And-Ones: Morey, Smith, Prigioni

The Rockets have improved as of late, but the franchise still views the current campaign as a disappointment and GM Daryl Morey believes the team needs to demonstrate more consistency on both sides of the court moving forward, Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post writes. “We’re just volatile,” said Morey. “We’re not very consistent. That’s something we need to keep improving on. We aren’t as good as we need to be on both sides of the ball. Defense is the bigger area we need to improve on, in all facets, especially transition-D and defensive rebounding. Offense – we’ve had better moments lately but we have had long stretches of droughts. A lot of what we were able to do was have our defense turn into offense last year and that has been less prevalent this year.”

Here’s more from around the league:

• Ish Smith has performed exceptionally well since being acquired by the Sixers, who are his ninth NBA team in five seasons. While the point guard isn’t sure why he has been unable to stick with one team, he does believe all the movement has made him a better player, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. “You might have to make that phone call to all those GMs, don’t ask me,” Smith responded, when asked why he thinks he has been on the move so often. “I just think it’s part of the process. Everybody has their story. I thank God for what I went through. It’s made me who I am. I wouldn’t want it any other way. When I went through the process, I didn’t understand it. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. But you just have to trust the process. Not everybody is a lottery pick who plays for the same team for 13 years. My story couldn’t be that. Is that the easy way or is that the ideal way? Absolutely. But that’s not my story.“
• Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has been impressed with the intangibles that veteran point guard Pablo Prigioni has brought to the team, Robert Morales of The Long Beach Post-Telegram writes. “He’s been great,” Rivers said of Prigioni. “He’s just been solid. He runs the team and that’s so important. I think if you just looked at him, or looked at his numbers, you wouldn’t be that impressed. He goes yesterday without a shot, he goes games without shots; he has assists. But he just knows how to play. He gives that second unit more craftiness.”