clutch our four leaf clovers and hope a good free agent signs with us. But I will say, and its a big if, if Yao can come back to finally play next year with this team, we will do damage in the playoffs. And if T Will plays like we all expect him too, Morey will once again look like a genuis.
by since86rocketsfan on Feb 25, 2011 12:02 PM CST reply actions
yao won't be back
He will never get more than 2 minutes at best. Give up on him folks.
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 10:03 AM CST up reply actions
If he felt that way
he would of retired. There is still a chance he will return, the question is if he will still be the same player. When Grant Hill got hurt with the Magic it was looking like he will never play again, but he has played several years now in a row without a reoccuring injury. Even McGrady looks way better after another year of rehabing his knee.
by since86rocketsfan on Feb 26, 2011 11:27 AM CST up reply actions
Chase is starting in practice
says Feigen. Interested to see how he’ll do with the starters. And I just realized that we’ll have 13 players if I’m not mistaken. If Carroll is the one that’s inactive (my money is on him) then that means everyone else has a chance to play.
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 12:04 PM CST reply actions
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
geez the starter defense just got worse
what he said /\
I think our starters should be:
C: Hayes/ Miller
PF: Scola/Pat
SF: Martin/Bud
SG: Lee/Twill
PG: Lowry/ Dragic
This is more balanced. Even though its a little smaller, but its what Adelman like to do.
I kind of like that, but I'm pretty sure
It cant happen
no way
Adelman can’t risk Martin playing the 3. You’ll see Lee go from the 1 to the 3. TWill can play the 2 through 4. We have flexibility, but we don’t exactly have a defensive stopper anymore. And why would Hayes start any of the next 25 games? Get Thabeet in there and get him some goddamn experience (and a snack).
TWill at the 4
is when I giggled. I do agree Thabeet needs plenty of burn (headaches as they may induce) and needs a snack or seven to beef up.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
Well its been said that Bud is starting...
And Yes! Play the youngsters…. Scola, Martin, Hayes and Miller should go on vacation already.
dude, you just can´t put all the inexperienced players
out there together…this isn´t the rec! Sure play the youngsters but it won´t help them in the long run just to go out there at the same time and have no idea what is going on. Ever heard of that thing called balance? They need playing time but playing time that resembles something of a real game.
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 2:12 PM CST up reply actions
Sometimes you need to throw them into the fire
if you’re going to cook. It’s on the coaching staff to make sure they learn and develop properly. It’s not like you’re just tossing them the ball and say “figure it out.”
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
So a starting 5 of
Lowry, Twill, Bud, PPat, and Thabeet is really gonna teach them something? Like actaully running the play that was drawn up by coach Sleepy, defensive rotations, and proper spacing.
BD, you know better than this.
Lowry is going to be expecting that TWill be setting the pick on the backside for PPat this is supposed to set up the back cut for Bud but TWill is gonna get all confused and PPat will then be thinking that his job is to free up Bud and then we will end up will something like TWill getting the ball somehow which will end up with an isolation play for TWill with like 5 seconds on the clock and will end with an over the back offensive foul on Thabeet after an off balance fade away jumper.
I am saying play the guys like 20-25 minutes but still have Hayes and Martin and Scola out there at various times so that they can do some on the job training.
I may not have said that all that eloquently but you get what I am saying.
I would never complain about having Lowry, TWill, Martin, Scola and Thabeet out there at the same time for extended minutes since we want to get them some experience OR having Lowry, Lee, TWill, PPat and Hayes out there getting some extended minutes. You know what I am saying.
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 2:37 PM CST up reply actions
Martin at the 3?
Pfff
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Feb 25, 2011 2:23 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Shane is not coming back folks
He wants to play for a contender not a rebuilding team
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 10:07 AM CST up reply actions
Shane fit in the Yao
McGrady era, but not this one. People may want him back, but with this roster we dont need him.
by since86rocketsfan on Feb 26, 2011 11:29 AM CST up reply actions
Yes Chase has played well
of late, but after T Will gets in the rotation and get minutes regularlly , he will be the starter.
by since86rocketsfan on Feb 25, 2011 12:09 PM CST reply actions
+1
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Feb 25, 2011 2:24 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
You failed to mention a couple of things
Let’s start with the obvious, which I haven’t heard brought up at all. A little over a year ago the Knicks had the highest payroll in the league, with a bunch of overpaid, never acheivers, and very little options for the future. They traded a bunch of those bad contracts to Tracey McGrady and his expiring contract and a year later they have Amare Stoudamire, Carmelo Anthony, and Chauncy Billups on their team. Like you wrote above, NO ONE, except a few homers, thinks the players we got from New York in the trade have ANY value, yet there they sit on the Rockets bench as we miss the playoffs again.
Also. Mr Morey made the trade for K-Mart (not even an original nickname), and gave up Carl Landry, the Rockets were the #5 seed in the west at the time. We quickly dropped out of playoff contention and haven’t been close to being in contention again since.
Plus, a year and a half after Yao went out with an injury, we still have a 6’6" starting center. And now, after all the talk about possible trades for Gerald Wallace, Kendrick Perkins and even Carmelo, we land a 7’3" guy who local sportscasters in Memphis said “stinks”, before the trade was even made, who even you admit in the article, will not play. Who do we give up for the honor of having a new 12th man on the bench? Our most reliable player.
