Rafer & Stromile

Didnt JVG just make some comments that makes you think he doesnt believe in fast breaks?

He doesnt even think Tmacs strength is in the fastbreak game.

Tmac ran ORL in that type of offense, but Jeff doesnt think he is best that way.

 

And it should be noted that MANY here think that running the floor is Stros strength. I noticed Sunday that Swift was busting his ass to get down the floor as quick as possible on many possesions, and I would like to see Rafer reward him with some "oops".

 

Skip to my TO in the making.

 

Do you have a link? I do not recall Van Gundy ever saying anything to that effect. VG is all about forcing tempo. Just because it doesn't resemble the PHX Suns doesn't mean the Rockets don't push at every reasonable opportunity.

Bob Sura and Mike James forcing tempo and getting easier transition baskets was a big reason for the Rockets' late season success last year. Apart from players returning from injury, Alston forcing tempo with Yao and/or TMac and some combination of Luther Head, Swift, Baxter and Bogans is IMHO a good part of our current success.

I seriously would like to see something concrete to support your statements because they are 180 degrees out from what I have been observing.

 

Stro didn't have butterfingers when Jason Williams used alleyoop to him all night. I would love to see some plays drawn up for Rafer and Stro. Rafer is a surgeon with his passes and Stro plays three feet above the rim, now how hard would it be for JVG to try and give this team some easy buckets.

 

As with all big men, Stros problems holding on to the ball are mainly on lower passes. When he has to go up and get it, he seems ok.

I feel very comfortable with Raefer running fast breaks. I don't think it matters who is running with him. You don't have to be dunking or alley-ooping to run a successful fast break. Almost always, fast breaks entail you having more offensive players then they have back to defend...as such, there is usually a correct course of action to result in a layup, dunk, or wide open shot. It doesn't matter to me if its Wesley, T-Mac, J-Ho, Yao, Stro, Luther, Bogans, etc. finishing. I probably wouldn't feel comfortable with Bowen, though.

 

I agree with GATER - JVG always is quoted as saying he wants to push the ball. He stands on the sidelines waiving his arms to push the ball.

 

You weren't watching the same game I was. Stro is horrible at getting up the floor, a lot of times Yao beats him down the court.....lol

And can we stop the misconceptions about JVG and the fast break.....a bunch of sheople on this board read posts from people who clearly don't know what they are talking about and now think he is against it when the fact is he is on record numerous times stating that he encourages his guys to run the fast break BUT just be smart with the ball, which I think Rafer is doing by the way.

 

If Stro hustles when we run a fast break, he will be "rewarded". Problem is, he doesn't always hustle. And, BTW, he got rewarded so much playing with Jason Williams that the Grizz let him walk away for nothing. Please realize that Stro's problems here are his own making, not JVG's or Rafer's. Again, I am amazed at how people continue to make so many excuses for him.

Whoever said JVG implied he didn't believe in fast breaks obviously has no clue what they are talking about.

 

I just thought it was funny that JVG said that Rafer didn't play like "the Professor". I didn't know JVG would follow And1 at all.

 

Not Sunday...he was one of the first people down the court on many possesions. Let me put it this way, he was getting down the floor better then any other game this season.

 

I'm amazed at the people that have given up on him because he isnt avergaing 15 and 8. What #s do you expect him to put up in his 22 minutes when he is at least the 3rd scoring option? He WOULD average 15 and 8 if he consistantly got 30 min a game, but isnt getting that. He is doing about what I expected for the minutes he is getting.

 

And BTW he got rewarded so much from the Grizz, Stro turned down an $8 million per year contract prior to this past offseason.

 

I'm fairly ambivalent about JVG, but I have to admit that most of the time I see Stro on the court he's either out of position or creating traffic in the lane, and that's why his minutes have been limited.

Regarding the Knicks game, I didn't specifically spot Stro hustling up the court but if people say he was, then great: That's exactly what he needs to do.

Offensively he needs to be a lot more active in terms of motion/speed, but I think his shooting range limits how far he gets from the basket. And he still looks like he has no idea when any of his teammates are going to shoot, which limits his ability to hit the offensive glass. In fact it looks like his man reads our players better than he does.

I don't think he should be dumped for very little, but I do have serious doubts about this guy's upside and other than the injuries, that to me is the most disappointing thing about this season.

 

Lucky for the Grizz, who decided to offer him zero after last season after deciding his "potential" wasn't so high after all. Leaving that money on the table shows how smart Stro is.

 

Let's be real. Who said they gave up on Stro "because he isnt averaging 15 and 8"? Nobody. People have given up on him because he hasn't done anything in 5 1/2 NBA seasons including this year. He gets lost on offense, lost on defense, fumbles the ball, oftentimes doesn't hustle and some games basically doesn't show up. It has nothing to do with not averaging 15/8. The guy is not a starting caliber player. He's an inconsistent backup at best. If his effort and concentration level from game to game was high, we wouldn't be having this discussion and Stro would be the clear starter ahead of JH. Thinking he could handle the pressure of playing 30 solid minutes per game consistently is a pipe dream.

 

You gotta quit the hating on Stro. Its getting old.

 

We brought Stromile in to play along side Tmac/Yao and as we all know he
hasn't had much playing time with both our stars in the game at the same
time. I think that in the next five to ten games we should really see if all this
talk of potential is merrited or it's all been a bunch of hype. With our two stars
in the rotation the opportunity to blossom is there for the taking!......

and your right talking about Stromile's potential is getting old and I hope we
start talking about his production pretty soon.

 

HAHAHAHA. I don't know why, but that was really funny.