aww endearing yourself by insulting a Rocket and all the Rocket fans. That's also the first time I've ever been accused of being a Rightwing Republican. "not that there's anything wrong with that..." hehe. I think his midrange game is stronger than his defense. And he can drive. He tries to play D and he might just be quick enough that he could be an annoyance if he works hard. Great threat from behind the arc if he can be more consistant. Overall he did well last year but I'm hoping this year he is able to up his three percentage. He's clutch, though. I like that. You can't teach that. Last year he was looking to pass the ball, take it to the rim or take an open shot. If he learns to take a couple of steps inside that midrange game will happen. Last year he was the lone bright spot on offense for quite a while. I'm curious to see what difference a season under his belt will make. as far as your quote: "All he does his shoot 3s and drive. He has no mid-range game." in case you haven't noticed, the team could use a couple of those guys right now. I'm still not convinced he is a point guard. We'll see... I agree... he is either doing really well or he is being shopped around.
Wow.. it actually DOES feel good to finally use that Ignore List! So, the question is: If a Nix101 falls in the forest, and EVERYONE has him on ignore, does he make a sound?
lol you are endearing yourself to everyone around you. have anymore blanket baseless accusations to make?
He's a really valuable player as far as I'm concerned. He is one of the few legitimate NBA players on our roster as someone mentioned earlier. He's an unselfish player and people seem to easily forget how much of a bright spot he was before he hit that rookie wall. There was a stretch where he would consistently step up for 20 or so points when we really needed offense. In terms of his development, I also think that the injuries to TMac, and Yao simultaneously were good. Man, how I do wish that we would have lost that Minnesota game though .
It's easy for nix101 to bash Rockets players because he's not a Rockets fan. I don't care how many times he/she says they are a fan, they are just words, actions say otherwise. Using dunks on Yao as an argument to prove he is soft tells you that he is an outsider. No self proclaimed "die hard Rockets fan" would stereotype a Rocket player like that. The real question is what is his/her moniker at the clublakers or lakersground forums? Because a Rockets fan he/she is not.
Regarding the mid-range game, I came to the conclusion during last season that Van Gundy would not allow any perimeter player (except Alston driving on occasion, and Jho with no 3p range) to shoot inside the 3p arc. They kept shooting and missing (Head for a while, Bogans, Alston, Bowen, and I kept mentioning that a few mid-range shots at a higher % might be a better environment, help Rafer, etc build their confidence. But no, Gundy - the coach - kept them shooting from outside the arc. Just toward the end of the season Head must have gotten the green light to drive the hoop once in a while. But still no mid range game to speak of. We had no-one who either could or would or had permission to step around a charging defender and shoot a 2 even though I saw a good bit of that move in the playoffs. Now if our players couldn't do that move, then perhaps our coaching is uh not everything it could be..... Just my opinion from actually watching games with friends and screaming at the TV for a few moves that HS and NCAA players perform on occasion. Part of the Van Gundy straight jacket dumb em down effect? They shoot well when they get here, then they magically seem to lose their touch.
Thanks, guys. I missed the earlier thread, but you can always count on the members here to dig up something. Now, if Doc or someone else could just give us some behind the scenes clues about what CD and the Rocks are going to do, maybe I could get out of this bad humor I'm in. Head is certainly working on his game this summer, and working on getting in better shape than last season. The guy is intelligent, and I've got no doubts about him doing whatever management asks him to do. Head knows he's on a bit of a bubble with the Rockets... either getting tossed into a deal, or losing time to someone obtained in a deal. He's not going to sit around and twiddle his thumbs. (no offense, thumbs!) richirich, interesting comment. We didn't see a hell of a lot of midrange shooting last year, did we. Having Yao and McGrady healthy all season (please god!) should open that up immensely. Battier should thrive with his midrange game, and I think his scoring average is going to top what he had with the Teddy Bears.
None taken. I've been twiddled a few times before. Luther turned out better than I expected. I was really angry that we took an undersized SG in the 2005 draft when other players in positions we needed were available. Despite his success, I still believe we hurt ourselves by drafting him because now we are in the same position of needing a PF, a big SG, a backup SF, a PG -- or backup PG -- and a backup C (no offense to Mutombo but he really can't play forever). Luther is our only real trade bait, and, at his salary level, he's not much to put on the hook.
For a #24 you can't be picky. Off hand, I can't think of any players drafted after him we should have taken instead.
Dude, seriously? You seriously think we still should have taken those guys? The best player out of that bunch is probably David Lee, and his upside is a slightly more skilled Mark Madsen..
Anybody that thinks Luther doesn't have a midrange game is totally offbase. I can't remember how many times Luther would dribble around a screen and pull-up for a 15-17 footer, nothing but net. If he has space, his pull-up from mid-range is excellent. What he wasn't able to do early in the season was finish around the rim. Especially coming from the top of the key. He could finish along the baseline by using the backboard effectively, but his penetrations into the paint were not good at all. But he did improve his finishing a lot as the season went along. He developed a rafer-like floater and started having that shot fall with some pretty good consistency towards the end of the season. He's still got a lot to improve to be more than a backup SG, but I like his attitude and what he's showed throughout the season. Though I'll probably feel a lot better if he did play the summer league and kicked ass. Maybe he'll play fonde and we can get some updates on the board. That's what I'm hoping.
They would have and still fit our needs better than Luther. C.J. Miles -- tall, athletic SG with good touch. Even Sloan likes him. Monta Ellis -- tall, athletic PG with good stroke and growing defensive ability. David Lee -- athletic, decent sized 3/4 with a nice shot. Chris Taft -- tall, athletic, rebounding PF and backup C. Johan Petro -- 7-0 backup C who is athletic enough to play quick PFs. Wayne Simien -- well, marginally better at best, but filled our needs more.
Out of this list I only like Lee, and possibly Ellis more than head. Everyone else is a project who's upside may be better than head, but has just as big a downside. Except for Simien. Like you said he's only marginally better, and I doubt he brings any more to the table than Hayes.
That's funny because at the start of the season, all he could do was shoot 3's. As the season wore on, he started to consistently hit a little teardrop shot when going to the basket. There was gradual, yet obvious improvement in that regard. But god forbid our 24th pick rookie doesn't have a complete offensive game by the end of his rookie season.
When you get to the 24th pick, I think most teams get in trouble when they make draft decisions based on needs.. The Rockets took the best player available, which IMO was the correct decision.
Dude, that has got to be the most r****ded quote I have heard on here. Politics and sports dont mix. Please only visit back to the forum only when you found where you put your brain! And I would say the same thing if you inserted Left-wing liberalist psycho instead. Stick to the point, breaking down and analyzing the Rockets offseason and upcoming season.
That's funny right there! I dont care who you are ... Even better could nix101 serve as an interpreter for blondes? Seems to have the psychological makeup well in hand. I mean because like nix101 is definitely displaying an intelligence that screams " WHICH PLANET?" Like I said, come back only when a real brain has been found. Nix101 gives rookies a bad name on here. Rookie implies POTENTIAL. With dumbass quotes like that, Clutch may I suggest a different category 'infants' for r****ds who still havent figured out how to take off their diapers? Whaa, wheres my bottle? LOL.
