I just love having someone with his effort and power so far down the bench. As a 12th man, I'd take Mike Harris over any other 12th man in the NBA. And the fact that he knows the system, the coaching staff, the city, etc etc. makes him the best bargain in the NBA, well next to MaraScola (futbol reference) and Carl Landry of course. Can you believe we are paying our 4 PF's ( I count Harris as one) a total of $5,125,355.00 for this season? Incredible job Morey and Co.
Wow. Thats actually realistic. And if I may say so, the biggest small lineup I've seen in a while. Cheers!
Adelman: "As a staff, we know Mike Harris, we did not want to cut him... He's got a toughness you can't measure..." Intangibles
I really like Harris, but to be honest, I haven't been impressed lately. All it seems he can do during the last three games is rebound and dunk. He hasn't been very good at anything else. While that is very useful, we already have that in Landry who has been successful at other offensive endeavors. We should give him a little more time before judging.
I was not only a Rox season ticketholder for 10yrs before moving right before this season began (sigh), I'm a rice alumn, same dorm/college as Ricky Pierce (played pickup with him...all that) and one of my buddies/professors is a rice season ticketholder. Saw about 20 games of Harris and Almond in my time. I've given scouting reports of Harris before...and summer league only reinforced that. Despite Harris having a chronic problem his Sr year with cramps in those big calves of his, I honestly thought he was better college player than Almond. Almond was a better draft pick because he is a real SG, while Harris a tweener. The thing about Harris is he is so strong, like Hayes. He cannot be bunged out of his position. And he has no fear like Hayes. My best memory of him in college was when Okafur, Villenueva, and Gordon came to Autry Court in their Title yr. JVG showed up to. I posted a thread about that. Sure would be cool if someone pulled that up for me. My post was mainly about meeting JVG. He was courtside with his daughter. I met him in the popcorn line at halftime. JVG is so cool. I thought meeting Rudy at a jazz club with my fiance chatting him up about his tie (remember those commercials lol) showed me a coach who could be just another guy when you talk to him in his element. But JVG wearing sweat pants buying popcorn for his daughter was off the charts wrt meeting a celeb tyype person. Note, this was during the Rockets season. I'm sure he had tapes to watch when he got home. One of the thing I remember about that game was JVG's was completely into talking to his daughter, despite being courtside watching Okafur, Villenuave and Gordon. I vividly seeing him doing an out of habit double take on a bad call right when his daughter was talking to him. But he snapped out of it and turned back to her before she knew he was watching the game. Daughter are easier to fool than wifes and gfs....i guess. Anyhow, back to Harris. Harris schooled Okafur that day. Yes, Okafur was gaurding him alot...Harris was a low post player. UConn was #1 with maybe one loss at the time. Harris kept Rice in the game to the 6min mark, but the running game of UConn with Gordon and Villenuava's annoying 3ptrs eventually took its toll. Point his, Harris has no fear. Harris is strong. He is comfortable in the low post, and scouting reports now say he realizes he must extend his game. SG.? I doubt it. But a mismatch waiting to happen, possibly. Worth investing in.
Adelman has been gushing over Harris in the past press conferences. He also likes how Harris can defend the perimeter.
Look at those calves. But he had cramping problems in college because of those. Hopefully, that was just diet thing.
Here are his highlights from the game... <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/boVjL_gCjdU&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/boVjL_gCjdU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
It had to do with the time he got cut. At the end of pre-season rosters are filled for both NBA and European teams. Harris could've played in the NBDL and wait a few months for a roster opening in either the NBA or Europe. Then again I read a Luke Schenscher interview where Luke mentioned NBDL pay barely covered petrol costs.
Thanks Clutch. I gotta say it's like watching an episode of the twighlit zone. It's like Carl Landry in another body.
because he got cut? I don't, maybe the Rockets told him to go overseas, to continue working on his midrange face the basket game, and they'd look at him later. I don't think he can dribble well enough (or shoot off the dribble) to be an Almond. He has to stick with his strenghts like Hayes does. At this point, I'd say his fate is an offensive mismatch off the bench and a guy who can rebound better than the guy guarding him. Not a Hayes rebounder or a Hayes defender...but who knows the range a guy like him can develop...like Elie (that would be sweet), but I don't expect him to be a scoring off the dribble, albeit having good low post moves.
I'm also a Rice alum and have seen first hand what Mike Harris can do. He's the real deal. The only knock against him is his height. His journey to the NBA has been hampered by his height, because teams are looking for that prototypical PF type that is 6'9 - 6'10 for their POTENTIAL. Potential gets coaches fired, folks. I'm glad we have Morey that looks at stats instead of going off of potential - Mike Harris puts up numbers.
