Feeling surprisingly optimistic, i suggest that we already have our starting SG of the future in Luther Head. Head has proven himself to be a nba level 3 point shooter, you don't go a month shooting almost 50% from 3 on luck alone. He definitely played above his head and no one expects him to shoot 48% for his career, but the two months after that likely hit the wall. (has anyone ever done any stat analysis on whether the wall is a real and measurable phenemenon?) Since then he has played better and shot better and his 3 point shooting for the season is not unreasonable. Whenever i have watched him play, his defense was encouraging. He manages to stay infront of his man with his quickness quite well although he does bite on shot fakes and foul the jump shooter a fair bit. A lot of times also he doesn't get the call. This is liable to get better next season and beyond. For next season i would expect improvement on both offense and defense and he would likely post stats approaching what wesley put up the last two seasons. (which contrary to popular belief, was basically identical) So what we have in my optimistic projection is a taller, quicker David Wesley, which is pretty much exactly what this team needs. Wesley always brought good 3 point shooting to this team, his major deficiency at this stage in his career is his lack of quickness and ability to stay infront of his man on defense, his lack of height such that the better 2 guards in the league shoot right over him, and again his lack of quickness going into the lane. On all these points Head will be an improvement. Hand the starting SG job to Luther Head, use our pick to draft Tiago Splitter. Pick up a couple of backups with the second round pick and through free agency and pray that Tmac's health holds next season. With the current Yao Ming that is without a doubt a championship contender.
Head has been playing much better as of late but I don't think we should hand him the starting job yet. The main thing is his shooting and his defense, both have been pretty good and like you said, it should improve. But I would like to see the Rockets get more size and athleticism at SG. At 6-3, he will still have a lot of trouble guarding bigger guards. Also, the Rockets need a 3rd scorer, I don't think Head can be that guy just yet though.
I'm very happy with our future. Alston/V-Span/JL3 Bogans/Head TMac/Stephen Graham/Draft pick (Carney, Marcos Vinicius, Brandon Bowman) Swift/Hayes/Lampe Yao/Badiane You might say why Stephen Graham? I think the organization really liked his heart and work ethic, but he clearly wasn't ready for the league. he didn't play much in college behind his bro, but he has improved drastically and is a tireless worker. He's worked on his jumpshot in Cleveland, so that should give us a reason to invite him to Summer League or training camp if Cleveland doesn't re-sign him to a guaranteed contract.
Furthermore Head is more suited to the bench. I think he came off the bench a lot at Illinois too. He can be a John Starks-type of player. They have very similar skills offensively and defensively.
Luther's best role in this league will be off the bench like Bobby Jackson and Eddie House. He needs to improve his defense and free throw shooting in the offseason. He also needs to start using his athletic abilty more by taking the ball to the hole.
Not to go off-topic, but I don't think the Rockets are in dire need of a top-10 pick. If we can draft another player thats on the same level/potential as Luther Head, whatever position it may be, than we'll be good. I see it no different than when we drafted Cassell and Horry. We got V-Span coming in next yea, lots of potential there. Wesley and T-Mac will be back. And more than likely we will make some type of big free agent signing, if $ is not a problem.
Stephen Graham? There is a reason the Rockets waived him. He can't shoot and he seems lost on the court. Bogans will not be the starting SG next year. Lampe won't be with the Rockets next year. John Lucas won't be with the Rockets next year. There is little chance Malik Badiane will be with the Rockets next year.
Your very right Rikesh. For some reason though, I really liked JL3 and Stephen Graham's heart, attitude, and overall games. I know JVG really loved JL3. He'd probably be on the team right now if JVG weren't in love with Brunson. But I would not be surprised at all to see Graham, Badiane, Lampe, and JL3 playing summer ball with us and invited to training camp. Once again, read my post on Graham. This guy is a tireless worker, and his shot has improved drastically from his senior year at OSU to what he has now with Cleveland.
If our bench consists of V-span, Head, Stephen Graham, Hayes, and Bad man, then we are in hell. There is absolutely no depth on this roster you just posted. We cant possibly compete with a team like San Antonio who comes off the bench with Barry, Finley, Van Exel, Horry, and on and on and on. Lets be real here, if we want to have a chance at a championship caliber team, we must get a starting shooting guard who is at least 6'4'' and shoots lights out, and a tough, hard nosed power forward who rebounds and blocks shots while playing with great intensity next to yao.
I don't think JVG like Lucas III. He can't play defense the way JVG expects in his players. The only reason IMO that Lucas III was on the Rockets was because of CD. I personally like Lucas III better than Brunson but JL3 is nothing more than a practice player and 3rd stringer.
Yeah I'm an optimist. I think we'll make the playoffs. I think we can beat SA and Dallas and Phoenix in the playoffs with TMac and Yao in the lineup. I love JVG. I love Morey already. I really love Graham, Hayes, Bogans, JL3, and even Lampe's potential. I hated Rudy T. I hated CD. I hated DA, Stevie, Cuttino, Maurice Taylor. I don't really like Les making bold statements out of the blue, but he's an ambitious owner.
That's not my team for next year. It's my team for the FUTURE. Next year's team will have Howard, Mutombo, people like that. JVG's even praised Lucas after he cut him.
bogans will be our sg next year i bet. He just needs to practice a little more on his shooting in the offseason.
If you think we should hand Luther the starting SG position for next year, I think you are dead wrong. Luther hasn't shown near enough consistency to be given anything but a reserve role. There have been too many games where he was terrible and a couple of solid games recently doesn't change that. He's still finding his game and nobody here knows where he will end up. Getting a new starting SG should be our #1 priority over the summer. 2nd after that is a new starting PF (though some here feel that should be "given" to Stro). It would be great if Luther makes a huge leap in performance next season but that is by no means a given. Don't let a couple of good games push logic out the window. I like him and he's definitely a keeper. To be a solid starter at SG in this league, Luther must develop a very dynamic offensive game to make up for his defensive and size limitations.
He's too small and hasn't really played all that well this season. This game really doesn't change that. Hopefully he can become a good rotation player off the bench but the most useful asset he could become for this team is trade bait. Right now he's young so he still has the "potential" label. If we add on "fan favorite", we may able to get something decent for him.
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