Sorry but this statement is incorrect. Rafer is not a good playmaker and furthermore is a reluctant passer to Yao Ming. The reason why Rafer's shooting was exposed is because he took too many low percentage shots instead of setting his team mates up with a good pass to the open man. This being said I still hope that this next season we will see an improvement, especially if the Coach has given Alston a truthful analysis of his last season.Further to this we don't know what instructions JVG gave to Alston last season so its difficulkt for us to make accurate judgements.
Dang, this thread is almost done and I have just gotten in. I really should drop by more often in the summer. Most of the arguments over Redick, pro and con, have been hashed over, so I won't repeat them. I just want to remind people who bash Redick for his defence that basketball is about scoring more points than the other team. Redick can really fill it up, especially if he ends up on our team. He will simply outscore the opposing SG. On most nights, he will be a matchup problem all right -- in our favor! Redick will have problems against a few players like Kobe and JRich, but who doesn't? There's a reason that Kobe averaged over 30 points a game. Another point to think about: is anyone likely to be available at #8 who will be more of a plus for us (in the plus/minus sense) than Redick? If not, then we should take Redick.
I forgot to address another point. Redick can be stopped by a long, athletic defender, but that is irrelevant. If the other team's defensive wonder sticks to Redick all game, then T-Mac and Yao will dominate. If they try to play off Redick and double one of our superstars, then Redick will kill them. Either way, our offence improves enormously when JJ is on the floor.
It's really not irrelevant. In fact it's highly likely the case. The assumption is that Tmac will be on the floor to create the opportunities for Reddick. Even with Yao being double teamed if Tmac is out won't force teams to leave Reddick open. They will simply not rotate off him but do so with someone else. I think Reddick would be great in a off the bench type role or if the Rockets have other players who can create in the game with him at all times. Unfortunately the Rox don't have those type of players now except for Tmac. Check out my post on a possible trade scenario and you can probably plug Reddick in the equation instead Foye or Ager.
JJ is not worth the trouble at #8 if he's just another smaller John Barry clone, but if no one is better at #8 he won't be a total bust. If trading down a bit means picking up Reddick and Sheldon Williams then by all means do it. Next trade Swift and Bowen for Mike James. With two sharp shooters on the perimeter, we will shoot lights out and kill whatever defense they throw at Yao and T-Mac. A long shot it is but it's nice to dream.
I'm going to pretend that someone did not just compare Luther Head to J.J. Redick... In fact, I'm surprised by some of the other comparisons raised by folks during the course of this debate: Dave Jamerson, Jon Barry, Bryce Drew, Richie Frahm, Matt Maloney... For those who made those comparisons, I will just chalk that up to you not having watched many of J.J. Redick's games... For those who think Rodney Carney is the next savior, I will just chalk that up to you having not watching enough of Rodney Carney's games... Remember, basketball players are not measured by verticals, wingspans, etc.; it's measured by production on the court...
Right, that works so well on Ray Allen, although everyone knows he is going to shoot. Redick will find a way to get his and it will be off passes from Yao in the post, or Tmac on the drive....and they will be WIDE open shots. If he is the best fit for the ROCKETS TEAM......we should take him, if not....no worries. The game is not played 1 on 1....it is 5 on 5. DD
You're not comparing Reddick to Ray Allen are you? Allen has the ability to get his shot off without a pick. Allen can handle and finish at the rim. Allen is bigger and stronger. Reddick will be a nice complimentary player. He would be nice on the Rox, but not with the 8th pick. What I'm trying to say is Reddick needs atleast one other shooter on the floor with him at all times which forces the opposing team to pick which player not to rotate off. Right now the Rockets currently assembled and adding Reddick does not give them more than one outside shooter. He simply can't create to get his own shot. Please understand this. The Rockets of the Championship years always had atleast 3 shooters in the game at all time surrounding Dream. That concept works when you have that many shooters. When you only have one, teams will double from another player not from the shooter.
I was comparing him in the context that he can hit a wide open 3, just as well as Reddick. If we need guys who can hit wide open 3's when teams double team Tmac or Yao, there are other players that can do that, i.e. Scott Padget,Luther Head... not sure Reddick is worth the 8th pick if his role is to shoot open 3 ptrs, and play average defense...
Never underestimate the value of a 3 point shooter. Especially if you have a dominate inside player. We have one of the most dominant and we also have one of the best take it to the basket wing players. We need the best three point shooters we can get. Ideally they should be able to play D but first and foremost they most be able to knock down a high percentage of open 3's. Is JJ that guy. I don't know but he sure seems to be an option and unless there is a better option he definitely deserves consideration.
to me thats the story of this draft...there is no sure-fire thing...some are more solid picks than others, and some have great qualities that stand out more than others (plus have glaring deficiencies). if we picked jj its not an entirely bad thing. since when is a spot-on shooter a bad thing ?
