Lin is a great teammate. No wonder he WINS AND WINS.
He did not trash the departed Kevin Martin or Jeremy Lamb in praising James Harden.
Lin also apologized repeatedly to Scott Machado, which was necessary and classy. I'd love to see Scott Machado PUNKING Lin for that screwup by making Lin fetch donuts and drinks for Machado just once!
Lin is a teammate I'd love to have on my team. But I'd definitely make him go to Dunkin Donuts and get me my favorite glazed and lemon creme donuts if he accidentally called me to let me know about a false trade!
That was unfortunate and Lin felt really bad, which is why I was really concerned (because we have a lot of lurkers) that a few people on this board kept saying that Lin did it on purpose. And it wasn't just to anyone, but to a diehard Nits fan and a big fan of a player from there.
On the other hand, Machado probably would love to play with the established OKC.... that is if he didn't think it was about being dropped from the roster.
You brought out a good point about CP and other big stars wanting to play in sports markets, which are the cities that ESPN has dedicated pages for (NY, LA, Dallas, Boston, Chicago) While Houston per se is the 4th or 5th largest city in the US, the greater metropolitan areas of Dallas, Boston and Chicago are much larger.
And yes, as a team sport, big name players like CP do want to play with stacked teams that not only can contend, but also make each other look better - which is exactly why Morey is trying to get more big pieces (and anxiously awaiting his youngs to turn into one).
I too like Lin as a player better than CP, but the GMs and coaches, in their minds, MUST try acquire the long established superstars because they don't want to "lose face" to the "basketball mind" peers and to the fans by getting the hyped Asian player, because in Alexander's words "It would make me look like a fool" if Lin didn't pan out (but thank God he took the "risk").
Remember, right after everyone said Lin turned out to be a bust as they thought, based on the preseason games (in which Lin was better than most top PGs), someone in the Rockets' organization (I suspect Morey or his people) leaked out the information that it was Les Alexander, the owner, who pushed to sign Lin (as if we didn't know), and NOT the "basketball minds" from there. The "basketball minds" from the Rockets were distancing themselves from endorsing Jeremy Lin, in an attempt to "salvage" their "tarnished" professional reputation, and thus protecting their own future in the industry. (;~/)..... The credit for signing Lin should go only to Alexander; they better not try to take the credit for it later. Signing Lin was a no-brainer this time around.
NOBODY wants to be associated with Lin except Rockets owner Les Alexander.
Even if Lin wins the MVP award and wins the championship, people will still trash him because he's Asian.
Every NBA team is hoping Lin fails. If Lin succeeds, then all 30 NBA front offices look like a bunch of racist idiots who don't know the game - which we on this site ALREADY KNOW!
Hee hee. Lin is a 6'3" CURSE FINGER extended at the racists who say that Asians can't ball.
Those "experts" are so damn stupid and weird! I mean, okay, so Lin's stats went down after Woodson took over. But they don't look at the simple facts of hows and whys?!?!
I thought I read it was only a rumor spread by NYC media that Morey and Houston basketball people did not believe in Lin to label JLin as bust and only a marketing hype.
Unless there is more to it, I tend to believe Morey's track record over 1 rumor. He has been consistent in his interviews to support JLin and twitter comments since Feb 2012 when he tweeted publicly he was wrong to release JLin.
This was back in July 2012: Knicks Make It Official: Lin Is Gone .. Morey, who has been a fervent believer in Lin’s talent, said he was “thrilled to have him back in Houston.” While acknowledging some risk, Morey said, “Jeremy is an extremely, extremely good risk.”
Morey added, “I think if you combined his underrated athleticism with his work ethic and intelligence, you have a player that we’d bet on every time.”
I'm aware of those statements made by Morey, and they are good ones. However, I always assumed (I may be wrong) that he was being polite and said them for PR and for Les, in trying to make the best if it.
I also think that the last quote that you provided (which I was aware) sounds like one of the pitches that Lin's agent said to the Rockets front office. The Nits strategy *almost* worked (ONLY BECAUSE of the Nits lies and deception *combined with* Lin's naivete and trust at the time), but at the 11th hour, Lin's agents called several teams themselves and started to work feverishly.
Morey also didn't refute those rumored statements - if indeed they were rumors and not leaked statements.
Someone asked the same question to Morey during his reddit chat :
" ... Did Jeremy Lin's international presence affect you efforts to pursue him as a player? He is obviously a giant money-maker and cultural icon, as well as a contributor on the court. While Kyle Lowry may be a better point guard, Lin is much more marketable. Were you thinking that way when you acquired him, or was it strictly a basketball move? Thanks for doing this, take care of Asik! Big bulls fan here, hard to see him go. permalink [–]dmorey[S] 135 points 1 month ago He is definitely has a large off the court footprint but it did not factor into the investment I recommended to the owner we make on him. ..."
