I think because Von has been a vagabonf in the league for the past 4 years, he finally got a to crack the rotation and hoped to parlay that into soem real money and a long term deal. Morey is a lot smarter than that. He is not going to pay alot on a one year sample. Von showed flashes of scoring, but he consistently showed issues with defensive assignments and emotional instability. You don't pay a player a lot of money and a long term deal when he displays those issues. It's just business. So he and his agent balked at our originial offer thinking he was worth a lot more. NOW he is seeing Morey was right.... I'm not sure with the signing of J Taylor if that means he is done here, maybe morey plans to move cook and or barry at some point. I think it will all be settled in the next couple of weeks. I would like to see him back. I liked his energy. I think he would fit very well in a uptempo system.
Hmmm....Von was about the same in the playoffs, he just had reduced minutes, and Landry has not really performed in the playoffs either...up and down. They seem pretty similar....good and great games in the regular season, mostly average in the post season.....sounds like young developing players, doesn't it? DD
How is Von a one year sample? He's been more of a nobody in his multiple years of dabbling in the league than the contributor he was this last season. Landry came in as a rookie and became a factor off the bench by the end of the season showing promise to get better on both ends of the court. I'd say his sample size shows Wafer being a borderline NBA player who caught lightning in a bottle for a season. Besides, an athletic, scoring 2-guard like Wafer can be replaced.
Landry isn't as one demensional. He can rebound and play some D. He also has the ability to develop a nice mid-range game.
Hmmmm, yes, I could see that, but Von has a good mid range game and he is capable of playing D. Actually Landry has been benched because he is out of position on D a lot... Both are polished offensive players......Von more of a scorer, Landry a hustle player. Both exceptionally athletic I can see the comparison...... DD
Then why have the fans (and the organization) been talking about the need for an athletic, slashing wing player for the last 5 years? I agree with most that Carl is more "proven" than Wafer but I don't think the gap is really that big. To me, Landry is what he is and that is a great energy guy off the bench but an inconsistent playoff performer who absolutely disappears against big front lines. IMO Wafer is not near his ceiling based on the improvement he made during this past season. Oh, and Carl has had one more good season in the NBA than Wafer has but Carl is two years older.
I'm not really nitpicking your point as much as using your post as a jumping off point but Landry's athleticism is overrated. He is a good athlete at the PF but not great. Wafer is a superb athlete and I'm a little surprised that more people don't appreciate that. The guy's first step is as good as ANY wing player in the league and his elevation is amazing as well. The only reason he isn't by far the quickest guy on the Rockets is because he just happens to be on the same squad as Brooks who is undoubtedly one of the quickest 5 guys in the whole league.
Von has not proven he is "capable" of playing D. Either he does or he doesn't. And so far, he hasn't.
I agree with you 100%....but Landry is much quicker than most PFs in the league that is his strength. He played fine in his starting role, but he does need work there, as does Landry. DD
He does need some work but he's shown flashes.. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qyzsGgl2_gY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qyzsGgl2_gY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Wafer's almost two full years younger than Landry. The reason he spent all those years 'dabbling in the league' is because he came out of college early. Wafer was drafted by the Lakers just before he turned 20. If Landry had entered the draft at that age, he wouldn't even have sniffed an NBA roster. He couldn't even dominate juco ball at that point.
Just to make my point clear, why does Wafer get penalized for being good enough to make an NBA roster at an earlier age than Landry (or Brooks, or whoever)?
For every one good defensive play, I'm sure we can find 3 bad ones. Watch here towards the end when Streetball employs the religion defense. Pray Udoka misses! <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cqCbTVfEeqY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cqCbTVfEeqY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
I know right, we need guys who play with fire, who cares if he has some mental lapses every now and then, young guys do. He makes up for it on offense. He is not a complete Sieve on D, he just needs more time on the floor and in practice....he has the ability, just needs to focus on it. Clearly his offense has gotten better, I am sure his defense could too. You can find cases of any of the Rockets being bad on D, even Shane....well, maybe not shane. Great point, he was just too young, and is still young....and will only get better, why not take a chance on a young athlete with ELITE athleticism? And for the record, that is what Morey said about him.....ELITE athleticism.....at the wing position. DD
I'd rather we try and develop Taylor and Budinger than waste a season watching Wafer ignore wide open teammates on offense and wide open opponents on defense.....let him go to the paper clips or wherever....
That is a reasonable stance. I think Wafer would look for his teamates more often if he was not struggling to make a name for himself in the league. DD
Yeah and it's also not just my displeasure with his sharing the ball, but I was also really impressed with both Taylor's and Budinger's court vision in those few summer league games. Of course it remains to be seen if they can do it on a higher level in the League. But this is also the perfect season to test that out...