Yeah, trust in Daryl, maybe someday he’ll stop using the Yao and McGrady excuse and actually move the team forward. I have a feeling he’ll be long gone before that happens though.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 12:27 PM CST reply actions
?
Can’t think on your own? Go ahead and show me where I’m wrong in anything I wrote there. Keep repeating “Trust in Daryl”, you’ll fit in perfect here.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 1:12 PM CST up reply actions
What you so angry for, fella?
Carl Landry for Kevim Martin was easily a great trade for us. Landry began getting totally shut down once teams started to pay attention to him. He was at his highest trade value he ever would be, and we got a very good player out of it. We got Hasheem to give him a try…he could be a steal. Who knows? Chill, my man.
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 5:22 PM CST up reply actions
Hmmm...
Have you read any of the replies to my post? This is my first day and last day on here and so far no one has refuted anything I’ve said but everyone has said I was wrong. So, please, instead of just a personal attack there, why not use to characters to explain how that was easily a great trade for us? Explain to me how, on the day the Rockets traded for Kevin Martin they were the #5 seed in the west, and fell out of playoff contention as he shot 39% for the rest of the season?
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:27 PM CST up reply actions
Personal attack? I asked you why you were so angry....
And I’ve read every single response to your post. My refute, i suppose, is what are you getting at? Are you saying Carl Landry wouldve kept us there? And, granted my memory is not perfect, so don’t attack me for this, but weren’t we only a few games above 500 at that time? If were number 5 right then, then the West must have been a bit weak at the time. Without a legit big, we can’t compete. Carl Landry was not the answer, and going from a decent PF who backed us up, to a good SG is my idea of a good idea…
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 6:42 PM CST up reply actions
Yep
Trying to put me on the defensive is not a personal attack??? Really? I don’t know if Carl Landry could keep us there but I do know we WERE THERE until that trade was made. Why do you think they would have fallen out of contention otherwise? It’s your opinion, but it’s not backed by fact. We WERE THERE, that is a fact.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:45 PM CST up reply actions
I wasn't trying to put you on the defensive, man.
You seemed very angry. You still seem angry and hostile. I don’t know why. I ask questions. It’s what I do. I think we feel because for a good chunk in the beginning of the season, teams didn’t take us seriously. However, we began to slowly fall out as the season went on. And I personally believe we didn’t make the playoffs due to a lack of talent and size. You build a team around a foundation, and when the foundation falls, just do what you can to pick up the pieces and move on. So, out of curiousity, what would you do as GM to keep us in the playoff hunt? And if you say pick up a superstar, you are overestimating the allure of Houston and the assets we currently have.
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 6:51 PM CST up reply actions
That's a hard question
There has been a bad history with our team due to bad trades and bad contracts going back about 15 years. But Steve Patterson built those teams. Before he became GM, Carrol Dawson was an asst coach, before he was an asst coach he worked under Rudy T as a scouting asst. CD hired Daryl Morey and was his mentor for a long time before handing over the reins. That, to me, is obvious.
I keep hearing that players don’t want to come to Houston, but how do you explain that when the NBA listed their 50 greatest players of all time, the number of Rockets on that list? We’ve always had great players. What is the allure of Boston? The cold winters?
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:58 PM CST up reply actions
But who of our greats, came here out of want to be in Houston?
Rick Barry-traded in his twilight years for John Lucas
Clyde Drexler-wanted to play for a contender. We happened to be a contender at the time.
Elvin Hayer-We drafted him. He was gone two years later
Moses Malone-got shipped here in his first season. Left a few years later
Hakeem!!!-We drafted him.
None of them really forced the issue to come play in Houston from somewhere else
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 7:10 PM CST up reply actions
Which injuries are you talking about???
We were the #5 seed WITHOUT McGrady or Yao. They were already gone. Go ahead and attack me. I remember the actual history, not whatever fantasy world you live in. Don’t believe me? Look it up genius.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 1:05 PM CST up reply actions
em I think your memory is a bit faulty on that
We didnt lose both until last year
The problem is
that you can look up my facts. Last year, Tracy was on the bench because they didn’t want to play him and Yao was out for the ENTIRE season. They were both gone when the Rockets traded Carl Landry for Kevin Martin. The day they made that trade, the Rockets were the #5 seed in the west. Those are facts buddy, not my memory, not your memory, those are verifiable facts you can look up. I suggest you do before criticizing someone else’s memory.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 2:22 PM CST up reply actions
oh, I though you mean at the end
dont be ridiculous, that “5 seed” meant very little since at the time there were 8 teams within 3 games of one another and the seedings were in constant flux, not to mention Carl Landry was getting deny the ball down the strech for a while since the scouting/film review got in
Oh I see
So Kevin Martin shooting 39% had nothing to do with it? I guess because you say so, the #5 seed mean’t nothing. Not sure I follow your logic but I guess it makes sense to you.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:29 PM CST up reply actions
I meant that 5 seed during that day
could’ve easily been a 6,7,8 even outside looking a day later in during that time, because so many teams have such similar record.
Martin shot 43% when he was with the rockets
Yeah
But it was the #5 seed. Not the 6,7,8th or what are we currently? the 10th?
