I don't know what he's like off the court, but on the court he has played stupidly.....and not just with the shoot-first mentality, but also with the untimely missed defense assignments... That being said, I'd still love to sign him just to have another asset and roster depth......but Les has a 2 decade history of never having paid one cent of luxury tax thus far...
Its a bad move IF Battier and Ariza will be playing on the same time. HOWEVER, they won't. Battier will be moved. You can thank me when we get Rudy Fernandez.
I personally believe Von has got to have one of the lowest BB-IQs (dumber than a box of hammers) in the league. He doesn't pass the ball well, loses his composure on the coach in the playoffs, was pretty much shut down by Sasha in the playoffs and he's not a good defender. The two things he does good are he attacks the basket hard and he hits the 3pt shot. If he can only get the league minimum in free agency, then that's what his market value is.
the thing is we can't sign him in any contract other than with the minimum salary anyways. and von won't take the minimum. so vons gone.
not trying to be obtuse...i am trying to address the fact that you never mention von's defense and how marginal (at best) it is.
It was not good, but when he was starting, as he got more reps it was getting a lot better. I think he can be an adequate defender. How about this for an answer though..."Better than TMac's" And I believe it is easier to teach an offensive guy to play adequate defense than it is to teach a defensive guy how to score. DD
What's funny is how Von's agent is so pissy about this. He's basically said Von won't play here for the minimum. If Von had tested the market and the market was 2 mill would he still sign here for that? It's not the Rockets fault that his value is what it is, blame it on the Republicans, that what the Democrats do (or vice versa).
lol better than gimpy tmac back to the point you keep bring up about his numbers when he was starting....you do know he won't keep that hot shooting up for a season, right? he won't average 50% FG% for a year. starting 11 games doesn't magically improve your jump shot by 6%.
von's agent said von wasnt being shown enough interest by the rockets and received much more love from other teams so even if he plays for the minimum he's not going to do it for the rockets. von's defense is bad. a defensive liability. however next season its going to be run and gun that wins us games not defense like last season. so von would've been the perfect fit for us. best case scenario he comes back for the minimum and plays 30 mpg and gets his big contract in 2010. but its almost certain hes gone. sigh
All valid points. I don't presume to be in Les' head or understand Morey's perceived value of any given player. But Les plays different lines as an investor; the bottom line meets his ego/fantasies(?) in a different place than say... Drayton. I will say this there is an "otherness" about Yao's existence, and not his play that freaks everyone of us longtime Rockets fans. There's nothing quantatative about what he really means to Les, and that makes 99% of this bbs schizo. It's not quite like what the Cav's are dealing with concerning LBJ - hey Houston doesn't have to fight for an identity - but I'm convinced that Les won't give Yao any rationale to walk. That's what is so maddening this offseason. If Yao has surgery, feels good, plays well starting in March and thinks this team is crap there's probably going to be an opportunity for him to possible gravy-train a ring. Even if (Big If) Morey wishes Yao was out of the equation it's not going to happen. Even the biggest detractors of Yao here should be praying for Yao's benevolance in what's to come. But that's why I think Les opens the wallet this year. There are going to be teams sucking air more even before the seasons starts and unlike other bigs with terminal foot problems, this one you gamble on and probably can't lose off the court.
What stands out to me when thinking about Von Wafer is that Sasha Vujacic, a vagina in sneakers, shut him down. It was unbelievable. The most mentally unstable player in the league managed to get into the head of Wafer. Forget that he can't play defense and made Rick Adelman, the ultimate player's coach, give up on him. I just can't get over this.
Maybe not or maybe so....maybe he was a better shooter because he was being left wide open because he was playing with better players. Guys that demanded attention....versus no one that demanded attention. Look, I am not saying Von is any great thing, his athleticism is....but his game is still to be defined, but his improvement has been monumental... And why would you get rid of a Wing player who is faster than any other SG in the league for a guy who can not dribble......or create his own shot... Just makes no sense....you could sign Von for $2 million, even for a couple of years, and that is better than being saddled with Ariza's contract for 6. Shannon Anderson is what it feels like to me. DD
I really wish people would look things up before they speak. Wafer was not SHUT DOWN by Sasha.... In the Lakers series Von shot .424% overall, .364% from 3pt range and averaged 6.9ppg. It was below his season average for sure, but look closer... He only played about 10.7 minutes per game, which was down from his regular minutes.....almost in half, and his production or PPG was higher in fewer minutes. Von had some ups and downs, but he was NOT shut down...and if you look at Sasha's numbers...I think you will view the matchup differently. Sasha bugged him in game 1...the rest Von played up and down.....but not because of Sasha. DD
DD, with all due respect, you are on one of your Don Quixote missions again. Sasha got into Von's head and he was ineffective for the rest of the series. You can't spin that.
B- he bothered him one game....that was it....look it up in the link I provided. Von's numbers declined because his playing time went down, nothing more than that. DD
