redick is one of the few guys in this draft who actually has an nba ready skill. yeah, he has weaknesses, but the majority of the other players who will be around at pick 10 have only the potential to have nba skills. for example, its no guarantee that noah or thomas can play defense against anyone at the next level, let along score with their 6 feet of range. it is a guarantee that jj will make an open 3. since this draft sucks, i think it actually makes sense to pick redick up, even though he would go in the 20s any other year. at least you know he will contribute something positive to team, even if it is a role off the bench. argument only has 1 e.
Well, it's good to see that the Spelling Police is still on duty at this late hour. Apologies all around for my misspelling of "argument", because, really, how can anything else that is said be taken seriously on its own merits after a blunder like that? Now that I've been exposed as an idiot, I guess it won't hurt to address what you've said in regards to Redick. Simply put, that rationale would lead you to have picked Jay Williams over Yao in 2002. Caron Butler over Amare. Shane Battier over Jason Richardson in 2001. I could go on. All of those guys had your oh-so-coveted "NBA ready skill". None of the ones bypassed had a guarantee of having said skill. I completely disagree with that line of thinking. In fact, I think it's ridiculous. If by some stroke of pure luck the Rockets have a shot at a guy like Joakim Noah and they draft Redick because of your line of thinking...wow, I don't even know how to respond to that.
The reason to draft Redick is that what this team desperatly needs is better shooting from open shooters on the perimeter. We are not constantly giving up 100+ poonts because of our poor defense. We are not continuously getting pounded on the boards because of a lack of rebounding. We are constantly having trouble scoring because the paint is getting swamped and our wide open guys on the outside are not hitting shots. Has anyone watched this team play when one of our outside shooters is having a decent game, they look like world-beaters. Imagine a guy for whom 3-8 shooting from the outside was expected, or maybe even disappointing, instead of a great night. That would really improve this team on offense, both from the extra points generated on the made threes, and from giving Yao more freedom to operate by stretching the defense. Now, maybe redick can be had later in the draft. If that is the case, you can try to move the second rounder from NY and maybe a future pick and get Redick using someone elses first rounder, perhaps getting a good big man prospect with our selection. That doesn't change the fact that for THIS ROCKET TEAM, Redick may be one of the best fits in the draft, even if another player goes on to have a better/more rounded career. There are guys who turn one skill into a successful NBA career (Kerr, Ratliff, etc) and sometimes it is better to have one of them then someone who is more of a jack of all trades. That is why people are not arguing about Redicks shortcomings. They are less important that what he does provide, being an excellent shooter. We have perimeter defenders (Bogans is fair, Wesley is pretty good, and Head is coming along, not to mention TMac), we have rebounders (there is a 7'6" Chinese guy you may have seen), we have shot blockers and playmakers. The one thing we do not have is a shooter, and we happen to have a shot at one of the best in a while. That is why you don't take someone else and then pick up a second rate shooter in the second round, we might as well depend on Luther Head to hit the threes, and we have seen where that leads.
Your argument can be defeated in one easy sentence. Redick's numbers against college teams that actually play defense is decent at best and usually mediocre. (See 2005 Regional semi's vs Mich State's Maurice Ager and this years' NCAA's vs LSU). If we need any more enlightment on the subject, let's observe Q3 of this past Sunday's Lakers' game. Richie Frahm was 3-3 from the arc in the first 6 minutes of Q3. The Lakers then shifted Lamar Odom to Frahm and in the final 6 minutes Frahm was an airball for 1. Odom's height allowed him to back off of Frahm and sag into the passing lanes while still contesting the perimeter shot. The height and quickness of NBA players and their abilty to close out on a perimeter shooter is something I don't think Redick will be able to overcome. Stated another way, all NBA teams are loaded with quick and long perimeter defenders to negate this one advantage some of you see as being huge. C'mon guys, even the other WC Lottery bound teams have SG's that will eat Redick alive....Ray Allen (Rashard at SF), Jason Richardson (Dunleavy Jr at SF), Ricky Davis (KG at SF), Kirk Snyder (Rasual Butler at SF), Harpring or AK47 at SG/SF, Martell Webster and Khryapa at SG/SF....do you really want to see Redick posted up against any of these guys? There is no one on the current Rockets that provides a footspeed advantage. We are average at best. If we don't address this weakness, we will struggle defensively and in transition. Players like Joakim Noah are tall enough and athletic enough to take a risk. Redick will still be 6'4" when he plays his last NBA minutes.
jj, i think he's just a bench choice under jvg coaching. Alston is weak in defense as starting pg, so rox need a tough SG to match him.
