Charles Barkley was on ESPN in the wake of the Kevin McHale firing, and once again voiced his displeasure with Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey. Barkley has never been a fan of analytics, and argued that Morey was using McHale as a scapegoat for the team’s struggles to start the year. A five year old child that has never watched basketball before could have realized that, let alone a Hall of Famer that is paid to watch basketball and make idiotic remarks on a daily basis. He went on to say that analytics do not trump talent. Obviously he does not pay attention to the Rockets, because they have two of the most talented players in the NBA. Sure, their play to start the season has been below what was expected of them, but nobody can smartly argue against the fact that both, when healthy, are two of the top players in the league.
Additionally, Houston’s schedule to start the season was set up perfectly for them to make an early season run. After finishing that stretch 4-7, the Rockets begin a much more difficult slate of games that, if a significant percentage of which are not won, they could essentially be out of playoff consideration in the tough Western Conference already. Something had to change, and Daryl Morey could not be sanely expected to shake up the top of his seemingly talent rich roster. Instead, a change was made to a new coach in order to send a message to this team, and one game into the tenure of J.B. Bickerstaff’s coaching tenure, it appears that the players have responded. Daryl Morey’s formula of avoiding deep two’s in favor of threes and shots in the paint is not rocket science, and when executed correctly, can lead a team to the brink of the NBA Finals, as was the case with the Rockets last year.
Barkley also hinted that Dwight Howard is not healthy. Ohhh Really? Any person that has any knowledge of the NBA knows that Dwight has been held out of one game of every back to back situation. And to say he hasn’t played well is a bold faced lie, and to blame the Rockets start on him is unfair as well. Dwight is averaging 14 ppg, 13 rpg, is making the Rockets abysmal perimeter defense slightly better than atrocious, which is saying a lot, and is shooting a high percentage. Aside from the defense, the thing that has doomed this team this far is the reliance on James Harden. When the team wins, it’s because the Beard is averaging over 35 ppg and shooting over 40 %. When they lose, he’s shooting under 30 % and becomes a black hole offensively, meaning whenever he gets the ball, any sort of ball movement suddenly halts, and the defense can key on him, which is especially effective when the Rockets’ shooters are unable to knock down wide open shots.
The game against the Blazers on Wednesday night saw the Rockets down by 17 in the 3rd quarter, but as was the case very often last year, Houston’s defense suddenly came alive and created offensive opportunities that helped the team climb back to tie the game, and eventually win in overtime.
So in response to Sir Charles’ point that McHale had the Rockets in the Conference finals a year ago… So? The only thing that matters is this season, and this potential championship run.
I have no idea why the Round Mound always seems to take shots at the Rockets and Daryl Morey, but what I do know is that if he wants to get into a war of words with Daryl Morey, all the MIT graduate has to do is use some big words and I’m sure Charles would give up.
Charles Barkley is the perfect example of someone that, because he’s a Hall of Famer, thinks everything he says is smart, and that everything he says is right. He truly believes he can say whatever he wants, whenever he wants without any consequences. I know it won’t happen, but as I hinted at before, I’d love to see Morey respond and put Charles in his place.