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:40 PM CST up reply actions
boy you are really focused on the present
did you honestly see that same team being the 5th seed this year?
You have any idea how to find our record at that moment he was traded?
Bc the number five seed is currently 34-25. I don’t remember us being that high
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 6:45 PM CST up reply actions
That would put us in the tenth spot right now....
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 6:53 PM CST up reply actions
Right
You do understand that every year is different? Last year it was the 5th spot.
Think along these lines, The last time the Knicks went to the NBA finals they were an 8th seed with a sub 500 record for the season. Yeah, that wouldn’t happen this year because things change. The Celtics are better, the Magic are better, Miami is better. They went to the finals because each year is different.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 7:01 PM CST up reply actions
right, but you're assuming that we could get a high profile guy like Amare
good teams got better this year, bad teams got better this year, so why were you hinged on the fact that we were a 5 seed team?
I understand every year is different.
But you should really go by our actual record..not by our playoff spot. Our spot in the playoffs is far more indicative of the state of the Conference than our own play
"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 25, 2011 7:11 PM CST up reply actions
You missed my point
All along my point has been that we didn’t need to trade McGrady’s contract. Their relationship was in bad shape by then and I know they wanted him off the team, but by trading him for all thse New York contracts, we helped him and saddled our own team with players no one else wants. New York took that money and used it to bring in Amare Stoudamire as a free agent. Why couldn’t we have done that? There was a lot of movement last year in the offseason, but unless you could pay someone the max (about 106mil), you weren’t going to get them. We couldn’t go anywhere near that.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:50 PM CST up reply actions
what would you have done if you were Amare
Knowing that LBJ Bosh Wade are already decided to be at south beach. Knowing that other free agents will want to form super teams to beat that team, knowing that NYK was the only team with the cap room to fit 3 stars, knowing that Carmelo was dead set on NYC.
what would you have done
plus even if we had let T-mac's deal simply expire
We still would only had room for him, the one star,
remember that he was signed without bird rights, remember that we tried to get him before the deadline
I don't see it that way
New York had to make room for Carmelo and Billups with a lot of trades this year. Amare went there because they gave him a 106 million dollar contract.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 7:03 PM CST up reply actions
room that they had previously to sign high profile free agents
like Felton, who have far more value than just room
no, not exactly
Felton alone wouldnt make that deal. They traded what little support they had for Billups and Melo, They now have 3 guys that are the team. How can they get that 3rd guy now? What happens if Chauncey god forbid gets injured, on a shallow team like that, how many minute will he be forced to play? Boston at least had Perk, Baby, and Rondo, the Miami 3 took pay cuts for flexibility, not the same for NYC
Well I cant stop you for thinking the management suck
I can say you’re wrong and bring up counter points, but I’m not gonna try.
Please continue thinking that as you miserably root for the team, if you want us to employ the NYK strategy, then please prepare yourself for a decade long playoff drought for the slim chance that we can have no money committed at all just when 4 all-stars enter FA
whether we trust Morey or not means nothing, in the end, unless he makes a move that utterly destroys the team and piss off Les, he’ll be our GM(hell even if he did, he might still be here, look at Kahn)
Cartoon?
If you’re over 12 years old then you are a joke buddy.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 2:23 PM CST up reply actions
I should ban you just for that
talk about having your finger on the pulse being jammed straight up your ass…
Ohhh, Jesus Christ!
All right, later dudes. S you in your A’s, don’t wear a C, and J all over your B’s.
by hornedfrogrocket on Feb 25, 2011 2:39 PM CST up reply actions
Uhm, okay.
You REALLY should take that finger out of your ass.
by typhoon.infamous on Feb 25, 2011 8:32 PM CST up reply actions
Wo, you seem like a dick
"You can spend minutes, hours, days weeks or even months overanalyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what would’ve, could’ve happened – or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the **** on."
-Tupac Amaru Shakur
by NetsMets4Life on Feb 26, 2011 12:25 PM CST up reply actions
May I suggest you read over
Any of my comments in this thread or in the write up I did after the trade deadline? Most of your fears are covered there.
For your educational experience, here is a direct link.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
I see
Where did you address the McGrady trade??? I don’t see that in there. You know, the trade that allowed New York to become a championship contender in 1 year while we took on their bad contracts? Priceless??? Really?
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 1:10 PM CST up reply actions
So you're saying
because we took a gamble on Yao’s health we’re inherently a bad team? Out of a busted McGrady we got Kevin Martin, draft picks, Jordan Hill (Still has potential), and a chance to really give it a go. Unfortunately the contingent factor of Yao failed. New York is a city that free agents want to be in, which inherently your conclusion assumes that all teams have equal pull, and they don’t. We took on Jeffries because we wanted Hill, the picks, and the third team (Sacramento) to give up what we wanted, it’s called the cost of doing business. We didn’t do any favors for them since they were willing to give it all up if we took Jeffries and they had what we wanted. Unless everything you’ve ever received in life has been free, then I fail to see your point.