This is really good stuff!!! First of all you critique someones spelling and you don't even know when to capitalize.?? I think the best part of your post is when you identify Reddicks role on our Rockets team while we pay him for the next 3 years after drafting him in the lottery, and that will be to sit on the bench.
College teams were able to focus there efforts on Redick. I think any NBA team that focuses on him is going to be in big trouble leaving Yao and TMac open, or even in single coverage. When we have a healthy lineup, Rocket guards are going to be getting open looks, period. There is no defensive scheme that can double team two players without leaving someone open somewhere on the court.
Rockets record when scoring less than 90 points - 3 wins in 35 trys. Our record right now is 32-42. That means that nearly 80% or so of the games we have lost are a result of lack of offense and nearly every game we won is due much in part to offense. The rockets have rarely scored more than 100, but when they do, they have had a tendency to win over the last two years i bet. Offense is the most crucial thing to this team, and if you can get really good offensive player, its worth ignoring your D. While reddicks defense is bad, it isnt out of this world bad. The other aspects of his game besides offense are still par. I really think this guy can bring our ppg up by 6 or 7. And thats a lot. You cant compare the frahm's game to reddick. WIth Tmac and Yao on the court, the open looks will be easier and yao and tmac will more often demand double teams. Yao wasnt really doubled last game because the plan was to let Yao do whatever and shut down the other guys. I personally believe that Yao isnt very affective in the second half as the first half and seems to tire after each quarter. Also Reddick is a guy that shoots a high percentage from the arc while having people in his face. He can leap high, and hits shots well off of pick and rolls along with a quick release. With that, he should be able to live through large defenders. IN the NBA, reddick wont even have half the attention he used to have.
College teams were able to focus on Redick? I see. That's obviously the reason most Mock Drafts have both Duke's Josh McRoberts and Shelden Williams drafted ahead of Redick. How dumb of him to make them look so good. What part of Frahm going 3-3 and then totally shutdown by Odom did you miss?
You didn't know that Redick was Duke's #1 option and the focus of opposing defenses? Come on! Just because McRoberts and Williams are projected to have better pro careers, that has nothing to do with how they were defensed in college. Redick was the leading scorer and yes, the focus of opposing defenses. What part of "When we have a healthy lineup..." did YOU miss. Do you really believe we will be defensed the same with TMac in the game?
I agree with a lot of stuff you post Gater, and stuff I don't agree with are at least well-thought out, but I think you're really reaching here. McRoberts is highly regarded for his potential, he's athletic and has inside/outside offensive skills, but his oncourt performance this year was up and down to say the least. And while Williams had some good offensive performances, his draft value is more so for his rebounding and defense than anything else. It's pretty widely accepted from media and fans alike (and rightfully so), that Redick was the focus of the Duke offense and opposing defenses had to specifically gameplan for him in order to take him out. LSU for example trapped hard whenever Redick came off a screen. I highly doubt teams would have that luxury if he was on the Rockets. I'm not as high on Redick as I was before though. His value has definitely dropped, and with the way the Rockets have been playing lately, I'm guessing we'll get a high enough lottery pick to get a more complete player. But I'd definitely wouldn't mind buying a middle 1st rounder if he's avaliable there on draft day. Redick would be an excellent role player on this team; Jon Barry II. Edit: One last thing to add. I just watched R2K's Lakers highlights and saw that all 3 of Frahm's 3 pointers came while he was guarded by Odom. Same story each time, Odom went to double or cheat on Yao (one time on Howard) and Frahm went to an empty spot for an open three point look which he drained.
