Untrue. We beat Indiana in the last 4 minutes because Collier and Mobley ran the pick-n-roll 5-6 consecutive times to perfection to mount a 9 point (?) comeback against a stunned Isiah team. It started with two traps on Mobley resulting in passes to a rolling Collier for swishes from 20 feet out. Then they stopped doing the trap, and Mobley took it straight to the free throw line twice for wide-open jumpers. Then Mobley drove twice for fouls. This string was set up by Collier's shots. Coaches like Rudy don't forget 4th Q comebacks, and neither do players like Mobley. Collier proved he can knock down the 18-20'er under pressure, imo. He'll get chances to prove it again, before Langhi will.
Collier might have one good game every know and then, but in the limited time I have seen him on the court, he has mostly been a liability (except putting his body on Shaq). He looks more like a big slug, then a 1st round up & coming NBA Center. I would take Ike over Collier any day of the week. At least Ike hustles, and has had some good numbers in his extremely limited playing time this preseason. No way Rudy would put Collier in the game during crucial times in the 4th quarter, over Willis & Cato. Collier will only see time as the 3rd Center, when the first two get into foul trouble. I think EG will take the remainder of the playing time at the 5 spot this season. If he continues to grow, and bulk up then he will be our starting center of the future. The addition of Willis has sealed Colliers fate in the upcoming season. Willis brings Rodman numbers on the boards, and that is the most crucial thing we need at the 5. KT, EG & TM can set the outside picks, and will probably shoot the bombers more consistently then Collier.
I can't argue with that. Except for the part about TM doing picking for the guards. I can't give that thought merit until we see a SF utilized on the strong side in a pick-n-roll. We've never seen this. Call me belaboring the point, but at least stay on the point barourdg...we are discussing why Langhi won't play more than Collier. None of us here believe, or have come close, to saying that Collier will play more than other 4s or 5s. You watch though, when on the active list, Collier will get 2-4 consecutive pick-n-rolls with Mobley in several games when either Francis is resting or when the defense is overplaying him. It is a precision play, and it can be used to pull teams out of an offensive funk. Langhi has nothing like that to offer.
Zhar, Are you clear about what I was trying to get across earlier, or do I need to mention some more numbers? It's not like I hate Langhi, I wish him well, and think he might do better on another team. Saying that he was 4-5 last night and defending him on that stat alone (I'm not saying you are doing that) means you are overlooking that he has shot 8-21 (38.1%) over the preseason including this game. The other two games he was 0-3 and 4-13. If you want to compare Bullard and Langhi (which last year I thought was unfair to Langhi), Bullard always averaged at least 10 assist for every 100 shots he took except for his rookie year (rookie year he took 31 shots and had 2 assists). Langhi averaged 4 assists for every 100 shots he took his rookie year. Dan's basically a black hole and teams can take advantage of this. When Dan is covered tightly he seems like he doesn't know what to do. What I like about Bullard was his lack of hesitation, and how he'd know what he was going to do with the ball before he even got it. Bullard was quick with his shot or passing it. While Langhi only has 4 turnovers this preseason, that is a lot per minute for his position/role on the team. If you compare Langhi and Walt, Langhi has 3.42 turnovers per 48 minutes while Walt, who makes passes and handles the ball more has 2.10 turnovers per 48 minutes. Bullard had 0.576 TO per 48 minutes and Langhi had an impressive 1.59 TO per 48 minutes, but shot 37.4% which is almost like turning the ball over 3.6% of the time (based on the assumption that the worst % you want from a player is 40%). I admit Langhi had a good shoot game last night, but please please please watch him play before you cheer on his efforts. If Langhi is given a specific role (spot up shooter) and can hit his shots at over 40%, and he learns not to hesitate as much I think he'll be good for the team. Once he does that consistently I'll gladly praise him and move on. Last year when I was at the games I cheered very loudly for him cause I wanted him to be a good/great player. I still hope for that, I just rather see Rice, Walt, Torres, Morris, and KT(I think he'd be a good 3) get playing time at the 3 since they bring so much more to the position. Morris may not have a good shot, but I like what he brings to the table defensively and he is willing to pass to the open man. I hope I made myself clear on this issue and if you have any questions ZHAR please fire away. And to directly answer your question about Dan disrupting the flow of the offense, I think he disrupts the offense in several ways. First, he takes away shots from other players, not just by shooting, but by not passing when other players are open and the few times that he does pass, he has hesitated for too long and the player that he passed to is no longer open. I'm sure other people can explain this better than I can, but if basketball had a plus/minus statistic like hockey, Langhi would have a very negative number. (In case you don't know what the +/- stat is, it's how many points your team scores to how many points the other team scores while that player is in the game.) Okay, enough from me for now, if someone else agrees with me on this point and can make it a little clearer, please do so. Thanks, B
" Don't ever lose your sense of humor, Dan! DON"T EVER lose your sense of humor! " - Belushi, About Last Night
This is an intersting thread!! When we have enough quality depth that someone with Langhi's skills may not make the team....well that is GREAT. If Collier doesn't show any more than he has, for whatever reason, then he starts and stays on the IR unless Cato or Willis goes down. I think Rudy will use this year to find out if Langhi will fill Walt/Bull's role on a go forward basis. And so I think he makes the team and will see playing time depending on injuries, matchups etc. He is a pure shooter, but he still looks uncomfortable on the court. Interesting dilemma. And I still gotta go with Jones slightly ahead of Torres because of his versatility and experience. He really boosted his stock last nite.
Well Crisp - Time will tell who makes the rotation or not, but THIS IS DEFINATELY one of the deepest rosters that the Rockets have had in recent years. The best part is that everybody is so young (except Willis), so we can only get better with time. I think this team will look totally different compared to last year. NBA.com was just showcasing Glen Rice, and Damn this guy was lighting it up just a few years ago. I think that Moochie will not get as much playing time, since he was mainly brought out when Anderson sat during the 2nd & 4th quarters (or to give Francis or Cat a 30 second break). With all the depth at SF, I doubt we will see Francis, Cat & Moochie on the court at the same time, like we did last year. As far as Langhi, he really deserves a chance. You can tell in his limited action, that he is trying to impress the coaches for playing time. I REALLY WISH THAT THIS team would not run as many isolation plays. We have to many great spot up shooters, and possible low post players this year. TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I am starting to get tired of watching isolation plays called 99% of the time.
Did Matt Maloney or Bryce Drew pan out? I don't think D. Langhi or Jason Collier will also do any good for the Rockets. Waive the white hypes. The way I see it, the Rockets need rebounding, not another 3 point shooter. Willis is quite old, so it would be beneficial to the team to pursue a player like Bo Outlaw as backup, in case Cato doesn't play to expectations. Langhi and Collier have got to go.
Crispee, I was referring to next years lineup. That's why I had Taylor plugged in to the mix. I doubt Taylor will come back this year from a double torn achilles tendon, no matter how optimistic he is. I guess I got off topic by a year.