Of course he can lie about it but are we supposed to trust unnamed sources in Chris Broussard's article that could very well be SAS?
Well, unless Morey starts backtracking on his Lin's assessment, we can only go by his consistent high opinion of Lin over 1 unnamed source.
For him to admit publicly in his Feb/Mar tweet that he was wrong to release Lin, that's really a high vote of confidence for me.
And he has been consistent that JLin is a smart calculated risk for Houston.
".. When Lowry was traded away and Dragic signed with the Suns you guys went from two starting quality point guards to none. From an outside perspective it looked like fairly inept managing, what was going on internally during this time. Were you confident you could get Jeremy Lin? Were you rolling the dice? permalink [–]dmorey[S] 264 points 1 month ago First, I would refer to my #2 answer here. Each move makes sense under this lens. The guaranteed lottery pick we received from Toronto for Lowry is more valuable in acquiring an all-star level player. Dragic wanted a player option (that Phoenix gave him) which greatly harms a players value and will almost always lead us away from #2. A player option essentially guarantees that a team ends up with either a free agent (not valuable) or a player who the league thinks is not valuable and blocks your salary cap flexibility. We were rolling the dice on getting Jeremy Lin but taking smart risks is what we have to do up and down the roster on every move. As only 1 team out of 30 gets to win, you cannot play it safe. A fund manager who beats more than half his peers and beats the S+P 500 is considered pretty good. We have won more games than we lost the past few years (beaten our peers) despite losing our franchise player Yao Ming and it has been appropriately considered disappointing despite the fact that most teams win around one-third of their games after losing their franchise player. We need to keep taking on more smart risk. .."
I scanned the reddit transcript before - and read questions that Morey answered.
The leaked article (which Morey still haven't refuted) never claimed that the "basketball minds" from the Rockets weren't interested in Lin; it just stated that they weren't as keen to sign Lin as Les Alexander, the owner of the team, which everybody already knew anyway within two weeks after the deadline to match passed. I was just pointing out the TIMING of the article.
I'm glad to be a witness to Linsanity and really looking forward to a the next chapter. Whatever happens next, I will never forget the amazing event of Linsanity last season and what a great person Jeremy is.
Dang.
ReplyDeleteLin is a great teammate. No wonder he WINS AND WINS.
He did not trash the departed Kevin Martin or Jeremy Lamb in praising James Harden.
Lin also apologized repeatedly to Scott Machado, which was necessary and classy. I'd love to see Scott Machado PUNKING Lin for that screwup by making Lin fetch donuts and drinks for Machado just once!
Lin is a teammate I'd love to have on my team. But I'd definitely make him go to Dunkin Donuts and get me my favorite glazed and lemon creme donuts if he accidentally called me to let me know about a false trade!
That was unfortunate and Lin felt really bad, which is why I was really concerned (because we have a lot of lurkers) that a few people on this board kept saying that Lin did it on purpose. And it wasn't just to anyone, but to a diehard Nits fan and a big fan of a player from there.
DeleteOn the other hand, Machado probably would love to play with the established OKC.... that is if he didn't think it was about being dropped from the roster.
Delete@KHuang,
ReplyDeleteYou brought out a good point about CP and other big stars wanting to play in sports markets, which are the cities that ESPN has dedicated pages for (NY, LA, Dallas, Boston, Chicago) While Houston per se is the 4th or 5th largest city in the US, the greater metropolitan areas of Dallas, Boston and Chicago are much larger.
And yes, as a team sport, big name players like CP do want to play with stacked teams that not only can contend, but also make each other look better - which is exactly why Morey is trying to get more big pieces (and anxiously awaiting his youngs to turn into one).
I too like Lin as a player better than CP, but the GMs and coaches, in their minds, MUST try acquire the long established superstars because they don't want to "lose face" to the "basketball mind" peers and to the fans by getting the hyped Asian player, because in Alexander's words "It would make me look like a fool" if Lin didn't pan out (but thank God he took the "risk").
Remember, right after everyone said Lin turned out to be a bust as they thought, based on the preseason games (in which Lin was better than most top PGs), someone in the Rockets' organization (I suspect Morey or his people) leaked out the information that it was Les Alexander, the owner, who pushed to sign Lin (as if we didn't know), and NOT the "basketball minds" from there. The "basketball minds" from the Rockets were distancing themselves from endorsing Jeremy Lin, in an attempt to "salvage" their "tarnished" professional reputation, and thus protecting their own future in the industry. (;~/)..... The credit for signing Lin should go only to Alexander; they better not try to take the credit for it later. Signing Lin was a no-brainer this time around.
NOBODY wants to be associated with Lin except Rockets owner Les Alexander.
