Thank you, thank you I'll be here all week. Exactly you used a fan poll to try and prove youre point which was weak to begin with. Then you use the results to boast. Kinda funny/sad really.
To this point head. Still hard to think AB will get much time behind Rafer and BJ, at least until the trade deadline IMHO.
I don't think my point is weak at all but I do respect your opinion. I (a fan, not a coach) believe that Brooks is more talented and valuable to this team, both in the short and long term. He is much more skilled and has far more potential. Having followed the Rockets for years now, I was well aware that Luther has played more and contributed more up to this point. This is mostly due to the fact that he's been in the league for two additional years. It is also due to the fact that his first season was the one where the Rockets were utterly ravaged with injuries. That resulted in him getting a lot more playing time than he would have that season under normal circumstances. JVG had no intention of using him nearly that much but had no choice and he openly stated this in more than one instance. Head's minutes have decreased each season, including a huge drop last season. Considering we've had a shortage of shooters and no real backup SG, it has to say something about Head's deteriorating value that his minutes keep going south (coaching decision). Regardless, the fact that Luther has played more than Brooks doesn't change my opinion about who is a better basketball player and more valuable to this team. I also think that many people who voted are not just trying to crap on Luther. I assume many of the Brooks voters share a similar opinion based on similar reasoning. By the way, which coach ever said that Head was more valuable to this team than Brooks? The mere fact that Head saw more minutes does not necessarily mean that they consider him more valuable. It could mean that, but it also may not. For example, the Lakers surely valued Andrew Bynum more than Kwame Brown the year before last but Bynum wasn't ready to be a starter so Kwame was still getting more minutes and contributing more at that point. I think you have a weak argument and I think the poll supports this fact. I imagine if you asked Morey, Adelman and the rest of the coaching staff who they feel is more valuable to this team that every last one of them would pick Brooks even though they gave Head more minutes last season.
I respect you to but I have to dissagree with this statement. The Luther Head sucks syndrome is in full effect. Most and by most I mean the majority of posters here are blowing Heads playoff performance the last 2 years way out of proprtion. He is what he is, a decent end of the bench backup combo guard that gives you good value for his contract. Brooks hasnt even reached that status yet. However I want Brooks to have a breakout year more than anyone. We sure could use it. Right now he reminds me of Francis (early years though not as talented) in that he only knows one speed. FULL BLAST! If he learns how to adjust his tempo to the situation he could be deadly ala Nash. When! (trying to be positive) he learns how do that and starts getting more playing time he will be more valuable than Head.
You make more good points. However, before even proving he can change speeds, I already put him well ahead of Luther. If he becomes good at what you describe above and does it consistently at the NBA level, he will become just that much better and more valuable than Head. The fact of the matter is that I'm not sure that Brooks will end up being anything more than a backup at this level. It's just that, in my opinion, Head has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he does not deserve to be a rotation player in this league (even though he has been so far with the Rockets). I think Brooks has the potential to be that. Luther no longer has that potential as I see it. I think Luther is the most expendable player from last year's roster (other than Loren Woods who is gone now anyways). I would keep Novak, Hayes and even Harris over him.
1) Instead of "Who is better," the title should have read, "Who is more popular with the posters on this board?" 2) That the coaches gave more PT to Head last year means EXACTLY that they valued him more, at that time, and not counting potential. 3) The anti-Luther sentiments on this board are ridiculous. He is what he is. In the long run, I expect that AB will be a better player, but we don't know that at this point. We really don't. 4) We don't know that GMs are trying harder to trade for AB. If they are, however, his contract probably has a lot to do with it. AB will be cheap for 3 more years, and there's nothing he can do about it. 5) Quoting BrooksBall: This is quite illogical, on more than one level.
When I ask "Who is more valuable to the Rockets?", you can consider potential. In fact, you should consider potential. You say that the coaches weren't considering potential when they were giving out playing time last season. I agree. That doesn't change the original question. The way the question was phrased was somewhat open-ended, but the way I intended it to be interpreted was to include all factors, including potential. I wouldn't try to argue that Brooks was more useful to the Rockets last season than Head but that doesn't at all change my opinion that Brooks is the better and more valuable player to this franchise, overall. Why? Because he has far more raw talent and a broader set of skills. He has far more potential and for that reason, he is far more valuable to the franchise. The question was not "Who was more NBA-ready last season?". You missed the point. You are arguing that Luther Head was more valuable than Brooks last season. While that is true in the framework of "just last season", that doesn't mean that the fans, or even the coaches, think that Head is more valuable, overall, than Brooks when considering a broader framework than just last season. Coaches, and fans, obviously think about the future when they consider value. I gave an example of Bynum vs Kwame the year before last. Kwame got more playing time but Bynum was surely considered the more valuable asset to the team based on his greater skill and potential. The fact that a player gets more playing time does not necessarily mean that the team places more value in that player. Sometimes the potential they see in player A outweighs the fact that player B happens to be more NBA-ready when considering the value (present AND FUTURE) of both players. They may give player B more playing time because he is more effective in the present but that doesn't necessarily mean that they value player B more than player A. It could mean that player B is simply more adjusted to the NBA and familiar with the team's style of player even though he is a lesser player. There have been many occasions where a team will give playing time to a player that has been in the league for a while over a rooke that they value much more than that player simply because the rookie needs more time to develop. I still believe that all members of the Rockets coaching staff would say that they place greater value in Brooks (are less willing to part ways with him) than Head. I believe they would have said this much after the last SL, even though they knew they would be giving Head more PT during the regular season due to Brooks needing time to adapt to the NBA. They could see from almost day one that Brooks had more tools than Head and that he had far more potential. In other words, they quickly recognized that Brooks was the more valuable player to the franchise.
OK. For reasons of potential first, and contract second, I would rather have Brooks on the team than Head. Also, I think there's a decent chance that Brooks will be PG #2 by the playoffs. I also think that Barry is going to leave Luther with almost no minutes. Luther is worth more than that, to some team, so we should move him and get something out of him. Again, though, we don't really know what AB will turn into. We have all seen players that turned out much different than what they looked like after one year.
I would have voted for Brooks if I wasn't annoyed at the opening post. Come on, could that comparison be any more biased? It's really nitpicky in describing Heads weaknesses, while all of Brooks's are qualified in some way.
You should have voted based on your own opinion, that's without reading anything. Luther is of no value to Rox, especially in the playoffs.
This is exactly the type of hyperbole that irks me. There have been a lot of Rockets wins in which Luther has played a key role. Maybe he's out of the rotation now, but we've said that every offseason that he's been on the team.
Luther hasn't had that many playoff series. He could be awesome the next time. In baseball, how many teams would have passed on Alex Rodriguez (at a reasonable price) when he was considered a poor post-season player? Or Tracy? He did pretty well last time, but he was considered something of a choker in the playoffs. It is way too early to hang that on Luther.