So, in short, you’re conclusions are wrong because your premise is flawed. Also, if you’re assuming New York is a contender, let me know how it all pans out because that roster is gutted and when they have a chance to “go after Chris Paul” they’ll have 2 players on the books at 40 million and will have a minimum of 10 more players to fetch with a max of 20 million or so IF the NBA is generous.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
Keep it simple.
gg:
So if you’re GM, Rockets don’t make that trade. So as of today, we wouldn’t have Martin, Hill, and a 1st-round pick.
In there place, we’re got Landry on an expiring deal, Joey Dorsey, and a bit more money from Martin/Jeffries deal to sign a free agent. Let’s say about $12mil. For that kind of money, we could have signed a real stud like John Salmons, or maybe Richard Jefferson. Even David Lee (who is not worth the money) makes more than that.
So, you replace Martin, Hill, and a first-round pick on this team with Landry, John Salmons, and Joey Dorsey. You somehow think that team is a contender?
That reply shouldn't have been to me
Since I am in favor of what Morey has done even though I rode him hard.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
OK, OK
The reply police are getting a bit overboard.
I thought it was a follow-up to your point.
“Since I am in favor of what Morey has done even though I rode him hard.” isn’t a sentence. And it ain’t free verse either.
It's a continuation
from the title.
If you’re following up my point, just say so man, instead it makes it look like you somehow construed what I said as the exact opposite of what was said.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
Will you just quit responding?
This would have ended quickly.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
Arguing about responses in a series of responses?
So meta.
All right, later dudes. S you in your A’s, don’t wear a C, and J all over your B’s.
by hornedfrogrocket on Feb 25, 2011 2:08 PM CST up reply actions
Nope
Where did I say WE were inherently a bad team??? When the NBA listed their top 50 players of all time, did you notice how many of them spent time as Houston Rockets? So, no NBA players want to play in Houston? Have you ever been to Fonde in the summer? Nobody wants to play in Houston but for some reason The Spurs don’t seem to have that problem?
And yes, New York is in the East. They ARE a contender, whether you want to admit it or not.
My conclusions aren’t wrong. You just have a closed mind. Keep making excuses for Morey. Maybe 30 years from now he’ll have as many Championships as Jerry Sloan did in Utah. That’s where we’re headed.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 2:29 PM CST up reply actions
The Spurs don't have that problem because
Their 3 best players are foreign born. Most foreign born athletes believe in being loyal to the first team to get them.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
Who would you rather have than GMDM?
Be realistic
by basketball is cool on Feb 25, 2011 2:32 PM CST up reply actions
Well
My point is that people always made excuses for Sloan too. How did that work for their team?
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:31 PM CST up reply actions
New York
Still isn’t a championship contender, so I don’t know where you get the whole “trade that allowed New York to become a championship contender in 1 year” bs.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 25, 2011 2:57 PM CST up reply actions
Because it's true
The East is the east. Last time New York made it to the finals they were the #8 seed. With Carmelo, Stoudamire, and Billups they will be at minimum the 4 seed. That makes them a contender. I don’t think they’ll get by Boston, but I think they will have a good shot at Miami if they play them in the conference finals.
And they wouldn’t have been able to get any of those players without McGrady’s cap space, I don’t know why you think that’s bs unless you don’t understand the NBA salary cap and luxury cap. If you feel different, then please explain why you don’t think that’s true instead instead of just calling it bs.
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:37 PM CST up reply actions
LOL
Ok well NY has no defense whatsoever, yes they will make the playoffs as the 5 or 6 seed because the East is not a deep conference, but they have zero chance of beating any of the top 4 teams or any team that makes it out of the West. That makes them not a contender. They traded their whole future away for a move that still won’t allow them to win, awesome. I sure wish we could be those guys….
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 25, 2011 10:16 PM CST up reply actions
They may be the #4 seed
But they have no chance of winning. They have no depth and Melo and Amare will conflict with each other, Billups is not that good anymore. Their defense got totally worse and their scoring marginally better seeing what they gave up for it. Dolan took a huge gamble here. McGrady was also poison in the locker room and had to go. Hill was a bit of a gamble, Jefferies was the price of dumping the poison. Martin for Landry is a trade I do every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Does anyone really think without Yao last year we go all the way? And for all of you Landry lovers, he might be back.
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 10:26 AM CST up reply actions
I posit this...
Someone made a great fanpost a year or so ago with this question:
Is there ANY player who has done better after Morey traded/cut him than before? Even Carl Landry has seen his career stall out post-trade. Morey hasn’t given away anything of value to date. Not one player. There’s something to be said for that.
Even?
Landry is the posterboy for that idea.
The only counter to your point I cant think of is Nicolas Batum. He’s been better than what we got in return, and he was traded before he actually played in the league.
I don't see how anyone could possibly compare Morey hate to Matt Schaub hate.
Not even remotely comparable situations, at all. And when the fuck was Matt Schaub ever infallible? I don’t remember that…
It would be you that points that out.
"KUBIAK FUCKING SUCKS. BOB MCNAIR SUCKS. THE TEXANS SUCKS.
-90% of the Texans blogosphere-
I wasn't even gonna respond to him again, that guy is silly.
I just don’t see how you possibly came to the conclusion that those two situations are at all similar.
We'll be fine
i for one think Thabeet will be a solid center for years to come once he gets significant PT. Yes he is very raw but one thing he CAN do is block shots and at least play a similar role like Dikembe did for us. If Kobe called Hakeem for post lessons then Thabeet should have dream’s number on speed dial.
