I found this video while on a totally unrelated youtube seach having nothing to do with the Rockets. It popped up as a suggested video. Scary how the 'computer' knows so much about me. It also it suggested 'miley cyrus beach video'. I swear I have no idea why youtube suggested that! Anyway. I watched this a couple of times... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TA5PLjlv0d4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Here are my thoughts. 1. I am so glad we don't have Brooks on our team anymore. He looks so out of control compared to the calculated, in control Kyle Lowry. 2. Chase can fill up the basket. He has been out of the rotation so much that I almost forgot how talented he can be on the offensive end. Hitting the open 3. Shooting off the screen. Curling to the basket off the pick. What happened? I can only think of four options as to why he isn't playing. 1. Struggled to get his looks at the start of the season (much like Martin did) and fell out of the rotation before he got comfortable. 2. He is strictly a systems player and needs to be in a motion offense where he can get easy looks as he isn't good at creating his own shot (ala Battier). 3. Last year was a fluke and we over valued him at the start of this season. 4. He should be playing. Anyway... back to the beach videos.
Bud isn't playing because we have Kevin Martin that does the same things but does them more efficiently. Having Parsons, Lee etc. has nothing to do with it. It's the fact that Martin is going to get 30 minutes when he is healthy. Martin and Bud do the same things. For them to be at their best, both guys have to be surrounded on the perimeter by two other players that pass and move and most of all play great perimeter D, so that they can help on Martin/Bud's man and Martin/Bud can cheat for steals on D. You put Chase on the floor with any two of Lowry, Dragic, Lee, Parsons and he will look good. You put Martin on the floor with any two of Lowry, Dragic, Lee, Parsons, he will look good. But....put Martin and Chase on the floor together and both of them look terrible.
He can still grow into a 14 to 15 a points per game player and do a little better defense in my opinion. I think he is one of the more useful guys if he can get his head around being more assertive.
He plays better d than scola. At least he attempts to put his hands up. Scola either falls or just watches his man shoot. I think bud and lee need to split minutes. In a shortened season, you need all the contributors you can get
I was going to point out that Option 4. (He should be playing.) is not a good option for reasons why he isn't playing, but I'm trying to be the shepherd, Ringo.
Bud is a mellow person and there's nothing wrong with that off the court. Problem is he's like that on the court most of the time. I wish he could somehow play with fire and passion like Lowry/Hayes/Landry/Lee, guys who are nice off the court too but they play with so much intensity. Bud's personality kind of remind me of Yao's when he first came into the league. Ofc Yao had more skills than Bud will ever have, but Yao was able to dominate after he started playing with a different mindset. Bud doesnt have the skills to be dominant if he does the same, but he'll be a more consistent role player that can be rely upon. As for his defense, he has shown that he can play better d so you cant say he doesnt get pt because he doesnt play d. Again he just needs to show consistency on this end as well so he wont be benched again.
Wrong! Lee is better offensively and defensively. Parsons is a better defender but not a better scorer. I will give you that Parsons has been more aggressive this season. But Bud is definitely still a better offensive option then Parsons.
We need Bud (or Morris) to play with energy and consistency enough to get PT. It is the only way we are going to give Lowry and Martin the rest they need. It means Dragic and Lee play less 2 and 3, respectively, and more 1 and 2. There are teams stats showing we play noticeably worse when Dragic is at the 1. I'm not so sure that's because of Dragic, but maybe more because we have a drop off at the 3 when Parsons sits. We need that 9th player as a true SF playing with high energy, like Bud did last night. Otherwise, McHale has to give Lowry and Martin heavy minutes.
Bud is the opposite of Parsons at sf, same with Martin and Lee, Martin is the opposite of Lee at sg Bud and Martin - good offense average defense Parsons and Lee - good defense average offense imho, you can't put Scola, Bud & Martin at the same time, you'll have a big hole in defense, that's why Bud is better in the second unit with Lee and Patterson. :grin:
Bud isn't nearly as bad a defensive player as people think he is, he's below average but not a major liability. All his advanced stats bear this out. His activity, or lack thereof has been the major problem this year. He has the infuriating tendency to stand around, and his jumper simply isn't good enough to be purely a spot up jumper. When he is active he is a damn good player, but his attitude usually isn't good, especially when his shots aren't falling. Hopefully McHale got through to him, but I'm not counting on it.
