The whole team played like crap!! I still can't believe only 4 players scored!! @$!%&*%#$@*&!# Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! Now that that's out of my system.. we go on to win Game 4 and clinch the series at home.
Luther Head, what the hell is wrong with this guy? I remember watching draft day and we selected this character. They mentioned he had a 37 inch vertical I believe. Well, where the **** is it??? Everytime this guy gets in the paint on a fast break he get's scared and dribbles it back out! What the hell Luther, it's okay to get your shot blocked man. All the greats in the game have either been dunked on or had their shot blocked badly at one point in their life. You have a good vertical leap. Dunk the mother****ing ball douchebag, I was there at the Toyota Center when you facialed Turiaf. Do it again you little, little girl...This is the PLAYOFFS man!!! If you can't represent now then what's the point of even playing the game. We don't pay you for three pointers only(which he can't even hit). Quit wasting time with all them white chicks and hit the gym. It's 10:00 am here in Houston, you better have been on the court already two hours ago improving your weak jump shot after last night's HORRENDOUS performance. Serve the city of Houston well and throw one down on Boozer if you have the BALLZ!!! I think we need to contact Jack Bauer about Luther's dissapearance...
the most disturbign thing is that he looked tenative. Luthers best attribute is that he is cold blooded and doesnt hesistate when he shoots (well usually)
He's been shooting the ball in an awkward fashion. He's rushing his shot, it seems, and is leaning forward too much.
Watching the team struggle in the second half. There is one name kept flashing up for me. Bonzi Wells. Is there anyway he can still get actived to play?
he just has bad handles, can't create his own shot, never has been able to even in college. actually, during that run ALL he did was jack shots up from downtown. in fact illinois lost because all they did was jack shots up from downtown. luther is what he is, and I stopped being upset at him. not his fault that the rox have to rely on him to make some shots, not his fault that he is being asked to do something, like being a PG, that he cannot do well. rox only have what they have, and they have to use someone and he just happens to be that someone. first and foremost is to get yao and tracy going on the offensive side so that players have to double them. this will gve luther more space so that he can do what he does best, which is drain an open 3. yao and tracy haven't looked right, and they need to right it, and I believe they can. they are the ones who need to create those shots, to expect luther to create for himself is asking the impossible
I've bashed Luther quite a bit lately but for a minute here I almost lost sight of the fact that maybe, just maybe our beloved friend Bonzi Wells is out there somewhere destroying some Eat N Park buffet or whatever thinking with all of our offensive woes that perhaps he's the missing link? If that's the case, rot in hell Bonzi. And even if it's not the case, he can still rot in hell!
This is ridiculous. There is only ONE thing wrong with Luther right now. Just ONE thing. His nerves. Of course, that's a pretty big weakness, but is it really not to be expected. He is still young. This is his first playoffs. He is obviously totally unprepared. Plenty of great players have had diminished success early in their playoff lives. And Luther isn't great to begin with, so it is hitting him a little harder. The fact is that he is still getting open looks, and in some case the same covered looks that he used to bomb and make in the regular season anyway. He should still be a great asset to have coming off the bench to give you 8-12 points, grab a few boards, maybe a steal. Unfortunately, his nerves have gotten the best of him. Hopefully he can turn it around. Worse than Luther is Juwan. This guy is a veteran. At times the vocal leader of the team. Yet, after going 0 for whatever on FT line jumpers, if he was wide open at the FT line, nobody between him and the basket, he'd still take (and likely miss) another FT line jumper. Juwan's at least been to the playoffs before. He's been around the block once or twice. They both need to step it up, but Juwan needs to lead the way.
There's nothing more I hate than the typical panic/disaster threads and complaints you see here the next day after a tough loss. I'm a fan of Luther but I don't see what's so ridiculous about what I suggested. Given his limited skill set, unconventional jump shot form that basically eliminates any possibility of him ever being able to have a consistent pull up jumper and his weak first step his offensive game is rather weak when he isn't setting his feet and firing away. Why is it ridiculous for me to suggest we look to trade him if I feel he's hit his ceiling? People around here keep foolishly comparing him to Jason Terry, Ben Gordon, Barbosa, etc and I can't help but think they're all dellusional. My biggest fear with him is that he's only a more athletic version of Damon Jones. Clearly, there's nothing wrong with having a high percentage shooter on your team like that, however you can't expect to succeed in the playoffs if a spot up shooter is your first option off of the bench. Like I said, hope he does well but forgive me for not being supportive of your "throw some newspaper on the vomit" approach by claiming it's merely "nerves" that are killing his performance.
What gets me more than him missing shots is the mental mistakes Luther is making. It just looks like he isn't ready to play. Someone need to get this team ready to play and not make dumb passes. Isn't that the coach's job?...I think so.
He needs to hit weighting room hard. In the playoffs, strong players overachieve, weak players underachieve.
Someone will always find a way to blame Van Gundy. It's not his fault Luther is playing like a scared kid who couldn't hit the ocean from the beach last night. Its not his fault Juwan can't grab the basketball and is playing like he shoulda retired three years ago. Get off your hate Van Gundy kick and accept the fact that sometimes the shots don't fall, and some players no matter who the coach is, some games will not be prepared to play.
exactly. his shot reminds me of a golf swing in that his entire body has to be perfectly set, perfectly aligned for him to have any chance of hotting the shot. he'll never be able to have a decent pull up j like you said, but he'll also never have a decent turnaround j, never have a decent fadeaway j, etc. for the good scorers, it doesn't matter what their legs are doing, as long as they can get airborn and line up their shoulders and arms, they can make it, fading away, turnaround, whatever. not so with luther, sadly.