One summer working with Hakeem and Thabeet might even develop a good post offense which is just icing on the cake.
To get thabeet and dragic for what we got plus 1st rd picks is a great, although not flashy, move. Read on ESPN, most writers are giving Morey’s trade an A or B…
On a side note
gotta laugh at what is going on with the Pistons. T Mac came up with a fake reason to miss a practice? No way…I can’t believe it. Funny how he shows up there and all of their players decide they want a revolution.
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 1:54 PM CST reply actions
people need to cut thabeet some slack
he was drafted high purely because of his height and potential, not because he was nba-ready. memphis obviously thought they were going to get an nba-ready seven-footer which is why when he didn’t pan out as such they relegated him to the bench. similar to the darko milicic situation.
the rockets have had good history with developing centers and since we are more or less out of the postseason, we can take the time to develop him without giving up a playoff spot. the guy is young and doesn’t have a lot of basketball experience. add to that the fact that many/most centers take a few years to get their bearings in the NBA.
i’m optimistic about this kid. he may well turn into another darko-like bust, but i can’t wait to see what sikma and perhaps hakeem can get out of him. i mean, if we were able to make jordan hill an acceptable low post player in one off-season, i don’t know why we can’t pull off something similar with hasheem
And let's be honest
Thabeet wasn’t given much of a chance. Averaged 13 minutes a game. And I looked at his numbers from when he did start, and he rebounded and blocked shots. I just think it’s more of a lack of development on the Grizzlies part. Or maybe Thabeet doesn’t have a strong desire (seems like a lot of analysts have said that). Either way I like his chances here to become a defensive presence.
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 2:03 PM CST up reply actions
truth
The Grizzlies have been right on the cusp of the playoffs for two years now… and they decided they had no time to give minutes to Thabeet when they already had Gasol. It makes sense in that regard.
Thabeet could be sneaky good and we’d never know because Memphis buried him behind a stack of 6’10" and taller players.
I mean at first I just kinda chuckled at Thabeet yesterday
but if people just go and look at the stats from his first year..games that he started, It was what you would expect from a big rookie. Inconsistent from game to game, but he did rebound and block shots. I’m actually started to feel really good about this if they can get him to work hard. He started twice against us his rookie year and I remember thinking that he wasn’t just some stiff. The potential is there
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 2:12 PM CST up reply actions
he had 3.6 blocks per 36 minutes his rookie season
bogut, the league leader in blocks this year, is averaging 2.9 blocks per 36 minutes
of course, thabeet also averaged 6.6 fouls in that timespan. :D
i see the same kind of frustration/inconsistency with thabeet as jordan hill. like jordan hill, i expect him to improve. how much he improves comes down to his attitude and the coaching.
First team defense
Lee pg , Martin sg ,Patterson sf, scolo pf, Thabeet, C, would have said hill at pf but you all would have kill me. lowry twill chase scolo hayes, scolo for second teams go to guy
What's with people being so pessimistic towards Morey...
He’s a fantastic GM. He failed to get a star, boohoo. Grow up and learn that these trades were for the future.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Feb 25, 2011 2:28 PM CST via mobile reply actions
Almost no one on this board can hold their stance on any subject
Flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop
by basketball is cool on Feb 25, 2011 2:30 PM CST up reply actions
I basically agree with your assertion here
But Mike, please explain to me why we couldn’t have been the ones that traded for Perkins? They wanted Battier, we definitely wanted Perkins. Why wasn’t this able to happen?
by basketball is cool on Feb 25, 2011 2:28 PM CST reply actions
I am not Mike
but maybe it was because they could get some size back…we don´t have very much size and especially any that we can trade away. Just a thought.
Hope it was alright to jump in:-)
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 2:42 PM CST up reply actions
presumably because they knew they were going to be dealing erden and harrangody
and needed some size.
honestly, i’m still trying to understand why they pulled that trade.
Perkins was a broke gamble
We just got through with Yao did we want to do it again? They wanted more than just Shane and Perkins is not worth it
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 10:32 AM CST up reply actions
One more point
For all of you assholes criticizing Daryl Morey today……..
would you really prefer that Carroll Dawson still be the GM?
shudder***
Is that the only 2 choices you can think of?
Steve Patterson built those Rocket Championship teams
by guitargeorge1964 on Feb 25, 2011 6:38 PM CST up reply actions
I really think Thabeet needs to be put in the fire right away...i don't care if we make the
playoffs this year or not…i want our young players to develop and learn from their mistakes RIGHT NOW! Otherwise, if they rot on the bench, next year will be a new learning process all over again…at least they have something under their belts going into next year. I really want Thabeet to play like 20-30 minutes asap…he’ll get into shape by playing like this in the process. I am only expecting him to compete hard and swipe every rebound in addition to clogging up the paint. I am not expecting anything more from him at this point. I like his potential and the guidance of the Rockets should help him alot. Caroll Dawson is gonna have a challenge on his hands, but it will be rewarding if he can pull it off.
I like what Darryl did considering our circumstances…just remember, this summer will have quite a few players available and i think we will be even more successful once the CBA gets more definitive with our assets and picks.
