hehe, Pat! Langhi did bump into players. Had to be one of the dumbest, most disruptive players of ball movement I've seen in a long time. Didn't know when to clear out, or even how to without bumping into people. Didn't understand proper space. Didn't even understand proper spacing of his legs under his body; did you notice how far wide he spreads his legs on defense...like a lizard trying to puff itself up in an intimidating facade. I expected someone to dribble through his legs and laugh at him. But the worst is when we swung it he'd never make the right decision to continue swinging it, shoot it, or slash/drive. When people say he is better suited for a more complicated offense, I guffaw. We must toss Langhi aside to make room for the next crop of rookies. TMo gets another chance to develop a shot. I was impressed with how he moved on the court like you summarized.
Wood, his 2pt shooting percentage is 45.5%, 4th best on the team. While his 3pt shooting needs to improve, I am more interested in him working on the things he said he was going to work on. Those he mentioned included being more aggressive around the basket offensively (back to the basket/post moves), look to run and finish better and improve defensively. While we salivate for Woods and Butler, keep in mind that Tmo could be your next KT, a player who shows up big time.
DearRock, good post. Need some optimism on this board to counter all the whinners and negative posters. Periodically I read and lurk on this board, it is very easy to anticipate what certain posters are going to post before reading the post. Reading the board one would think that Steve Francis runs the team instead of Rudy T. Griffin and TRock had the essential same FG%s, subtract Terence's 1-20 start, his FG % was not quite as bad. Terence came on late in the season posting a few double/doubles, but Terence gives a good all around game. I think he will improve his shooting next year, his 3 point shooting could not get any worst. IMO if TRock mixes his shot selection up more, it would help his shooting . His confidence can only improve. How many NBA rookies had a good season, not many. FREDTERP
8 24.4 49.1 3.6 7.5 HP, when DL finally got some minutes, like in the eight games in April when he averaged 24.4 mins per game, he shot 49% and looked as smooth in the offense as can be expected given the problem the whole team was having offensively. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds. In fact during that time he showed he was a better rebounder than I thought. Did you see Foster and Croshere for Indiana? What do those guys have over DL? Damon Jones was cut by us and end up being a contributor on a winning team. The difference is opportunity. DL only got some in April and did okay in my book. I just cannot see how we could so nonchalantly dismiss DL, a 6-11 good shooter and fairly athletic who is already familiar with the system and is on the verge of being a consistent contributor. In a roster of 15 players we cannot find one spot for DL? Something is off here.
When I wrote that TMo may be the Rocks' future 3 (after Rice's contract is up), I did not mean: TMo will become a NBA Top 50 player of all time. TMo will be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, first vote. TMo will ever make an all star team. TMo's O game will ever be confused with Nique's. TMo's D game will ever be confused with Quittin's. From what I saw all season from TMo, he has got all round skills. In particular, he did not embarass himself or have that deer-in-the-headlights look (like Langhi does). I was impressed with TMo's team game on defense, help defense, rebounding (better instincts than Cato or MoTay), and working with the offensive flow (making the right passing decision, taking the open J shot). Sure his shot needs work, but it is not so bad as to keep him at the end of the bench a la Rhodes. Most rookies have more holes in their game than TMo, and the Rocks should feel fortunate they were able to get TMo. Looking into the Rock's future, they have their first three options on offense locked in with Francis, Mobley, and MoTay/EG. The Rocks may well lock in future option number four with the 5/6th pick in this draft. Assuming that the Rocks pick a 5 (and in particular not Woods), TMo is exactly what the Rocks' need in their future 3. The Rocks are going to need a team player who does all of the little things well and does not demand the rock on offensive. (For the record, I have only suggested that Langhi would be the Rocks' next Matt Bullard. I do not think that this is a role that Langhi wants to embrace at this point in his career.)
DearRock, I honestly believe Langhi got a fair shot. He was most likely being beating in practice and/or Rudy preferred to give TMo's defense/rebounding a shot. One week of good stats does not make up for 2 yrs of looking lost. TMo came right into the offense and looked comfortable with understanding the scheme and his responsibilities. Langhi never did, and only later looked comfortable with the rock in a game when he didn't get guarded. It took him 2 yrs to look comfortable shooting???? "Something is off here." Langhi is a slow learner of team ball who is athletically incapable of playing defense against SFs or PFs. Unless we trade some draft picks, the roster will be at least 18 on July 1st. We will keep one of Collier or Willis, or some X-backup center to be named later. We will probably keep Walt if he'll take the vet minimum. That puts us at 17. Even if we do a 2 for 1 trade, he still has to beat someone out who also deserves a chance. 1. Francis 2. Mobley 3. Griffin 4. #5 pick 5. Mo 6. Rice 7. Kenny 8. Moochie 9. Cato 10. #15 pick 11. Tmo 12. Torres 13. Walt 14. TBrown 15. Backup center or Middle Class Exception 16. Second Rounder/Langhi Don't they all deserve a chance. Don't you sign Walt (a lockerroom favorite) for a vet minimum given the chance?
