If any Rockets fans are interested, Morey will be on with Jim Rome in the next hour.

On now

What did he have to say? Exploring any trades?

Please explain the fascination with Morey.

He turns nothing into something.

Take the opposite of Morey.. Ed Wade.

He turns potential into aging failure.

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What did he have to say? Exploring any trades?

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clutchfans had a loose transcription. nothing about potential trades.

said all the stuff you'd expect him too...glad we got miller, glad we kept scola and lowry, yao's recovery is on schedule, thought we made a good push for bosh, not upset that the "big three" went to miami, still thinks lakers are team to beat, likes working with adelman, etc.

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Please explain the fascination with Morey.

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he's a smart, young GM who makes good, sound decisions. in houston, that's pretty fascinating.

recap from clutchfans:

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Recap:

JR: You had a shot at bosh. When you came out of the meeting , how'd it go?
DM: It went well. liked meeting him. targeted him and not lebron or wade. bosh was our best shot. We compared it to trading for scola before...we thought they had no chance at him back then
JR: what did you think he wanted to hear?
DM: We had the rockets org support. He's focused on winning, so we talked about winning titles and focused the presentation on that with Yao and winning rings.
JR: does it seem like the big 3 laid the groundwork together before free agency?
DM: i think they had discussions but were not 100% decided. they were nervous in miami, i think Chicago, Cleveland and Miami all had a chance.
JR: is it good for the nba?
DM: i think so. players deserve the right to join up. gives the league interest. should be a good team.
JR: Scola- was there any chance of him going elsewhere?
DM: NJ really wanted him and still does. they struck out on big names and turned to him. we had to make sure we got him signed quickly before teams started restructuring and adjusting their figures.
JR: Lowry- cleveland wanted him. did you overpay?
DM: We were happy. kyle wanted to be a starter and we agree with him. we have a lot of depth here. Cleveland and Indiana were focused on him. We pride our competitors like him, Shane, Chuck, etc.
JR: Yao's status?
DM: Good, back in china. Will definitely be ready for camp. He's the big dog we need to compete in west.
JR: What kind of impact from Yao?
DM: Limited minutes early, as he progresses we'll see how it goes. best season was 2 years ago when we played the Lakers.
JR: Lakers still team to beat or Miami?
DM: Lakers prob still team to beat. Length is hard to contend with. Miami's wings are as good as you can have.
JR: Brad Miller - how much does he have left, why so important to sign him?
DM: Looking for quality depth. Adelman knows him well. Our season comes down to defense, getting continuity. Gotta get back into top 10 defense.
JR: Dynamic between GM and HC. Do you just get that guy the players, or is there dialogue?
DM: depends on the GM and coach. I've got a great rapport with RA. Humble to work with RA- hall of famer, top 10 in wins soon. he came here to win a title. prob his last coaching stop.
JR: Team USA, Knicks don't want Amare to play. Where do you stand on your guys participating?
DM: team by team perspective. With yao, it was discussed before he came to NBA. Our feelings are immaterial due to that. Scola would be like cutting off his oxygen to keep him from playing for Argentina. We support our guys, respect NYK decision on Amare.
JR: Depth on your team, Patrick Patterson- how much of a challenge for him to get into rotation.
DM: Very tough for him and our young guys (JH, CB, JT) to get minutes. We might be the deepest team in the league. Adleman goes with what wins. IE Von Wafer played over Brent Barry. Might upset vets and sometimes young guys have to wait.
JR: Your stat approach. Do you find resistance to a different way of doing things?
DM: Basketball not so much, more in baseball. Coaches know guys like Battier are valuable. Methods for basketball show this. If coaches believe your analysis they will agree with it.
JR: How did you get into baseball yet end up in basketball?
DM: Started at stats,inc. Sweeping floor, answering phones, etc. Tried to get a job in sports. Couldn't get one for about 10 years.
JR: What kept you going?
DM: I shifted to figuring out how to make money. Applied to google. Wanted to buy a team, quickly moved past that thought. Fortunately got my chance. Appreciate Les Alexander and the Rockets for the shot.