All i know is that we got a 7 FOOT 3 DUDE!! HA HA HA!! CLOG THAT MIDDLE BABY!! We finally got some SIZE!
yeah, what he just said!
If these trades were made for the future, then guess what, the future starts tomorrow night baby!
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 2:44 PM CST up reply actions
I just don't buy the crap that the young players have to wait and learn from the vets...we are not
getting it done as a team, so lets play our young guys and see what happens…they need to learn on the job right now! If TWill doesn’t get pt, he is basically a rookie all over again next year even if it technically isn’t.
by inquisitiveman on Feb 25, 2011 2:48 PM CST up reply actions
man I was agreeing with you whole-heartedly!
Let´s play Thabeet 30 minutes tomorrow…he is the future (at least that´s what Morey was saying yesterday as he made that trade cause Thabeet is not a trade to set up another trade in my book).
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 2:54 PM CST up reply actions
we need to play him and get a feel of his tendencies, feel for game, weaknesses in situations, etc. and go
from there. I really think we should scale down the minutes for Scola and Martin. We already know their game and what they can do, but there are others who we don’t know much of like TWilly..
by inquisitiveman on Feb 25, 2011 2:57 PM CST up reply actions
I have said it in two posts now
Play the younger guys…play Thabeet 35 minutes if you like, but he better be out there with at least Scola and Martin or Lowry and Hayes because it will help him understand the flow of a real NBA game. At least that makes sense to me.
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 3:02 PM CST up reply actions
Adelman's the non-accomodator
He doesn’t want to be here for a rebuilding effort.
He’s here to win as many games as possible, using a plug and play approach.
Adelman is not here to develop young raw players, instead only to coach those who are complete and ready with plenty of experience. Some of that has to do with his age and impatience to tolerate watching rookies mess with his system, and then some of it stems from the organization’s inability to bring in the type of guys Adelman and his staff can really work with.
by Nobody is Better Than Jordan on Feb 25, 2011 11:37 PM CST up reply actions
oh wait I get it now
you were replying to my above (way above) statement I think.
Playing time without some type of real time game flow is nothing but garbage time like at the end of games. Play the young guys more minutes than the veterans…I am fine by that but I believe it is better for the younger guys to be able to see what mistakes they are making and why.
For instance if TWILL is the only one out of position then it will be pretty obvious who is out of position and why. If you have 4 or 5 rookies out there running into each other then what good does that do?
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 25, 2011 3:00 PM CST up reply actions
going by RA's comments from practice today
dragic will be getting minutes immediately, t-will is gonna get some PT and thabeet is probably not going to get into the rotation until this road trip is over
but then again, adelman has lied to the media in the past
Thabeet needs minutes....
If he sucks so be it, but we have to KNOW. Let’s find out asap if the dude can cut it.
by albertchester on Feb 25, 2011 6:42 PM CST up reply actions
I'm hoping they give him playing time, but ...
I don’t want him to get discouraged in his failures, ya know.
He’s young and had very early taste of success through college with lots of hype but in the Association, homeboy’s still looking like a rookie. Sure, he’s raw young talent. But there’s some psychological barriers that need to be overcome with this kid. Think of it like unlocking the door to access the room that holds all of his potential then see if they can tap into that on a regular basis and get him to want to improve.
by Nobody is Better Than Jordan on Feb 25, 2011 11:50 PM CST up reply actions
You don't throw a player
who is not in shape into the game for 30 minutes, that’s how they get injured, especially the big guys. 1st he needs to learn the plays, then he needs to practice. That will take a little time. I am excited about his potential. Like someone else pointed out he is a least a 6 foul center against a good post up center. He definitely can reject some shit. If he works out, Morey is a genius, I still expect to go after a big or a shooter in the draft, if we don’t trade them all way for someone like Howard.
by mjdinhouston on Feb 26, 2011 10:38 AM CST up reply actions
This might seem like a stupid question
but does Thabeet play this season? Do they just get him work through practice or send him to the D League? (Is the d league still playing? I have no idea)
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 3:51 PM CST reply actions
Looks as though Terrence will be in the rotation now.
If you guys haven’t seen the video on Rockets.com with T-Will, it looks like he will be in the rotation. He and Rick had a conversation with Rick telling Terrence what he needs to do, so that’s an obvious sign that he’ll get some PT.
Looks like his attitude has changed too. He’s acting more professional. Or at least he was in the interview. I don’t think he’ll be blowing up on twitter anymore.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
Do you think
they were trying not to showcase him in an effort to keep him off the market at the deadline? Now that its past its all TWIll all the time?
by theSpaceCityKid on Feb 25, 2011 4:03 PM CST up reply actions
dont think so, cuz then he would probably have stepped into the starting role
i honestly think it was because we were too deep and RA didnt’ trust him. now he doesn’t really have a choice except to play an undersized guy (c-lee) at the 3.
I know its a college highlight reel but I feel like its all we have to go by still
and this dude has got some bad swats, not to mention for only being 3 ro 4 inches shorter than Yao he is 100X more athletic than him.
by theSpaceCityKid on Feb 25, 2011 4:22 PM CST reply actions
you forget 1000x more raw
“look at him dunking over 6-8 centers, blocking out of control driving guards, he’s awesome”
Lets see him against NBA talent
Though Thabeet’s height make him at least project worthy, too bad he cant be assigned to the D-league again
Thabeet is worthless
He obviously doesnt care about playing basketball all that much. The draft picks are all morey wanted. We got two picks for nothing. AB and Shane weren’t going to be rockets next year and we weren’t going to the playoffs, so we lose NOTHING.