HP, I expect Walt and Willis to go and the second rounder, if any, would be competing with DL, Torres and Brown. The positive about last year is that alot of guys got exposed and we had the benefit of Walt, Willis and Rice as vets. Now the new vets should be able to keep the locker room in order. By new vets I mean MoT, Wink, Cato and Mobes and we already have Rice. Regarding DL and the years he took to get comfortable, I think the list is long of players on other team who are now showing up after two years.
DearRock, so you agree, Langhi has to beat someone out who is just as deserving of a chance? In your statement: "In a roster of 15 players we cannot find one spot for DL? Something is off here." You made it sound like he's being penciled in. Langhi had his chance being handed a spot, now he must compete for a spot. Also, I do not agree that Langhi is comfortable even *now*. Don't put words in my mouth. I said he looked comfortable shooting for one game. How long does it take a shooter to look comfortable shooting. He still doesn't look comfortable in anything else having to do with team ball movement, and he has a 100% chance of being a very bad defender. By comparison, Bullard couldn't play defense, but he showed up as a smart team player very early in his career, and that is why he is a 10+yr journeyman in the league. He doesn't need plays run for him to contribute. As for that list of people who will show up their 3rd year, I'd be interested in seeing a list of second rounders who got signed by the same team after their 2yr contract expired, who didn't already prove themselves as a solid bench player. I think that is a very short list and is probably comprised of mostly frontcourt players who take longer to develop, not inconsistent shooters with no defense.
I don't think it's delusional to say Tmo could be the Rox SF of the future. It just depends on whether you want your SF to be one of your top 2-3 options on offense or not. If you don't, then Tmo in the next couple years could be a fine choice for a playoff caliber team. Terence was one of 15 rookies with 2 or more double-doubles this season, and had only one less d-d than Battier and Kirilenko. I think Tmo can be one of the best rebounding and shotblocking SFs in the league, well above average in man to man and off the ball defense, and adequate on offense. His FG% is only going to get better, and he posts up pretty well for an SF.
IMHO here is the difference between DL and TMO. DL needs the ball to be successful. TMO does not need the ball to contribute. On a team with 2 ballhogging guards, and good PF who can shoot, TMO fits in more then DL. I think for DL's sake, he needs to go to a team that shares the basketball. If he were in Dallas, or Sacremento, or New Jersey, he would be a big contributor. In Houston, he will not blossom in our me first style of offense. DaDakota
HP, I can only go on info to date. That is why I say he should have a spot and I then went on to lay down the things I would consider before he loses his place, like height and so on. I do not know who is likely to show up. Last year OT came from nowhere, literally. Obviously if we got someone who would further marginalize DL, then fine. But with the way things are right now I would expect him to be in the 15. I know he is a free agent, but I would expect him to go to the summer league and show the improvement and come to camp ready to perform. In fact this year he was about to do that when he got injured and that was it. He did come out of camp as our best player, and there was even talk of putting him in the backcourt behind Mobes. Bottomline is that I just do not think that there is something in this league that would stop DL from being able to be a consistent contributor. If he does not do it with us he will do it with somebody else.
If Steve is making that DuPont brand plasticized orange sludge, it may be the cause of the headaches.
Too bad we can't combine TMo's strengths with Langhi's Strengths. Then we would have an all world SF. TMo is with out a doubt a keeper even if he never develops an outside shot. Every team needs someone that can come into a game and play defense, rebound (offensive and defensive), get a steal and block a shot. Just look at Dallas they have Greg Buckner, Johny Newman and Adrian Griffen all known for there defense and smart play none known for having any offense. All of these players are valuable roll players for the Mavs that contribute greatly towards their team?s success. TMo already appears to be one of the smarter players on our team. If he ever develops a consistent outside shot then he could become one of the steals in last year?s draft. TMo has the quickness to spend spot duty at the 2 guard and he also has the size and strength to be used at big forward in certain situations. Someone please tell me one thing that Rashard does better than TMo other than shooting the ball? And don't go spouting off a bunch off a bunch of statements with out checking the facts. TMo is just as good if not better than Rashard in every other aspect of his game. At worst TMo is a valuable roll player on our team off of the bench. At best he develops a consistent outside shot and becomes one of the better SF's in the league.