Here's my deal plain and simple. Assumming we are healthy. They are going to double Yao or Tracy so every other person on the floor should be a great jump shooter. I don't care which position they are at when they double Tracy or Yao they need to pay the price and the only way we are going to do that is with guys he can make a shot. I like Rybo's defense, but I'm sorry guys like him have got to go. We need to grab as many pure shooters as possible. Reddick is a pure shooter and if none of the big boys unexpectidly fall to eight then we should take him.
I'm not sure what you mean there. If T-Mac will not be on the court most of the time, then our next season will be a total loss anyway. (The same would be true, of course, if Yao went down.) If they're not rotating off JJ, then whoever they do rotate off will be free to set a screen for JJ, resulting in a completely open shot. Then it's lights out. With Yao, T-Mac, and JJ on the floor, the defending team has a huge problem no matter what they do.
I think there are a lot of misconceptions about Redick's game from reading through this thread and other's on the forum about Redick. Basically most people seem to think he's a one-dimensional spot-up shooter. But that's actually quite incorrect. I am a huge college b-ball fan and always order the college ball TV package. I've watched tons of Duke games over the last few years and I have to say that many of the viewpoints here about Redick are simply totally wrong. People are trying to figure out what player he resembles.... some say Hornacek, some say Kerr, etc. Well I can tell you right now he reminds me of Michael Redd. Watching probably half of his games over the last few years I honestly feel that's the player he most resembles. And many people are seriously off-base in evaluting his ability to score the ball. He runs relentlessy off screens and picks (like Reggie Milelr and Rip Hamilton), he can score against the double team or single coverage easily on the perimeter. he has a variety of fadeaways, turnarounds etc that he uses quite effectively against athletic 6-6 or 6-7 guards. Most of his offense is created by himself, I would dare say 90 percent of his offense is something he either initiates, gets by himself, or creates by his non-stop running off screens and picks. He is also a true pure shooter and a true catch and shoot shooter from anywhere on the half-court. Probably the greatest thing he brings is that he is able to put the ball on the floor for a dribble or two and THEN hit the shot. That is something that players he is being compared to could not do. Steve Kerr didn't develop that ability until he was about 35. Nevermind Matt Maloney and so forth. Seeing him this year he has completely unlimited range (I watched probably 20 Duke games), I would say 80 percent of his 3's came with a high degree of difficulty. Let me put it like this, he can shoot thoe very long high degree shots like T-Mac can only do it at a much higher clip. And I saw many games where athletic and long 6-6 or 6-7 defenders were put on him with double teams and traps, and he still would probably get 25 points. So he ISa player that creates his own shot and offense. Now whether or not he is too small or now and would not be able to play adequate D is probably a point to debate. But I see many people saying he could not defend because he is no athlete, well again that's quite wrong. He's not a great athlete, but I guarantee you he is far better than guys like Wesley and Barry, FAR better. Maybe not early in their careers, but the versions of them that played for the Rockets. So the thing about not being able to play D because of athleticism I think is overstated quite a bit. He's more athletic than people realize, he's extremely quick with the ball, he has unlimited stamina, and I've seen him dunk the ball with one step quite easily on several occasions. So I think a lot of this stuff is just a stereotype, probably like Thomas is stereotyped as swift part deux. it may be true but it is really more a stereotype. As for his size that is an issue, he's a SG in a point guard's body. But 6-3 1/4 (actually that is barefoot according to Chronicle query) or 6-4 1/2 with shoes on is the same exact height that Mobley is exactly. It is over 3 inches taller than Wesley is, now granted Mobley is a FREAK with a ridiculos wingspan, while Redick's is only 6-2. But I have tried to find Wesley's wingspan and only found some vague references to 6-4, so that mean's in overall all length Redick actually is bigger than Wesley and has a higher standing reach, while also being significantly taller. Also Redick weighs in at 200 supposedly and from listening to some of the announcers comments at Duke the last couple of years he is obsessed with weigh training and surprisingly strong. This is something that Wesley also brought at about 205, or even a guy like Derek Fisher. Redick isn't that strong yet but he's probably getting there. I noticed this quite a bit last year (something people have failed to account for) he is able to use good upper body strength quite a lot to negate lack of size on D and also to create space when shooting against bigger players. So the size issue is a bit overstated too. He IS undersized, but it's not at all like some people are making it out to be. All in all, people are wrong both the advocates for and against him in this thread in judging what type of player he is. I am telling you he's a shorter Michael Redd with more range. I remember when redd was in college they said he would never be able to play in the NBA, "too slow, too unathletic, too