r*******t 发帖数: 211 | 1 http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/07/13/rockets-back-to-spinni
HOUSTON — This is the game the Rockets have chosen to play. Go Fish at a
high-stakes poker table.
It was less than a week ago when Dealin’ Daryl Morey bet on a starting
lineup that would have included Dwight Howard, James Harden, Chris Bosh,
Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverley.
Sometimes you draw to a busted flush.
Bosh spurned the Rockets’ $88 million, four-year offer to stay in Miami for
$118 million. Simple math.
Now Parsons walks up I-45 to Dallas for $46 million over three years. Simple
gaffe.
The Rockets could have kept Parsons for the upcoming season for the final
year on his rookie contract, roughly $964,000. But the team chose not to
pick up the option in order to keep the right to match any offer that he
received. Then they didn’t.
Nice season the Rockets had there in 2013-14. They won 54 games, grabbed the
No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and were feeling pretty good about
themselves until nobody covered Damian Lillard with 0.9 seconds to play.
But when the heartache of that Game 6 loss and sudden ouster in Portland
finally faded, there was reason to look ahead. Until this. Now the Rockets
are back on the hamster wheel making no progress.
No offense to Trevor Ariza, but he doesn’t move the Rockets up in the West
pecking order, doesn’t move the overall program forward.
Then again, the Rockets don’t actually have a program other than to keep
swapping names and players and draft choices and salary cap spaces like
trading cards. For a fellow who looked like the smartest guy in the room
last summer when he landed Howard, Morey celebrates the first anniversary of
that coup by telling Houston fans: “See you next summer. Please.”
While the Spurs win their fifth championship in 15 years by building a sense
of family and togetherness, the Rockets are like the guy dealing three-card
monte on the sidewalk, looking to just outsmart all of the other saps. They
’re not looking for a path to long-term stability and success, just
shortcuts to the top.
The Rockets brass reportedly also did not believe that a core lineup of
Howard, Harden and Parsons was a championship contender. They wanted and
needed Bosh with his champion’s pedigree because there remain serious
questions about whether Howard or Harden can ever be the lead horse to pull
a wagon. So how good is that lineup without Parsons?
The Rockets did not match the Dallas offer to Parsons because they did not
want it to eat up too much of their payroll, so they could jump back in and
play this game again next summer.
How do you develop real fan loyalty when you keep asking them to trust you
and trust you and trust you for a future that’s out there in a world of
analytics and promises beyond the stars?
What’s there to sell? Salary cap space, trade exceptions, maybe another
video display on the front of the Toyota Center where they could photoshop
LaMarcus Aldridge or LeBron James into the jersey of another current player
next July.
Hopefully, that cap space and trade exception can come off the bench for
some significant minutes, because in all of the grand hustle, an already
thin roster became positively anorexic with the leaving of Jeremy Lin, Omer
Asik and Parsons.
There was a palpable sense of shock and betrayal in Houston when Bosh — who
definitely played the flirting game — did not jump into the Rockets’ arms
as soon as James announced his return to Cleveland.
But there is no room here for hurt feelings. The Rockets, just like the Heat
with LeBron, have to know and understand this game they like to play is the
equivalent of a pickup in a singles bar. Sure, we can have some fun. But
did you really think we were getting married?
It’s all those fans that keep going home alone at closing time who get
stuck with another tab. | J********9 发帖数: 36508 | 2 well said
土火有个烂教练还不够 还有一个烂经理 这就没办法了
for
Simple
【在 r*******t 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/07/13/rockets-back-to-spinni : HOUSTON — This is the game the Rockets have chosen to play. Go Fish at a : high-stakes poker table. : It was less than a week ago when Dealin’ Daryl Morey bet on a starting : lineup that would have included Dwight Howard, James Harden, Chris Bosh, : Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverley. : Sometimes you draw to a busted flush. : Bosh spurned the Rockets’ $88 million, four-year offer to stay in Miami for : $118 million. Simple math. : Now Parsons walks up I-45 to Dallas for $46 million over three years. Simple
|
|