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I don't understand all the hype Morey has gotten either. One playoff series win in 3 years. And missed the playoffs last year. How does that = great?

cue if Yao healthy comments.....

So you're completely discounting the Yao explanation?

Morey is a beast. See the McGrady trade. I heart the man.



www.agsforsec.com

"Evil will always win because good is dumb."

rome

The reason Rockets fans like Morey so much is because he has made some really good trades and draft picks. He inherited a roster where the two biggest superstars couldn't stay healthy. The role players were pretty subpar. The McGrady trade was excellent. He's established a great supporting staff. If Yao can stay healthy (big if) the Rockets will be pretty salty.

They can still really use that one mega superstar but lots of teams can use that. He's built a team with a ton of young assets and draft picks from a team with McGrady, Yao, and very little else.

The Rockets do need to win more. If Yao is hurt again this season then Morey will really make his name with what he does with Yao or post Yao.

I'd bet 100$ the Rockets end up with Chris Paul. Morey will make this happen.

care to make that bet bob?

What has Morey and staff done.

1. Got Scola from the Spurs for basically nobody and a 2nd round pick. That was a steal of deal anyway you cut it.

2. Drafted Aaron Brooks, in the late 1st and Carl Landry 2nd round. Both outstanding picks productive picks, way beyond their draft status.

3. Drafted Bud and Taylor in the 2nd round, Bud has alreadly produced way beyond his status and has a lot of upside. Taylor has yet to be proven but judging from what I have seen now, there is tremendous amount of upside there. Taylor has the good to grow into an upper level 2 shooting guard on both sides of the ball.

4. Signed Ariza a young 2/3 defensive three with a unknown upside. One of the most desired FA in last years group. It was a coup.

5. Trade Landry (2nd rd pick) for K Martin an upper echelon scoring quard. Basically getting Martin for 2nd round pick. Again a steal of deal.

6. Trade T Mac for Jefferies, Hill, Knicks no 1 in 2012 and the right switch with the Knicks in 2011 (that is looking pretty good right now.)

This highway robbery. We traded nothing for a whole lot of something and also gained some bucks in the process.

7. He kept Scola and Lowry in a wild FA where folk were paying desperate stupid money. He kept Scola for less then what the Nets were going to offe.

8. He got B Miller for less then what others were willing to pay.

9, He has this team loaded with asset to make a move for a Paul or some other top player before the dead line, young players, expiring contracts and decent players too boot that can contribute.

These are reason folks like Morey.

Secondly he we like him because he doesn't do stupid things. He has the discipline to not fall in love with someone so much that he guts the franchise or massively over pays .

Morey is a really solid GM, you can't wave a magic want and create a superstar. He has done a great job of improving the team working around wounded superstars and positioning the Rocks to go get one.

Well said OPAG.... we have the deepest roster in the NBA.

He basically runs the Rockets (a major market team) like Billy Beane ran the Oakland Athletics in the 2000s. Neither could ever do anything in the playoffs but were always looked at as in vogue. The fascination is pretty dumb. The face of the Rockets is an injured Yao. Good luck selling that.



"I like to drink out of the creek and sleep near mud."

I'm a Rockets fan and think he's done a really good job and has shown promise. That said, I'm not going to sport wood over him until he's able to make a move for the infamous 2nd legit all star everybody knows they need to be a real contender.

Morey has done well, but I think half of the boner alert across the sport for him comes from the fact that he's open to doing national interviews and everything.

Miami didn't do anything special to land wade. Cleveland didn't so anything special to land lebron. The spurs didn't do anything special to land Duncan. A lot of the nba is luck. When we got the first pick, the best player available was yao. Could have been lebron in a diff year. Morey is doing best with the hand he's dealt. Nobody is trading for yao at max contract with injury concerns and playing in China every summer for equal value. You just have to ride it out and see what happens.

