Is it fair to judge Head on how well he matches up with Utah?

Its not like he was useful before .

J/k -somewhat.


He hits a lot of clutch shots during the REGULAR season, but his size negates his effectiveness come playoff time.

 

Matchups doesn't cause you to miss open jumpers in the playoffs. Choking does.

 

dude it's not like they're sticking him wherever he goes. dude is bricking WIDE OPEN SHOTS. how the hell do you shoot like 7% on wide open shots?

he's been a decent reg. season player, but beyond horrific in the playoffs. he's the reason our bench sucks so bad offensively the past 2 yrs in the playoffs v. utah.

 

Yes and no. But mostly yes.

It is fair to judge him based on the Utah series because those are the games that count. In playoffs, pressure filled atmosphere, he has failed to deliver. His shooting % and his decision making has been downright atrocious in those two series. We are not talking about some games in a series but almost every single game in a prolonged best of 7 series for two consecutive years. What that should tell you is that when he is scouted well by the opposing team, he becomes a liability.

OTOH, maybe its unfair to judge him based on Utah series alone. His main strength, 3 point shooting, is well covered by long and quick defenders Jazz have. I also think that it has become a mental thing for him at this point. Once a series of poor games started to pile up, it started getting into his head.

Bottom line is this, however. Since, his ball handling skills, and his court vision leave a lot to be desired, there aren't other ways where he can contribute significantly, if you take away the wide open shots from him. It does not help that he is also a defensive liability and cannot handle physical play.

Luther Head would shine in playoffs against teams like Nuggets, or Warriors, or ones that chose to give some wide open 3 pointers. Against teams that are well prepared and shut down perimeter shooting, he will always struggle. Unfortunately for him, if the team's goal is to win a championship, you face the Nuggets and Warriors only in first round, and only IF you are number one or two seed in an ultra competitive western conference.

Luther head reminds me of Wesley person. My memory might be failing me but Person was also very one dimensional with similar skill sets and he didn't fare too well in playoffs.

 

He plays way too freakin anxious. THe nerves just seem to get to him and he cant do anything. This is where u need a coach like Phil Jackson, that's how he gets his young players to perform well in the playoffs. Since it looks like we are keeping Luther, someone on the team needs to take him under his wing and get him mentally tougher. He is a good spark off our bench. He cannot defend or dribble, but he can in the regular season shoot 3's, run the floor, and make really good cuts. It's up to Rafer or Shane, or heck maybe even Tmac for once to get Luther to relax and let the game come to him in May just like he would be performing in October.

 

I don't like Luther, not because he was not performing well against Jazz, but because he is undersized, he can't dribble and he is slow to react(therefore no passing game for him).
But I'd admit his shooting game is nice, and if we are gona keep him, he can contribute by using in the right way(for example, dont let him inbound the ball at clutch time).

 

I don't actually care too much about his playoff choking. I know he choked, but I still think that he's going to be okay provided he doesn't go off the deep end like Nick Anderson.

I hate Luther because he's not capable of playing PG, and is not tall enough to be a SG. THAT is not a problem of just 14 games.

 

I know the first year Head had a terrible series. He choked. He wasn't the focal point of the defense. He was bricking wide open shots and couldn't space the floor for T-Mac and Yao. He couldn't make a layup, couldn't dribble, couldn't even pass the ball properly. I was pissed off because T-Mac had to take yet another bashing and then I watched Boobie Gibson light up Detroit and help Lebron get to the finals. If Head could have given us half(even 1/3) of what Boobie did then this topic won't exist.

I was still confident in him until last season during that game in Boston. We came back from a huge deficit to take the lead, enter Luther Head in the final minutes. He comes in the game and instantly bricks some wide open shots and turns the ball over several times. There were several cases of this during the same season earlier, but this game was my breaking point. I wanted him gone from that day.

Then came the playoffs..... the guy couldn't do anything right. Every time he entered the game the Jazz would go on a run or we go into a slump. Shortly after the playoffs I decided to see if he fared better than last year, lo and behold...... 1/14, 7%. It's not like the Jazz are applying tremendous pressure on him because they consistently have 3 players on T-Mac.

Later on I came across this blog

http://thedreamshake.blogspot.com/2008/05/special-announcement-luther-head-sucks.html

 

nah, we do not hate him, its just that his the weakest link of the starting 5 and main rotation players. Thats the reason we bash him.

 

Agreed. he has had a lot of good looks, remember 3-1 fast break? Korver blocking Luther...

Of course Luther has hit some clutch shoots for this team but he usually plays well in minutes that really don't matter (team is down or up by a lot of points).

And of course playoffs is that time when everything matters. You gotta bring you A game...

 

how about exchanging him for Redick? he's a flat out shooter...hehe Adelman kept on tellin us that Head cuts very well but can he use that in actual games? he doesn't have the height and the strength..so in the end, he relies on jacking up shots which is not money...

 

I don't understand how a player that can shoot like that with obvious weaknesses, doesn't do everything in his power to fix those weaknesses.

Luther should have been doing dribbling drills all summer long.....if he could dribble, I would have no issue with him whatsoever.

DD

 

That is true. Luther's Bball IQ isn't actually low, he is a smart passer in this team.

The thing is, everytime it comes playoffs, he just..... vanishes.

 

My problem with Head isn't how he matches up with any one team, its his inability to handle the ball, piss poor decision making, and his inability to defend players with any girth or height

 

it's unfair to judge him on the matches with jazz, it's more proper to judge him on how well he matches up with a amature team from NCAA.

 

The hate for Luther makes no sense. He has played in two playoff series and both times against a team that is a horrible matchup for him. People here act like he has choked in the playoffs for the past ten years or that he is the reason we lost to Utah. He took 14 shots last series. Even if he makes all 14 shots we probably do not win that series. He is never going to be the deciding factor.

Secondly, he was a late first round draft choice. Most late first round picks never amount to anything. He makes very little as far as his contract by NBA standards. Its not like he is eating up our cap space or keeping a superstar from having a roster spot. Does anyone really think Von Wafer or DJ Strawberry is the missing link?

Im not saying we need him. Im just saying all the hate is ridiculous when you consider he is a young player with a small role on our team

 

I disagree there,Landry is 31st overall, but he is worth much much higher

 

I don't think he should be judged because it's such a small sample size of playoff games, but you can't use the excuse of it being a bad matchup for him against Utah. Perhaps it was just nerves, but definitely could have made most of the shots given to him. At the same time, it's ludicrous to blame him for not being tall enough to backup Tmac. If you stop and think about it, you should be criticizing the GM for not drafting a taller player, because Luther Head has no control over his height and shouldn't be accountable for us NOT having a certain piece.

 

Citing one player that is good, doesn't change the fact that most low first-rounders fail.