logical fallacy is trying to justify your distrust in wafer's shot by referencing your distrust in artest's 3 point shot. first, because artest's shooting has absolutely no bearing on wafer's shooting, and two, because artest is actually a great spot-up 3 point shooter, so even if your comparison were relevant, it doesn't help your argument whatsoever. it's unfortunate that 40% shooting from 3 isn't enough for you, and your paranoia that those season long averages will plummet is tragic. it doesn't change the fact that wafer and ron are 2 of our team's best 3 pt shooters, and wafer happens to be one of our most effective offensive weapons. and while i merely brought up the comparison to mutombo to point out that it's ridiculous to criticize a player for playing their role, and playing it well, i'd love for you to quantify the risk and added harm of shooting as quickly and often as von wafer does, at his %, versus the harm of mutombo going after blocks, getting out of position, and sending players to the line. you know, since we're apparently nitpicking arguments, and you've apparently performed this calculation already. for what it's worth, i actually think von wafer should get more minutes and more shots. he helps this team far more than he hurts it.
Von's has improved every year in the league, I would say that is a good trend, wouldn't you? It is nice to have an IMPROVING player on this team for once, instead of declining ones... DD
you're just not willing to be wrong. you miss shots more than you are called for fouls, no? trying to be a hero and missing layups on a fast break is a dangerous turnover, no? more-so than dikembe defending the pain, no? anyway you look at it, missing a shot has much more harm than dikembe going up for a block, which is necessary and is apart of dikembe's role. wanting wafer to shoot 15 times a game and asking for 15-20ppg from a bench player that had no minutes in LA? not necessary, not smart, and going to happen. was phil jackson really that incompetent and ignorant? chucking from a bench player that is producing now (more than what he is capable of, imo) is something that can be prevented. and it should. 40% from 3 isnt enough for me? ridiculous. the sample size is small and its irregular for these players, somewhat uncharacteristic. if kevin martin shoots at 50% from 3 for 20 games (and he did), do you think he should have the green light to shoot 10 3s a game? over the years, the best and the most natural sharp shooters (peja, ray allen, dirk) with legit shooting strokes in the league shoot at 40 percent from 3pt land. it's only natural to expect it to go down for artest and wafer, so don't rely on him/them to maintain that 40% shooting. when artest got here, earlier in the season, artest was shooting lights out and everyone praised him. then he had a couple bad games, went no 1-10 from 3 point land and everyone cried, calling for his head and saying how the rockets rely way too much on 3s. this will be the case with von wafer. you cannot possibly ask artest to shoot 40% from 3pt land in the playoffs. and you cannot ask wafer for that, either. if you plan on it, and you depend on it for production in the playoffs, expect to be crushed. the best benches in the nba produce 35(ish)points for their teams. wafer should not be expected to produce half of that by himself for the rockets. a few weeks back, the rockets probably averaged 25~ 3 point attempts a game. if you want 30 points from that (40%) every game, you're lying to yourself. totally ridiculous.
and I never said Wafer didn't help this team, at least not more than he hurts it. i'm saying, as i have been all along, that wafer will NOT be a hero and NOT be the bench player that gives the rockets what they need to make a deep push. Landry will be that player.
kaocsaephan, i think there's a huge disconnect between the point you're trying to make, and the arguments you're using to make that point. if your point is that players have streaks and that we shouldn't rely on hot streaks to succeed in the playoffs, then i agree. but to argue that what von wafer has accomplished to date this season is merely a fluke or a hot streak, which you seem to be implying, is just plain misguided. you can't discount what wafer has accomplished through 59 games this season by calling it a small sample size. you can't negate the fact that he's maintained a high shooting % all season long by blindly posturing that at some point, he's going to go cold just so his averages will more closely align with what you think he's actually capable of achieving, as opposed to what he's proven himself to be capable of. the bottom line is that wafer IS a good shooter. it's not wishful thinking. it's a reality which he's proven throughout the course of the season. his shot selection is reckless at times, but in spite of it, he's maintained a very respectable shooting %. questioning his shot selection is understandable; arguing that he isn't a good shooter is untenable. and maybe wafer won't be a hero in the playoffs; that's not exactly a bold claim to make since heroics are almost by definition a rarity. but as long as he keeps shooting the ball the way he has been, maybe we won't need any heroics.
I just don't get all the talk about how is performance is going to drop at any moment. He has been playing well all season and continues to get better. His defense still needs a lot of work but the effort is there. His passing has improved greatly in the last couple of months and his shot selection has also shown improvement. I mentioned it before but what I like most about him is that he adjusts his game depending on who is guarding him or how he is shooting. He won't force jumper after jumper like McGrady or Ron. When his jumper isn't falling he will go straight to the rim. When he is driving and is cut off he will stop and pop instead of forcing something. He has played well as a reserve and then as a starter and now as a reserve again. This team has needed an aggressive, big, athletic slasher who loves to score yet now that we have that guy all I hear about is what he can't do.
by the way, i don't expect von to carry us in the playoffs and avg 20 ppg or shoot 40% from 3. nobody is arguing that he's going to do that. but i do have confidence that he's a solid scorer and an efficient enough shooter that if he's open and has a shot, i am not going to cry if he takes it. if our offense is stalling and von makes an aggressive move, i'm not going to whine if he misses or makes a mistake. yeah it would be nice if yao and landry took all our shots. but the reality is someone else is going to have to score, and wafer has stepped up and been that guy many times already. so you don't have to expect it of him, but don't pretend that he hasn't already done it all season long and isn't capable of doing it again.
I haven't read the rest of the thread, just a disclaimer. Just wanted to offer a few comments on WAFER It has taken me a while to come around on him, but after the Orlando game I've decided I'm pretty high on him. dude comes in and plays with energy and intensity whenever Adelman tells him to, and he seems to relish his role on the squad. I'm sure he will be more useful in this season's playoffs than luther ever was
well said. he's got to give us more than Luther has in the PLayoffs. I'm giving away imaginary shamrock reputation points to you, MisperPink!
You could be right but interesting Landry is the player you mention. Ironically Landry's the bench player who's shooting ISNT at the same level anymore. Even though Landry's a very effective player who could even come down MORE and still have one of the better FG%s, Landry's getting figured out and leveling off from a "hot stretch of games" as much as anyone on the team. Career games for Carl Landry = 105 Career games for Von Wafer = 107 Landry's shooting on the down, Wafer's on the up. I say if anything CAPITALIZE on Wafer's good shooting while its there. Wafer "could" go cold in the playoffs. Getting exposed in the postseason "could" happen to a lot of players. But since Wafer's coming off the bench, I dont think he's in position to Smush Parker bricklay the Rockets out the playoffs. Wafer's a good wild card to have now. Even if he fails he's coming off the bench so sit him if he's crapping it up, put in Barry isntead. Rockets coulda surely even used THAT a couple years ago.
Landry's shooting is on the "down" because he's taking a lot more jumpers now, and he's hitting a good %age of them--as opposed to all dunks and put-backs. His game hasn't actually declined..
i can only imagine how great of a player tracy mcgrady would be if he played the the same intensity that von plays with....my goodness, theres a chance he'd out-do jordan and kobe and lebron and wade
