You are just saying he always take ill-advised shots with nothing to back it up. I gave you concrete evidence proving he was the best shooter on the team. Whether he takes ill-advised shots or not, he makes them on a more consistent basis than anyone else on the team.
I would agree with that, I think wafer can finish a littler better, but Brooks is obviously better off the dribble. My main point was that he can shoot and that is undeniable.
I've asked this before but I'll ask it again. Do we have any reason to believe Ariza will be a better offensive player than Wafer? Any reason at all?
Your "concrete evidence" isnt as conclusive as you'd think. The glaring weakness in your logic is that you're not accounting for the volume of shots each player takes. Sure Brooks was 36.6% from behind the arc and Wafer was 39%. However, Brooks took almost twice as many attempts as Wafer. Artest DID take over twice as many 3's as Wafer and had a better percentage. Needless to say, its a stretch to call him the "best shooter on the team."
I don't have stats to give you if that's what you're looking for, but Ariza will probably make better decisions on the court. We're not paying Ariza because of his offensive abilities alone, which is the main skill Wafer has to offer to teams. There's an old saying, "your're only worth what people are willing to pay you" If the only offers he gets are vet minimums, then he's only worth the vet minimum. Extenuating circumstances make affect the offers he gets, but thems da breaks in life.
Why are people completely discounting the fact that Daryl Morey might actually think that Jermaine Taylor can help the Rockets THIS YEAR. Dude was one of the nation's top scorers in college basketball, on a team where he was facing constant double- and triple-teams, no less. He has freakish athleticism (one of the top verticals in the draft), just like Wafer. Also, and this cannot be overstated, he is a four-year college player who actually improved each season. Taylor's Player Efficiency Rating (PER) improved from 13.7 to 21.0 to 24.2 to an eye-popping 33.9 this past season. Meanwhile, Von Wafer never had a PER greater than 18.8 at Florida State. DraftExpress.com had Taylor as the 7th highest rated SG in the draft. Morey obviously had him rated higher than that. It is likely that Taylor was in the top 20 players on the Rockets' draft board. Given Morey's track record and the immediate impact of guys like Carl Landry, why wouldn't a four-year college player with legit NBA size taken #32 overall NOT be looked upon to have a fairly decent impact in his rookie year?
I hope Bima is right, but it seems like Wafer would be perfect for a run and gun system which we almost have to run this year if we hope to have any semblence of a decent team.
Wafer throughout the year showed he could perform in his role. He was 2nd on the team behind Yao in points per 36 minutes (17.9). He actually did score 16.4 in his 11 starts. And those starts lifted the team when things were bleak. I know Wafer types are a dime a dozen, but I dont like the approach of hoping a guy can do that when you already have the guy that does. Whats Jermaine Taylor gonna do, instead of Wafer's 16.4 he'll average 18 points in games he starts? But maybe perhaps more than anyone Wafer had hollow stats.
Not for me. Yeah, don't understand why people are so happy we swapped Ron for Ariza. I like Ariza as a player more than Ron, but Ariza is a good role player who shined by playing off some star players, he is not gonna provide the kind of scoring Artest was able to for us. Right now our projected starting lineup (Scola, Battier, Ariza, Brooks, plus the to-be decided center) would only have like one (Scola) and a half (Brooks) players who are able to create shots. I foresee the offense will struggle. Wafer didn't always play right in the system, but he is no less an offensive player than Ariza is.
First off a bit about me. I love good defense and I really like 'high IQ', team first, limited ability, give it all you have role players. I all but cried when JVG was let go and I think Battier is unbelievably good for the team. Von is the exact opposite of what I respect. Shoot first/no defense players are like great fielding/no hit short shops. You have to have good defense up the middle, but those guys are a dime a dozen. That being said, I am going to miss Wafer (assuming he is gone). He had that Vinny - the microwave - Johnson quality about him. I was at a game with a friend who just moved to town and doesn't have much knowledge of teh Rockets. When Wafer came in I said ' watch this guy, he is shooter". Literally two secoinds later the ball was passed to Von. First time he had touched the ball in the game and he jacks up a three pointer. Nothing but net! There is a lot about his game that drives me crazy, but he is exciting to watch. Heck, even a missed defensive assignement is exciting.
You need not say more. He drove Adelman and Morey even more crazy. No question he has athleticism but he is just plain stupid as evident by his sideline tantrums during the playoffs. Here is a guy who stood to gain so much by being a model citizen and playing the yes coach game. And instead he made Artest look like an NBA role model. The Rockets drafted Budinger and Taylor solely to avoid resigning him. That is a pretty good slap in the face and indicator to not expect a spot here. Just shut up and play should have been his motto every morning. Now no one wants to take a risk on him for more than the league minimum. You can bet he won't get any long term deals for much more than that. What an idiot.
You are completely right. I bet he comes back to the Rockets. If not he doesn't get more than 2 million a year.
I'd offer him, 4 Year contract for 9 million. 2 years guaranteed, team option on 3rd and player option on 4th. Is that to much?
