Marv Albert and Mike Fratello are but the latest in a string of broadcasters that have blasted the over emphasis on analytics in basketball. They specifically targeted Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey for his computerized style of GMing. Says that analytics don't really tell you anything that you wouldn't know from simply watching the game. Also stated that the +/- Stat is useless.

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A lot of analytic people agree +/- doesn't tell you anything at all about individual performance. It's best used in context of five man lineups, and even then isn't really a great or revealing stat.

This type of criticism is mostly off base. Morey has a background in analytics but he's not making this decisions in a vacuum with no regard for personalities, chemistry, or on court play. Nobody is, except for maybe Sam Hinkie, who was justifiably mocked and run out of a job. Remember that the Rockets made the WCF last year against these same Warriors.

If you are using only analytics you will be just as bad of a GM as a GM who uses zero analytics. The reality is that every GM in every sport uses a combination of the two and the conversation is stupid.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Neither Marv Albert, Mike Fratello, Jalen Rose, Kenny Smith, nor Charles Barkley believe it's stupid. I'm sure message board disciples will believe it's stupid, which means that it really isn't.

Daryl Morey has gone on record defending his use of analytics. It's not that he simply uses it either. He overemphasizes it. His coaches are expected to implement his overarching philosophy regarding analytics. 3 point shots and layups are the way to go offensively. Long 2's and mid range shots are shunned for 3 pointers and layups. They spot guys up in the corner and simply launch 3's all day. It's a terrible philosophy if you don't have the personnel to play that style.

Everyone uses statistics which really isn't the point. When you start stating that it's better to take 3's because 33% of 3's are the same as 50% of 2's then you really aren't playing basketball as much as you are using mathematical equations to justify some idiotic philosophy that you happen to possess.

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That's every philosophy. Look how poorly the A's do in the years they don't have dynamite pitching in the Oakland Coliseum.

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That's my point. The Houston Rockets don't have the personnel to play that philosophy yet Morey has forced fed this particular style upon the team. He has been the Rockets GM since 08 and their franchise is in much worse shape than the Bulls, whom everyone on here can't get enough of criticizing.

If they don't have the personnel to play it, then why are they continuing to play it? Also Morey is the person in charge of personnel, so it's his fault if they don't have the personnel to play this particular style.

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Yeah, Morey is a moon-faced dope, and I'm sure the topic has come up, but don't you suppose this board is going to examine the Bulls a little more closely than it does the Rockets?

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Rockets are still a playoff team. Even in an off year they made the playoffs in the West. Signing Howard was a huge mistake and it will be fixed soon.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Bulls have a better record and were hit harder by injuries. The Rockets only have 1 guy worth anything and that's Harden. This really isn't an off year either.

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Yes it's rather like handpicking a college coach with a pace and space offensive system and expecting his hiring alone will transform your offense and allow you to contend for the finals with personnel consisting of a 35 year old immobile post-up center, 2 guys in the backcourt who feel most comfortable playing ISO, and a bunch of wings who are scarcely interested in doing much of anything except waiting on the perimeter. But I'm sure most Houston fans would nevertheless conclude Morey's been a net positive for their franchise too; this was just 1 bad season.

I stand by the conclusion that Paxson has been a net positive if that's what you're getting at. The Bulls became a much better team the day he became the G.M. 42-40 with a ton of injuries and it's a terrible season. 20-62 and it's a mistake to let Tyson Chandler and Jamal Crawford walk.

I recall those "terrible" truly inept days and frankly this ain't it. I don't care about optics either. The Bulls may not be championship contenders, but that window closed on Derrick Rose was no longer MVP caliber. This season was a disappointment, but the Bulls have some pieces to build upon.

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They were in the WCF last year. Harden is better than any player on the Bulls because he can score. Howard will probably leave this summer and give them over $50M in cap space.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/houston_rockets/

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

You'd be hard pressed to find five GMs who have more success than Morey in the last decade in the NBA. He took a garbage ass rebuilding team to the western conference finals in less than five years without ever deliberately tanking games like Hinkie and Theo. I've never really understood your dislike for him, but I have to think its misinformed.

As for ltg's post, again, a very similar roster to this made the WCF in a tough conference last year. Harden showed up out of shape and was horrible for the first half of the season, and averaged 4.6 turnovers a game a season after he was the unanimous runner up for MVP.

I'm not apologizing for Morey. Signing Howard was horrendous and almost guarantees them not winning a title while he's there. If you want to focus on that alone and say he sucks I won't object because it was indefensible. But the criticism for his overall approach is stupid. The trade for Harden when the whole league knew Harden could be had would be an obvious counter to the Howard argument. He's made one glaring error and otherwise done an obviously above average job considering the team he inherited.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The Harden trade was big time. He should be commended for that. Howard was a bad move and has blown up in his face. When I look at his team I don't really see much in terms of young talent. There is Harden and that's about it. Their PF isn't as good as advertised. Patrick is really a backup masquerading as a starter, Jeremy Lin and Asik were terrible moves too. He thought he was out smarting the league for awhile and it's apparent that they are a franchise trending downward. They weren't beset by injuries as the Bulls were. They finished .500 with their best players healthy for the most part. They look awful against the Warriors.

As far as 5 GMs I could find five that have had more success and Paxson would be one of them.

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This remains the definitive article for why people should be skeptical of Morey: https://thecauldron.si.com/the-man-who- ... .a1ou0fr6a

The problem with Morey is that he's a celebrity analytics guy, not just an analytics guy. This means people inclined to be pro or anti-analytics will too often view him entirely through the prism of their stance and use him as evidence for or against their position. That's why you always get gaudy puff pieces about what a revolutionary he is from internet basketball geeks convinced that analytics are still marginalized and not respected enough and that's why you'll get skeptical ex-athletes like Barkley calling him a dumbass. The former problem is the one highlighted in the above article, and this is one of the money passages from it:
The problem is that since he's the analytics guy, people assume every move he's made is the result of cold scientific rationalism when his history as GM also features moves that appear downright contradictory or even impulsive.

The biggest case study of the impact of analytics in the NBA arguably isn't transaction-happy Morey or tanky-heavy Hinkie, but the Spurs, who were hiring consultants for analytics long before teams started creating formal departments and Morey was organizing the first Sloane conference. They were quietly* gathering their own data for years and the evolution of their play style while still largely being guided by the same core 3 of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili is in part a result of that.

*This is incidentally one of the reasons I think some of the analytics journalism remains as transfixed on the guys who were big names the earliest, like Morey and Hollinger. Most of the people now doing impressive work in the field are signed by franchises at this point and most of the most useful data they're gathering is proprietary.

my analytics told me as soon as Josh Smith came into the game last night it was over

Your analytics would be wrong then. Knocked down 3 3's upon entering them game. Morey must have loved that.

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