I am not sure that Stone is going to be a long term GM in this league. He avoids the media like the plague, especially when things are bad. When he does talk to the media he is awkward and doesn't really seem to be getting any better at it or even trying to. When he does talk to the media, he makes sure that it is a situation like this with the Chronicle, where the questions asked are softballs and no follow up. There is a lot of surface level intelligence with him. He is well prepared, and he knows what to say -- but the detail is always lacking and he ends up saying basically nothing. I think that he is smart enough, that if he doesn't let his ego get in the way, and is more innovative in his approach to the front office/organization, that he could be successful -- but he seems somewhat set in his ways when it comes to the organizational structure.
I think Stone glosses over how bad DFS has been. I doubt the Rockets sign DFS if they knew he would not play well this year. I'm not assuming he's as bad next year as this year, but not as happy as I was at the signing. DFS was signed to try to win this year or next, and the Rockets lost half that value. I don't think the Rockets gave up much to sign him such that it isn't that damaging a signing long term. I like that Stone thinks that FVV and Reed will play together, assuming FVV is healthy. I don't see any fit problems between them. I think Stone is being honest in that Sengun was great at the beginning of the season, sucked, and has been better lately. I don't think he's at his best now, but a lot better than most of the year. I like that Stone talked about the uniqueness of some of the Rockets, and that caused problems finding matchups that worked when some players left the lineup. While I doubt FVV and Reed have fit issues, I think the Reed and Sengun lineups have been horrible. I think sometimes the Amen and Sengun lineups have been exploited with playing a free safety, but that is not as bad as the problem caused by the Rockets' defense getting torn apart with Reed and Sengun. I've felt this team has been very weird in that some lineups just perform so differently with just one player changed.
Yeah, Stone likes to shame his critics and never admits wrong, let alone apologizes. "Regret" is probably the closest thing to admitting wrong. But then he backtracks instead of just say, "I can understand why people would understand it that way. My bad for saying something like that."
Stone is just not a leader of men....at all. Neither is Ime to be honest he would be shot by his own troops. DD
It's not even that he treats being a GM as an CIA and M6 Operative, this is not clandestine and classified..... Then 1 month out of 10 months he drops some obnoxious quotations....
translated: Q: Anything you did wrong this season? A: Kidding me? Everything I did was right, nothing wrong with me! ok ok... I'm not perfect, like I can't change injuries... oh oh yeah, the injuries! made me thought "is this just not our year?", but that's not my fault so yeah, nothing wrong with me
Folks on here and twitter need to touch grass a little bit. Stone and Udoka aren't perfect. I have a number of critiques. But if a team wins as many games as the previous year, with a better net rating, and goes further in the playoffs (as they're strongly favored to), while losing 2 of their best 5 players for the season... they're going to see that as an overall successful year. That should not be surprising, and is not wrong. If you expect Stone to come out and talk about this season like a failure and list out mistakes, that's just not reality. They didn't push future assets in. They don't have any bad contracts. They've kept all the good young prospects. Neither their actions or words have ever said this was a season where title contention is the measuring stick. At the same time, do you see Stone committing to keep this group together? Nope. Roster changes this summer have been expected for a while; the Rockets are doing it from a position of relative strength. Underlining that strength is the purpose of this interview.
Reed, as currently playing, is an FVV clone with worse defense and better 3 pt shooting. It would be a disastrous backcourt for us. Stone is just Ime’s front man. He could have had NAW instead of an injured DFS, Ayo with a highly protected frp and filler, Alvarado for next to nothing. If the Rockets sneak past LA and lose in the second round, they will declare this a great year and run it back. How could they do better without a bottom five pg getting injured? If they lose in the first round, they will gut the team for the ghost of Giannis and we will be mediocre for a decade.
That is also one of his so called traits, marketing a slightly above average or mediocre outcome as something good to continue the next season.... He is an expert on that. The Owner would want a splash like Giannis which is also shortsighted.... What a combo - those 2.
I get you can only play the opponent in front of you but given the context of injuries on the other team, not exactly the victory it may be purported as.
If FVV and Adams are 2 of your best five players you have a pitiful roster. You are way too easy on this front office. Of course, Stone is not going to come out and list his shortcomings. It is up to the media and the fans to hold them accountable if ownership won’t. When you go out and get Kevin Durant you were definitely expecting to compete. The extension they handed out to Ime was a catastrophic mistake if Tito refuses to eat that contract. If this was a development year there was no reason to sign a 37 year old Kevin Durant. They could’ve used the same assets to get more young building blocks. Signing DFS injured and extending Adams who gets hurt every year was a mistake. Every draft asset they have has lost value.
