isn't this too high of a standard? if francis plays, he can get minutes from 1 player.. he doesn't need to get minutes from all three.. and 25%? i say 40% coz francis is 40+% fg for his career..
Seems like its going to take rafer/mj a combined 10% FG and 3% 3PT just to get RA to THINK about putting Steve in.
in order for Francis to play, one of these things will have to happen: 1) Rafer, MJ, and Head play horrible, as in shooting a combined 25% from the field, and not being able to get the offense flowing for a good stretch of games. 2) Injuries. Right now Francis is our insurance in case someone gets injured. i think 1 is very unlikely to happen. MJ will have games when hes cold, but he'll have just as many games when hes hot. Rafer will ALWAYS shoot horribly. There's no denying that, but his low turnovers and passing remains constant, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. You get what you see with Head. He still makes poor passes and shoots airballs, but that's why he's only averaging 6-7 mins a game. in other ways, Francis will have a very tough time making his way in the rotation. the guy isn't out of shape. his style just doesnt fit this system. Adelman only said that to not hurt his feellings.
Ask Morey. Rafer beats out others in the preseason, he hasn't done much in actual games. In fact, his minutes are in steady decline. Remember, RA said it's not set in stones.
in order for Francis to play, one of these things will have to happen: 1) Rafer, MJ, and Head play horrible, as in shooting a combined 25% from the field, and not being able to get the offense flowing for a good stretch of games. 2) Injuries. Right now Francis is our insurance in case someone gets injured. i think 1 is very unlikely to happen. MJ will have games when hes cold, but he'll have just as many games when hes hot. Rafer will ALWAYS shoot horribly. There's no denying that, but his low turnovers and passing remains constant, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. You get what you see with Head. He still makes poor passes and shoots airballs, but that's why he's only averaging 6-7 mins a game. in other ways, Francis will have a very tough time making his way in the rotation. the guy isn't out of shape. his style just doesnt fit this system. Adelman only said that to not hurt his feellings.
That in-depth analysis and extensive research definitely was very evident with the oakley, charlie ward, and rod strickland signings. Its just that random internet posters with their lack of detailed analysis were not able to appreciate the brilliance of those moves. I don't believe Steve should usurp MJs or Rafer's roles or minutes, but i think he can definitely give us more than "perfect fit" Luther Head. We already know what Luther is giving us in this system which is very little offensively and a huge defensive liability. Can you convincingly argue that Steve can't give us more than that? At least he should be allowed to prove that he can't in regular season minutes. A player of Steve's caliber should definitely not be benched on the basis of a preseason performance or two, or being a little overweight (see bonzi last year, also see utah/rox first round series last year). You use all of your available talent and figure out a way to make it fit. And Steve definitely, indisputably has more talent, even at this stage of his career than luther.
Exactly what I am advocating. Luther has been dismal on both ends of the floor, so you are not losing much by giving his liimited minutes to sf to show he can do something. If he produces, great, give him some of rafer's mins as well then, if he bombs, at least he was given an opportunity and you didn't really lose anything except for luther head's mediocre offense, and atrocious defense for 10 mins a night.
sry about the repost. anyway, i dont think anyone is denying that francis is better than luther head. however, head offers a very important attribute that none of the other guards have, 3-point shooting. just because francis is better than head doesnt mean hes a better fit for the team. it's all about roles. luther's role is 3 point shooting, james' role is shooting whenever he wants, and rafer's role is taking care of the ball and getting people involved.
you know that luther is 1-8 (12.5%) in 3 pt shooting this year and 6-23 (26%) in last year's playoffs and mike james is as good as a 3 pt shooter as james career wise
Luther has been out of sorts since the season started and has contributed almost nothing to the team. If this continues a couple of more games he should be yanked from the rotation. Either give his minutes to SF or even AB. It's very obvious Luther is not comfortable in the offense. If he can't fulfill his limited role he is of no use.
Even I'm getting sick of Rafer's horrid shooting, and I'm easily the #1 Rafer supporter here. Put the chains on him. Don't shoot anything inside that 3pt line unless its a free throw. Give Steve minutes - yes at Rafer's cost - not immediately Gradually increase them. Give him about 10 min and by midseason he should see a solid 20min per game.
Steve didn't play good in the preseason... are y'all forgetting that? In order to get Steve in the game... Luther will have to come out of the rotation and Rafer's mintutes may have to decrease a bit more. It's possible, but it will take a few more games. Steve won't play next game, so stop expecting to see him.
Exactly!!! Not to mention the millions Stevie got paid by another team not to play for them any more. I like Stevie personally, but he's never been good at running an offense. The reason Adleman isn't playing Stevie is not that he has some grudge against him. He knows that the first priority is getting players used to the new offense and if he starts playing Francis then we'll have all this energy focused on who our point guard is rather than players adjusting to new plays in a new system.
