An NBA Team Built By Number

At the moment, my favorite NBA team to follow is the Houston Rockets.* They're not the fastest or the most athletic, but that's what I love about them. The Rockets' two big name, big money stars (Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady) have yet to play this year, yet the team has still played well all year and remained in the mix for an eventual playoff spot.

The direct inverse of my home town Warriors, the Rockets have been successful because of how they're built. Michael Lewis touched on this in his New York Times Magazine piece on Shane Battier, but really, that structure is a product of the Rockets' General Manager, Daryl Morey.

Daryl Morey’s has been an “experiment” unprecedented thus far in this league.  Never before has a team predicated transactional decision-making primarily upon advanced statistical analysis.  With the club exceeding all expectations, to some extent, Morey’s methods have been validated.

Due to the novelty of his approach, and the immediacy of his success, oft forgotten is it that we still lay merely in the earliest of stages in the shaping of this team.  Only precious little is known of Daryl Morey’s managerial philosophy.  The forethought with which he has guided the transformation of this roster would indicate some grander scheme yet to unfold.  This is the subject of my intrigue.

via Discerning Morey’s Philosophy | Red 94 (hat tip to True Hoop).

* My favorite to watch? The Seattle Zombies.