Thabeet and dragic were throw ins. If you think either one is a part of the future then you’re nuts. Thabeet might not play 1 minute the rest of this year. No need to get excited, he is worthless. I hope the sane people understand
by AllenOU on Feb 25, 2011 4:29 PM CST via mobile reply actions
i think ur wrong
only time will tell but i don’t think thabeet will turn out to be the bust you think he is…
Definitely not worthless
this is certainly an exaggeration. He’s not the next Hakeem and he may be only a fringe backup center, but the guy isn’t worthless.
So he got them just for kicks?
Get real. He obviously thinks Thabeet has a chance, and Dragic will be the backup point guard. He didn’t do these deals for 2 picks later in the first round.
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 4:46 PM CST up reply actions
As far as the future is concerned yes he did
And thabeet is ALREADY a bust, otherwise a team wouldnt trade a 7’3 2nd overall pick
by AllenOU on Feb 25, 2011 4:51 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
And for the record
I hope I’m 100% wrong
by AllenOU on Feb 25, 2011 4:51 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Memphis always makes good decisions with their trades right?
Nobody is saying Thabeet is going to be the next Dream. Can become a big that adds depth to a team. Gives you rebounds and shot blocking. He’s still very raw, could become what we thought Jordan Hill would be.
by twinkilling0303 on Feb 25, 2011 5:37 PM CST up reply actions
The thing is ...
MEMPHIS was the one who traded him. Do you think they have any ability to develop a 7’3" center? Honestly. Look, he’s not the next Hakeem or anything like that, but he has a more defensive-mindset, something that we desperately need.
by typhoon.infamous on Feb 25, 2011 8:39 PM CST up reply actions
No worries about your hopes about being 100% wrong
He’s been in the league for only a year and a half and he was buried under the depth chart in Memphis. With playing time and some coaching/direction he could turn it around. Plenty of players changed venue only to become super relevant as well (Sup Chauncey Billups, Jermaine O’Neal, and Rasheed Wallace?).
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
I don´t think the Rox picked him up to be the starter
for the next 10 years. I am sure that we will end up seeing Thabeet backing up the next starting center we aquire (which hopefully will be a 10 year starter).
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 26, 2011 1:46 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed…
… Why would Morey make the Thabeet deal if he thought the guy had no chance and was a complete stiff? For the draft pick?
The team could have bought that pick for cash a lot cheaper than the 6 million dollars Thabeet is gonna cost them in salary…
I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...
by steeler-hater on Feb 25, 2011 10:31 PM CST up reply actions
it's not to the trash
we still need bodies on the court
He's not worthless
he is the most talented shot blocker on our roster. With some refinement I could easily see him being the best true C on our roster (Chuck Hayes is not really a C) till we find something better.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 25, 2011 5:55 PM CST up reply actions
Jared Jeffries bought out!!!
Buh bye
by AllenOU on Feb 25, 2011 5:01 PM CST via mobile reply actions
Nobody knew Deron Williams was on the trading block. Dont feel bad about that.
"You can spend minutes, hours, days weeks or even months overanalyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what would’ve, could’ve happened – or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the **** on."
-Tupac Amaru Shakur
But Daryl Morey is terrible he through those pick 6s and he isn't an elite QB
Wait what site am I on?
If you're a fan of basketball, watch a movie called Sonicsgate. It's free, just google it.
Keep in mind that Thabeet has only been playing basketball for like
8 yrs. He will need some time to develop with the right development staff. We have nothing to lose.
The trouble with having the hyped up rep that DM has is that…
… you need to continue to “top” yourself all the time.
It’s like being Houdini. Once you do the milk can escape, nobody wants to see you do just card tricks anymore. You have to keep topping yourself or people will say you aren’t any good anymore. Morey gets the better end of some deals in the past and the press hypes him up and soon so does the fans. Now the pressure is really on for him to outdo himself or else people will think he’s just been lucky instead of good.
People need to quit over-hyping this guy so much and accept the fact he is just an excellent NBA GM, not the Second Coming.
That way, you won’t be so disappointed when miracles don’t always happen….
I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...
by steeler-hater on Feb 25, 2011 10:12 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
kwame-for-pau trade myth
fyi, here is a more realistic view of the pau trade:
pau and a 2nd rounder for marc gasol, kwame brown’s expiring contract, 1st round pick that turned in darrell arthur, 1st round pick that turned into grevis, and jarvaris crittenton
essentially 4 1st round picks and an expiring contract
and the expiring contract freed up the cap space to trade for zbo in a lopsided salary trade………..so instead of kwame, think half of zach randolph (who is single handedly keeping the griz in the playoff race)
like all 1st round picks, especially mid-to-late ones, there are no guarantees……just like the 2 picks the rockets just got here might
but marc gasol has proven to be an above average center and one that Daryl Morey would have traded quite a bit to get……
but I guess saying kwame for pau makes your point better than saying marc gasol, 3 first round prospects and half of zach randolph for pau
but the point in this ¨trade myth¨ is that
the Lakers knew what they were getting (and Mephis knew what they were getting rid of)! How many GM´s trade Amare away right now for the same deal that Memphis got? Umm, not too many. I am sure one of the reasons that the Rox didn´t trade away Lee for whatever and a first rounder is because you are never assured to get anything of value back.