one-dimensional, game won't translate, etc." Well he went way late in the draft like 51 or soemthing cannot remember exactly, and when he was drafted there were comments like "he won't even make the team" and so forth. Well slowly and steadily he showed the Bucks he could play and every time he got more minutes he did more. Now look at him, that knock against him is forgotten. And why was Redd so successful? Because people misjudged what he could do with the ball and WHY he got off the shots. Redick is VERY similar to Redd in my estimation. LIGHTNING quick release on the jumper (almost bordering on the absurd), needs only a fraction of a second of time and just a scant glance at the rim to get his shot off, also needs just the slightest margin imaginable of space to get off the shot. UNLIMITED almos range, dude will shoot from 35 with a hand in his face the way others shoot FT's. He very much has the tool set like T-Mac, Redd to shoot like that BUT, he's a better shooter than Redd and T-Mac and has more range than even T-Mac and also Redd. People are thinking he is similar to Navk in shooting, well I watched plenty of Novak's games and he is a great shooter with serious range, but he's nothing remotely close to the shooter Reddick is. I would say right now once he is drafted he replaces Ray Allen as the best shooter in the NBA and I don't even think it's very close. He's every bit the shooter Allen is with a further 10 feet of range and a quicker release. So in conclusion, is he less athletic than say Rodney Carney or many of the great SG's in the NBA? Sure. But is he "not athletic" No. Is he undersized? Yes. But is he too small? I doubt it, he needs hardly and time/space or look at the rim at all to get shots off. Is he just a great shooter? No, he is probably right there with Larry Legend as one of the two greatest shooters I have ever watched play on a consistent basis, he IS that great a shooter. I'm not saying the Rockets should take Redick, I'm just saying is Carney is an 8 pick then Redick is EASILY an 8 pick, he's FAR FAR superior of a player to what is being said here. Does that mean he's a better pick than Carney? I don't really know, Carney is more of a player that has yet to tap potential, but I think it is about what type of player the Rockets will want, not about Redick not being taken because he isn't that good. Right now he is probably much better than Carney. Some other things I can say that are myths about Redick, he CAN handle the ball, in fact he often pump fakes then takes it to the rim to dish off to say Williams for the easy dunk when the defense comes over. He CAN pass, he often creates and sets up easy buckets for teammates. That's more an issue of him not doing to because he usually can just get his shot off, but he is a FAR FAR cry from a Matt Maloney or even a Steve Kerr. And please no more Trajan Langdon comparisons that's just as bad as the Nash comparisons. One thing I do know, if the Rockets don't draft him he will probably go to some team like Seattle, or the Suns, or the Lakers, or the Jazz and make the Rockets pay for years. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he dropped about 22 a game off the bench if the Suns got him. Rockets fans need to understand he was weaknesses and strengths like any other player (just like Carney for example) but they are OVERSTATING his weakness by a lot and UNDERSTATING his strenghts by a lot. If the Rockets could re-sign Bogans (there's some talk about possibly the TE for Stevenson as well) and Sura can give some minutes along with Head giving some minutes, then there is littlke explanation whay the Rockets would not want Redick. He could probably get 12-15 points a game off the bench in limited minutes, and the Rockets could put a bigger SG on the floor with him (perhaps use Sura for that time) and play Redick at PG to guars PG's, which he can do, he is much much quicker than people here seem to realize. Let Sura be the primary ball handler and put them with T-Mac as the secondary ball handler, while Sura and Redick play likely against backups anyway, Redick would not even be a defensive problem that way. But could easily give more offense than Mike James could even dream of. In 2 to 3 years like Luther Head he could probably develop enough to be much better on D and handling the ball (I believe he will because if you watch him enough he DOES have the talent and he certainly improves in big leaps ever year - works incredibly hard). If JVG is right about taking the best player available at #8, then the board's views are generally wrong, that that would mean no Redick, because in reality he is going to be the best player at #8 unless someone falls. I'm not neccessarily saying they must take Redick, I'm just saying he is probably the best player there at 8 and fits the team quite well. He doesn't need wide open 3's at all, with T-Mac and Yao and Redick on the floor I can tell you I KNOW from watching him enough at Duke that that trio would an absolute nightmare for any team to defend.
wow, a great first post Rockets Dynasty. I am still torn between Carney and Redick but that comparison to Redd sure does make a lot of sense.
Wow, that is quite a post. We'll see if his game translates to the NBA. But if he is a smart player, works hard and can hit open shots ...his NBA career is a certanty. The question is can he be an impact player in his 1st year. The NBA is changing and Redick is a bit of a throwback player. What's interesting is Yao makes us a throwback team. So in that mold, Houston might be the best chance for Redick to succeed.