DeleteEven if Lin wins the MVP award and wins the championship, people will still trash him because he's Asian.
Every NBA team is hoping Lin fails. If Lin succeeds, then all 30 NBA front offices look like a bunch of racist idiots who don't know the game - which we on this site ALREADY KNOW!
Hee hee. Lin is a 6'3" CURSE FINGER extended at the racists who say that Asians can't ball.
Those "experts" are so damn stupid and weird! I mean, okay, so Lin's stats went down after Woodson took over. But they don't look at the simple facts of hows and whys?!?!
DeleteI thought I read it was only a rumor spread by NYC media that Morey and Houston basketball people did not believe in Lin to label JLin as bust and only a marketing hype.
DeleteUnless there is more to it, I tend to believe Morey's track record over 1 rumor. He has been consistent in his interviews to support JLin and twitter comments since Feb 2012 when he tweeted publicly he was wrong to release JLin.
This was back in July 2012:
Knicks Make It Official: Lin Is Gone
..
Morey, who has been a fervent believer in Lin’s talent, said he was “thrilled to have him back in Houston.” While acknowledging some risk, Morey said, “Jeremy is an extremely, extremely good risk.”
Morey added, “I think if you combined his underrated athleticism with his work ethic and intelligence, you have a player that we’d bet on every time.”
Psalm234,
DeleteI'm aware of those statements made by Morey, and they are good ones. However, I always assumed (I may be wrong) that he was being polite and said them for PR and for Les, in trying to make the best if it.
I also think that the last quote that you provided (which I was aware) sounds like one of the pitches that Lin's agent said to the Rockets front office. The Nits strategy *almost* worked (ONLY BECAUSE of the Nits lies and deception *combined with* Lin's naivete and trust at the time), but at the 11th hour, Lin's agents called several teams themselves and started to work feverishly.
Morey also didn't refute those rumored statements - if indeed they were rumors and not leaked statements.
@ztrta,
DeleteSomeone asked the same question to Morey during his reddit chat :
" ...
Did Jeremy Lin's international presence affect you efforts to pursue him as a player? He is obviously a giant money-maker and cultural icon, as well as a contributor on the court. While Kyle Lowry may be a better point guard, Lin is much more marketable. Were you thinking that way when you acquired him, or was it strictly a basketball move?
Thanks for doing this, take care of Asik! Big bulls fan here, hard to see him go.
permalink
[–]dmorey[S] 135 points 1 month ago
He is definitely has a large off the court footprint but it did not factor into the investment I recommended to the owner we make on him.
..."
Of course he can lie about it but are we supposed to trust unnamed sources in Chris Broussard's article that could very well be SAS?
Well, unless Morey starts backtracking on his Lin's assessment, we can only go by his consistent high opinion of Lin over 1 unnamed source.
For him to admit publicly in his Feb/Mar tweet that he was wrong to release Lin, that's really a high vote of confidence for me.
And he has been consistent that JLin is a smart calculated risk for Houston.
Delete"..
When Lowry was traded away and Dragic signed with the Suns you guys went from two starting quality point guards to none. From an outside perspective it looked like fairly inept managing, what was going on internally during this time. Were you confident you could get Jeremy Lin? Were you rolling the dice?
permalink
[–]dmorey[S] 264 points 1 month ago
First, I would refer to my #2 answer here. Each move makes sense under this lens. The guaranteed lottery pick we received from Toronto for Lowry is more valuable in acquiring an all-star level player. Dragic wanted a player option (that Phoenix gave him) which greatly harms a players value and will almost always lead us away from #2. A player option essentially guarantees that a team ends up with either a free agent (not valuable) or a player who the league thinks is not valuable and blocks your salary cap flexibility.
We were rolling the dice on getting Jeremy Lin but taking smart risks is what we have to do up and down the roster on every move. As only 1 team out of 30 gets to win, you cannot play it safe. A fund manager who beats more than half his peers and beats the S+P 500 is considered pretty good. We have won more games than we lost the past few years (beaten our peers) despite losing our franchise player Yao Ming and it has been appropriately considered disappointing despite the fact that most teams win around one-third of their games after losing their franchise player. We need to keep taking on more smart risk.
.."
I scanned the reddit transcript before - and read questions that Morey answered.
DeleteThe leaked article (which Morey still haven't refuted) never claimed that the "basketball minds" from the Rockets weren't interested in Lin; it just stated that they weren't as keen to sign Lin as Les Alexander, the owner of the team, which everybody already knew anyway within two weeks after the deadline to match passed. I was just pointing out the TIMING of the article.
I'm glad to be a witness to Linsanity and really looking forward to a the next chapter. Whatever happens next, I will never forget the amazing event of Linsanity last season and what a great person Jeremy is.
ReplyDelete