In back to back tournament exits, Redick was defended one on one by Michigan State and LSU. They didn't double him, they just guarded him. With players his height. Healthy lineup? Do you really think both Yao and McGrady get doubled at the same time? Luther Head had similar college stats as Redick. Let's see what Luther did against 4 NBA teams that play defense.... Spurs - 96 minutes...6-10 from 3 (3-4 in 19 min with YM/TM) Pistons - 30 minutes...1-5 from 3 (Two games with YM/TM) Grizzlies - 94 minutes...5-15 from 3 (2-9 in 53 min with YM/TM) Pacers - 49 minutes...6-16 from 3 (0-1 in 16 minutes with YM/TM) Total of above - 269 minutes....18-46 from 3 (or 6-19 in 49 YM/TM minutes) 46 3's in 269 minutes played. With or without YM/TM, that's a whopping ~7.5 3 pt FGA's in 48 minutes. Or ~5.5 3pt FGA's in 35 minutes played. I don't care how good a shooter Redick is, he is not going to impact a Rockets NBA game with 5 to 7 3 pt attempts per game. That isn't even accounting for what he'd be giving up on defense and in transition. And before you give me a weak "yea, but Luther was coming off of the bench with YM/TM" I want to remind you that (exclusive of McGrady) the Rockets only average 15.5 3's per game. How many of those do you think Redick will get? Enough to offset him being a defensive liability vs every NBA SG? IMO, no. First, I stand corrected. Odom was on Frahm for Q3. However, if you look closely you will see that the Lakers elected to double with someone other than Odom after Frahm got hot. Only 1 FGA in the last 6 minutes because Odom shaded the passing lane. Secondly, I disagree that LSU trapped him hard. The LSU SG played him straight up and Redick couldn't drive past him. I recall that most of Redick's misses vs LSU came off of multiple screens...something he won't get as a Rocket. And something Redick did very well against less defensive oriented college defenses. Lastly, see my comments about Redick and what shots he'll get above. I agree...at 10 or numercially lower we need to get a more complete player. Unless he sets an NBA career FG% record, there just aren't enough shots in the Rockets' offense for Redick to have a significant impact solely as a spot-up shooter.
On the "any regular college player could defend redick," the players who stopped redick will be good defenders in the pros, ager and the LSU guard. Also, LSU's defensive had their entire game plan around Redick. They would switch off him and use other defenders to cut off Redick's cuts and screens. You cannot do that if he is with the Rockets with Yao, McGrady and Alston on the floor. Sure now that we may be getting a top 8 pick, that woudl be taking Redick High well then trade down, to 11 or so to get Redick and a 2nd round draft pick for 2007 (we don't have one right now, and supposedly that will be a good draft.)
LSU's freshman guard might not even make it to the NBA. His game looks very similar to his older brother who is probably overseas right now (if that). Ager will be a bench player and at 6-4 I really doubt he will have the same impact defensively in the NBA (at the two) that he had in college.
rebounding has been stated as a stat that translates over to the nba from the ncaa. the only thing i found about three point shooting in regards to this was: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/wildcats/57604.php HTML: a mere four of the NCAA's 25 season-leading three-point shooters - Arizona's Steve Kerr, Duke's Christian Laettner, East Tennessee State's Keith Jennings and Indiana's Jay Edwards - ever reached the NBA.
You can rack up a higher % by being very selective in your shooting. Steve Kerr scored 12.6 points per game in his senior year. Chistian Laettner scored 21.5 ppg, but he was a big man who got most of his points inside. I have no info on the other two guys. On the other hand, JJ scored 26.8 points per game while maintaining a .470 shooting percentage (.421 on 3pointers). And remember, he did this while being defended heavily as his team's primary offensive threat. JJ is a level above any of the guys you mentioned.
his post made no mention of overall fg% shooting, just 3pt% so laetner's inside scoring doesn't have anything to do with it. "a mere four of the NCAA's 25 season-leading three-point shooters" and jj isn't a level above laetner as a collegian (and i doubt he will even surpass laet's meager pro accomplishments). he'll be lucky to equal kerr's nba career.
your so wrong and you know it. j.j. will be better then steve kerr. your just spouting stuff that you think will get a response from someone. he is the alltime leading scorer in a great confrence. played against some great teams that had there defense focused on him. he will be a decent player.
No JJ. We can pick up Quincy Douby in the second round. Douby is as good a shooter as JJ and better in most other fields.
Did you only read one post? I agree. Steve Kerr was never a high scorer in the NBA, but he wasnt even a high scorer in the NCAA. Douby wont fall to our second pick if thats what you are thinking, he should be gone by then. He isnt worthy of the lottery either. Between him and JJ, Redick is the better shooter. Redick is the best shooter in the draft, period.
