Rockets GM Daryl Morey has hilarious reaction to ‘tall ball’ Nuggets

Small Ball, meet Tall Ball? Rockets GM Daryl Morey had quite a reaction upon seeing Wednesday’s giant lineup for the Denver Nuggets.

In the 2019-20 NBA season, the undersized Rockets have become best known for “small ball.” Two years ago, Houston GM Daryl Morey even produced his own musical by the same name.

On Wednesday’s opening day of scrimmages at the NBA “bubble” complex in Florida, the Denver Nuggets presented an alternative with what might could be referred to as “tall ball.”

With most of Denver’s usual guards such as Jamal Murray, Torrey Craig, Gary Harris, and Will Barton all sitting out for various reasons, the Nuggets started the scrimmage with a lineup of 7-foot-0 Nikola Jokic at point guard, 7-foot-2 Bol Bol at forward, and 6-foot-11 Mason Plumlee at center. The smallest member of Denver’s starting five was usual power forward Paul Millsap, who still stands at 6-foot-7!

A Twitter user shared an image of that tall lineup with the caption “Daryl Morey bout to have an anxiety attack,” and Morey replied with this:

In contrast to Denver’s lineup, the Rockets start 6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker at center, and they often play 6-foot-3 Eric Gordon as a third guard next to an All-Star backcourt of Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

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At the moment, the No. 3 Nuggets (43-22) and No. 6 Rockets (40-24) are currently slotted to meet in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. (Both have already clinched their spots.)

While both teams could easily move up or down in the tightly packed West standings once the 2019-20 regular season resumes next week, it’s certainly well within the realm of possibility that they could face off in the playoffs. In fact, shortly after the NBA’s COVID-19 hiatus in March, Morey indicated that the Rockets were preparing to play Denver.

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Should that happen, the Nuggets would likely have Murray, Barton, Craig, and Harris back, so the height discrepancy with their normal roster probably wouldn’t look as extreme as Wednesday’s scrimmage lineup might suggest. Nonetheless, the possibility makes for high comedy, and Morey showed his signature sense of humor by playing along.

The “tall ball” Nuggets did win their scrimmage over the Washington Wizards, 89-82 (box score). Bol Bol, somehow a 7-foot-2 small forward, led the way with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks.

The first scrimmage for the “small ball” Rockets is set for Friday night, when they play the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central, with the game shown on NBA TV.

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