You can talk about Myth´s all you want but that trade did nothing but put every team in the league behind the 8ball. In other words it left ALMOST every other team in the NBA looking up for 5 or 6 years (from date of trade) and is probably a real factor to consider when thinking about why all of a sudden do multiple superstars want to team up…probably so they have a chance at a ring.
The Lakers have been in the finals every year since that trade…how is this trade a myth?
Hopefully San Antonio can come through this year and laugh at all those super teams!
by 4theluvofthegame on Feb 26, 2011 2:06 PM CST up reply actions
3 first rounder from the lakers
might as well be second rounder
The Thabeet deal is what is known as “taking a flyer”…
… The team is willing to take a chance on a guy who hasn’t panned out yet. Since the Rockets are obviously rebuilding, what’s it gonna hurt to put this guy out there and see if playing time and better coaching might make him live up to the talent he showed in college?
Sure, the team may lose some extra games this season and next but that’s part of the rebuilding process. The trouble is that most fans don’t have the patience to wait for rebuilding.
All this bitching now is gonna look damn stupid later if this guy becomes a decent player down the road.
And if he doesn’t? So it cost a billionaire 6 million dollars to pay this guy? So what? He is so rich he’ll never miss it. He’ll just go out and spend more money on someone else.
I say let the coaches do their job and work on this guy. Hopefully they won’t let him rot on the bench. Even if he fouls out in every game, he’s never getting better riding the pine. He needs to be out there and learn by playing. I remember Hakeem used to foul out a lot when he was a young player. But after a while he learned how to stay on the court.
Maybe this guy can learn, too. Just let’s give him an honest chance…
I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...
my only problem with Morey's deals
I can’t get that damned “we got Thabeet” song out of my head
I think DM started off with the plan to upgrade the starters by getting a veteran center like Nene or Perkins
but when teams refused to bite and really two things hurt us—our losing season and the fact that there was so much player movement, how can we compete?
So when nothing was going down, he decided it was time to turn to the back-up plan which was to start rebuilding. And for that, we need to get younger and trade the veterans to get the bigs we need as well as picks.
In that situation, I think DM has done creditably.
Chron reports the players felt bad about the trades. They should really feel bad that the lack of interest in them mean we are a very mediocre team. Their bad performance has hurt the organization big-time. They should not point fingers but look at themselves.
Interesting that Lowry said he will campaign to get Shane back. But silent about AB. Haha Rockets, admit the truth. We need to start looking to the future.
by RoxBeliever on Feb 26, 2011 2:00 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
If the Rockets re-sign Shane
I honestly only want to see it in that waning years of Sam Cassell’s role. Be on the court little, spend more of your time leading/coaching. I don’t think Shane has a place on a rebuilding team outside of that role.
In the garage, I feel safe.
No one cares about my ways.
In the garage where I belong.
No one hears me sing this song.
In the garage.
-Weezer-
Yep..exactly..the reality is that any contending team will offer him a chance for a ring
to play for them next season, so i don’t see him coming back, but i wouldn’t mind him returning here as a mentor.
by inquisitiveman on Feb 26, 2011 9:35 AM CST up reply actions
REC'd
The players blew Moreys chances of pulling off something great the most. If AB had just had a decent year with flashes of the great progress he made last year, if Budinger would have taken just a half of a step in his sophomore campaign and same with Jordan Hill, we would have been in a MUCH better position come the deadline.
by theSpaceCityKid on Feb 28, 2011 7:05 AM CST up reply actions
Anyone hear the interview he had on local radio yesterday?
He is such a professional…just a really great guy..he praised the Rockets and all their players. He also said that he will help Grizz to make playoffs so we squash any rumor about buyout. A funny thing he said was about sitting by his computer on some rumor website and nervously/anxiously pacing around his house and refreshing the screen on his browser to see if he was still with the Rockets. He said that he kept clickin on that refresh browser every few minutes and thought he was safe until 1:55 CST…he clicked it for the last time and it said “Battier to Memphis”. He also said that Houston will always be home to him.
that's shane ... always so level-headed and inspirational
by RoxBeliever on Feb 26, 2011 10:32 AM CST up reply actions
I glad he didnt go to the cavs.
If only they had asked him to shoot more a few years back.
The content of the text above is provided for information purposes only. No claim is made as to the accuracy or authenticity of the content. The troll does not accept any liability to any person for the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) which is provided in the text above.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
NBA Playoffs Content Module
Related FanPosts on The Dream Shake
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Dwyane Wade’s hot pink pants: The kind of thing you can get away with when you drop 41
- Lamar Odom to New York? Dwight Howard on the move? For now, it’s all talk
- David West hilariously denies each and every one of his young fans a high-five (VIDEO)
- Behind the Box Score, where the Miami Heat are moving on to the conference finals
- Kevin Durant is tired of hearing about the Spurs