Agree that a lot of it is luck, but the teams who weren't so lucky to fall into a top 5 in the league franchise player (Pistons, Celtics) had the balls to go out, potentially overpay pieces and build a team with special players. You even mentioned Wade... hell, if you really look at it, outside of the Shaq years w/ Wade, how good have his teams actually been? Even Riley went out on a limb and probably paid more than most teams would to land Shaq (2 players under 25 who many considered to be 2 potential All Stars).

I see Morey as an extremely conservative GM. By no means is that a bad thing, but he has the pieces in place now to make a move for the Rockets next franchise centerpiece. I want to see him do it. He has a great draft record to this point no doubt. Acquiring a lot of decent role players and shuffling salary around really isn't that difficult in the NBA especially over a 3 year period, but acquiring a star really is.

If he can go between now and the deadline and use the pieces he's obtained to get the Rocket's next franchise centerpiece, I'll say he's better than just pretty good. I've seen plenty to prove Morey's savvy... I'd like to see him do something ballsy now.

[This message has been edited by ATM9000 (edited 7/24/2010 9:34a).]

I love the people discounting Morey using reasons way out of his control.

You sound like bitter vaginas.

Look dude... I'm a Rockets fan. I think he's done a good job thus far, just not so good that he deserves to have fanboys like yourself hands in his pants constantly playing pocket pool for him.

Deep rosters of pretty good role players are great as is 'having the deepest team in the league', but it has yet to net great success in the playoffs. This is like his 4th or 5th season on the job and despite the fact that it was T-Mac and Yao, he still came in with 2 cornerstone pieces... it's time the Rockets win something bigger for him to get outrageous props.

In other words, I like where the team is going, but I want to see what his 'big splash' is before I annoint him executive badass. That's not unfair.

Every move he has made so far has been good --with the possible exception of Ariza, which remains to be seen since last year he had to play beyond his typical role. He has been hitting on 2nd round draft picks on a higher percentage than anybody. His trades have all been money. His small moves like getting Scola from San Antonio for VSpan was awesome. The guy has been absolutely nails. That's why most people think he's awesome. He was basically handed a team with two broken down max contract super stars and no role players. Through that lack of flexibility and uncertainty, he still managed to build a team with what limited resources he had available to him. You have to give him credit -- this team goes 10-12 deep with talented players that would get minutes on most teams. I mean -- it's not that easy to sign super stars. It requires a lot of luck and timing. While we may have the pieces to trade for Chris Paul, he probably doesn't want to play with an aging, injured cornerpiece center in Yao when he could play with Dwight Howard or Amare. But what are you going to do? Trade Yao for way below market value just to get rid of him? It's silliness. Then Chris Paul doesn't join your team because you don't have anybody other than him that's considered a super star.

Shuffling salaries around and getting good role players in the NBA in the draft/trade/free agency that fit your team... not that hard when you try. Nabbing the elusive big stick difference makers... that's tough. You have to acknowledge that that is what's missing on Morey's resume thus far. And while you are right, superstars aren't easy to come by in any way in the NBA... he's had 4 offseasons to get SOMETHING going. At this point, the luck excuses are out the window in my book... he's gotta do something to get my attention.

Given Martin's contract, I think the jury's still out on that trade as well as Ariza AND Brad Miller. Considering the money they locked down Lowry and Scola for, I think those are some 'we'll see' moves as well. All I'm saying is that if the Rockets have no money for a few seasons and are mired as first round playoff exiters still, quit playing the luck card and point to the contract of 33 year-old Scola making 8 figures.

[This message has been edited by ATM9000 (edited 7/25/2010 7:12a).]

I make 5 figures. Scola will eventually make 8.

And no, drafting contributors from the 2nd round of the NBA draft is not easy to do. As a matter of fact, pretty much only 2 teams do it on anything that could resemble a regular basis -- the Spurs and Rockets.