All offseason Luther was linked in every trade talk as a "throw in", or just a player that we didn't need and was undersized. Well all he is is our BEST outside shooter BY FAR (right at 50% 3PT), and an excellent combo reserve guard. He can play 1 if needed and 2. With Bonzi probably never going to see the court as a Rocket, JLII way undersized, Snyder injured, and VSpan pretty erratic, I'm sure glad we have Luther!
The man is clutch. And unlike Rafer who seems to throw up bricks for 3 1/2 quarters before making a big shot, Luther is making them the entire game. 50% on 3-pointers through a quarter of the season is no fluke.
He isnt just a good outside shooter hes a clutch outside shooter and he has been since hes been here. Hope T-mac will recover that part of his game
I don't think anybody with half a brain considered Luther Head a "throw-in" in any trade scenario. In the NBA you have to give up something to get something. Luther was our only tradeable asset, as you can see from his clutch shooting. I for one, did not propose trading Luther at all this summer, but if we did, we better have gotten somebody really good in return!
I never advocated trading Luther but he was one of the few tradeable guys we had. I, too, am glad they didn't go through with it. He's been money.
I'm very impressed with Luther Head. I always liked this kid. Even last year in his rookie season - he was shooting close to 50% from the 3... before he hit "the rookie wall". Let's just hope Luther doesn't hit "the sophomore wall" anytime soon. I like Luther. Very good shooter and clutch too! His defense still need work but other than that... he's great.
50% from the 3 line is Ray Allan like. Very happy with Luther, our most reliable outside shooter and he has made some clutch shots.
i'm sorry, but dAMN, luther head is one of our smartest players. imagine if JVG would let bonzi play, or if bonzi would stop whacking it and play.. our team would be very nice and could survive w/o t-mac just fine.
Percentages is an indicator of how good an outside shooter he really is, not how clutch he is. A player does not shooot 50 percent from clutch situations alones.
The reason that not all physically-talented athletes make it in the NBA is that most of them never improve their games. Luther Head is clearly not one of those guys. This guy has turned from a good athlete with no basketball skill when he entered college (I clearly remember how bad he was in his freshman year at Illinois--the only way he could score was an alley-oop dunk) to a good albeit undersized two guard worthy of a second round draft pick when he left college to a combo guard who can run an offense at times as well as being a clutch shooter in big games in his second year in the NBA. I have no doubt that Luther will continue to get better and be an important asset for the Rockets for years to come.
Luther was linked to trades not because he was expendable but because he was really the only player with value and upside.
i was just looking at his stats, and he makes 2.3 three pointers a game and takes 4.6 for 50% shooting from beyond the arc. he takes 7.8 shots a game and makes 3.4 for 43.2% shooting overall. that means his 3.2 shots per game he takes that are not 3's he only makes 1.1 for 34.3%. i had noticed that everytime he takes that mid range jumper it bricks. I haven't compared him to any other players but i'm guessing that that is a pretty odd differential. not bashing luther at all. i love him. i just thought that was kinda funny.
Assuming his 3 point shooting remains good the whole season, next summer Luther should work on developing mid-range shots like pull up jumpers. I know it's not an exact comparison but he should strive to be similar to Ben Gordon on offense.
Man I'm glad we got Shane Battier instead of Rudy Gay, Thabo Sefolosha, or Brandon Roy (still injured). Battier at least gives us a good fighting chance with TMac out... we'd be screwed with these other guys.
Maybe he'll adopt some of Deron Williams' game when they get together next summer at the Ubben Basketball complex and go at it. I also remember watching Luther as a freshman and thought great athlete but... Good for Luther, he's worked very hard to improve his game and continues to do so.
everyting about Luther Head's shooting is good, but his D is the reason why he can never be a starter. but he is our best 6th man now, i thought it would be Bonzi Wells.
I was going to post a similar comment re: Ben Gordon, who is a very streaky shooter along the lines of Vinnie Johnson. As the Rockets witnessed a few weeks ago, Gordon can be unstoppable at times. He also is a better finisher at the rim right now than Luther is.
